The wind woke me up this morning. I looked out the window, and it seemed like my truck was leaning about ten or fifteen degrees to the right. Then the gust let up and the truck settled back down. Then more wind. Since I was hooked to an empty trailer, I took this as a sign that it was going to be a long day. Today was a long day...
It didn't take long to get started. I hopped in the trailer to sweep it out. The breweries are picky so I got it nice and clean, but froze my balls off in the process. Then I headed out of the truck stop. I was behind a tanker pulling doubles, but we were both making our way slowly up an icy embankment and toward the freeway ramp. About the only rule there is not to stop. Go as slow as you need to, but don't stop. A car came flying up the ramp, looking like he was going to cut off the tanker. "Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. DON'T DO THAT!" hollered I. He did. He cut right in front of the tanker. Ergo, the tanker had to stop. Ergo, he got stuck. Ergo, I had to stop. Ergo, I got stuck. Ergo, a line of cars formed behind me as the source of the trouble went on his merry way.
Eventually the cars behind me made their way around. Then I was able to back down the hill to a spot where my tires could touch pavement. With a little momentum and no weight, I was able to scoot around the tanker and up the hill. There was a dry spot about thirty yards ahead of him, so I pulled over and headed back to see if he needed any help. Maybe we could throw some chains on his tires or chip away the ice or something. It just seemed like stopping was the decent thing to do. After all, it was ten degrees outside. He said that he had called his shop and someone would be there in a few minutes. That was enough to convince me that he didn't need my help. After all, it was ten degrees outside.
On I-25 the road surface unfortunately mirrored that of the side street. Ice, ice, and more ice. I've always thought that I-25 was my least favorite highway, but that was more related to the mountainous and arid portions in Colorado and New Mexico. Now, with the addition of the debacle that is Wyoming in the winter, it's official. I-25 is the worst highway in America.
It should come as no surprise that I-25 in Colorado was clean and dry, despite last night's snowstorm. Once at the brewery, I was informed that they would need a bobtail weight. Some of the breweries do that while others don't. On my first visit to one that does, I have to wait in line, scale with my empty, drop my empty, wait in line again, scale my bobtail, pick up my loaded trailer, wait in line again, and scale loaded before leaving. Oh, how I love inefficient buraucratic wastes of time. I did get good news though, as my load was ready when I got there. Always remember the good stuff, right?
I got my dispatch and decided that it was a damn good thing my load was ready early. They have me set for 11am Pacific on Sunday. Think the customer will be open? Let's just say I have my doubts. If the load had left tonight, as scheduled, I would have had to pull two straight long overnight shifts to make it. The overnighters don't bother me per se, but with the road conditions I prefer to have the slight benefit of the sunlight and better visibility. As it worked out, I headed a couple hundred miles west tonight. I can put in a full day tomorrow and then finish off Sunday morning. The forecast for Pendleton, Oregon says rain and snow for the next couple of days so that mountain might be fun for me. It looks like I'll probably wrap up tomorrow somewhere just short of there and then run into Portland on Sunday when it is supposed to be a little warmer. Let's hope...
I'm going to take a few minutes now and share a little story. Some people, through this blog or through the message boards, occasionally ask me about coming to work for CFI. A common comment is that they appreciate hearing thoughts from someone who isn't trying to recruit them. I am not really accustomed to receiving many compliments, but I do take this as a compliment. As I've always maintained, my own selfish preference would be that CFI never hired another driver. That would mean less competition for loads and more money for me. That being said, I try my best to be as candid and honest as possible. For some people, CFI is a great fit and I tell people as much. For inexperienced drivers, I dare say it's one of the best options out there. A question that pops up quite a bit recently is whether or not people should come in amidst the "changes" related to the merger. Since there really haven't been any changes, I can only assume that they're reading some of the message board vitriol and getting confused. Maybe my little story here will resonate with some of you, maybe not. Either way, it's my blog so I'm telling it.
When I was at U of M, I was working as a NAFTA analyst for a large customs broker and going to school at night. The job involved a lot of paperwork and tedious phone calls. I really hated it, but I have always led a fairly expensive lifestyle and I needed the money. I started delivering pizzas on weekends for extra beer money and such. By pure accident, I wound up in charge of the pizza place and quit my job at the customs broker. At the age of nineteen, I had my first general manager job, at Pizza Hut.
We did annual performance reviews of the hourly employees back then. Those who got a poor review received no pay raise. Those with an acceptable review got a nickel an hour. Those who got a good review got a dime. I was allowed three "exceptional" reviews among my thirty employees, netting those people a whopping fifteen cent hourly raise. It's pathetic, I know, but that was the system. My typical employee worked around twenty hours a week. The vast majority got the ten cents, because the money they made was so pitiful and I appreciated the work they did. I was a GM at Pizza Hut for two years, meaning I went through this process twice while I was there.
Both times, I lost a handful of employees because they didn't get the fifteen cent raise. Let's think about this for a second. At twenty hours a week - Five cents equals a dollar raise. Ten cents equals two dollars. Fifteen cents equals three dollars. I shit you not. I had employees, who had always enjoyed their jobs, quit... over a dollar a week.
The majority went to other pizza places in the area. I know for a fact that Little Caesar's, where a few of them ended up, was starting people at minimum wage. I used to have beers with their GM on Sunday nights. So these people went from a job that started at $6/hr to a job that started at $5.15/hr, simply to protest the extra dollar a week that they thought they deserved. Inevitably, they would come into Pizza Hut and order breadsticks or something, so they could hang around and tell their friends how great they had it elsewhere. Then they would be asking me for a job in a few months because they were only getting ten hours a week at their new places of employment. If I had an opening I would take them back. If not, I wouldn't.
What is my point here? People are not always intelligent when it comes to their work and their pay. The sense of personal entitlement that these teenagers felt caused them to make irrational and emotional decisions regarding their employment. It seems painfully obvious to me that many people never outgrow this sense of personal entitlement. So, when they determine (for whatever reason) that they deserve something, they continue to make irrational and emotional decisions. There have been no changes related to the merger with ConWay, save the trucks being turned down to 65mph. If this was a good job six months ago, it's a good job now. If it sucks now, it sucked six months ago. If it was better to work at Little Caesar's than it was to work at Pizza Hut, then this was true before the performance review. Yet the changes, or lack thereof, spawned the discontent.
People also don't seem to outgrow the need to "stop by" their old employer and tell everyone how glad they are to have left. I'm not going to blast any trucking companies here, because I don't know enough about them or how they work for a given employee. I will say that people who will blast CFI for turning the trucks to 65mph, and then pimp a (nameless) company that is going to 62mph, are not very bright. People who will go to a company that pays teams less than CFI does, simply because pet owners don't have to "earn" the same pay as non-pet owners, are not very bright. People who will criticize CFI's "benefits" for things like a lack of vision coverage, when vision coverage typically provides savings exactly equal to the premiums paid, are not very bright. So, when you see them inevitably spout off about how bad CFI sucks now, my best advice would be to consider the source. They weren't saying that a few months ago and it was the same job at that time.
In summary, don't stay away from CFI because some people are factually challenged. Stay away because I don't want you taking my miles.
Cheers.
Atta boy Vito!!! great post...
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