Monroe, IN

Well, today was another somewhat frustrating day, but at least it ended on some rather optimistic notes. I left Indianapolis at around 6:30 this morning to make a 10 o'clock appointment in Ypsilanti, and JUST made it in time. It was 9:59 when I got there, which is right on time for that appointment. Unfortunately, the people inside couldn't seem to comprehend that a driver might actually show up right on time for their appointment and weren't ready for me, so I had to wait about half an hour for them just to get ready. Then, while they were unloading, someone banged on the door and said I had to re-stack a pallet because it fell over inside the truck. I still don't see how that's my problem - they're the ones getting paid to unload it, not me - but I did it just to get the guy to leave me alone. Unfortunately, three of the cases in that pallet were damaged as a result and it took nearly an hour and a half for cargo claims to tell me to throw it away.

Anyway, while I was waiting for claims to figure things out, I got another assignment for a 575 mile run down toward St. Louis. Not bad, but the pickup time is in two hours, it's 90 miles away, and I have to drive directly through Detroit to get there! Since I was talking to operations at the time, I just warned them on the phone that it would be razor-close for the pickup. They knew that already, though; my work assignment even said I'd be five minutes late for the 3PM appointment. But once again, I hit it on the nose; the clock radio rolls over to 3:00 while I was waiting in line at the gate. The guard was a complete asshole who seemed to delight in giving me a hard time for being unable to read the signs that were covered in dirty rain water, but once I got inside, it took me only 15 minutes to drop the trailer.

The next problem came when I tried to find the trailer that they said the load was in: 208-thousand-something. The problem? Even the oldest trailers we have left on the road have numbers of at least 400,000; newer trailers have higher numbers. I took a few moments to look around, on the off chance that that trailer really did exist, but of course I didn't find it. I went back inside and it turns out that they somehow put a different company's trailer number on my paperwork. Twenty minutes later, someone figures out which trailer I'm actually supposed to have, corrects the paperwork, and sends me on my way. By this point, I've been at the plant for nearly two hours when I'd hoped to be in and out in thirty minutes.

So what does that mean? It meant I got to experience the joy (/extreme sarcasm) of Detroit's rush hour. Of course, I was held up for at least an hour compared to the time I'd hoped to make going through the city. So instead of making it down to Indianapolis, as I'd originally hoped, I didn't even make it out of Michigan. I was rather lucky to find an easy parking space here at a Pilot, so I grabbed some food from Arby's, spent about ten minutes typing this while watching the BBC World Service, and will eat, sleep, and hit the road around 4:30AM. I just hope that I can make this delivery with enough driving time left to get started on another load!