Well, I took a chance. Getting where I'm at that is.

Started out this morning.  Got to the plant at 6:30 am, got checked in a one place, weighed at another, loaded at yet another and back to the scale house.  Where I waited....and waited...and waited.... for hours.  Lots of conversations with other drivers during that time, even with a smart phone, it can get pretty boring. 

After 2-1/2 hours, they finally called me up there.  "Well, they kept doing sample checks, we couldn't let ya go without knowing the samples were going to be good".  I guess they finally figured they are good.  Ate up m clock tho.  I was determined to get in 600 miles.  I fell about 40 miles short of it.  Drove, drove, drove.  Forced to take a 30 minute break which is mostly what kept me from making the full 600. 

Anyway, I gambled.  I looked at a Love's well down the line and figured I had enough time to get there, get off the clock and get parked.  About a 12 minute window, I figured, 12 minutes left on the clock before I absolutely had to get off of it.  And stop the truck.  The gamble wasn't just the time tho. Actually, the time is math, but you never know if an accident or road construction or steep hills or whatever are going to slow you down.  No, nowadays, the gamble is: is there going to be a parking space available when I get there?  Cause' honey, after 6:00 pm, you're taking a big chance that there isn't anything available. 

When I pulled in here, I saw an "empty" spot, but it was between 2 trucks, next to the curb, basically where you drive through.  However, driving through this rather large truck stop, there wasn't a single space available. The Pilot back down the road, I could see from the highway, it was full.  I pulled back around hoping that empty spot between the two trucks was still there and walaah.  I pulled in there, stopped the truck, got off the clock with 3 minutes to spare. 

I saw the driving on the side of me that is - really far out there - and talked to him for a minute. He just laughed, I'm out of hours, I'm not going anywhere - notwithstanding the fact that his truck was in a position to make it very difficult for truck parked across from him to pull out. But, that's not my problem. I'm next to him but I am far enough back that if he moves in the morning before I can, no problem them getting out of there.

I have been sitting here watching dozens and dozens of trucks pulling in here and driving right back out.  The problem with pushing the clock nowadays is the parking situation.  You might have a place in mind, and it might be doable with the time you have available, but if you get there and there isn't any place to park, you're literally screwed.  This is where paper logs saved us.  You could still drive a little while down the road and find a place and simply mark it as if you had driven there. 

I'm 430 miles from my destination.  I was trying to make at least 400, but the plant did that in. Still, not bad, considering.  I figure to get up at 6, do my pretrip, get to the fuel pump, fill it up, head out and hope to hit the plant before I have to take a 30 minute break. I mean, if I have to, I have to.  But that will get me there early afternoon. According to GPS, I"m only 6 hours and 20 minutes away.  It's  never right so add 30 minutes plus 15 minutes to fuel and 15 more minutes for kicks because that's the way it works and I'm arriving at 1:20 pm, call it 1:30.  Delivery is 6:00 am the next morning.  That's a lot of time sitting in the truck.  Not sure if I'll do that or find a cheap hotel. 

I should be home no later than Friday sometime.  I likely will get sent back out somewhere over the weekend. Which is fine, I need to rack up some miles an get some money. I'm hoping for a place to tell me I have to wait.  That's where you rack up the money.  Waiting for pay.  It really adds to any trip if it's over 10 hours.  A whole day even better.  I'll make a heckuva lot more in 24 hours of waiting on detention pay than I can the hours I can legally drive in that same time period.

Anyway, it's time to go to sleep.