5:00 am. 

Fell asleep yesterday at 5:30 pm and didn't wake up until midnight. Fell asleep again and woke up around 2:30am. Decided to get up and read a bit to trick myself back to sleep. It worked until around 4:00 am and that was the end of sleeping.  Sounds like a lot but my whole internal clock is out of sync and I'm feeling it. 

The realities of this trip are starting to settle in.  Junk trucks, various mechanical issues being the top complaint both I and the other driver have.  The one I drove yesterday wouldn't shift into gear without completely grinding and clunking it in.  One of the front brakes was making a horrid noise, metal on metal sound as if the brake linings are completely wore down. On both trucks I have driven, the Quaalcomms aren't working meaning I have to do a paper log.  

Federal regulations limit it to 7 days per month a driver using paper logs as I understand it.  

I'm happy to be in a hotel, but I sleep better in my truck.  We are also not assigned a truck, in fact, no one there is unless you are an owner operater and have your own truck.  That's troublesome.  I don't do slip seating and if I had known that that was the situation here I would have rethought my decision and said so. I should make a list of things for the "next" time they ask me and if they can't answer the questions, the answer will be no.  But, the manager just goes through the list of drivers he thinks would fit in well enough and if they say no, apparently they can, he moves on.  I might be doing them a big favor, but I'm not doing myself any favors besides the guaranteed minimum pay per day, which they almost 100% likely will screw up and I'll have to force the issue.  

I'd have to say that if this ever happens again, I'm not going unless I'm going in my own truck or they can guarantee me that there is a truck that will assigned to me while I'm there to drive that is in good operating condition.  How this company making as much money as they are can't keep their equipment in good shape is unfathomable. Think about it. They flew two of us up here. They put us both up at motels.  They are giving us $40 per day allowance for food. They are giving us a $300 per day guaranteed wage - which is good because that would be another sticking point.  We are getting all of this, you know they are making excellent money on this account, why aren't they at least as interested in keeping their equipment in good working order?

That's a good way to piss drivers off.  Apparently they do this "all the time" as it has been related, pulling drivers from all over the place because they can't keep any local drivers happy. Well no duhhh.  

Anyone that has been driving for any length of time know that this little game they are playing here is bs.  I'm putting my nose to the grindstone and toughing this out. 

And now being shipped down to Connecticut - near New York, not far from Boston, who knows what hellish conditions may be found down there?  I'm doing one trip up here today, coming back to the hotel, getting my stuff and driving 250 or so miles down there to face what, I have zero idea. After 7 days I'm asking to go home.  I was going to stay 2 weeks but I doubt I'll be able to handle it without getting thoroughly pissed off, these people don't have their acts together and it shows, glaringly, more so than looking directly into the sun. 

With that, I'm off to the yard to see if there even is a truck available to take out this morning.  

G'day.