One Stop Down, One to Go

Lori made her first official delivery this morning as a solo driver...with just one minor hiccup.

She got to the Wal-Mart warehouse on time, was told which loading dock to go to, and expertly backed the trailer into place - or so she thought. As she backed up, she was sure she felt the trailer bump up against the dock, so she jumped out of the cab, unhooked the trailer, and pulled the cab forward about a foot (as per Wal-Mart procedures). As she was sitting in the cab doing her paperwork, one of the dock workers came to the window and said she was about a foot away from the dock! She got out, took a look, and sure enough, she hadn't back up far enough. So, she hooked the trailer back up to the cab, backed up the remaining 12 inches, and then re-unhooked the trailer and pulled the cab forward again.

She's not sure what she bumped into that made her think she hit the dock the first time but it reinforced one of the acronyms she learned during her transition training: GOAL - Get Out and Look!

After they finished unloading (this stop only took 7,400 pounds of the 75,000 pounds of pork that was on the trailer), Lori headed over to a nearby truck stop to take her time off for the day and get some sleep. At 1:30 p.m. she was ready to roll again so she headed off for Black Mountain, North Carolina. Before she hit the road, she put a Cornish game hen into her "lunchbox" stove to cook for the afternoon so it'll be done by dinner time.

The first 30 miles or so were along a state highway in Tennessee east of Nashville. The trip took her through "Cedars of Lebanon State Park" which Lori said was beautiful. She fueled up before getting onto Interstate 40 and heading east for North Carolina. That's one thing about being a company driver vs. a lease operator; you follow the exact route you're given and you fuel at the truck stops they tell you to go to (they even tell you how much fuel to get!) It's based on a fairly sophisticated routing and fueling software program available for large trucking fleets.

After getting on the interstate she saw two convoys of NASCAR trailers headed west for the next race at Texas Speedway outside of Dallas; one for Jeff Gordon's DuPont-sponsored car and the other for Jimmie Johnson's Lowe's-sponsored car. Both of these cars are part of Hendricks Motorsports, which is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Lori arrived at her next delivery location at about 10:30 p.m. (Eastern time), checked in, and climbed into the bunk to get some sleep until they call her to get unloaded (scheduled for 7:00 a.m.)