Bad news, good news

A quick note before I start packing.

I'm parked in my home terminal, after two long days of driving. My load is due for delivery late tonight, about three hours from here. I'm not scheduled to go home until tomorrow.

I'm going anyhow.

You may recall me talking about the legal limits on my driving hours. The daily limits are frequently a pain in the neck. The weekly limits are usually not a problem.

This week, however...

It would take me at least three hours to get this load to its destination. I have seven hours left for the week. And the week doesn't legally end for two more days.

For a normal OTR driver this would be no big deal. Deliver the load, find a truck stop (the nicest one you can), and park for 34 hours. Bingo—whole new week.

I am no longer a normal OTR driver. Tomorrow this truck is supposed to start a whole new week, with a different.driver. Which means tomorrow it has to be back HERE.

Three hours there. Three hours back. One hour to unload, drive to the next customer, get loaded, and get back on the road to this terminal.

The Company would not be pleased if this truck were stuck for a day and a half a hundred miles from its new driver.

So I'm going home. They dare not send me out before the next guy gets here. I've done too much driving. I've had too busy a week. I've had too much paying work.

I should have this problem more often...