7/21/09

Although I probably get a little cranky about getting stuck on the graveyard shift and not making any money in the process, there is one undeniable benefit to that schedule. If you're going to get lost in downtown Raleigh with a tractor-trailer, the middle of the night is probably the time to do so. It seemed so simple. I would just drop down on US-401 to I-40 and then head toward Greensboro. I saw a sign with an arrow indicating that a right turn would take me "To I-40." So yeah, I made a right turn. Once I got halfway through the turn I saw the addendum below the interstate shield - "Cars Only." Shit.

The road ahead wasn't looking too bad for a little while, so I figured I might as well continue forward rather than turn down some other unknown street and get into a jam. Then it got pretty ugly and I spotted a sign for a local truck route. Figuring that a local truck route was better than no truck route at all, I hung another right. The rest, as they say, is a blur. I recall some tight corners and some wide avenues. I recall some bars with people sitting outside and some ghetto neighborhoods with nobody around. I recall cops, who probably should have pulled me over and given me a ticket, watching in apparent amusement as I navigated areas where I obviously didn't belong. Somehow by the grace of God I found my way back to the freeway after a half hour of wandering. That pretty much sucked.

The rest of the drive was about as one would expect an 80 mile trip in the middle of the night to be. Light traffic, no major issues. The T/A in Whitsett had an open parking space so I was able to grab a quick shower. That's always nice. Then I made my drop/hook in Greensboro and headed right back to Raleigh. A fuel stop in Mebane, complete with the jackass ahead of me going to McDonald's while he was blocking the fuel island, served to break the short trip into two even shorter segments. I arrived at my first delivery stop and got one more reminder concerning the virtues of the overnight schedule. The layout of the streets in the shopping center was quite nuts. I would have had one hell of a time getting to that dock if there were any cars around. I hung out for a while and then decided to take a brief nap ahead of my 8am appointment.

My alarm went off at 7:45am and nobody had knocked on my door yet. That's always nice. I waited until a few minutes before 8am and then rang the store's doorbell. No answer, but I could hear people stirring inside the door. Wait a few minutes, try again... nothing. Few more minutes, try again... nothing. Okay then, either the doorbell is broken or they're ignoring me. Time to start kicking the door. That got a quick response. The manager came out and broke the seal so that I could open the trailer doors, then a few boxes fell on my head. Ahh, the glamor of being a truck driver. I carried the boxes to the building and then started backing in. Apparently one more box fell as I was moving backward and I proceeded to run it over with my trailer tires. A fella came jogging out and grabbed it, saying nothing further to me concerning the matter. Groovy.

Once I was empty there I received my zero-mile dispatch to the second delivery. It was zero miles on account of being Raleigh-to-Raleigh, but it took a half hour. In light of last night's escapades, I took the freeway around town this time. The second delivery was a drop/hook. Usually this is good news. Today though, I had to put my loaded trailer into the same dock that was occupied by the empty trailer that I was taking. So... drop loaded trailer/hook empty trailer/drive around the corner/drop empty trailer/drive around the corner/hook loaded trailer/back into the dock/drop loaded trailer/drive around the corner/hook empty trailer. Yeah, that's pretty dumb.

Now it looks like another night of hanging out behind a K Mart is in store for me. I have been dispatched to drive another zero miles from here on the south side of town to tomorrow's pickup on the north side of town. Whatever. At least it's a 10:30am drop/hook so I can get off the graveyard shift.

I just got a message from the safety department indicating that I do have a gold ring coming. Woo hoo! A quick internet search provided the information necessary to determine my ring size, so we've got that sucker ordered. The downside, of course, is that they might make me go to Joplin to retrieve my new bling. I'm thinking we should help out the Postal Service and ship that baby to Michigan instead, you know, in light of economic conditions. I'm all about helping out those poor civil servants... or something.