I fully expected to find problems with the coolant again after the issues getting it "fixed" in West Virginia, but I didn't expect the problem to manifest quite so quickly. I checked the coolant before I left for the day and found that it was about an inch above the "minimum" line on the coolant tank. However, when I stopped at a rest area about a hundred miles down the road, the level was just below minimum while the engine was hot. I sent a message to road repair asking for advice; they said I needed to get that to an OC for repairs as soon as possible. Fast forward another hundred miles, when I arrived at the consignee, and the coolant level was noticeably below the minimum.
Going to Charlotte for repair was obviously necessary as there's no way my truck would have made it to my destination in New Jersey or, failing that, to any other operating center we have. Support shift, however, refused to acknowledge that there was a problem with this situation. They knew that I was having mechanical problems with the truck and still put me on a service critical load then refused to take me off it when I told them that my truck wasn't going to make it or when I told them that repairs wouldn't be finished until Monday evening. Instead, they said there weren't any drivers capable of taking that as a relay - claiming that the weather was a factor even though it had stopped snowing two days ago - and demanded that I take a loaner truck up there. After significant complaining about it I told them that I'd only be willing to do that if they found me a load to get me back to Charlotte immediately; they found one and I was pretty much stuck.
The only good news is that the trip to and from New Jersey was, if not uneventful, at least safe. The only significant delays on the road were due to construction in Richmond, VA. The consignee for that load going to Jersey nearly refused to accept my paper, temporary license until I told them that they'd either have to take it or I'd have to tell ops they were refusing the load. When I was trying to get an empty, I spent a few minutes arguing with support shift about whether a trailer was for a dedicated account or not; that argument was settled quickly when the box planners put the thing on me, overriding the decision. Trying to get to the shipper for the next load I made a wrong turn and ended up taking a residential road a couple miles until I made a tight buttonhook turn to return to US 9 and head in the right direction. I picked it up, scaled it out, and drove straight back here without any further stops.
My current load delivers at a place roughly 300 miles away at 6:30 tomorrow morning, so I decided to take a bit of time to eat a decent breakfast for a change. I'll be heading out of here shortly, driving that direction, and parking at a truck stop perhaps ten miles away from the facility. While I'm hoping they'll find me another decent run I don't like my chances; we already have 20 drivers waiting on loads in the area so I may be sitting for several hours.
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