10/24/07

I'm not even sure how to describe today. I guess bizarre would be pretty accurate.

First things first... rain, and lots of it. I believe that the proper phrase is "much needed rain" here on the east coast. Surprisingly enough, it didn't snarl the traffic too badly. I got around DC with the only backup being on the south side in the construction zone by the drawbridge. The rest of the trip down to Greensboro was pretty decent. There were several accidents along the way, but they were on the opposite side so the only slowdowns I encountered were due to gawkers.

I stopped in at the T/A in Ashland to get my trailer light replaced. Then, the folks at CFI did what they don't do well. They started thinking. I did what I was taught to do and sent the 'going to shop' message to advise them that I was getting the work done. Almost immediately, I got a message saying I was unassigned from the load picking up in Raleigh today. I sent a message explaining that I would only be in the shop for a half hour and my timetable wouldn't be affected, as far as getting that load up to Illinois by tomorrow. My fleet manager responded that I was taken off the load because I couldn't pick up on time, and that he would find me something else.

Think this through with me for a minute; My plan summary for the Raleigh load said it picked up at 10:30am and delivered tomorrow at 11:30am. I was dispatched to be in Greensboro at 1:17pm, but the earliest I could have legally arrived would have been around 11:30am. Then, when you add the drop/hook (more on that later) and the drive over to Raleigh, we're talking 1pm at the earliest anyway. I was never going to make the 10:30am pickup whether or not I stopped. The only customer in Raleigh, that I know of, is a drop/hook customer so it doesn't matter when we arrive. I assumed that was why I was given the load in the first place, knowing I wouldn't be there at 10:30. So, if I just stopped for breakfast nobody would have said a thing. But, I send in the shop message and I lose the load.

At that point I lost my motivation to hustle the thing down to Greensboro quickly and stopped for a long lunch instead. I took enough time to convince myself that the world was out to get me and all that nonsense, then got back on the road.

I got to the KMart DC in Greensboro and saw several CFI bobtails parked in the area. That's not a good sign. They told me where to drop the loaded trailer. Of course that spot was occupied. It's pretty rare that the assigned spot is actually available. Then I headed over to the traffic office, where I was told they would show me which empty to take. Yeah, no. No empties today. I asked how long until they would have one and the lady informed me that they were working to free up enough empties for today's outgoing freight, then they needed to round up enough for tomorrow's outgoing freight, then they might have an empty available at some point tomorrow. Great.

I received a message from one of the planners while I was talking to that lady. The planner said they saw that I missed out on the Raleigh load so they gave me the next thing they had available in the area - a load picking up in Granite Falls tomorrow morning and going to Laredo. Well I'll be damned. My fleet manager actually went to the planners and got something for me like he said he would. Good lookin' out, my brother. I guess it sucks for the other people who sat waiting for an assignment before I showed up. However, since I never complain and ask for favors, I'm not going to feel guilty about it. Of course the catch was that I didn't have an empty and wouldn't have one any time soon, so I had to call and see what they wanted me to do. It turned out that we had an empty sitting at a trailer shop right along my route to Granite Falls so I stopped by and picked up that one.

My miles as of this moment are a little over 3,400 for the pay period and the 1,407 to Laredo will hit tomorrow. I'll get to Laredo on Saturday, which sucks pretty badly, but hopefully I can get out before the weekend is up and rack up a few more good days before the end of the month. I haven't been to Laredo in quite some time (and that's how I like it), but weekends down there usually involve some sitting. The fact that I couldn't catch that reset in Michigan last week is also going to bite me in the ass over the next day or two. I'll come up with something, but it's going to be tight making the planned time to Laredo. Leave it to the feds... the fact that I worked for two hours one day, over a week ago, means I'm too tired to work a full day tomorrow. If I had taken that day off, rather than working the whopping two hours, I'd be well rested and able to run my ass off. Idiots.