A Bit Of A Challenge!!

I may have mentioned this before.......



During the course of last weeks big adventure, I ran into a slight delay.... February Fury. Not nearly as bad closer to the northeastern coast , I still ran into several delays... As a matter of fact, I was halted in my tracks in Milford Connecticut. Icy roads and slick conditions played a part, but the real reason I was forced to "wait it out" was due to the fact my customers were unable to offload my trailer... Being a flatbed, it is required for the forklift to offload the freight from the side of the trailer. Most of my NE customers do not have large warehouses to accommodate for a truck to be unloaded inside, so for the most part I am typically unloaded outside in the elements while double parked in the streets of The City...



Early Wednesday, I contacted my remaining customers to verify if I would be able to get unloaded... Both receptionists replied with a hesitant "Yes". I was a little bit leery at this point and after a few comments from drivers coming out of New York, I made up my mind not to take the chance... I contacted the customers once again and told them of my decision... They responded with sighs of relief, not really wanting to unload anyway... So I checked in to local motel and waited it out!!



Thursday morning, I received a phone call from my Oh So Intelligent Boss we call him Homer(Simpson) and believe me, if there ever was a human version of the cartoon character, HE IS IT!! Including the appearance...



So Homer is a little concerned about my previous judgement call. In fact, he is a little perturbed that there are 6 of his drivers currently camping out in motel rooms... "Better safe than sorry" I tell him... His only concern at this point is that the Customers will be angry that we have not shown up.... I ask you this, dear friends, How will they be upset if most of them did not even show up for work themselves?? We did have one driver sit in a customers parking lot for 26 hours because they could not get the forklift out of the snowbank that it had slid into!! Sheesh.



Feeling a little more confident that I will be able to continue on with my travels (traffic is flying down the interstate) I make the previous 2 phone calls again... This time the response was a "We are soooo glad you cancelled yesterday and we would be happy to unload you today!!"



So off I go.. 60 miles back to the Bronx.. Only took 5 hours to get there... First was a major fatality accident... (3-1/2 hour delay) and then upon arriving in the Bronx I am met with yet another delay.... Are you ready for this ........ The City has decided to repair POT HOLES in the highway today.... Snow, ice, 15 degrees and yet there are guys slinging asphalt into the roadway. Of course all lanes are blocked with the exception of the breakdown lane.. My truck is too wide to squeeze by, so I am forced to be a witness to their progress for quite sometime.. I was only 1/2 mile from my exit when I stumbled upon this ludicrous activity... (1 hour delay)



Well, I finally do make it to my Bronx destination, but my feelings of confidence have subsided tremendously... Icy snowbanks!!! I am greeted with looks of dismay!! "Why are YOU here TODAY" "Because SHE said so!!"



No, the roads were not treacherous at this point (for me)! But the little forklift was definitely going to have some problems!!

After scrapping and shoveling a pathway (Sorry Guys!) I was offloaded. The rest of the day was quite eventful as well. A few more minor traffic delays (rush hour on the Jersey Turnpike)... Road Closures...(had to travel 1 hour out of my way to find an alternate route)... and no TruckStop parking for miles and miles (due to the road closures, the northbound trucks had nowhere to go, the truck stops were overflowing).

So, my eventful week is done. I made it home Friday afternoon and am looking forward to enjoying my 36 hours "off duty" until I climb back up in the Big Rig and head back to (You Guessed It) the northeast!!