Neely's Landing, MO - Exasperation

After going every wrong way, I finally found this place. This time, they had both the name and city wrong. Charming, hm? In any case, I have a 10 PM appointment, which means I won't get to finish my break before they get to me. I could be cute and just not log the time it takes for them to load the truck (lumping it into my break) but I'm not sure if I could get away with that. If I do it that way, it'll ensure that I can use another very full day tomorrow, if nothing else.

Anyway, as for that last load, I hadn't been taken off of it when I made my last post. I was told that by operations but I then received a message from the trip planner explaining that I was still on it and that I would make pickup and both deliveries on time, even after I explained that I couldn't possibly do it. I responded by explaining (again) that it would put me over both the 11 and 14 hour rules unless I averaged more than 57 mph and didn't stop for anything whatsoever; when trip planning, they tell us to normally plan on an average of 50 mph and to allow an hour for miscellaneous stops or delays. Only after I said that it would be illegal for me to do so and that I flat-out refused to do it did they take me off the load, though there was a note telling me to call in before I'd be assigned something else.

So I called in and talked to operations and explained the above. They were as bewildered as I was as to how the trip planner thought I could take the load legally. Even more unusual is that the trip planner claimed she wasn't the one to assign me the load, even though it was on her shift; the information about the load assigner disappeared after the load was canceled. At least ops had some good news: I get to go home next weekend because it'll be the one time this month I want to go home. I need to check the mail and such, especially because they mailed all the drivers a coupon for a free pair of boots, good in October only. Also, I found out that we're doing away with the trip planners entirely, which means I won't have to deal with this kind of load-related crap as often; I'll be dealing directly with operations and operations will handle everything that is normally done by trip planning. There was some bad news, though: I do not get a bonus for this month like I was previously told. At least she took the time to look into it and research the correct answer this time around.

As we were wrapping up the conversation, my current work assignment came in, complete with an appointment four hours after my time ran out. Since I was still on the phone, ops just put me on hold and called the shipper; they're allowing me to take my break here. Of course, what should have been a roughly hour trip here turned into nearly double that, resulting in me ending up in downtown of a small city and having to turn around in open lots twice. I'm finally here, I checked in, and it looks like they're just going to take me in the order I arrived. There are three trucks in front of me right now, so once I post this I'm going to get to sleep, since I don't anticipate them being ready for me within the next three hours. The sooner they finish my trailer, of course, the better; I want to get as close to a full night's sleep as I can.

This load is going up to Wisconsin and the route is easy enough, at least: I-55 to I-94 to the consignee. It shouldn't be a problem, since I can deliver the load any time tomorrow, but Chicago traffic is always horrible. I'll just have to cross my fingers on that front. It looks like one truck has been loaded in the time it took me to write this, which means these guys are working remarkably fast tonight. I might not even bother with a nap and just get eight (or more) solid hours of sleep after they finish the trailer if this keeps up. But for now I'm just going to post this and hope that I don't have anything else happen tonight that's worth writing about.

Bloomsdale, MO - uh?

Things are so screwed up that I don't know where to begin. I have an assignment though, so details will come later.

Mount Olive, IL - Unpossible

They took me off the lord, so I'm going to get fuel. Whee.

Mount Olive, IL - Do what now?

My next load is impossible. More than 600 miles and one day to do it. It might be possible if things go perfectly, but it's a two stop delivery. I would just make the first if I got extremely lucky. Now I'm on hold with ops trying to find out how this is possible or if they'll admit they goofed and not try forcing me into an illegal, unsafe run.

Waddy, KY - Long days ahead

Thanks to all the problems last night, I'm going to just barely make delivery on this load. I'm pretty sure I can make it, since I have about 360 miles to go (I think) and a little under eight hours to get there once I get off my break. I can't afford to take any more time on break than the DOT requires, but if things go well (for once) I should at least be able to make a stop for an early lunch on my way to the consignee. There's conflicting information on this load, though: the work assignment specifies "at" noon while the notes say "by" noon. It doesn't make much difference in this case since there's a very slim chance I'd be there before 11 AM anyway. Hopefully they'll be able to find me another decent load right away; I'm doing pretty decently right now and I'd really like to keep up the positive momentum while I can.

Big Island, VA - Exactly on schedule

Even though I'm here at a manufacturer, I'm stuck waiting for "about an hour" for them to get ready to load my trailer with product. I don't see how these guys can't have the product ready to go several hours in advance; it's not like there are a lot of other trucks getting loaded and they can't keep up. I now have the dilemma of either taking my break here tonight and leaving as quickly as possible in the morning or trying to make about 200 miles tonight and putting myself within one more day's drive of my delivery. Sure, this thing has to be delivered at noon on Tuesday, but the closer I can get to the place on Monday, the easier that task becomes. If I play my cards just right, I could even get to take my break Monday night near St. Louis, where we have an operating center, so I can at least be sure of having a parking space and a shower. However, that requires I get loaded and feel up to driving another three to four hours, which I may or may not want to do. That decision will come after I have a full trailer.

Big Island, VA - Hurry up and wait

I arrived here about 30 minutes ago. It took this long to cut through the bureaucracy and get told where to go. They started unloading me quickly, but my next load isn't ready for another three hours. On the bright side, since this was a shorthaul and wasn't supposed to be a live unload, I got an extra $40.

Carlisle, PA - Relaxation

I hadn't originally planned on taking all day off today. I was thinking I'd sleep in a little, get a shower, then drive into Virginia this afternoon. That plan fell apart when "sleep in a little" became sleeping in until 11 AM. This load has to be delivered by 11:59 tomorrow night, so it's not like I can't spare the time. I guess I'll just relax up here and leave mid-morning tomorrow.

Carlisle, PA - Run to the woods

After finally getting rid of that last @#$*(@#$ load, I got another assignment to move an empty trailer around, then pick up a load going to a place that's 50+ miles off the interstate. I stopped here since there were a couple of things operations wanted me to do while at an operating center. I have two days to spare on this load, if I feel like taking that long, but since I'm pretty desperate for miles I'll probably deliver it quickly as I can and hope they can find me another load. On the bright side, the load is just short enough to qualify for short haul, so I get a couple extra cents per mile. Too tired to think of much else to write tonight.

Mechanicsburg, PA - Where is it?

Pulled into a strip mall's parking lot to get directions since this place is not where my directions claimed. Can't these guys get anything right?

East Berlin, PA - Whose load is this anyway?

When I arrived about half an hour ago, I was promptly greeted by someone insisting I had the wrong place. They started arguing about it before walking off, leaving me confused. I called operations and found out that I was in the right place after all. Further, the load is a drop, not a live unload like I'd been told all week. My next load is just under 300 miles; I'm going to see if I can make it today.

Greenville, VA - Taking it slow

Because freight is horrible right now, I'm not in a huge hurry to deliver this load. I'm still planning on being up early tomorrow, getting a shower, and likely being on the road before dawn, but I could probably leave two hours or so before I actually will. I have a little more than 200 miles to go on the load, so even leaving at 6 AM or so means I'll be there around 10, four hours before the 2 PM deadline. Supposedly I'll be out of there in an hour or so, but it really doesn't make much difference; freight is really bad right now and it's unlikely they'll be able to find me a load no matter when I get out of there. Of course, that's what I figured last time and I ended up getting this 1,360 mile load to Pennsylvania. I wouldn't mind another one of these loads, provided I don't have the mechanical problems to go along with it.

Knoxville, TN - Ready to go

The truck had a problem with the SRS and TRS sensors. I have no idea what that means, aside from the fact it was ready to go several hours earlier than expected. Because the shop had told me that it would likely be late this afternoon before it was ready, operations is going to credit me for two days of layover so I'm not wasting a night in the hotel that I've already paid for. I'll be out of here at (or near) 8 AM tomorrow and hopefully won't have any further problems. I quite literally can't afford much more of this.

Knoxville, TN - Hauled Away

They got the truck towed. One of the guys here at the shop is going to give me a ride to a nearby hotel in a little bit. It'll be tomorrow before they begin working - it's technically after hours already - so hopefully they can get the work done tomorrow as well.

Knoxville, TN - Getting towed, maybe?

They got here about twenty minutes ago, but it seems like something is wrong given how they're acting. If this thing is so screwed up it can't even be towed, that would be impressive.

Knoxville, TN - Waiting on a wrecker

It turned out to be more than they could fix on the side of the road. I was told a wrecker would be here "within the hour" at 3:30. So far, nobody has shown up. I'm not going to have the hours to drive any further today. At least the new information for this load gave me about two days to spare.

Knoxville, TN - I blew what now?

While it might not be the only problem, I blew a fuse inside the battery box. I didn't know the truck had fuses there. The mechanic had to go back to get the fuse - they're larger than the ones in the cab - so I'm waiting again. Hopefully it won't be another two hours.

Knoxville, TN - R.I.P.?

This is... bad. I was riding along, when my engine suddenly stopped. Meaning I was coasting helplessly downhill at 60 mph. I had a gap to pull over; I did so immediately. The engine seemed to refire at about 20, but given that I also had a warning for low oil pressure, I parked it. Now I'm on hold waiting for maintenance. Oddly, the truck will restart, but dies immediately when I try drive. I'm pretty sure there's a shop at the exit I'm next to; there are three major truck stops here. I just hope I didn't kill the truck.

West Memphis, AR - Whose load is this, anyway?

This has to be one of the stranger loads I've had. I picked up the relay this morning, only to find that the paperwork was missing. Normally this is an annoyance that can be worked around; I just have to call operations to get the info I'd need to write up a bill of lading myself. However, in this case, not even operations had a clue about this load. Every bit of information we had about the trailer, its contents, its origin, and its destination was included in my work assignment. Also, it was originally set up for an 8 AM appointment on Wednesday, but when I sent in a message to confirm I could make that (it'd have been close), I received a response saying that if I wanted to request an early delivery I needed to call in, followed shortly by a new delivery information changing it to "on Friday" between 8 AM and 2 PM.

Confused as to why they would have rescheduled a load I'd said I could make, I called in once again. And more confusion ensued. Turns out that, because freight is so bad right now, customer service is doing a lot of things without confirming them in advance; otherwise we'd lose business to other companies that are more willing to cut corners. A few minutes on hold revealed that the load should have said "by Friday" instead. This means that, if correct, I could get there Wednesday morning and still get unloaded after racking up 1,500 miles in about three days. If it's not, I could potentially get two days of layover at the Carlisle OC while I wait for Friday morning to roll around, though they'd probably just have me drop it and take another load instead.

Either way, I need to haul ass tomorrow. If I don't knock out at least 600 miles, I'm in trouble. I have 931 miles to go on this load and time is very, very short if I want to make that original, Wednesday morning appointment. There's a stop I'd love to make it to up in Virginia, but it's 665 miles away; now that the trucks are at 60 mph, there's no way I can do that unless it's downhill most of the way and I have a good tailwind. Amusingly, there is a 5 to 10 mph tailwind along my route tomorrow. Of course, there are other places I can stop if time is running short.

Dallas, TX - And off we go

I woke up today quite a bit earlier than I intended due to the combination of heat and the Qualcomm beeping. However, the news was good for once: it's a whopping 1,368 paid miles to go into southern PA. This is, by far, the longest run I've had this month and it's about time I get something like this! Since I've been finding it impossible to get to sleep before about 2 AM lately, I decided to just try driving overnight for a little while and see how that goes. Once I get further north, the temperature shouldn't be as much of an issue and I should be able to sleep during the day somewhat comfortably.

One thing that I found incredibly disturbing, though, is that there was a homeless person lounging around in the operating center last night. It was pretty obvious he didn't work here; he had to ask where everything was even though there are signs all over the place and was wearing what appeared to be red bowling shoes instead of the boots any of our drivers wear. Given incidents that have happened in the past, I was worried he was going to pull out a gun or something. Thankfully he was only clueless, as opposed to dangerous, though security had missed him. They said more than six months ago they were going to put up an electric fence and sliding gates around the OC to improve security, but that has yet to happen. As it is, where as I once thought our operating centers were at least reasonably safe, this has proved that's not so and I'm probably going to avoid this place in the future, if I can help it.