2/26/09

What a long freaking day. The guys at the body shop got me in and started working bright and early. After a few hours I was outiftted with a new fender, a new bumper, and new cab extenders. I headed over to the dispatch window and put myself on the board. The dispatcher informed me that I was #15 and things were moving slowly. I took this to mean that I would be in Joplin for another day.

It only took a couple of hours for my turn to come around. I had three options from which to choose. I could take an empty trailer to our Kansas City yard this evening, swap it for a loaded trailer, and run overnight to Illinois. I could head over to Coffeyville, Kansas tonight and pick up a load heading for a Saturday delivery in Lexington, Kentucky. Or I could wait at the yard for a relay to arrive and then run it overnight to Sherman, Texas.

The Illinois run would probably have been the best bet strictly in terms of my week's pay. There tends to be a lot of freight up that way and I would be empty on Friday. I was up at 6am to get into the shop though and had no desire to drive through the night. The Texas one was a similar deal, but with fewer miles. That one also would put me in the Lancaster dispatch zone, likely behind a bunch of other drivers once I got on the board. I took the Kentucky run, thinking that there would be a good chance to get a Saturday dispatch out of one of our shippers in the Louisville area.

My pickup in Coffeyville was set for 9pm. Given the aforementioned desire not to drive overnight, I headed over a couple of hours early. I hoped to get loaded and then head up the road for a few hours before calling it a night. As I turned onto the highway where the shipper was located I received a message. 'Load cancelled.' Nice. I called the dispatcher to see what he wanted me to do. He said that there would be another load out of Coffeyville tomorrow if I wanted to wait out there. Or I could head back to Joplin. There was no place for me to park in Coffeyville. The local truck stop was jammed up by the time I passed it. Back to Joplin then...

I dropped my empty trailer and went back to the dispatch window to get on the board once more. The dispatcher with whom I spoke on the phone was gone, but the guy who was there presently was expecting me. He knew that I was on my way back to Joplin and there was a load waiting for me. Guess what I got. Sherman, Texas. The worst of the three. A 286 mile run, overnight, landing me in the Lancaster zone. Good times, good times. At least I got the extra 156 miles for going to Coffeyville and back.

I had time for a two-hour nap on my way down through Oklahoma. This was quite helpful to the cause. I made an easy drop/hook at the consignee in Sherman and then found a spot at some kind of abandoned truck stop or something. Good enough. I'm going to bed.

I'm #17 on the board right now, so hopefully by the time I sleep for a while they'll have some news for me. I got my $60 in layover pay for my time in the shop and I'm at 994 miles for the week. I don't guess there's any chance at a good week at this point, but maybe a decent run for the weekend can help me avoid another terrible one.