Weighting and Appointments

Thursday, January 26^th, 2012

      Well, that's a load off my mind. No, I'm not trying to make clever puns, I feel honestly relieved to be out form under the last couple of loads. Sometimes, when you have a load for a long time, it becomes really familiar. Other times, it becomes too familiar. Like when you are pulling giant rolls of paper over some mountain range to a place that makes cereal boxes. Yeah that gets old fast. This time though, the loads were heavy, but much more valuable.

      For the last week, I've been hauling copper around; first in the form of anodes (thin flattish sheets about 3' x 2'), and most recently in the form of billets (3' cylinders with a 10” diameter). All told, both loads weighed about 78,000 pounds. Or, if you like, 39 tons. Today's price of copper (bright, clean) was 3.92 a pound. This week I moved about $310,000 across the country. This is my contribution to the GDP this week, not counting fuel and other stuff like eating and scale tickets.

      Normally, I don't give a rat's behind what is “in the box.” In fact, I really don;t care in most ways. It isn't my stuff. All that matters is that I get to where I need to go without incident or losing the freight (my life or health above all however.) These loads add the extra dimension of potential cargo theft. Perhaps it is a mild paranoia on my part, but who can say? I can't think of anybody who'd bust into a trailer with a massive lock on it then walk out with 1200 pound cylinder of copper. I have, however, heard a story about people stealing those huge rolls of paper off a truck (those weigh 7,000 pounds+). I suppose that if you want something bad enough you have to be willing to take it.

      So now, I'm hanging out just outside of Tupelo, Mississippi. The west end technically. I've been here long enough to watch the rain come and go. Long enough to get confused multiple times about how that lick goes in the two songs I am learning. Then long enough to watch the sun come out for a bit, then set. It is kinda funny, since I was asking for rain the other day to wash all the road salt off my truck that had accumulated in the shitstorm that was Wyoming. I'm thinking I wished a bit too hard. That said, it smells like spring here, with brilliant emerald fields of something or other (sod?) lining the highway.

      On a related note, I was also wishing for a run to Laredo, Texas. Lo and behold I get one! The thing is, I am scheduled to be home next weekend. That is all fine and good. Normally, it would not be an issue, but the “hours left to drive” thing comes into play here. I'd have to drive pretty hard and straight to get back to Seattle in any amount of sensible time. I messaged the planners to see if they could get me a more direct route home. Here's the thing though. I've already committed tot he plan (see yesterday's entry) and even called the shipper trying to get the trailer loaded early. He is already planning the bills around my trailer number. Man! *laughs* Still anyway, I am going to try to get back to Seattle sooner rather than later.

      In the meanwhile, I will practice banjo more, making mistakes as I go. It feels kinda good to be able to make mistakes and not have very serious repercussions. I'm sure life is that way to an extent, but not when it comes to appointment times. So I'll still push for Seattle.

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