TIME OUT FOR NEW TIRES

Other than having to stay up all night and drive to deliver at three stops, Craig had a pretty easy go of it Thursday night and early Friday morning.  His first two stops in the Tacoma, WA area were places we have been to before, the first at McLane at 1am, and the second at Colonial Fruit and Produce which was only a few miles away, but the appointment wasn't until 4am.  But as I said, we have been to these places before, and knew that Colonial would be more than happy to take their one pallet early, and Friday morning would be no exception. 

Craig hung out after they took their pallet off the trailer for about an hour or so, before heading into Auburn, WA to the Safeway DC, where they have a large staging area where you are allowed to arrive 3 hours ahead of your appointment.  After checking in, Craig crawled into the bunk thinking that he would be able to grab a couple of hours of sleep, but 15 minutes later there was a knock on the door, and he was backed into a dock shortly thereafter.

By 8am they were unloaded and headed to the company drop yard in Pacific, WA where Craig would get some more sleep and wait to see what their next assignment would be.  Around 2pm they received their new dispatch information and Roy went about doing a pre trip inspection of the truck and trailer, and that is where he saw a tire in need of replacement, and while checking the air pressure on another trailer tire, he found a slice on the inside of the inner trailer tire as well.  A quick phone call to road service and they were on their way to the TA truck stop in North Bend, WA for two new tires.

A couple of hours later, they were back on the road driving to Wallula, WA to drop their empty trailer and see if the load they were picking up was ready.  It wasn't, so they parked in the staging area and went to sleep.  Craig was up at 4am to check on the trailer, and finding it ready, hooked up, scaled, and was on the road driving his half of the driving duties for the day.  With a stop in Biggs, OR for fuel, and a break to take in the sights of a barge going down river, he was back on the road to La Pine, OR where they would switch up drivers.

This load has two deliveries.  The first will be tomorrow morning in West Sacramento, CA at Tony's, and the second Monday morning in Bell Gardens, CA.  With Monday being a holiday, I'll be surprised if they get a new assignment until Tuesday, but there may be a loaded trailer waiting for them in the company yard in Bloomington.  Then begins the countdown until they come into Spokane, WA for a couple of days off and a little bit of spoiling.