7/30/07

I left Washington, Indiana this morning allowing myself enough time to arrive at the customer an hour early. Then I apparently missed an interchange and wound up heading south instead of west. So, a re-route on the fly got me back on track and after going an extra forty miles I showed up ten minutes ahead of schedule. Good enough.

The WalMart DC in Olney, Illinois tends to be one of the slowest in terms of checking in and checking out. The people in the receiving office seem to be more interested in gossip than in doing their jobs. Today was no exception. It turns out that showing up right on schedule was probably not a bad thing. By the time I got in there, most of the people waiting had appointments for 9am Central. Since mine was for 8am Central, I got to move ahead of them.

Most companies have to pay WalMart to unload their trailers, and we do at some locations, but in Olney we get unloaded for free. This saves the hassle of ordering a Comcheck number and then sending in the reimbursement form. With the end of the pay period coming up tomorrow, I would have been charged the lumper fee against this paycheck and then reimbursed on the next one. This way I don't have to wait for any of my money.

It wasn't too long before I was empty and headed to the local truckstop for a nap. A while later, the communications system beeped and woke me up. I've been at this little experiment for about thirteen months now, but I still get a little bit of excitement from wondering where I'll be going next. Sometimes I don't like the result, but the moments after the beep are always fun.

I had to head down to Evansville and pick up a load going to Imlay City, Michigan for 6am tomorrow morning. This run will put my miles for the pay period at 6,400 or so with one more workday to go. Not bad. The timeline made it very difficult to fit within my hours, but by taking an eight hour break and using the split-sleeper provision I should make it on time. I got a call from my fleet manager wondering if my ETA was going to be okay, so I told him it will be close but I think I'll be there on time.

Now, as I wrap up the eight hour break, it's time to check the truck over and head out for a long night of driving.