Rule # 1: No matter how much you try, if your schedule is meant to be tight, it will wind up tight, regardless of how early you leave point A.
Rule # 2: No matter how much you pay for it, your GPS will give you grief if you disobey it.
This past week was not the most lucrative, for me. In fact, it has to be the least lucrative week since I first got into the transporter business, back in January. Thurday and Friday were the days where it all came to a head. I set up a boomerang trip between Springfield, OH and East Liverpool, OH to run two trucks for Thursday. The plan was to pick up the first truck Thursday morning and deliver in East Liverpool late Thursday afternoon and then run back to Springfield, pick up the second truck and deliver it Friday morning. I had been told by a vet of the area that the best way to get to East Liverpool from Springfield was to run out I-70 E to OH Rt 7 N to US 30 W. When I hit Columbus, my GPS decided that going up I-71 N to I-76 E was quicker. Wow was it wrong. I wound up in East Liverpool four hours later than planned.
For the return trip I decided to reverse the vet's directions and go that way. My GPS, on the other hand didn't like that and had me hop off 7 at Stubenville, OH and run me through the woods for the next two hours, keeping me perpetually 200 miles from Springfield. By the time I got out of that mess and back on track it was midnight. At 2:30 I stopped at the TA in London, OH for a nap. I got back to Springfield at 11:00 am. I was rolling by noon and I was going to stick with the vet's route, which I did, sort of. Rule number two had gotten the best of me the first time, it wasn't going to get me a second.
Ignoring my GPS, I Ran straight when my GPS told me to turn. after the third and final chance at I-71, My GPS decided it was going to try and punish me by sending me up I-77 to Cleveland and then send me fifty miles south east to East Liverpool. I planned to ignore that, too. Then about fifteen miles east of Columbus, traffic ground to a halt. I-70 was flooded. The next four hours were spent moving at about five mph to a detour to US 40 for 20 miles. By the time I got on I-70, again, it was 18:00. Meanwhile my GPS was insisting I was still 210 miles away. In reality, I was about 165. My GPS was acting like this narcissist that I had for a co-driver for about four weeks in 2013. When I finally passed I-77, it kept trying to run me through the same woods it hung me up in the night before. I ignored it until it had no choice but to route me up OH Rt 7, when it gave me an accurate reading. I arrived in East Liverpool around the same time I arrived the night before. Thankfully, someone was there to sign my paperwork so I could head home and not wait until Monday to get paid. This is rule number one in action.
Most weeks aren't usually this bad and these trips did have a few neat (to me) things to keep me from completely blowing my stack. First trip ran me through Massilon, OH (Go Tigers), The birth place of professional football. Second trip ran me through Stubenville, OH, The hometown of the legendary Traci Lords. Also, just south of East Liverpool, OH Rt 7 runs under an electrical power plant. It's odd, to me to see buildings over highways in rural America. I usually see that in places like New York or Pittsburgh. Lastly, good pizza in East Liverpool at JP's Pizzaria and Grill.
The nature of this business has its plus' and minus' . Every once in a while one greatly outweighs the other and when it's negative, it can be hard to find the good in it. For my therapy, I find it good to get the aggression out by listening to something angry, first, then something soothing, second. You'd be amazed at how powerful a combination of Massacre and Esquivel can be.
Good night, and may your god go with you.
