5/25/09

Man. Someone is going to have to retrieve an empty trailer from a construction site in College Station within the next week or so. I do not envy that driver. That being said, I put the damn thing in there in reverse, so my sympathy only runs so deep. My drive to the site took around an hour this morning. The process of dropping the trailer took another hour. We won't be able to have any fun with satellite imagery this time around, on account of the fact that the place isn't fully built yet. Thus, it hasn't been photographed. I do believe that it may have been the single toughest course to navigate that I've seen in my nearly three years working this gig. The guy who met me at the entrance this morning asked if I've been driving for a while. "About an hour or so," said I. No, no, no. He wanted to know how long I have been a truck driver. Apparently the guy who delivered last week (from a company that rhymes with Shmerner) had some issues. They were hoping that I would do a little better.

What can I say? I'm a pro (or I'm lucky... or I'm blessed... or whatever it is). The construction entrance was closed due to freshly poured cement, so I had to drive in through the main entrance to an apartment complex. Then it was a pretty damn tight serpentine route through to the part of the complex that is currently being built. I started to exhale once that part was over, since I didn't tear up any of the landscaping like my predecessor had done. We were just getting started though.

Next I had to make a wicked tight turn between two long dumpsters and set up to move backward. I won't bore you with the whole play-by-play but it was crazy. The final maneuver was to drop the trailer, unhook, reorient my truck, hook the trailer again from the side, and back my truck to move the front of the trailer sideways, getting it out of the street. I thought of that slick move myself. There wasn't enough room for me to swing my truck around as long as I was hooked to the trailer. Every productive movement of my truck was being offset by a counterproductive movement of the trailer. By unhooking in the middle of the process, I was able to leave the ass end of the trailer in place while I got jacked around to the side of it. I don't think they recommend that sort of thing in truck driving school, but it worked like a beauty. Sucks for whoever has to pick up that trailer next though.

I headed over to Wal Mart to grab a fantastic Italian BMT with double meat for lunch and wait for whatever came next. I had to get on the board without a trailer and the computers won't let me do this via Qualcomm, so it was time for my first phone call of the day to Joplin. The fella on the other end didn't seem entirely clear on what was being done ("Let us know if you do find an empty...") but he did get me on the board. He said that I was #10 at the time. The web portal said I was #1. I dunno. By the time I ate my lunch, took a nap, and went back in to do some shopping, I had an assignment waiting for me.

In order to make my next pickup, I would need an empty trailer. No worries, I was told. Head to the UPS terminal in Houston and grab an empty. I drove to Houston and checked in with the security gal at UPS. After two laps around the terminal it was clear that they had no CTL empties. Time for the second call to Joplin. The gal on the phone this time said that I would have to wait at the ConWay yard until they had an empty. Of course, this might have made sense if I were at a ConWay yard. So she sent me directions to the ConWay on the west end of Houston. And off we go...

The ConWay yard is all chained up and nobody's home. Third call to Joplin. Since my next load is about thirty miles from here and I'm not due until 11am, I was told to hang out here until ConWay opens in the morning and then grab an empty. We'll see how that goes, but good enough. I found an empty parking lot around the corner and set up camp for the night. A little while later, I received a call from Joplin (fourth call today). The guy this time asked me if I had an empty trailer yet. I don't guess I really need to comment on that one. Yeah.

On the plus side...
Single use charcoal grill combo from Wal Mart - $6
Comfy camp chair from Wal Mart - $10
Burgers, buns, and cheese from Kroger - $11
A sunny sky and a holiday cookout for dinner - Priceless

Happy Memorial Day everyone.