Which do you suppose is more demanding - driving a truck for almost seven hours or trying to keep up with the audiobook version of Ulysses, narrated by some Irish guy, for almost seven hours? This damn book is wearing me out man. I can't ever seem to figure out who in the hell is talking until we've moved on to the next scene and someone else starts talking. After a bunch of CD's I remember maybe four or five bits, if I'm lucky. I'm probably going to have to end up reading this book the old fashioned way.
The drive itself was quite simple. Down and out of Alabama, across Mississippi, and across Louisiana before I parked it for the night. I covered well over half my miles for the weekend so I'll only have 250 or so left for tomorrow.
1,589 miles plus my $17.50 for the yard check and we call it a week. Anybody want to hit my truck tonight and cost me a few more dollars? Yeah I'm still talking to you, US Xpress. I know you're out there.
So, people are always asking me how they can get onto CBS for a few minutes. (Of course nobody has ever asked me that. Just work with me here.) I believe I have the formula.
1) Be really attractive
2) Have a somewhat endearing southern accent
3) Trot out an old Steve Forbes stimulus idea and present it as your own
4) Make one (yes, one) YouTube video
5) Be really attractive
And that's all there is to it...
(Exit question: Is Bob thinking dirty thoughts at 3:18? He's awfully fidgety when they switch back to the wide angle.)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
2/20/09
No hit and runs and I didn't get lost today. I guess we're starting to get back on track. It turns out that there was nowhere to park near today's shipper, so it's probably just as well that I missed my turn last night and had to double back to the freeway.
Light traffic and good weather found me rolling through Alabama in pretty good shape. I was in the mood for a delicious sandwich from SubWay by the time I cleared the Birmingham area and thus stopped at the T/A in Cottondale. Eh... that's enough driving for today. Best to leave a little driving for the weekend.
Now I have some very important work to do. I was recently made aware that I may be the only person in America never to have watched The Simpsons. I'm not much of a TV guy and the thought of watching the show never occurred to me. My hard drive is now the gracious host to the first nineteen seasons of that show. I wonder how long this will take...
Light traffic and good weather found me rolling through Alabama in pretty good shape. I was in the mood for a delicious sandwich from SubWay by the time I cleared the Birmingham area and thus stopped at the T/A in Cottondale. Eh... that's enough driving for today. Best to leave a little driving for the weekend.
Now I have some very important work to do. I was recently made aware that I may be the only person in America never to have watched The Simpsons. I'm not much of a TV guy and the thought of watching the show never occurred to me. My hard drive is now the gracious host to the first nineteen seasons of that show. I wonder how long this will take...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
2/19/09
Hey, good news. That repair that was supposed to take an hour and a half only took fifteen minutes. Of course it was supposed to start at 10am and it actually started at 2pm. Yeah, I know. Boo freaking hoo.
Once I was back in my truck I had to head back up to the ConWay yard in Atlanta and grab an empty trailer. Then I was #1 on the board and needed somewhere to park. Our Atlanta drop yard is maybe a mile from the ConWay yard, so I headed over there. I got backed into a parking spot and then received a message that I've never seen before. They needed me to go to the ConWay yard and do a yard check, writing down the numbers of all of our loaded and empty trailers on the property. For my trouble I would be paid $17.50. Fair enough. I drove back over there and spent about twenty minutes writing down trailer numbers. Once I was done I got my next assignment. Hey, right on time. How about that.
I will be picking up in Auburn, Goergia tomorrow and heading 906 miles to Benton, Texas for a Monday delivery. Some quick math then shows that this week will be... shitty. I guess that tends to happen when people hit your truck and you spend some time in the shop. C'est la vie.
I didn't see any really good options in terms of parking on my way to the shipper. My atlas shows a rest area on the northbound side of I-85 around mile 113. That was where I planned to stop. It's not there. Since the traffic was going around 10mph at the time, I was able to grab my truck stop directory and take a look for another option. Shit. Pilot in Braselton, really? That place is a mess and there are never any parking spaces. It was my only option though as I continued northward. I pulled in and found no open parking spaces. Shocking.
So then I headed south toward the shipper and figured that I would try to find a spot to hole up in the industrial park. I got down to GA-316 and headed back westward toward Auburn. I seem to have missed my turn off of GA-316 or something. I don't know. What the hell ever. I was getting good and aggravated at that point and the sun had gone down. It was just time to get off the road. How do they say it? 'Any port in a storm?' Yeah, that's about where I was tonight. I knew that I have stayed at a rest area on I-85 southbound before. I caught GA-20 up to I-85 southbound and grabbed a parking spot for the night. Driving aimlessly in circles for an hour isn't exactly the greatest thrill in the world, but I guess it has been a while since the last time I did so. Whatever.
I pick up at noon tomorrow, about 25 miles from here, so I'll be able to get a nice night's sleep... maybe.
The recent video and comment exchange concerning that wannabe economist chick seems to have knocked me off my bearings for a moment or two. Luckily my mother sent me this one in an e-mail today. I'm back on track now. To hell with Valentine's Day.
Once I was back in my truck I had to head back up to the ConWay yard in Atlanta and grab an empty trailer. Then I was #1 on the board and needed somewhere to park. Our Atlanta drop yard is maybe a mile from the ConWay yard, so I headed over there. I got backed into a parking spot and then received a message that I've never seen before. They needed me to go to the ConWay yard and do a yard check, writing down the numbers of all of our loaded and empty trailers on the property. For my trouble I would be paid $17.50. Fair enough. I drove back over there and spent about twenty minutes writing down trailer numbers. Once I was done I got my next assignment. Hey, right on time. How about that.
I will be picking up in Auburn, Goergia tomorrow and heading 906 miles to Benton, Texas for a Monday delivery. Some quick math then shows that this week will be... shitty. I guess that tends to happen when people hit your truck and you spend some time in the shop. C'est la vie.
I didn't see any really good options in terms of parking on my way to the shipper. My atlas shows a rest area on the northbound side of I-85 around mile 113. That was where I planned to stop. It's not there. Since the traffic was going around 10mph at the time, I was able to grab my truck stop directory and take a look for another option. Shit. Pilot in Braselton, really? That place is a mess and there are never any parking spaces. It was my only option though as I continued northward. I pulled in and found no open parking spaces. Shocking.
So then I headed south toward the shipper and figured that I would try to find a spot to hole up in the industrial park. I got down to GA-316 and headed back westward toward Auburn. I seem to have missed my turn off of GA-316 or something. I don't know. What the hell ever. I was getting good and aggravated at that point and the sun had gone down. It was just time to get off the road. How do they say it? 'Any port in a storm?' Yeah, that's about where I was tonight. I knew that I have stayed at a rest area on I-85 southbound before. I caught GA-20 up to I-85 southbound and grabbed a parking spot for the night. Driving aimlessly in circles for an hour isn't exactly the greatest thrill in the world, but I guess it has been a while since the last time I did so. Whatever.
I pick up at noon tomorrow, about 25 miles from here, so I'll be able to get a nice night's sleep... maybe.
The recent video and comment exchange concerning that wannabe economist chick seems to have knocked me off my bearings for a moment or two. Luckily my mother sent me this one in an e-mail today. I'm back on track now. To hell with Valentine's Day.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
2/18/09
I do believe that we have cultivated a decent appreciation for irony on this blog. Try this one on for size. Someone hit my truck yesterday. I took it to the shop yesterday. I assumed that, at the very least, it would take a day for the repairs to be made. Since the truck was going to the shop anyway, I asked the CTL road service guys to authorize the repair of my windshield wiper motor. It stopped working correctly on its own, independent of the collision situation. The wipers work on high speed, but the sprayer and the lower speeds don't work at all. Not a critical problem, clearly, but it is a bitch when you get a little grime on the window and all you can do is smear it around or try to see through it. If I'm going back into a snowy area, for example, I would feel a little safer if I had the sprayer to wash the salt off of my windshield. Why not tack an extra hour onto the process and deal with the thing while I was there, right? So the Kenworth dealer got authorization and ordered a new wiper module for me. Good deal.
I awoke this morning and called the dealership to see if I should check out of my motel or stay for another day. The convoluted explanation was as follows; My company's road service department told them to do what needed to be done in order to make the truck drivable. Id est, they didn't fix the fiberglass fender, but moved the bumper back where it belongs and seem to have secured the light fixtures. Whatever, fine. It's not my truck. They ordered the part for the wiper motor and expected delivery tomorrow morning. They were instructed by my company to put the dashboard back together and give me the truck, then have me bring the truck back tomorrow so that they can take it back apart and install the new wiper module.
"So basically they don't want to pay for another day at the motel?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's about it," the gentleman on the phone replied.
To be quite honest, I think I enjoy having a vehicle to drive around town more than I enjoyed staying at that motel anyway. I'm not much of a TV guy and there wasn't a whole lot to do nearby. It was a little bit of a cheapskate move on my employer's part, to be sure, but I know cash is tight for these companies lately. No skin off my nose. The irony comes into play when we consider that, had I known that they would be calling for a half-assed repair of the collision damage, I wouldn't have asked them to fix the wiper motor. I've already lost a day of work this week so I would have taken the truck back and gotten myself on the board today. The wiper motor could have been dealt with at another time. As it stands now, I'm bumming around McDonough, Georgia until my new module shows up tomorrow. Then the repair process is supposed to take an hour and a half or so. Then I'll be back in the saddle. There will be a few days left on this paycheck, so we'll just hope to catch a break tomorrow and then get a long run for the weekend.
I awoke this morning and called the dealership to see if I should check out of my motel or stay for another day. The convoluted explanation was as follows; My company's road service department told them to do what needed to be done in order to make the truck drivable. Id est, they didn't fix the fiberglass fender, but moved the bumper back where it belongs and seem to have secured the light fixtures. Whatever, fine. It's not my truck. They ordered the part for the wiper motor and expected delivery tomorrow morning. They were instructed by my company to put the dashboard back together and give me the truck, then have me bring the truck back tomorrow so that they can take it back apart and install the new wiper module.
"So basically they don't want to pay for another day at the motel?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's about it," the gentleman on the phone replied.
To be quite honest, I think I enjoy having a vehicle to drive around town more than I enjoyed staying at that motel anyway. I'm not much of a TV guy and there wasn't a whole lot to do nearby. It was a little bit of a cheapskate move on my employer's part, to be sure, but I know cash is tight for these companies lately. No skin off my nose. The irony comes into play when we consider that, had I known that they would be calling for a half-assed repair of the collision damage, I wouldn't have asked them to fix the wiper motor. I've already lost a day of work this week so I would have taken the truck back and gotten myself on the board today. The wiper motor could have been dealt with at another time. As it stands now, I'm bumming around McDonough, Georgia until my new module shows up tomorrow. Then the repair process is supposed to take an hour and a half or so. Then I'll be back in the saddle. There will be a few days left on this paycheck, so we'll just hope to catch a break tomorrow and then get a long run for the weekend.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
2/17/09
The ole Godfather has some writing to do tonight. Grab a sandwich.
We begin today's story with a theatrical presentation...
Excellent! Just what I needed. There were two guys who said that they saw it happen, but neither of them got any identifying information about the offending truck as it took off. One of the two guys did say that the driver was a black fella. Really? A black guy in Atlanta? Great detective work there, Columbo. I'll have the cops pick him up right now. The other guy said that two US Xpress trucks had come around the corner, one after the other. The second of the two had hit my truck. Without any numbers though, it really didn't make much difference. So now, if you work for US Xpress, you are a cocksucker by association. I don't make the rules. That's just the way it is.
So that call that I had to make to road service... it got some friends. I called my fleet manager first, since he would need to unassign that pre-planned load for tomorrow. Then he transferred me to the safety department. The lady with whom I spoke... I'm sure that she's a lovely person and respected in the community. We'll just leave it at that. For Christ's sake. I never realized how complicated "Somebody hit my truck while I was in the building" could sound. Now I know. For Christ's sake. She gave me the all clear (eventually) and I decided to head down to the yard and drop my trailer before making my call to road service.
That bumper was pretty damn close to the tire but it wasn't touching. The lights and turn signals were working. I could cover the last few miles. I made my drop and then got on the phone one more time. I told the road service guys about the trailer light issues. My guess is that nothing will be done about it and someone will be calling me a cocksucker tomorrow. Where I draw the distinction is that two of the four issues were fixed by unplugging a bad bulb and plugging in a new one. Clearly my predecessor didn't do this. Either he didn't care or didn't notice. Neither is acceptable to me. Sometimes a light goes out and you don't notice it. Yeah, it happens. I don't consider it very likely though that two lights stopped working, a blinker wire broke, and another light fell off, all on the way to the Salem ConWay yard. Yeah, I know, always the skeptic here. Whether or not anyone is sent out to fix the remaining two issues, I did my part today.
Anyhow, on to the truck. I told them what was what and they put the information into their computers. Then I was told that, if the truck can be driven, the usual approach is to make this type of repair in Joplin. We all know that I relish my role as an insignificant peon and I do my best to be a good little soldier. If I'm being ordered to march up the hill, I'll march up the hill. The truck was drivable and I wasn't paying the bill. If it's a suggestion and not an order, however, I don't think driving around and trying to get to Joplin sounds too cool at all. What if I'm coming down a mountain and that bumper starts to wobble and then cuts the tire? I flip over and die, then the company sends out a satellite message to everyone saying that I should have slowed down? Nah, screw that.
I found that the trip to Joplin was a suggestion and not an order. They sent me to the Kenworth dealer to the south of Atlanta. I was there for a little while before they were able to give me a ride to the Corleone Family's Georgia estate. I fully intend to sit at my computer all night and read articles that teach me how to be a better truck driver. I suspect that my Swedish buddy Sjoe will probably enjoy his evening a little more. I have no idea how long it takes to make that kind of repair. Sjoe and I will have to take a few Tylenols and call the shop in the morning. Here's hoping for a speedy repair.
We begin today's story with a theatrical presentation...
What does Bull Durham have to do with anything? Well, first of all, the author of this blog happens to love that movie. More relevant, however, is the fact that whoever dropped the trailer that I pulled today was clearly begging me to call him a cocksucker. Okay then, my esteemed coworker. You're a cocksucker.
The trailer had twelve lights by my count. Top front amber (x2), top side amber (x2), side turn signal amber (x2), rear tail/brake red (x2), rear corner marker red (x2), and rear tail/turn signal red (x2). Got all that? Good. Four of the twelve were either missing or non-functional. One brake light was out. One corner marker light was out. One side turn signal was lit but wouldn't flash. One top side marker light was completely missing. Cocksucker.
There is never a ton of extra time on those ConWay loads so I really couldn't afford to get stuck in a T/A service bay all day. I called to apprise my fleet manager of the situation and then started rolling. Both rear turn signals were working, so the faulty side one hopefully would not be a big deal. The marker lights were a fairly minor issue, in and of themselves, since the sun would be up soon enough and they would be turned off. My biggest concern was the brake light. I planned to top off my fuel tanks and buy some replacement bulbs once I hit Tennessee. Obviously there was nothing that I could do about the top side marker light, but the rest might be fixable.
The scales were open on I-24 in Kentucky, as they tend to be. I had my lights off by the time I got there and I was only hauling an 18,000 pound payload. No reason to worry, right? I pulled in and went over the weigh-in-motion scales. I was predictably directed to the bypass lane. I approached the electronic sign that usually tells me to exit. "Park --->". You've got to be shitting me. So I pulled in there and waited for the cop dude to walk over to my truck. "We'll just take about fifteen minutes and do a quick inspection," said he. Can you guess the word that came to mind? (Hint: It rhymes with rock chucker.) Yeah.
I told the cop right away that I knew I had a couple of trailer lights out (So I lowballed it. Sue me.) and I needed to get to a T/A or Petro for repairs. He said that he was doing a Level 3. This was only paperwork and stuff like that. I'm a straight-up legal running mofo so I had no issues there. Crisis avoided. The cop handed me my 'no violations' form and sent me on my way.
I got through the rest of Kentucky and all of Tennessee with no trouble. When I stopped and bought replacement lights, I got the brake light and the corner marker light working. The new bulb didn't make the side turn signal flash, so that's a wiring issue (above my pay grade). Back to the road... There was a major delay getting onto the Atlanta bypass, but it was affecting the eastbound lanes. I wasn't slowed too long before I could get onto the westbound loop. Just before I reached that traffic jam I had received a pre-planned load picking up in Alabama and heading to Pennsylvania. Good deal. This day might work out after all.
As I headed down the west side of I-285 I felt the call of nature. There's nothing quite as glamorous as a Pilot truck stop so I ducked off at Exit 16. I would take care of my business at the Pilot, drive the last few miles, get rid of my trailer, make my call to road service about the remaining trailer issues, and be on my way to Alabama.
I walked out and learned a very important lesson - Don't take a shit in Atlanta. If you do, you'll eventually come back outside and discover people standing around and staring at the front of your truck. Yeah, who knew? So, why would people be standing around and staring at the front of your truck? Maybe because it looks like this...
The trailer had twelve lights by my count. Top front amber (x2), top side amber (x2), side turn signal amber (x2), rear tail/brake red (x2), rear corner marker red (x2), and rear tail/turn signal red (x2). Got all that? Good. Four of the twelve were either missing or non-functional. One brake light was out. One corner marker light was out. One side turn signal was lit but wouldn't flash. One top side marker light was completely missing. Cocksucker.
There is never a ton of extra time on those ConWay loads so I really couldn't afford to get stuck in a T/A service bay all day. I called to apprise my fleet manager of the situation and then started rolling. Both rear turn signals were working, so the faulty side one hopefully would not be a big deal. The marker lights were a fairly minor issue, in and of themselves, since the sun would be up soon enough and they would be turned off. My biggest concern was the brake light. I planned to top off my fuel tanks and buy some replacement bulbs once I hit Tennessee. Obviously there was nothing that I could do about the top side marker light, but the rest might be fixable.
The scales were open on I-24 in Kentucky, as they tend to be. I had my lights off by the time I got there and I was only hauling an 18,000 pound payload. No reason to worry, right? I pulled in and went over the weigh-in-motion scales. I was predictably directed to the bypass lane. I approached the electronic sign that usually tells me to exit. "Park --->". You've got to be shitting me. So I pulled in there and waited for the cop dude to walk over to my truck. "We'll just take about fifteen minutes and do a quick inspection," said he. Can you guess the word that came to mind? (Hint: It rhymes with rock chucker.) Yeah.
I told the cop right away that I knew I had a couple of trailer lights out (So I lowballed it. Sue me.) and I needed to get to a T/A or Petro for repairs. He said that he was doing a Level 3. This was only paperwork and stuff like that. I'm a straight-up legal running mofo so I had no issues there. Crisis avoided. The cop handed me my 'no violations' form and sent me on my way.
I got through the rest of Kentucky and all of Tennessee with no trouble. When I stopped and bought replacement lights, I got the brake light and the corner marker light working. The new bulb didn't make the side turn signal flash, so that's a wiring issue (above my pay grade). Back to the road... There was a major delay getting onto the Atlanta bypass, but it was affecting the eastbound lanes. I wasn't slowed too long before I could get onto the westbound loop. Just before I reached that traffic jam I had received a pre-planned load picking up in Alabama and heading to Pennsylvania. Good deal. This day might work out after all.
As I headed down the west side of I-285 I felt the call of nature. There's nothing quite as glamorous as a Pilot truck stop so I ducked off at Exit 16. I would take care of my business at the Pilot, drive the last few miles, get rid of my trailer, make my call to road service about the remaining trailer issues, and be on my way to Alabama.
I walked out and learned a very important lesson - Don't take a shit in Atlanta. If you do, you'll eventually come back outside and discover people standing around and staring at the front of your truck. Yeah, who knew? So, why would people be standing around and staring at the front of your truck? Maybe because it looks like this...
Excellent! Just what I needed. There were two guys who said that they saw it happen, but neither of them got any identifying information about the offending truck as it took off. One of the two guys did say that the driver was a black fella. Really? A black guy in Atlanta? Great detective work there, Columbo. I'll have the cops pick him up right now. The other guy said that two US Xpress trucks had come around the corner, one after the other. The second of the two had hit my truck. Without any numbers though, it really didn't make much difference. So now, if you work for US Xpress, you are a cocksucker by association. I don't make the rules. That's just the way it is.
So that call that I had to make to road service... it got some friends. I called my fleet manager first, since he would need to unassign that pre-planned load for tomorrow. Then he transferred me to the safety department. The lady with whom I spoke... I'm sure that she's a lovely person and respected in the community. We'll just leave it at that. For Christ's sake. I never realized how complicated "Somebody hit my truck while I was in the building" could sound. Now I know. For Christ's sake. She gave me the all clear (eventually) and I decided to head down to the yard and drop my trailer before making my call to road service.
That bumper was pretty damn close to the tire but it wasn't touching. The lights and turn signals were working. I could cover the last few miles. I made my drop and then got on the phone one more time. I told the road service guys about the trailer light issues. My guess is that nothing will be done about it and someone will be calling me a cocksucker tomorrow. Where I draw the distinction is that two of the four issues were fixed by unplugging a bad bulb and plugging in a new one. Clearly my predecessor didn't do this. Either he didn't care or didn't notice. Neither is acceptable to me. Sometimes a light goes out and you don't notice it. Yeah, it happens. I don't consider it very likely though that two lights stopped working, a blinker wire broke, and another light fell off, all on the way to the Salem ConWay yard. Yeah, I know, always the skeptic here. Whether or not anyone is sent out to fix the remaining two issues, I did my part today.
Anyhow, on to the truck. I told them what was what and they put the information into their computers. Then I was told that, if the truck can be driven, the usual approach is to make this type of repair in Joplin. We all know that I relish my role as an insignificant peon and I do my best to be a good little soldier. If I'm being ordered to march up the hill, I'll march up the hill. The truck was drivable and I wasn't paying the bill. If it's a suggestion and not an order, however, I don't think driving around and trying to get to Joplin sounds too cool at all. What if I'm coming down a mountain and that bumper starts to wobble and then cuts the tire? I flip over and die, then the company sends out a satellite message to everyone saying that I should have slowed down? Nah, screw that.
I found that the trip to Joplin was a suggestion and not an order. They sent me to the Kenworth dealer to the south of Atlanta. I was there for a little while before they were able to give me a ride to the Corleone Family's Georgia estate. I fully intend to sit at my computer all night and read articles that teach me how to be a better truck driver. I suspect that my Swedish buddy Sjoe will probably enjoy his evening a little more. I have no idea how long it takes to make that kind of repair. Sjoe and I will have to take a few Tylenols and call the shop in the morning. Here's hoping for a speedy repair.
Monday, February 16, 2009
2/16/09
If I take a lot of naps, does this make me nappy? I don't want to get any radio hosts fired or anything but I'm wondering about that one. I don't know.
Everything was pretty easy this morning. I had to call a phone number from a sign on the consignee's fence when I got out of bed. The friendly lady on the phone told me which dock to use. Once I backed in, a fella came out and took the bills from me. He brought out my signed copy when he was done and said that I was welcome to park on the far side of the parking lot while I waited for my next assignment. Nice and simple.
My hypothesis about having a lot of trucks in Missouri appeared to be a non-issue, as I was #1 on the board at the time. My hypothesis about having a lot of freight in the area was unfortunately wrong as well. After a nice long nap I got my next assignment. I had to bounce over into Illinois and stage at the ConWay yard in Salem for a run going to Atlanta tomorrow. That's a good eight or nine hours of work for tomorrow but today wasn't too profitable. Still off to a better start than last week though.
Everything was pretty easy this morning. I had to call a phone number from a sign on the consignee's fence when I got out of bed. The friendly lady on the phone told me which dock to use. Once I backed in, a fella came out and took the bills from me. He brought out my signed copy when he was done and said that I was welcome to park on the far side of the parking lot while I waited for my next assignment. Nice and simple.
My hypothesis about having a lot of trucks in Missouri appeared to be a non-issue, as I was #1 on the board at the time. My hypothesis about having a lot of freight in the area was unfortunately wrong as well. After a nice long nap I got my next assignment. I had to bounce over into Illinois and stage at the ConWay yard in Salem for a run going to Atlanta tomorrow. That's a good eight or nine hours of work for tomorrow but today wasn't too profitable. Still off to a better start than last week though.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
2/15/09
Well, it ain't El Paso but 40 degrees and sunny in Missouri today was an improvement over recent history. The drive itself was a fairly easy affair. The weekend traffic was nice and light and I had plenty of time for a couple of breaks along the way.
Once I got close to Saint Louis, I had a decision to make. I could park somewhere along I-70 tonight and then head into town in the morning. That would probably be the safe and conventional approach. You have probably concluded then (correctly) that I used the other approach. I headed right into town and figured that I would come up with something for parking once I got to the consignee.
I missed a turn after leaving the freeway. No big surprise there, since my directions were based on a dispatcher's look at Google Maps. They were mostly accurate, but not exactly. Apparently there were no directions to the consignee in my company's customer profile. I pulled over and turned on my computer to see what had happened. It turned out that I was pretty close to the main Budweiser brewery entrance. I've been there before and seemed to remember a good deal of open space on the neighboring streets. I was able to drive down their street and find a wide enough spot to spin around and head back in the right direction. I found a locked gate at the consignee. Damn. There's some sort of gravel or dirt (or something) area near the train tracks across the street. That'll do. Shortly after I parked here, I saw a security truck pull up on the other side of the fence on my right. I was expecting to get harassed but he didn't get out of the truck. From observing for a few minutes here, it appears that the security truck moves to a different spot and parks to keep an eye on things whenever the trains move.
Since it looks like I'm not bothering anyone, I have to conclude that it was a good move to get here tonight. Missing a turn and getting lost amid the morning traffic is an experience that I know quite well. Not too fun.
We have quite a few customers in this area so that should be good news when it comes time to wait for a load tomorrow. We also tend to have a lot of trucks in Missouri though. We shall see...
Once I got close to Saint Louis, I had a decision to make. I could park somewhere along I-70 tonight and then head into town in the morning. That would probably be the safe and conventional approach. You have probably concluded then (correctly) that I used the other approach. I headed right into town and figured that I would come up with something for parking once I got to the consignee.
I missed a turn after leaving the freeway. No big surprise there, since my directions were based on a dispatcher's look at Google Maps. They were mostly accurate, but not exactly. Apparently there were no directions to the consignee in my company's customer profile. I pulled over and turned on my computer to see what had happened. It turned out that I was pretty close to the main Budweiser brewery entrance. I've been there before and seemed to remember a good deal of open space on the neighboring streets. I was able to drive down their street and find a wide enough spot to spin around and head back in the right direction. I found a locked gate at the consignee. Damn. There's some sort of gravel or dirt (or something) area near the train tracks across the street. That'll do. Shortly after I parked here, I saw a security truck pull up on the other side of the fence on my right. I was expecting to get harassed but he didn't get out of the truck. From observing for a few minutes here, it appears that the security truck moves to a different spot and parks to keep an eye on things whenever the trains move.
Since it looks like I'm not bothering anyone, I have to conclude that it was a good move to get here tonight. Missing a turn and getting lost amid the morning traffic is an experience that I know quite well. Not too fun.
We have quite a few customers in this area so that should be good news when it comes time to wait for a load tomorrow. We also tend to have a lot of trucks in Missouri though. We shall see...
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