9/5/07

Good news when I woke up. The paycheck was better than expected. I think this was my first one to net over $2,000 after taxes. Not too shabby. I got some detention pay for a couple of loads from last month. The funny thing is that, on the load for which I received the most pay, I don't even think I was detained. For the one where I was actually held up for a few hours, I got $10. Whatever. About the only negative thing was my health insurance premium. When I started last year it was a measly $14.50 per check. At the start of this year it went up to $19.50, but still quite cheap. On this check my premium was $28.50. I think it's related to the merger. The ConWay drivers like to think they have something wonderful because they pay roughly 1% of their wages for health insurance. Yeah, sounds great, except I paid less than 1%. Freaking ConWay bastards. I guess it's still pretty cheap, but when you're bulletproof like I am you like to pay as little as possible.

When I headed over to the customer this morning, I pulled into the driveway with the sign that said 'receiving.' As I sat there (6:30am locally) and sent in my forms, a guy came up and told me to go to the back of the building where I would find more docks. Okay, no sweat. My appointment was for 7am and they had me out by 7:10. Not too shabby. I headed back over to the truck stop where I spent the night and checked my board status. #1. Groovy.

After some breakfast at Mickey D's, I laid down to see if I would fall back asleep. Nope. Not a chance. So I got back onto the message boards for a while. The song and dance doesn't get any better, but it beats the hell out of radio about dog fighting/gay bathroom sex/troop withdrawals. After a couple of hours, I started to feel sluggish so I laid back down. There's the beep.

My next assignment picks up in Sterling, Colorado and goes to Lafayette, Indiana. That's not a bad run, but the load picks up tomorrow afternoon and Sterling is only 43 miles from Sidney. I headed down to Sidney and set up shop at a little truck stop here. It's across the street from the Best Western, so at least I have high-speed internet access.

Well shit, I guess this pay period isn't going to get off to the kind of start I had hoped for. I'm sitting at 922 miles right now, with another 992 coming on this next run. The plan summary says it delivers on 9/11, but that had better be bullshit. There is no delivery time listed, so I have to assume that the appointment will be set once I'm loaded. I can deliver either late on the 7th or first thing in the morning on the 8th. If I actually have to eat five days for a 992 mile run, I will be something other than a happy camper, to say the least. Feast and famine, feast and famine. For the second half of August, they ran me so hard I could barely keep up. For the first half of September, it looks like I'd better stock up on Ramen noodles. As long as I get rid of this one by the 8th, I'll have a chance to make up some ground before I take my time off. Here's hoping for the best.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: After sitting for a while in Sterling, apparently someone in Joplin came to his senses. I was taken off the load to Indiana and assigned to another one picking up tomorrow morning in Lucerne, a little ways north of Denver. I had time to get down here before my 14 hour clock ran out, which is always nice. Where do I get to go from here? Oh, El Paso of course. Another trek through the wasteland that is New Mexico. On a positive note though, this one will deliver on the 7th and it's only about a hundred miles less once you factor in the extra deadhead. That still won't leave me in great shape for the first week, but taking the holiday into account things could be worse.