5/9/09

I've never been terribly curious about what our new corporate brethren at the ConWay terminals think of their Truckload counterparts. Given that most people are prone to view their own economies, and the economy at large, as static entities rather than dynamic ones, it seemed to be a logical assumption that they should think that we're taking money away from the hardworking linehaul drivers whenever we pull one of these runs. Since we've picked up more ConWay business since the merger, I would assume that their opinion of us hasn't gotten any better.

As I checked in this morning, I was treated to a rather unprofessional confirmation of this assumption. It seems that we were scheduled to haul a given number of loads today but one of our drivers decided to park his truck at a truck stop and go home for good instead. To my mind, this seems to be a case of two companies getting screwed by one individual who doesn't have any class (if we accept that the story is even true). To the fella behind the counter - "Yeah, look what kind of drivers old Herb has working for him. Damn CFI can't handle the work so I have to break that trailer and put it on a Landspan..." There was quite a bit more to his lamentation but that sentence summarized the gist of it. Oh, the human drama.

For my part, my trailer was ready to go when I checked in a few hours early and the load is a nice and easy 18,000 pounds. After three straight trips with nearly 47,000 in the wagon, I'm sure my truck appreciates the break. I know I do. The traffic was nice and light in typical weekend fashion for the most part as I headed northward. I think that there's an unwritten law requiring an accident to occur near Atlanta whenever I'm passing through though. Today's was on I-85 just north of the loop. I got a break in that only the right lane was being allowed to pass. Most people had moved left when the backup started for some reason, leaving the right lane wide open for a couple of miles, so I scooted by with only a moderate delay. Otherwise it was smooth sailing on the open road.

I was toying with the idea of driving all the way to Virginia today and dropping this load off. It's due in Chester, Virginia by 5:30pm on Monday. Three days for 684 miles? That one's a little odd. I know that I won't be waiting that long to get there. The only question was whether or not I would make the whole trip in one shot or leave a few hours for tomorrow. About an hour into North Carolina this evening, I got my answer. The skies opened up and we caught a hell of a soaker for a little while. Driving in the rain doesn't bother me too much but it does seem to bother everyone else. I wasn't blessed with the patience to drive 35mph on the freeway so I ducked off in Salisbury to sit it out. By the time the storm passed I was sitting comfortably and not feeling too motivated to get back on the road. So a few hours tomorrow it will be.

My week wraps up looking pretty good on the pay ledger. It seemed like one hassle after another, but somehow I got 2,724 miles when all was said and done. I also got $105 in stop pay and $72 in northeast pay. I don't know how quickly my $35 in unloading pay will be processed, but that should be coming as well. The infamous UPS incident leaves me skeptical of this 'paperwork submitted' business that they do with certain types of extra pay. On the other hand, my local pay has come through on time whenever it has been processed that way. In any event, the weekly pay will be somewhere north of $1,200 so I'm content with that.

A nice cool, quiet, breezy evening... and a damned reefer just backed in next to me.