Who do I really want to be right now? Am I the Christian lad who always tries to remember that God will test us sometimes? To some extent, yes. Am I a pissed-off working class stiff who thinks the world is out to get me? Not really, no. Am I some kind of zen weirdo who needs to meditate on the deeper meaning of it all? Nah, I think I just need a beer and I can't have a drink out here. My patience is wearing thin.
I woke up this morning and finished the run into the Fort Worth suburbs. Some of the farmland along the way looked like the mighty Mississippi roaring through. I've seen flooded fields plenty of times, but the velocity with which this water was flowing seemed truly amazing. There were a few spots where the flooding actually consumed the right lane of the interstate, but the traffic was light enough that there weren't any real delays. One brief rainstorm crossed my path, but it got the bugs off the windshield so it was all good.
At the customer I was told to drop my loaded trailer against the building and given the number of an empty to retrieve. Drop along the building, check. Pick up empty... no. That empty wasn't there. I headed back to the guard booth to ask if I could just grab any empty. No, it had to be entered into the computer, so here was another to try. Back to the lot... no. That one wasn't there either. Back to the guard. Here's another to try.
At this point, I heard the little devil on my shoulder whispering to me. My truck has a 13-speed Eaton Fuller transmission. Thirteen forward gears and, more importantly at that moment, two reverse gears. I had never used the high reverse gear before, but there was nothing but an empty lot behind me and I was in the mood, so up went the divider and out went the clutch. Freaking sweet! This truck hauls ass in reverse if you let it. I have no earthly idea why they would make a truck go that fast in reverse but it was pretty fun.
The third time was the charm in terms of finding my assigned empty, but the trailer itself was sorely lacking in the charm department. We've bought a lot of new trailers from Wabash in Lafayette, Indiana over the last year. This one is brand new. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to me, the wheel seals seem to be a problem with these new trailers. My left front wheel had grease all over the inside and the hub seal appeared to be the culprit. I'm not a mechanic and I don't play one on the internet, but a leaking hub seal is a problem so I had to make a call to road service. I could go ahead and bitch about the asshole who dropped off a trailer with a bad wheel, but what's the difference at this point? They told me to go to either the T/A in Denton or the one on the south side of Dallas. Since I was already north of Fort Worth, Denton sounded like the logical choice.
I started north on 35W and made a call to the Lancaster terminal. I needed to apprise the dispatcher there of the trailer situation. "Why are they sending you to Denton?" Um, cause it's closer than the south side of Dallas? "But that's (south Dallas) where we are." Um, are you going to fix my trailer wheel? "Fine, I'll dispatch you to Denton then." I have no idea what in the hell that was all about. Maybe she just really wanted to see me. Who knows?
I got to the T/A and went inside to tell the shop what I needed. They were training a new guy and, even though he looked the part of the mechanic, he knew less about trucks than I do. That's saying a lot. Between waiting for CFI's road service department to answer the phone and explaining to this moron that my tire is fine (hub and tire are not the same thing), it was a lengthy process. They then told me that it would be a couple of hours and they would call my cell phone when they had a bay for me.
I went out to the lot, parked the truck, and headed in for some gourmet Taco Bell cuisine. Soft tacos with no lettuce, one of life's simple pleasures... An hour went by, then two, then three, four, four and a half, what the fuck? I was on the phone with a friend of mine when my brother beeped in to share his thoughts on Brady Quinn's pro debut. My brother drove down from Detroit to Cleveland to watch the game and said the place went nuts for Quinn's performance, albeit in a mop-up role. I talked with him for a few minutes, then clicked back over and told my friend I needed to head in and see what these people were doing. At that moment the shop beeped in and told me to pull the truck around.
When I got around to the back of the shop I saw that it was going to be a tricky entry. The way the shop is situated, I had to make a pretty tight u-turn back toward the bays and cleared the concrete post outside the entrance by four or five inches. If the shop were in the same location, but the bays faced the side, you could pull right in and out, no worries. Whatever man, I'm not an architect either. Once inside, the guy did about a 30 second repair and then gave me the bill for $80. Quite a racket these guys are in. I signed for the work to be put on CFI's account and then got back on the board, at #5.
So here I am, wondering if I'm on candid camera or just having a string of bad luck. Another wasted day in the books, and I'd almost feel better about it if someone was watching on TV and enjoying a good laugh at my expense. With only four trucks ahead of me and a ton of hours available to me, I should have a chance at a nice day of work tomorrow. Since I'm not exactly a fan of the planners in Joplin, I can hold out some hope that the local dispatchers in Lancaster can do a better job of utilizing my time. I don't imagine I should expect much, but a boy can dream, right?
Three days into the pay period, I'm just over $500. A good few days of running should have me on my way to making up some ground on the last pay period, so that's what I'm hoping to see.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
8/17/07
Old El Paso... Got to the customer a little early today and checked in. The load was assigned to me as a drop/hook, but there were no CFI trailers at the customer. The guy told me to back into one of two docks, neither of which looked like much fun. I had to blindside in around a trailer and next to a fence, with very little room to pull forward. With a little care and a few trips to the back of the trailer to check things out, it went fine.
Since he told me to back it into a dock, I assumed that the trailer was going to be unloaded. After sitting at the dock for a bit, I saw the guy standing on the dock waving at me. I walked back and he asked if I knew I was dropping the trailer there. No, I didn't know that, not exactly at least. Since there was no trailer to hook, I didn't think I would be making the drop/hook. No big deal. I lowered the landing gear, unhooked, and went on my way.
When I got on the board, I was number 15. That's not a real good sign in El Paso, as weekend freight there tends to be on the lighter side. When I got to number 10, I received a load assignment. To me, that meant one of two things. Either none of the drivers ahead of me had enough hours available to pull the load, or the 'planners' had my truck noted as one that has been low on miles in recent weeks. Either way, it was a good-looking run. It picked up in El Paso and delivered Monday morning in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Then, a second drop in Ohio would follow on Tuesday morning. It was going to be nice to actually have something to keep me busy for a few days. It was going to be nice. Alas, when I started toward the customer, I received a message saying that the load had been cancelled and I was back on the board.
I was number 9 on the board at that point, so I pulled into McDonald's for some lunch. Since I was close enough to the Petro to catch the Siricomm wifi network, I signed up for one day of access and hung out there. My Sprint Mobile Broadband service in El Paso is terribly slow, so I paid $6.95 for the day of wifi service. I had some personal matters to tend, and they involved uploading some e-mail attachments. I needed a decent throughput to get everything done. As I sat in my seat, a whore approached my truck. I had the windows up and the air on, so I just gave her the 'get away from me' wave. She stepped up on the step of my truck, so I gave her a more obvious 'leave me the fuck alone' wave. What followed next was hilarious. She stepped off the truck, reared back, and hocked a big-ass loogie on my door. I'm not sure what would be the appropriate response, but I started laughing my ass off. Just when you think you've seen it all...
When my load assignment finally came through, I was a little disappointed but I'll try to stay optimistic. I had to go back to our yard and grab a trailer that had just arrived, then take it to Roanoke, Texas for tomorrow afternoon. The run itself is a good one, over 600 miles for one day of driving. The trouble is that I will wind up on the board in Lancaster on a Saturday. That has not been a good thing lately, from what I've heard. I guess we'll see soon enough.
I ran out of hours on my 14 hour clock in Midland, so I'll get rolling from here in the morning. I get a chuckle out of certain things as I roll along. Get a load of this one. The speed limit for cars in West Texas is 80mph during the day. That's well enough. There are long stretches to cover and not much traffic. The funny thing is that most of the roads, for a pretty long stretch, just dead-end at the interstate with a stop sign. No on ramp, no off ramp. Just stop at the 80mph interstate and take a right.
Anyhow, I have a splitting headache right now so I think I'll take a few Tylenols and try to get a decent night's sleep.
Since he told me to back it into a dock, I assumed that the trailer was going to be unloaded. After sitting at the dock for a bit, I saw the guy standing on the dock waving at me. I walked back and he asked if I knew I was dropping the trailer there. No, I didn't know that, not exactly at least. Since there was no trailer to hook, I didn't think I would be making the drop/hook. No big deal. I lowered the landing gear, unhooked, and went on my way.
When I got on the board, I was number 15. That's not a real good sign in El Paso, as weekend freight there tends to be on the lighter side. When I got to number 10, I received a load assignment. To me, that meant one of two things. Either none of the drivers ahead of me had enough hours available to pull the load, or the 'planners' had my truck noted as one that has been low on miles in recent weeks. Either way, it was a good-looking run. It picked up in El Paso and delivered Monday morning in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Then, a second drop in Ohio would follow on Tuesday morning. It was going to be nice to actually have something to keep me busy for a few days. It was going to be nice. Alas, when I started toward the customer, I received a message saying that the load had been cancelled and I was back on the board.
I was number 9 on the board at that point, so I pulled into McDonald's for some lunch. Since I was close enough to the Petro to catch the Siricomm wifi network, I signed up for one day of access and hung out there. My Sprint Mobile Broadband service in El Paso is terribly slow, so I paid $6.95 for the day of wifi service. I had some personal matters to tend, and they involved uploading some e-mail attachments. I needed a decent throughput to get everything done. As I sat in my seat, a whore approached my truck. I had the windows up and the air on, so I just gave her the 'get away from me' wave. She stepped up on the step of my truck, so I gave her a more obvious 'leave me the fuck alone' wave. What followed next was hilarious. She stepped off the truck, reared back, and hocked a big-ass loogie on my door. I'm not sure what would be the appropriate response, but I started laughing my ass off. Just when you think you've seen it all...
When my load assignment finally came through, I was a little disappointed but I'll try to stay optimistic. I had to go back to our yard and grab a trailer that had just arrived, then take it to Roanoke, Texas for tomorrow afternoon. The run itself is a good one, over 600 miles for one day of driving. The trouble is that I will wind up on the board in Lancaster on a Saturday. That has not been a good thing lately, from what I've heard. I guess we'll see soon enough.
I ran out of hours on my 14 hour clock in Midland, so I'll get rolling from here in the morning. I get a chuckle out of certain things as I roll along. Get a load of this one. The speed limit for cars in West Texas is 80mph during the day. That's well enough. There are long stretches to cover and not much traffic. The funny thing is that most of the roads, for a pretty long stretch, just dead-end at the interstate with a stop sign. No on ramp, no off ramp. Just stop at the 80mph interstate and take a right.
Anyhow, I have a splitting headache right now so I think I'll take a few Tylenols and try to get a decent night's sleep.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
8/16/07
Oh boy, where to begin? Apparently I got fed up last night and decided to post a pretty rude sarcastic jab at the load planners in a private discussion forum last night. I made myself chuckle, but apparently some of the higher-ups at CFI failed to see the humor. Whatever man, people are too damn sensitive.
Remember that mystical 'other truck' that I seemed to anticipate but the planners didn't? Yeah, well he left with an empty this morning before I was loaded, after arriving 24 hours after me. The old Don was not a happy camper to say the least. It's been well over a year since I slugged someone in the mouth. My mom says I'm maturing and my grandmother says I'm becoming a pussy. Either way, it was probably a good thing that I was alone this morning.
After checking in, and checking in again, and checking in again, I finally was told, "They're loading it now, you'll be ready in an hour." I fired off a sarcastic message via satellite to my fleet manager:
"Customer says another hour, in case anyone cares."
The response was actually enough to make me feel a little guilty, as my fleet manager was not the one who put me in that predicament. "I care, thanks for letting me know." Simple and sincere can go a long way sometimes.
Once I finally got rolling it seemed more like I was a truck driver again. I covered a full eleven hours of driving, plus a fuel stop in Amarillo. The ride was a pretty uneventful one, aside from a great deal of fatigue from the scheduling snafu.
I did manage to come up with an awesome CD while I should have been sleeping last night. Whenever I toss a CD together, the results can be pretty sketchy, but I was so pleased with today's result I think I'll share it now:
Pogues - And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda
Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend
Ted Nugent - Fred Bear
Buckcherry - Crazy Bitch
Chieftains w/Sinead O'Connor - The Foggy Dew
Pink - U & UR Hand
Nickelback - Rock Star
Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
Steely Dan - Deacon Blues
Offspring - Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)
Skid Row - 18 & Life
Flogging Molly - Drink And Fight
Green Day - Basketcase
Tenacious D - Fuck Her Gently
Tom Petty - Free Fallin'
Johnny Cash - Streets of Laredo
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California
Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
If you get a kick out of that blend, you might be allright.
Remember that mystical 'other truck' that I seemed to anticipate but the planners didn't? Yeah, well he left with an empty this morning before I was loaded, after arriving 24 hours after me. The old Don was not a happy camper to say the least. It's been well over a year since I slugged someone in the mouth. My mom says I'm maturing and my grandmother says I'm becoming a pussy. Either way, it was probably a good thing that I was alone this morning.
After checking in, and checking in again, and checking in again, I finally was told, "They're loading it now, you'll be ready in an hour." I fired off a sarcastic message via satellite to my fleet manager:
"Customer says another hour, in case anyone cares."
The response was actually enough to make me feel a little guilty, as my fleet manager was not the one who put me in that predicament. "I care, thanks for letting me know." Simple and sincere can go a long way sometimes.
Once I finally got rolling it seemed more like I was a truck driver again. I covered a full eleven hours of driving, plus a fuel stop in Amarillo. The ride was a pretty uneventful one, aside from a great deal of fatigue from the scheduling snafu.
I did manage to come up with an awesome CD while I should have been sleeping last night. Whenever I toss a CD together, the results can be pretty sketchy, but I was so pleased with today's result I think I'll share it now:
Pogues - And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda
Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend
Ted Nugent - Fred Bear
Buckcherry - Crazy Bitch
Chieftains w/Sinead O'Connor - The Foggy Dew
Pink - U & UR Hand
Nickelback - Rock Star
Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
Steely Dan - Deacon Blues
Offspring - Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)
Skid Row - 18 & Life
Flogging Molly - Drink And Fight
Green Day - Basketcase
Tenacious D - Fuck Her Gently
Tom Petty - Free Fallin'
Johnny Cash - Streets of Laredo
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California
Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
If you get a kick out of that blend, you might be allright.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
8/15/07
I think this is the first time in quite a long time that I've been downright pissed at my employer. Most of the time, things just happen and it's best to take them with a grain of salt. Today, I'm pretty sure I got a hosejob and I'm not happy about it. The few times I've really gotten screwed out here, they seem to have made an effort to make it right. My fleet manager will have some splainin to do in the morning, so we'll see.
After waking up in the drop lot at Mercury Marine in Stillwater, I logged on to check my board status. Still #1. Okay, sounds like we'll be moving shortly. A couple of hours went by and I got my beep. Okay, pickup, Stillwater, Oklahoma, deliver, El Paso, Texas. Not bad, over 750 miles, should be a good trip. Pickup time 8/16 00:01, pickup location Mercury Marine? Now that's bullshit. I have to sit here all day and wait for a load, when anyone with half a brain knows we'll have other drivers headed this way. So, it's a drop/hook, maybe it's ready early. I headed over to the shipping office. "That load's for tomorrow." Tomorrow as in after midnight tonight, or tomorrow? "I don't know, it's not here today, I can tell you that much."
So, what to do, what to do? I headed over to Applebee's for lunch. Nicki was absolutely lovely and did a great job. Then to the movies. Nothing good playing, screw it. Over to WalMart for a few supplies. Um, wait a minute. Since when is WalMart a place to see hot young tail all over the place, and buying beer? Where I live, WalMart is a collection of toothless pregnant meth addicts. This was a strange occurrence to me. Yeah, the old Don can be a little slow on the uptake from time to time. Orange shirts, cowboys, I get it. It's a college town. If I were ten years younger, the folks at CFI might have gotten a free pass on the screwjob they pulled on me here.
Since I had to pick up at midnight and cover a lot of miles, I hit the bunk for a while. I woke up not long ago and headed back over to Mercury Marine. Yeah, when the guy this afternoon said, "Tomorrow," he meant tomorrow, as in not midnight. So now I'm pretty much fucked. I just slept most of the evening away, I'm wide awake, and I have to try somehow to get some sleep before tomorrow morning.
My paycheck is under $2,000 for the first time since I reached my current pay level. My miles are below 5,000 for the first time since I started at CFI. Neither of these is really a huge deal. In context, the fact that it took this long to have a subpar pay period probably reflects quite well on CFI and its ability to get its drivers the miles they need. The thing that pisses me off is that the last few days have been so poorly managed that I never should have had a subpar pay period in the first place. Even a marginally competent planner could have gotten me a few hundred miles somewhere along the way. Instead, here I am.
After waking up in the drop lot at Mercury Marine in Stillwater, I logged on to check my board status. Still #1. Okay, sounds like we'll be moving shortly. A couple of hours went by and I got my beep. Okay, pickup, Stillwater, Oklahoma, deliver, El Paso, Texas. Not bad, over 750 miles, should be a good trip. Pickup time 8/16 00:01, pickup location Mercury Marine? Now that's bullshit. I have to sit here all day and wait for a load, when anyone with half a brain knows we'll have other drivers headed this way. So, it's a drop/hook, maybe it's ready early. I headed over to the shipping office. "That load's for tomorrow." Tomorrow as in after midnight tonight, or tomorrow? "I don't know, it's not here today, I can tell you that much."
So, what to do, what to do? I headed over to Applebee's for lunch. Nicki was absolutely lovely and did a great job. Then to the movies. Nothing good playing, screw it. Over to WalMart for a few supplies. Um, wait a minute. Since when is WalMart a place to see hot young tail all over the place, and buying beer? Where I live, WalMart is a collection of toothless pregnant meth addicts. This was a strange occurrence to me. Yeah, the old Don can be a little slow on the uptake from time to time. Orange shirts, cowboys, I get it. It's a college town. If I were ten years younger, the folks at CFI might have gotten a free pass on the screwjob they pulled on me here.
Since I had to pick up at midnight and cover a lot of miles, I hit the bunk for a while. I woke up not long ago and headed back over to Mercury Marine. Yeah, when the guy this afternoon said, "Tomorrow," he meant tomorrow, as in not midnight. So now I'm pretty much fucked. I just slept most of the evening away, I'm wide awake, and I have to try somehow to get some sleep before tomorrow morning.
My paycheck is under $2,000 for the first time since I reached my current pay level. My miles are below 5,000 for the first time since I started at CFI. Neither of these is really a huge deal. In context, the fact that it took this long to have a subpar pay period probably reflects quite well on CFI and its ability to get its drivers the miles they need. The thing that pisses me off is that the last few days have been so poorly managed that I never should have had a subpar pay period in the first place. Even a marginally competent planner could have gotten me a few hundred miles somewhere along the way. Instead, here I am.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
8/14/07
"Rollin' down the street, smokin' indo, sippin' on gin & juice... Laid back, with my mind on my money and my money on my mind..."
XM 90's on 9 has had a pretty steady supply of songs lately that remind me of when the white boys in the suburbs were all gangstas. It was all so fun back then, before the guys actually started killing each other.
So anyway, first thing this morning, I got the knock to pull into the tractor shop. They replaced the shock and wheel seal and then sent me to the other end for MobileMax repairs. Apparently the issue with the MobileMax was that my unit was constantly sending gibberish over the satellite link and tying up CFI's system. Oh, and they didn't turn my truck down. So much for my conspiracy theory. Concerning the MobileMax, they didn't play any games today. I got a new transceiver dome, a new CPU, and a new software upgrade. So far, so good. All of the issues I've had before seem to be corrected.
I hightailed it from there over to driver services and got on the board. Lucky number... 31. Shit! I was hoping there wouldn't be that many people ahead of me. So, I took my time getting things done over the course of the day. My laundry is all April fresh. The washers and dryers in Joplin are fifty cents each and the company provides detergent, so it's always good to knock out a few loads whenever I pass through. I hauled my fat ass into the gym for a while. There is a pretty nice setup down there and nobody ever uses it. Maybe they should install more mirrors around the terminal. That might encourage some people, but I digress. I got my permit book updated, and they gave me a lovely new binder in place of the old one that I handed in. I got a long hot shower and a nice nap. I visited the wash bay, so my truck is no longer the filthiest on the highway. Overall, it was a productive day in every way except driving.
When my turn came up I was given three choices. I could deadhead to Kansas City and go on the board. I could deliver to Stillwater, Oklahoma for tomorrow morning. Or I could make two drops in the metro Dallas area for tomorrow morning. So, essentially, I had to choose whether to eat dogshit, catshit, or pigshit for dinner. I'm pretty sure none of them will taste good, but I have no idea which one will taste the best of the three. I was on the KC board a few days ago and there was not much freight. No thanks. People have been waiting around for quite a while in the Dallas area lately as well. No thanks. I chose the 180 mile run to Stillwater.
It was a nice mellow ride over, with very little traffic. When I got here tonight, I was told to go ahead and drop at the dock, then come back around to the drop lot and get an empty. "And you're welcome to spend the night out there," said the kind sir. Well thank you my good man. The paycheck, as it currently stands, is at $1,905, so I need 264 miles tomorrow in order to avoid a sub-$2,000 pay period. We shall see.
XM 90's on 9 has had a pretty steady supply of songs lately that remind me of when the white boys in the suburbs were all gangstas. It was all so fun back then, before the guys actually started killing each other.
So anyway, first thing this morning, I got the knock to pull into the tractor shop. They replaced the shock and wheel seal and then sent me to the other end for MobileMax repairs. Apparently the issue with the MobileMax was that my unit was constantly sending gibberish over the satellite link and tying up CFI's system. Oh, and they didn't turn my truck down. So much for my conspiracy theory. Concerning the MobileMax, they didn't play any games today. I got a new transceiver dome, a new CPU, and a new software upgrade. So far, so good. All of the issues I've had before seem to be corrected.
I hightailed it from there over to driver services and got on the board. Lucky number... 31. Shit! I was hoping there wouldn't be that many people ahead of me. So, I took my time getting things done over the course of the day. My laundry is all April fresh. The washers and dryers in Joplin are fifty cents each and the company provides detergent, so it's always good to knock out a few loads whenever I pass through. I hauled my fat ass into the gym for a while. There is a pretty nice setup down there and nobody ever uses it. Maybe they should install more mirrors around the terminal. That might encourage some people, but I digress. I got my permit book updated, and they gave me a lovely new binder in place of the old one that I handed in. I got a long hot shower and a nice nap. I visited the wash bay, so my truck is no longer the filthiest on the highway. Overall, it was a productive day in every way except driving.
When my turn came up I was given three choices. I could deadhead to Kansas City and go on the board. I could deliver to Stillwater, Oklahoma for tomorrow morning. Or I could make two drops in the metro Dallas area for tomorrow morning. So, essentially, I had to choose whether to eat dogshit, catshit, or pigshit for dinner. I'm pretty sure none of them will taste good, but I have no idea which one will taste the best of the three. I was on the KC board a few days ago and there was not much freight. No thanks. People have been waiting around for quite a while in the Dallas area lately as well. No thanks. I chose the 180 mile run to Stillwater.
It was a nice mellow ride over, with very little traffic. When I got here tonight, I was told to go ahead and drop at the dock, then come back around to the drop lot and get an empty. "And you're welcome to spend the night out there," said the kind sir. Well thank you my good man. The paycheck, as it currently stands, is at $1,905, so I need 264 miles tomorrow in order to avoid a sub-$2,000 pay period. We shall see.
Monday, August 13, 2007
8/13/07
Even on a day when I didn't cover a ton of miles and I have no idea how long I'll be stuck in Joplin, things have a more positive feel when you know in advance what to expect. Going into today, I knew I had a delivery appointment so there was no need to arrive way early. I knew where and when I was picking up next, so there was no need to look for a place to sit and wait. I had my routes mapped out in advance, so I knew where I could stop for lunch. I knew I would be in the shop tonight, so I could jot down a few of the things I've been meaning to get done. It's just a shame that most days aren't planned like this.
I headed over to the customer in Wichita and checked in at 7am. My appointment was for 7:30 so they directed me to park on a side street and put my CB on channel 30. When I told the lady that my CB was broken, she told me that they would send the yard dog to get me when they were ready. Around 8am, he came around and told me to go back where I started and wait for the truck ahead of me to leave the dock, then back in. It didn't take too long for my turn to come up. Backing in proved to be more of an adventure than I had bargained for. The dock was around the side of a building and at a slight angle back toward the building. That was no problem, but at that time of day my mirror may as well have been the sun itself. Every time I tried to check my alignment, I was nearly blinded. Hanging my head out the window did little good, as the angle of the dock caused the trailer to be mostly out of my sight. As a result, I had to stop and get out a few times to get some idea of where I was going.
The unloading took about a half hour and I was good to go. No waiting around for the next dispatch since I knew where I was headed. When I stopped for lunch, I wound up chatting with another CFI driver for a while. He was an older guy who has worked here forever. We shot the breeze for a little while, which was a nice way to kill the time before my next appointment. I drove the last thirty miles to McPherson and went inside to check in.
My appointment was scheduled as a drop & hook. The only thing that sucked was that the drop part happened as soon as I got there and the hook part was two hours later. The lady told me to park in the bobtail area and set my CB to channel 20. So yeah, "We'll send the yard driver to get you when your load is ready." I love it.
As I was lying in the bunk and playing Hearts (got my win percentage back up to 41%, BTW) I had a strange feeling that I should look outside. No sooner did I take a peek than a dude in a beat-up old Peterbilt was about to take my fender off as he tried to back into the dock. I blew the horn to get his attention and then scooted my truck out of the way. The customer required us to have the trailer wheels moved all the way back before dropping, so he had moved them back and then started backing in. As a result, his arc was way wider than it needed to be and my parked truck was in the line of fire. Common sense would seem to suggest that you get squared away in the dock and then slide the tires, but I guess common sense isn't always common.
The trailer that I picked up had some wires hanging down on the ground, so I crawled under to take a look. One of the springs that supports the wires and hoses had broken and someone had used a rubber strap as a stand-in. That's a sensible enough effort, but the rubber strap had come loose and the wires had dragged on the ground, wearing almost all the way through. I'm no mechanic, but that doesn't sound good to me. I checked and double-checked the lights and brakes. Since they were fine, the load was light, and the trip would be short, I decided to use some zip ties to secure the wires and go ahead with the load. The guys in Joplin could do what they had to do once I got there.
They're drilling another hole in that Utah mine and expect it to take the rest of the week. Then they might have to drill another one. Why in the hell don't they drill a few holes at the same time? Is there only one drill in this country?
Sorry about that, random thought. Anyway... One constant exists whenever I come to Joplin. The guys in the shop are way better at inspecting things than I am. I knew I had one tire that was about due for replacement and another that could probably be swapped out sometime soon. They flagged both tires, so that was good. They also found a leaking shock and a leaking wheel seal, neither of which I had noticed. Combined with the MobileMax repair that was the reason for my trip here, this could be a long night in the shop. The guys in the inspection bay also replaced both my headlights, although they were working fine. My truck has 311,000 miles on it, so maybe it was just a scheduled thing to do. I don't know.
When I tried to explain the issue with the wires under the trailer, I got the typical "You're just a driver, shut up and let us check it out" attitude from the guy. While he certainly didn't use those words, the message was clear. Eventually he got to the part where he checks the ABS system on the trailer. I stepped on the brakes, the light didn't come on. He replaced the ABS indicator light. I stepped on the brakes again, the light failed to come on again. He looked confused. Duh, maybe that wire that was worn in half had something to do with it? They flagged the trailer for ABS repairs. The guys in the trailer shop can figure it out. Screw 'em, at least I tried to help.
Since the trailer had to go in for work, I decided to hit the tire shop before I headed over to drop off the bills for the load I was hauling. For the drive tire, they were searching around for a used one that would match up with the others in terms of tread wear. Since this truck has about six months or so until it is traded in, I can only guess they didn't want to put a brand new drive tire on to go with three used ones. The right steer tire needed to be replaced as well, so I was a little perplexed when he started pulling the lugs off of the left one. Apparently the tire that I got form the shop in O'Fallon a while back has a deeper tread than the ones CFI is currently buying. Therefore, they put two matching new steer tires on for me. Okay, cool with me.
Then on to the tractor shop to check in with them. Wheel seal, shock, MobileMax, anything else? No, I just needed to stop by the parts department and get a new key made. I asked the Kenworth dealer in Michigan for one a while back, but they're basically a bunch of buffoons and they forgot.
So, I've dropped off my bills and now the waiting game begins. With 4,727 miles as I type this, I may very well be on my way to my first sub-5,500 mile paycheck. I'll have tomorrow and Wednesday to work with, so we'll just have to see. I do have some extra stop pay on this check, so even if I don't crack the 5,500 mark my pay should exceed $2,000, which is my self-imposed floor.
I'll use the time here to get some laundry done, clean the truck out real thoroughly, get the outside washed, hit the gym for a much-needed workout, and try to get some decent sleep for a change. Hopefully I'll be rolling somewhat early tomorrow so I can cover some miles.
I headed over to the customer in Wichita and checked in at 7am. My appointment was for 7:30 so they directed me to park on a side street and put my CB on channel 30. When I told the lady that my CB was broken, she told me that they would send the yard dog to get me when they were ready. Around 8am, he came around and told me to go back where I started and wait for the truck ahead of me to leave the dock, then back in. It didn't take too long for my turn to come up. Backing in proved to be more of an adventure than I had bargained for. The dock was around the side of a building and at a slight angle back toward the building. That was no problem, but at that time of day my mirror may as well have been the sun itself. Every time I tried to check my alignment, I was nearly blinded. Hanging my head out the window did little good, as the angle of the dock caused the trailer to be mostly out of my sight. As a result, I had to stop and get out a few times to get some idea of where I was going.
The unloading took about a half hour and I was good to go. No waiting around for the next dispatch since I knew where I was headed. When I stopped for lunch, I wound up chatting with another CFI driver for a while. He was an older guy who has worked here forever. We shot the breeze for a little while, which was a nice way to kill the time before my next appointment. I drove the last thirty miles to McPherson and went inside to check in.
My appointment was scheduled as a drop & hook. The only thing that sucked was that the drop part happened as soon as I got there and the hook part was two hours later. The lady told me to park in the bobtail area and set my CB to channel 20. So yeah, "We'll send the yard driver to get you when your load is ready." I love it.
As I was lying in the bunk and playing Hearts (got my win percentage back up to 41%, BTW) I had a strange feeling that I should look outside. No sooner did I take a peek than a dude in a beat-up old Peterbilt was about to take my fender off as he tried to back into the dock. I blew the horn to get his attention and then scooted my truck out of the way. The customer required us to have the trailer wheels moved all the way back before dropping, so he had moved them back and then started backing in. As a result, his arc was way wider than it needed to be and my parked truck was in the line of fire. Common sense would seem to suggest that you get squared away in the dock and then slide the tires, but I guess common sense isn't always common.
The trailer that I picked up had some wires hanging down on the ground, so I crawled under to take a look. One of the springs that supports the wires and hoses had broken and someone had used a rubber strap as a stand-in. That's a sensible enough effort, but the rubber strap had come loose and the wires had dragged on the ground, wearing almost all the way through. I'm no mechanic, but that doesn't sound good to me. I checked and double-checked the lights and brakes. Since they were fine, the load was light, and the trip would be short, I decided to use some zip ties to secure the wires and go ahead with the load. The guys in Joplin could do what they had to do once I got there.
They're drilling another hole in that Utah mine and expect it to take the rest of the week. Then they might have to drill another one. Why in the hell don't they drill a few holes at the same time? Is there only one drill in this country?
Sorry about that, random thought. Anyway... One constant exists whenever I come to Joplin. The guys in the shop are way better at inspecting things than I am. I knew I had one tire that was about due for replacement and another that could probably be swapped out sometime soon. They flagged both tires, so that was good. They also found a leaking shock and a leaking wheel seal, neither of which I had noticed. Combined with the MobileMax repair that was the reason for my trip here, this could be a long night in the shop. The guys in the inspection bay also replaced both my headlights, although they were working fine. My truck has 311,000 miles on it, so maybe it was just a scheduled thing to do. I don't know.
When I tried to explain the issue with the wires under the trailer, I got the typical "You're just a driver, shut up and let us check it out" attitude from the guy. While he certainly didn't use those words, the message was clear. Eventually he got to the part where he checks the ABS system on the trailer. I stepped on the brakes, the light didn't come on. He replaced the ABS indicator light. I stepped on the brakes again, the light failed to come on again. He looked confused. Duh, maybe that wire that was worn in half had something to do with it? They flagged the trailer for ABS repairs. The guys in the trailer shop can figure it out. Screw 'em, at least I tried to help.
Since the trailer had to go in for work, I decided to hit the tire shop before I headed over to drop off the bills for the load I was hauling. For the drive tire, they were searching around for a used one that would match up with the others in terms of tread wear. Since this truck has about six months or so until it is traded in, I can only guess they didn't want to put a brand new drive tire on to go with three used ones. The right steer tire needed to be replaced as well, so I was a little perplexed when he started pulling the lugs off of the left one. Apparently the tire that I got form the shop in O'Fallon a while back has a deeper tread than the ones CFI is currently buying. Therefore, they put two matching new steer tires on for me. Okay, cool with me.
Then on to the tractor shop to check in with them. Wheel seal, shock, MobileMax, anything else? No, I just needed to stop by the parts department and get a new key made. I asked the Kenworth dealer in Michigan for one a while back, but they're basically a bunch of buffoons and they forgot.
So, I've dropped off my bills and now the waiting game begins. With 4,727 miles as I type this, I may very well be on my way to my first sub-5,500 mile paycheck. I'll have tomorrow and Wednesday to work with, so we'll just have to see. I do have some extra stop pay on this check, so even if I don't crack the 5,500 mark my pay should exceed $2,000, which is my self-imposed floor.
I'll use the time here to get some laundry done, clean the truck out real thoroughly, get the outside washed, hit the gym for a much-needed workout, and try to get some decent sleep for a change. Hopefully I'll be rolling somewhat early tomorrow so I can cover some miles.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
8/12/07
One of the lessons I learned early on in life was to manage expectations. In this business, I find that it's best to expect very little. That way, if things go well, I'm pleasantly surprised. If not, I was prepared anyway. Today I woke up expecting the worst.
Worst-case scenario for me today would have been to receive a dispatch to Joplin after spending the day yesterday sitting a couple hundred miles away. As such, I fully expected this to be the outcome. After all, I find that the 'planners' operate much more in a reactionary manner than in a forward-looking manner. A typical decision would be to see the computer screen indicating my truck highlighted for Joplin and to react by sending me to Joplin.
Alas, my lowly expectations were greatly exceeded. I was dispatched instead to pick up a load at our drop lot in Kansas City and take it to Wichita. Now, in a perfect world this information would have been conveyed to me yesterday, but we're starting from minimal expectations, remember? So instead of no miles other than my deadhead to Joplin I got almost 400, plus the deadhead that was sure to follow.
I was pleased to see that our new Kansas City drop lot is much more suited to big trucks than the old one was. We used to have to make a hairpin turn off of a busy street, then navigate a weirdly configured lot in very tight quarters. The new one is actually designed as a drop lot for big trucks and sits back in an industrial park. Very nice.
The time it took to drop and hook at the lot was certainly less than pleasant under the wicked hot conditions. My mirror said 111 degrees at the time, and that was about how it felt. The loaded trailer was over 40,000 pounds and I had a hell of a time getting the tandem release pin pulled. I was in and out of the truck at least half a dozen times and sweating my balls off by the time all was said and done. Why the driver who dropped that trailer had the wheels so far back, I have no idea.
Anyhow, loaded and rolling for Wichita, I received my "Next planned load info." Yeah, yeah, I know, deadhead to Joplin. Nope. Another nice surprise. I'll be heading up to McPherson, Kansas and grabbing a load to take to Joplin. It doesn't add a ton of miles, but every little bit helps. By the time I get to Joplin, my gross pay for the month will be at roughly $1,830 with the 14th and 15th still to come. I like to treat $2,000 per check as the minimum, so that should be pretty easy to exceed.
I pulled into the last service plaza on the Kansas Turnpike in time to catch the last few holes of the PGA Championship. Grabbed some grub, turned the TV on, set the channels to 'auto-program' and started looking. No PGA Championship. I got eight channels, which isn't bad, but none of them had golf. I think we're really fortunate to have someone like Tiger Woods to watch. Someone who transcends a sport in the way that he does only comes along once in a generation, so I enjoy watching the major championships unfold. But today it just wasn't meant to be. Oh well.
For anyone looking for a different type of movie, I would recommend Mail Order Wife. I'm not going to ruin the plot for anybody who may want to check it out, but I will say it was refreshingly different from a lot of the crap that's out there these days.
Worst-case scenario for me today would have been to receive a dispatch to Joplin after spending the day yesterday sitting a couple hundred miles away. As such, I fully expected this to be the outcome. After all, I find that the 'planners' operate much more in a reactionary manner than in a forward-looking manner. A typical decision would be to see the computer screen indicating my truck highlighted for Joplin and to react by sending me to Joplin.
Alas, my lowly expectations were greatly exceeded. I was dispatched instead to pick up a load at our drop lot in Kansas City and take it to Wichita. Now, in a perfect world this information would have been conveyed to me yesterday, but we're starting from minimal expectations, remember? So instead of no miles other than my deadhead to Joplin I got almost 400, plus the deadhead that was sure to follow.
I was pleased to see that our new Kansas City drop lot is much more suited to big trucks than the old one was. We used to have to make a hairpin turn off of a busy street, then navigate a weirdly configured lot in very tight quarters. The new one is actually designed as a drop lot for big trucks and sits back in an industrial park. Very nice.
The time it took to drop and hook at the lot was certainly less than pleasant under the wicked hot conditions. My mirror said 111 degrees at the time, and that was about how it felt. The loaded trailer was over 40,000 pounds and I had a hell of a time getting the tandem release pin pulled. I was in and out of the truck at least half a dozen times and sweating my balls off by the time all was said and done. Why the driver who dropped that trailer had the wheels so far back, I have no idea.
Anyhow, loaded and rolling for Wichita, I received my "Next planned load info." Yeah, yeah, I know, deadhead to Joplin. Nope. Another nice surprise. I'll be heading up to McPherson, Kansas and grabbing a load to take to Joplin. It doesn't add a ton of miles, but every little bit helps. By the time I get to Joplin, my gross pay for the month will be at roughly $1,830 with the 14th and 15th still to come. I like to treat $2,000 per check as the minimum, so that should be pretty easy to exceed.
I pulled into the last service plaza on the Kansas Turnpike in time to catch the last few holes of the PGA Championship. Grabbed some grub, turned the TV on, set the channels to 'auto-program' and started looking. No PGA Championship. I got eight channels, which isn't bad, but none of them had golf. I think we're really fortunate to have someone like Tiger Woods to watch. Someone who transcends a sport in the way that he does only comes along once in a generation, so I enjoy watching the major championships unfold. But today it just wasn't meant to be. Oh well.
For anyone looking for a different type of movie, I would recommend Mail Order Wife. I'm not going to ruin the plot for anybody who may want to check it out, but I will say it was refreshingly different from a lot of the crap that's out there these days.
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