Every once in a while split logging works. I only use it a couple of times per year. Generally, I don't like it because it takes a serious bite out of the next day. It is essentially robbing Peter (tomorrow) to pay Paul (today). If tomorrow is going to be a short day anyway, it works well.
On this trip it worked perfectly. I had fought snow and slippery roads in Indiana on I65. The 507 mile from Green Bay to Fairfield, OH took 10.5 hours of window time. I did not arrive to my customer until midnight for an 8am appointment. My normal goal is to arrive 10 hours before my appointment. I backed into the dock and left empty about 10am. My next load picked up in Columbus and went to De Pere, WI. There was no way that I would make it that day. My plan was to make it to Belgium, WI (about 35 miles north of Milwaukee) and take my 10 hour break and be home well before noon on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Then the phone rang. It was dispatch and they wanted to know if I could pick up a load in our Franksville, WI yard and deliver it 5 miles away in Sturtevant, WI. The delivery appointment was for 9am. Could I make it? I answered that I did not know. It depended on whether there was traffic in Chicago.
Surprisingly, there was traffic in Chicago. It was 11pm by the time I arrived in Franksville. I had about an hour left on my 14 and 12 minutes left on my 11. There was no overnight parking at the customer. As far as I knew they did not want us arriving more than an hour before my appointment.
That left two options. I could be late for my appointment. I could split log. By the time I dropped my trailer and did a post trip it was almost 11:15. If I took my 10 and did a proper pre trip the next day I would be at least 30 minutes late for my appointment. That leaves you at the mercy of the customer, on the day before Thanksgiving.
Split logging was the obvious choice. I left the sleeper berth at 7:15am Wednesday. Then I walked to the truck stop half a mile away and got my coffee. It was 7:45 when I got back to the truck and hooked onto the next trailer and did a pre trip. With 12 minutes of drive time left I was able to make the customer with 4 minutes to spare. I got unloaded and headed home by about 10:30.
Split logging allowed me to deliver a load and get paid for it on the way home. We had a satisfied customer. Dispatch was pleased. I dropped the empty back at our Franksville yard and picked up my load home. When I got home I split some logs into kindling and started the holiday fire. Splitting logs can work under the right circumstances.