3/19/10

I get an e-mail message every morning that lists various driving vacancies in the Detroit area.  Most available jobs back home seem to involve way too much work for way too little money, meaning that they don't catch my eye.  Today was no different, but I did see something that stood out to me.  CDL instructors make $12.50 an hour?  Dude, I made more than that delivering pizzas fifteen years ago.  Makes you feel really confident about that 77,000 pound vehicle lumbering down the highway next to you, eh?  So I had my head on a swivel for a little while today, at least until I remembered that nobody knows how to drive anyway.  Then I got a nice pre-plan and forgot the whole thing... until now.

I got to my consignee in Cortland at 7:45am and drove into the drop yard, then hopped out to ask the security guard whether or not I would be dropping my trailer there.  Nope.  Not only was it a live unload, but it was also for a different company.  It turns out that there are two companies that share the same warehouse and work together to build whatever it is that they build.  I snaked my way around a few tight corners and then got settled into a loading dock that I didn't even know existed.  I'll be damned.

After I was empty, it was time to head up north for my next load.  I was picking up in the quaint little village of Gouverneur, New York.  The directions to the shipper seemed pretty straightforward but they did include some skinny stretches once I got off US-11 and onto NY-58.  I headed into the shipping office and checked in, only to be told that my load was ready at the warehouse back in town.  The directions to that place... awesome.

I'm quoting as exactly as possible.  "Go back down Main Street.  After you pass the gas station, take a left on Reed.  Then a quick left on Prospect.  Turn into the driveway between the two blue houses (Spot #1 in the photo).  You'll see a big brick building.  At the end of the building, there's room for you to turn around (2).  Then you'll back around the corner and into the warehouse.  The dock is in there (3)."

"The driveway between the two blue houses" had to be my favorite part of the directions.  Sounded like a clue from Scooby Doo or something.

Once I got spun around and backed in, I was loaded with another 44,000 pounds.  I can't seem to get a break from the heavy stuff lately.  If that's what it takes to get pre-plans and make money though, then it's a tradeoff I'll gladly make.  Speaking of pre-plans and making money, this bad boy is going to Laredo.  Laredo is a long way from Upstate New York, in case you weren't aware.  Beauty.

I got down onto the Thruway and stopped at the last service plaze before Buffalo to call it a night.  The end of the quarter is coming up, so I wanted to knock out my annual safety training before I forgot.  This is a place where I knew I would have a good internet connection, so here we are.  Now I've finally learned that I should hold onto the handle when I climb out of my truck, so that's nice.  And I've also learned that gusty wind will affect a light trailer more than a heavy one, so that's nice.  And I'm qualified for another year of safety bonuses as long as I don't crash.  That's probably the nicest part of the deal.

I'm due in Laredo by Tuesday morning so it looks like a balls-out kinda weekend will be in store.  Probably around 600 miles a day should get me there by Monday night.

I'm not sure whether or not it's proprietary information so I won't link or quote it here, but those of you who work for Con-way might be interested in the open letter from our CEO regarding this week's proceedings on Capitol Hill.  In short - Congratulations.  ♫ You traded in your Chevy for a Cadillac-ac-ac-ac-ac-ac (plan)... you oughtta know by now... ♫  I wish The One™ would just hurry up and punish us for our excesses.  I feel so excessively excessive.  Considering how much people whine about our coverage, I can't wait to see how awesome the "acceptible" plans will be.