11/18/09

After spending the morning trying (unsuccessfully) to get my job classified as having been saved by the stimulus package, I decided that I might as well call the terminal and get on the ready board for realsies this time. It was worth a shot to try and get a few million bucks out of the deal, I thought. It turns out that I'm not very well connected though, so it's time to get out and earn a living again.

I was either #12 or #19 on the board at the time, depending on whom you believe. In either event, I had reached #7 by the time I ran out of things to do at home and headed up to my truck. Good enough. Once I got to #2 I received an assignment. It was a head-scratcher, of course, but what else is new? I headed inside.

As I stood behind a couple of guys at the dispatch window, the dispatcher got on the PA and made an announcement asking me to check with him if I was in the building. Woohoo! Front of the line for me! He told me that the folks in Joplin were on the phone and they had a dedicated run in Ohio that "went sideways," whatever that means. The load needed to be picked up in Columbus by 12:30am and then delivered 88 miles away in Monroe, Ohio by 3:30am. Anyone who had driven to Taylor today and then gotten on the board today would have run into 14 hour issues. Guess who had been on the board without working all day. Awesome.

It was a nice and easy trip to Columbus, allowing me to ease back into the whole truck driving thing a little. Then I made a quick drop/hook before heading over to the Cincinnati suburbs and checking in. Mine was the third of three delivery appointments, so I got to kick back for a while. Now I'm at the dock awaiting my turn to be unloaded. I'm hoping that I can park here once I'm empty, or else I might be in for a hell of a time at this ludicrous hour. Then who knows? We'll have to see what kind of work will fit in either before correction: 9:30am 10:30am (when yesterday's 14 hour clock expires) or after I've had ten hours off tonight. The weekend is just around the corner, so there's a chance that I can catch something long to keep me moving.