More about my last trip to Pennsylvania

In my last post, I mentioned that I had a delivery to Harrisburg, PA. I picked it up in Tooele, UT, not far from my brother's house. What I didn't mention is that I was late getting to the delivery, as I had to spend five hours waiting to get my truck repaired.

After I arrived at the shipper, I tore my air lines, the lines that go from the cab of the truck to the trailer. They supply air to the brakes, and without air the trailer isn't going anywhere. I could blame this problem on a lot of things, but ultimately the fault was mine. I forgot to unhook them when I pulled away from the trailer. Whoopsie.

That required a trip back to the terminal to get the air lines replaced. This is always a pain, as the mechanics work at a painfully slow rate. It was a 15-minute fix that took several hours to do. I already didn't have any spare time on the trip, and this slowed me down even further.

As a result, I ended up at the final destination late. Fortunately, they didn't hold this against me, and actually rescheduled the delivery for me. Sweet.

I rather enjoy long cross-country trips. Just me and the road. But I hate going to Pennsylvania. It seems like every freeway is under construction, and parking is a real bitch to find. The few truck stops that are there are always packed, at all times of the day. Once I had to circle a truck stop for 45 minutes before I could find a place to park. That was the end of a pretty bad day.

That trip, I hauled Coors from Golden, CO out to Harrisburg. Made it to the final early, which I always try to do. However, they were in no hurry to get me unloaded, and I spent 14 hours waiting.

When I finally opened the trailer and prepared to back to the dock, I had to remove my load locks, which keep the freight from moving. However, one of the locks refused to unlock, and I had to attack it with my hammer to get it out. Several of my swings missed, and punctured beer cans, spraying warm beer all over me. (It was summertime and quite hot). So, I had to find a place to park, frustrated and covered in beer. Good thing I didn't get pulled over, as I imagine I'd have had a hard time explaining that I hadn't been drinking.

When I pulled into the truck stop, my check engine light came on, and I was out of commission for the better part of a week. No bueno, as I don't get to make money when the wheels aren't rolling. Fortunately, my company put me up in a hotel, which kept me out of the blistering Pennsylvania summer heat. But the whole trip sucked. Perhaps that's why I don't like going there so much.