2/8/08

I think I should be pissed off right now, but honestly it's pretty damn amusing. It sounds like most people out here are worse off financially than I am, so I guess that plays a role. For a lot of people, these are the kinds of weeks that cause them to quit their jobs. They can't afford to have a bad week, so they overreact. Then they end up even worse off because they have to go through orientation with a new company and the first check is a few weeks away and all the rest of it. Honestly though, it just cracks me up that something so seemingly simple can be botched so badly.

When I went to bed last night, I actually thought I had been a little too hard on these guys, especially the Laredo dispatcher. He sent me a load assignment last night, with a 6,000 pound load going through Joplin. Considering that nobody at CTL seems to want to accept the fact that this truck shouldn't be pulling freight, I thought he had done a decent job of coming up with something light. It was pretty late and he dispatched me to be in Joplin Monday morning, so I went to bed and figured I would leave today.

This morning I was awakened by a phone call from the same dispatcher. He asked if the trailer that they assigned to me was loaded or empty. I told him I didn't know, as I had planned to hook to it today. So I went to check. Yeah, that trailer isn't here. So I went back on the board. He said "in the original spot" but I was #16 this morning when I checked, so I think he put me at the end of the line. Whatever.

This afternoon I got a plan summary for a load picking up here and relaying in Joplin. That sounds pretty good, right? Yeah, it is scheduled to be here at 00:30 MONDAY. I mean, what the fuck, seriously? I got here Tuesday evening man. I should have been dispatched at that time to bobtail to Joplin, arrived there Thursday, switched trucks, and gone about my business. CTL would have had to eat the cost of the miles and the fuel, which probably amounts to less than they'll spend in motel cost, layover pay and fuel by having me sit here in the 90 degree weather all week. Instead I spent two days waiting to get my truck fixed. My truck didn't get fixed. Then it will be another three days or so until I can leave, since apparently there is nothing coming through any sooner that would take me to Joplin. This is no way to do things. It's not like I requested time in Joplin or anything. When you request time off, you take what you get. No, they want this truck for trade-in. That's why I'm highlighted for Joplin. Since they're trading it, they didn't want to pay whatever it would have taken to get it fixed here (which sounds an awful lot like my original recommendation). That's why I'm still in Laredo. It's just one big comedy of inefficiency.

I spoke with my fleet manager earlier about a seperate pay issue on which I needed some clarification. He told me at that time that I would get the layover pay for having been here over 48 hours. That was when we thought I would be leaving today, so I guess now it will just be a lot more layover pay. I guess I can take some comfort in knowing that this shit hasn't happened to me before, and it shouldn't come up again for a long time. I like my job best when they just send me a load, I deliver it, and they send me another one. Nice and simple, no communication, no irrationality. I don't particularly like all of the phone calls and the weird decisions and all the rest of it. That stuff makes me think of better ways to do things, and that's not why I took this job. I prefer to be a trained monkey holding a steering wheel and nothing more.

The worst part about being stuck here really isn't the lost money for the week. I can afford that, even if I don't like it. The worst part is sitting around with nothing to do, so I wind up eating Mexican food all day. There are a few places down here that I really like, so I blow a bunch of money and get fat and all the rest of it. But hey, at least I'll be rested by the time I leave. Always look at the bright side, right?

Due to the structure of the layover pay system, I can't get that money paid until I get dispatched from here. I won't leave here until after this pay period ends. That means that my pay for the week will consist of a whopping 1,241 miles. What can you do? Get all worked up about it or just laugh it off and assume they'll make it up to me next week? I guess I'll take option 2. That seems easier to me.