1/24/09

Assuming that the 'scheduled post' option on this here blogger thing works properly, you fine folks should be getting this post on Saturday afternoon. Since I'm on vacation with the relatives and really don't have much to say about it, I'll instead share an e-mail that I received recently...

Dear Joseph,

Wine.com is exiting the state of Michigan due to a bill that was signed into law in early January.  The new law, signed by Governor Jennifer Granholm, prohibits retailers from shipping wine directly to consumers, and
specifically bans the use of third-party delivery services like UPS and FedEx.


This legislation hurts you because you will no longer have access to the world’s best wines at the lowest prices.
It hurts Michigan businesses because wine retailers and shippers who employ people in Michigan, like UPS and
FedEx, will see a reduction in packages to ship.  And it hurts Michigan's revenue base due to a reduction in sales taxes
that Wine.com and other retailers would be happy to pay.

If you'd like to weigh in on the Michigan state law banning the direct shipping of wine by retailers, please contact
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm (517) 335-7858, P.O. Box 30013 Lansing, Michigan 48909.

If you'd like to help Wine.com work toward free trade, send an email to: freetrade@wine.com.

I'm not exactly a frequent wine buyer but this one is a little disconcerting. I live in a state that should be begging for every cent of commerce that it can attract.

As I understand it, there have always been restrictions on the interstate shipping of alcohol to the end user. Companies like wine.com often employ the same methods as those like FTD.com and route the orders through in-state retailers in order to get their products delivered. Thus, they often are not shipping anything across state lines and are subject only to the laws of the state in which the wine is ordered. Michigan has made this a moot point though, by banning third party delivery services from carrying wine. Yep, freedom is apparently on the rise in the Great Lakes State.

1/23/09

Ahh yes, on the couch with a frosty cold Leinenkuegel's. That's what I'm talking about.

That damn delivery this morning was every bit as hard as I thought it would be. After the backing and maneuvering display had concluded, I thought that I would be hopping in bed for a nap while my trailer got unloaded. I had a full trailer of plastic mesh things. There were two guys unloading and stacking them... by hand. My union buddies and their hourly pay were in no hurry to get the job done. That trailer was the only thing between me and my time off. Since I'm not supposed to touch any freight without authorization, my Swedish buddy Sjoe volunteered to pitch in and get it done more quickly. Sjoe doesn't typically work for free, but he knew that I wanted to get home. What a pal. It turns out that he works faster than the guys who know what they're doing. Crazy.

I got my paid deadhead home from Lansing once I was empty. And that's that. 1,637 miles for the week, plus the local pay and layover pay from Laredo. Fair enough.

In boring old man fashion, I'm staying home tonight. I have to head out for a weekend with my family in the morning. Better to lay low tonight. I'm pretty tired.

1/22/09

I don't know why people had to go and rain on my hopenchange parade today. Starting with the beginning, we had a satellite message coming in an hour before my alarm was set to go off, informing me that my appointment was 10am rather than the 11am that I had been told. That's a nice way to wrap up a long night of tossing and turning.

So I hopped out of bed and got my act together, then hit the road for Lansing. I arrived at the consignee and thought, "Sweet Lord, what the hell is this all about?" My basic rule of thumb is that if I have to get out and look twice in order to move into a parking lot forward, the place is bullshit. This place was bullshit. Then it got even more fun as I found one of my CTL colleagues sitting on the far side of the main building, facing toward me. He motioned to me that I would need to pull a 180 into some pretty damn tight quarters and then back up alongside him. That was fun. Laredo redux. The best part is that the toughest backing was still to come.

As I sat next to the other CTL truck, a gentleman came and knocked on my door. Thinking that it must be my turn to go to the unloading area, I rolled down my window. You know... I think it was that great American poet Everlast who first recorded the phrase - "If you wanna fuck me, first you gotta kiss me." Yeah, 1994. How about that. The gentleman outside my door today was kind enough to inform me that he had two trucks scheduled for today and two trucks scheduled for tomorrow. I was truck #3. After a call to Joplin to figure things out, I was politely reminded that the appointment change - that message to which I awoke this morning - was to 10am on January 23rd, not 10am today. I grabbed my Qualcomm to verify. Sonofabitch. 90 miles from home and stuck with this load for another day. I got fucked and never even got my kiss.

Since I had plans at home for tonight and I have to stay at a truck stop outside Lansing until tomorrow, my Swedish buddy Sjoe had to come to the rescue once again. Apparently he caught a ride to the Detroit area and spent the evening with a few of my friends before returning to wherever he had been earlier in the day. That Sjoe is always there for me when I need him.

I took a look at tomorrow's pay stub and found that my cartage pay for the local run in Atlanta is indeed on there. No repeat of the UPS 'paperwork' escapade. That's good. It's $20 and not $25 though. It had been a long time since I last pulled a local run, but for some reason I thought that they paid $25. Oh well. I guess I won't buy that five dollar lottery ticket tomorrow. Then I can spend the rest of my life convinced that I almost had $21 million.

I guess it would follow that the local work in Laredo will pay $60 rather than $75. I also had $60 coming in layover pay for being on the Laredo board for two days, according to my recollection. I sent in my request on Tuesday morning after I left Laredo. I received a response today, indicating that their records show me on the board for 47 hours, one hour short of qualifying for layover. I ain't gonna lie to you. That one pissed me right the hell off. After muttering a few obscenities, I checked the timestamps on my Qualcomm. I found that 48 hours and 44 minutes elapsed between my arrival in Laredo (indicated by my receipt of directions to the broker, sent from the inspection bay) and my next load assignment. So I responded one more time with my facts laid out. I got my $60 paid today. All's well that ends well. I'm not generally inclined to be a pain in the ass for these guys, but sixty bucks is sixty bucks. Especially in light of this morning's kick in the nuts, I wasn't letting this one pass uncontested.

I guess I should get to bed now. I'm pre-planned for a trip home once I get rid of this load in the morning. Hopenchange may resume tomorrow. We'll have to see.

1/21/09

The new age of enlightenment has continued for at least another day. Most of this route has always been easy though. I ran up I-55 and I-57, then across the south side of Chicago and up into Michigan. In point of fact, even that stretch in Illinois and Indiana has gone pretty well the last few times. Nah, to hell with that. I'm going to stick with the narrative. My world has changed! But has it really? Yes, yes it has!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Obama's Inaugural Speech

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

It looks like a little over two hours from here to Lansing in the morning. Then I already have my trip home assigned, so I'll probably have lots of time to do some... uhh... community service or something tomorrow night.

1/20/09

I have exorcised the demons! Satan's Driveway has been tamed. I've had good trips up I-35 and I've had bad trips up I-35. Until last night, I don't think I've ever gone the whole way without dropping below the speed limit. My first instinct would be to say that I got lucky with my timing, but I think we all know the real reason. When I got tired and pulled into the rest area north of Austin, I saw an empty space. It was blocked by a truck parked behind the trucks in the actual parking spaces. After the morning's blindside backing escapades, it somehow seemed awfully easy to pass up the parking area and then back my way into the open spot on my right.

After a ten hour break there, it was back onto Satan's Driveway for more pedal to the metal driving. No slowdowns at all, not even in the construction zones. I stopped at our terminal in West Memphis for tonight's break. After ten hours here I'll head north. I've heard that global warming has finally been solved in the Midwest. A new era indeed.

I do poke fun at all of the idol worship for the new messiah whenever I get the chance, but I am starting to wonder just a little. When forty of the bad guys die from plague... could it really be?

1/19/09

If you've ever wondered just how dumb people can be, you should flip on a CB radio in a crowded area on the day before the first black president is to be sworn in. Wow. There is always a bit of the typical racist drivel bouncing around the CB airwaves, but wow. That was something.

I was thinking for a little while that the local drop/hook routine was a nice break from the long days on the highway. Then I got to my third broker. No English was spoken there, at least none that I could understand. We were eventually able to communicate well enough to figure out where I was to drop my trailer. Holy smokes. I got one of those spots that would be decent for a 28-foot pup with a day cab. Maybe that local routine isn't so fun.

Then the last drop came around. For those of my colleagues here at CTL, I imagine that you've been to the broker on Sara Road with the El Gato Road address, at least once or twice. The usual routine there is to go through the trailer inspection and then check in with the guys on the dock. They show you where they want the trailer and then you make the drop and go on your merry way. As I sat at the guard shack today, I saw one of our local drivers backing to his blind side around a pretty tight corner. I thought to myself, "Damn that looks tough. I'm glad I don't have to do that." I pulled around to the docks and checked with the receiving guy. He walked out to the yard and tried to find a spot for me. The place was overflowing with trailers. After speaking with the yard dog, he showed me where I would need to drop my trailer. Shit. Yeah, I had to make the same maneuver that the local driver had made, with a bigger truck and no window on the back of my cab. I had to turn to the blind side into a narrow opening between two trailers. Then after passing through the narrow opening, I had to make an even sharper blindside turn to get lined up with the drop spot. In the tight quarters, there was a whole lot of inching forward and inching backward involved. The guys who showed up after I did were directed to drop their trailers alongside mine... without having gone toward the docks first. In other words, they had it even easier than usual. You're welcome guys. Glad to be the Guinea pig for you.

Back at the yard it was time to hit the mechanics' bay for my annual truck inspection. Everything checked out okay there. I was up to #34 on the board once I got settled in to relax for a while. The four drops this morning took a little over three hours in total. The bulk of the three hours was spent waiting to get into the first broker and then doing that 180-degree blindside at the last. I guess that's not the worst way to make $75. I don't think I would want to deal with those brokers' lots on a daily basis though. The open highway didn't sound so bad by the time I was done.

My assignment just came through a few minutes ago. They have me headed for Lansing, so home will be a short hop from there. I think I'm going to head out in a little while once I've had ten hours off. I haven't given the timeline of this run much thought yet, but I'm tired of being in Laredo. I'll head up Satan's Driveway for a while and hope that I don't get too sleepy. This thing is due in Lansing on Thursday morning. Sounds like I'll be doing some driving for the next few days.

After seeing this picture on the internet today, I had a sneaking suspicion that women's golf was trying to attract a more robust male audience. Then again, it is just a trophy. I don't know what you were thinking.

1/18/09

Damn dude. I was up late last night. Really, really late. So when I rolled out of bed around noon today I expected to have moved up the board a little bit. I was #64. Damn dude.

After hanging around all morning and not seeing any movement, I headed into town to bum around and kill some time. With my belly full of Monterey Jack and chorizo I rolled back to the terminal and checked the board again. #63. Damn dude.

I connected to the IdleAire signal across the street and watched some football for a while. The NFL isn't all that interesting to me when I have no money rooting interest involved, but it's better than nothing. After a few hours I was up to #56. Damn dude.

I received a message from the local dispatcher asking if I wanted to run some local stuff for tomorrow. Sure, might as well. I headed in to see what they had for me and he said that I could take up to three deliveries. I wouldn't have minded a few more, but I guess they have to spread the work around a little. You know, brotherhood of man and all that good stuff. The broker for the load that I brought here from Florida is about four miles away. The three others to which I'll be delivering are all within two miles. I guess, as long as there are no major issues, I should be able to knock them out within a couple of hours and earn my $75. That sounds better than sitting around all day and waiting for my turn to come around.

It's probably safe to conclude at this point that the hundreds of trailers on the yard this weekend are not in fact headed north. Something will hopefully come across tonight or tomorrow, headed toward home. I think it's getting to be time for a couple dozen beers and I to get together down at Kelly's Pub.