6/10/08

For lack of a better description, this blows. My company requires that we report for duty by 7:30am on the day we return to work. I got up at 7:20am and called to have the dispatcher put me on the board. He said that I was #8, so I set my alarm for 8:30am and went back to bed. At 8:30, I called the automated number to learn that I was #16. Yeah, go figure that one out and feel free to share your findings with the class.

So I hung around home all day, keeping an eye on my board status. Around 4:30pm, I was assigned to a load. I called the terminal to see what kind of timeline I would be facing, so I could decide when to drive over there and get to work. I had to pick up in Howell, Michigan... at 2am. That's a little over an hour drive to pick up, plus I've been away from the truck for a while (meaning I'll need a few extra minutes to check everything over). So I need to be at the terminal when? Midnight or so, right? Okay.

Now, where does that leave us? Not enough time to take sleeping pills without being all screwed up when I wake. No chance in hell of falling asleep by natural means. A 350-something mile drive down through Ohio after my 2am loading appointment, meaning there's a good chance I won't have any time for rest along the way. Fuck.

So I went to bed and tossed and turned for a few hours. As expected, I didn't manage to fall asleep. Now I have to try to stay awake all night and into tomorrow, having been out of my truck for the last several days. The first couple of trips usually cause me to get tired more quickly than usual for some reason. This should be fun.

I have no idea how you would avoid this sort of circumstance, but it's bullshit nonetheless. The requirement that I am awake and ready to work by 7:30am, combined with an assignment to be awake and ready to work through the following night, just doesn't add up. Could one of the magical eight people who jumped me on the board this morning have been assigned to this load? Surely at least one of them worked through the night and arrived this morning, right? Could a team have been assigned to this load? Teams always have someone slated to drive overnight, right? Sure they bitch about short runs, but isn't safety the first objective? Could I have been given a reasonable pick up time (allowing some sleep tonight) or could I have been assigned sooner to this pick up (allowing time to take sleeping pills and get some rest today)?

No. Apparently none of that can be done. Instead I'll be the good little robot. This blows.