11/28/07

You know who I hate? Well obviously I hate Illinois Nazis, but you know who else I hate? Yard dogs. Not all yard dogs, but the ones who drop my trailer about six inches from the one on my left. I really hate those guys. I had to crawl under a JB Hunt trailer, on wet ground, only to find out that there was no possible way for me to raise the landing gear even enough to scoot the trailer out a little bit. So I released the fifth wheel, pulled out from under my trailer, backed under the JB Hunt trailer, raised the gear an inch or two, moved that trailer over to the left, backed it in, and dropped it with the gear still up a little bit. Whoever gets that one will probably face something similar to what I faced this morning, but I think I have the gear in a position that he'll be able to scoot it out once he backs under it. Pain in my ass. And thus began another glamorous day in the life of this here truck driver...

At some point last night I had received my instructions, telling me which trailer to pick up and where to take it. Just like the first time I picked up at that customer, I was heading to Cedar Springs, Michigan. Beauty. So, after checking it over, I pulled the trailer to the guard shack to pick up my paperwork. "Sorry sir, there's a problem with your paperwork. They'll have to straighten it out in the morning." Since it was 3am locally, I sent a message telling CFI to call and get it straightened out. Then I went back to bed.

Apparently my fleet manager starts work before 5am (Missouri time) because he replied within a few minutes. First he asked what was the problem with the paperwork. How in the hell would I know? That's why I sent the message telling them to handle it. A few seconds later he sent a message saying that I need to send in my loaded call so I can be dispatched. You know... nobody would suggest that CFI is staffed by a bunch of Mensa candidates. I think that much is obvious. My fleet manager, however, has always seemed like a fairly competent individual. The flap last week in Hazleton, followed up by this nugget of brilliance, makes me wonder. I calmly replied that no, I can't send in my loaded call because no, I don't have any paperwork. Then I went back to bed again.

After a few hours the security guard woke me up and said they had my paperwork ready. I sent in my loaded call at that time. Then, true to form, I got a reply telling me that the CSR's in Joplin were working with the customer to get my paperwork ready. Didn't I just send in the information from my paperwork? Wouldn't that suggest that it had already been handled? Priceless. Anyhow, they finally dispatched me and I was on my way. I got an ETA of 4am Sunday, when I know the customer won't be open, but whatever. It's not worth arguing. It's a drop/hook so I'll just go to sleep in their yard once I make the switch. The first time they sent me to this place, I was dispatched for 7:30am on Memorial Day. The way my hours fell, I had to wait until midnight on Memorial Day and then drive seven and a half hours nonstop to make it on time - only to find that they were closed and I could have gotten there later if I wanted to. This run looks like it will shake out in a similar way. My 70 hours will be gone sometime Friday. Then I'll be in the old 'wait for midnight' mode until I run the last couple of days and make the drop.

Without my XM, I've had the misfortune of trying to bounce around the local AM stations and find something worth hearing. No luck there really, but I did hear some weather forecasts that left me feeling rather fortunate. Apparently Washington is due for more snow tonight and Idaho is expected to get hit pretty hard. I made it across the mountains today on mostly clean and dry roads. I stopped in Missoula to call it a night. Since I only pick up two hours on Friday, I was looking at a total of around twenty-six hours over the first three days of this run. I'm not a big fan of eleven hour days, so I decided to space the time out a little. That way I don't wind up sitting for twenty hours, a couple of days from now.

To prove just how shallow and one-dimensional I am - all is forgiven vis a vis CFI and the shitty month that I had. My paycheck will be for 6,351 miles plus northeast and holiday pay. Good enough. These long runs bore the living hell out of me, but they served as CPR for a rather lifeless pay period so I won't complain.