Assonet. Ass-o-net. I'll wait if you want to giggle at that name for a while.
No, really, I'll wait.
All done? Let's move on, then.
Getting over here was a pain in the tail, mostly due to a confusing sign warning of a truck detour. Turns out, though, that the detour was only between exits 25 and 27; I needed exit 20. So I ended up going nearly 25 miles out of the way on I-295 around Providence, cutting through the city on a state route, then sneaking around to I-195 that way. At least it worked and, thankfully, I'd given myself enough extra time that it didn't make me late.
What is irritating, however, is the lumper service here. Things are normally shady enough when dealing with such clowns, but these guys refused to even give me a firm price. They repeatedly insisted that they only give estimates, not firm prices, until the trailer is unloaded and the work is complete. In any other line of work, they'd get sued out of existence for that; just picture a mechanic refusing to provide a firm estimate for auto work then charging above the top end of his provided range without justification for it. Somehow, after operations checked with the guy in customer service who set up this load, they okayed them to unload the trailer, though they told me to pass along word that, if the price comes back as something unreasonable, they're going to refuse to pay for it. I can't say that I blame them for taking that attitude, but I'd rather not get caught in the cross-fire if something like that happens.
My next load is going to be a bit of an adventure as well: I get to go about 175 miles north, into Maine, to pick it up. The problem is that there's almost no truck parking on the way. So far as I know, there's the welcome center for New Hampshire and Maine (and it's likely than neither allows overnight parking), a TA truck stop in New Hampshire, and any service plazas along the Maine Turnpike. I know there's one such plaza near Kennebunk (which I remember just because the name is so unusual) at mile marker 25; a quick look at the Internet reveals that there's also a plaza at 58. There's also a very small truck stop at the same exit I'm getting off at, but that's definitely a last resort, not least of which because of its proximity to my final destination tomorrow morning and the simple fact that, if it's full, I have nowhere else to go without backtracking.
Of course, it would help if the lumpers would start working on my trailer at all. My appointment was for 3 PM; it's nearly 4:30 and the light for my dock hasn't even turned red yet, though I'd swear I feel something back there. The longer I have to wait here, the more problematic finding parking will become. At 6 PM, my chances are okay; at 9 PM, my chances are pretty much nil. It's at least an hour drive to any of these aforementioned stops, too, so I have to figure transit time into account. Though it really just boils down to this: I have to get lucky or I'm screwed in an entirely unpleasant fashion. :p
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