6/16/08

Golf is not exactly the kind of sport that works very well on radio. That match today was an exception. With two guys trading haymakers for 19 holes, and the enthusiastic calls from the guys on XM Radio, it was very entertaining. If you were in front of a TV today, I am truly envious of you. That had to be awesome to watch.

I got unloaded in Garland and then had to go down to Arlington for my second drop. I was given a dispatch of 34 miles and I had an hour to get there. Doesn't sound too bad, right? After thirty miles of fighting my way around construction barrels and rush hour traffic, I had fifteen minutes remaining so it still looked okay. Then it was apparently tea time in Dallas or something, as everything came to a screeching halt. Long story short - It was 46 miles, not 34, and it took an hour and a half. By the time I realized that my appointment time just wasn't happening, I had to call in and let CTL know. It was pretty close to the appointment time by then, so I couldn't exactly give them a lot of notice, but until things completely stopped I had no reason to think that I would be late. Oh well. What can you do?

The second store had a nice easy dock setup and the people worked quickly, so that was cool. I was #8 on the board when I got empty, so I pulled over behind the building and got ready to watch some golf. Two minutes later, I got a message saying to deadhead 352 miles to Winfield, Kansas and then go back on the board. Huh? I don't care to ask a lot of questions, so I just headed north.

As I rolled up I-35, I took a look at my truck stop directory to see if there might be a place to park in Winfield. In the past, whenever I've gotten one of those weird undetermined deadheads, they've sent me to a place with a big truck stop. There was no such place in Winfield, so I had no idea what was going on. I sent a message asking where exactly they wanted me to go. In response, I got a "planned load summary." I would be picking up in Winfield and running to Kansas City. So, as I understand it, this was just a traditional load assignment (deadhead to the shipper and deliver to the consignee). Why I was given the deadhead and told to board, I have no idea. Why I got straight to the head of the class from #8 on the board, I have no idea. Like I said, I'm not the question-asking type. All told, it was a 600 mile day plus $35 for the second drop, so I ain't complaining. Last week was a little slow.

The pickup in Winfield turned out to be a drop/hook, so I was able to get in and out fairly quickly and then make it up to I-35 before my 14 hours ran out. It looks like I'll have just enough time for a ten hour break and then around two and a half hours of driving before my dispatched arrival time. This is one of those drop/hook deals where I can get more time if I need it, but I would prefer to get empty as early as possible anyway, so hopefully the traffic will cooperate. My luck hasn't been so good over the last few days.