Picking Up The Pieces

One of the reasons that I love my route soooooo much, is that I never have interference from other drivers. Well, with the exception of one (AA) and he treats the customers as I would, so there is no repercussions if he happens to take my load.

This week he is taking my load......

Because someone else took his normal route.......

Bastages......

Seems that we are in the midst of a recession, and freight is slowing down......So I may just be flying at random for the next few weeks. Damn, I can't catch a break... If I receive extra money, something happens with my insurance. and I have to pay out... If I feel confident about my finances, my load disappears, and there is nothing worse than running random routes weekly.... I want my stability, my comfort zone. I want to know what my paycheck is going to be. I don't want to have to work 6 days to make up for my lost route.....Yes, I am a tad bit spoiled! But I only work four days a week with the NE route.

But before I stray too much.....

Last week, I had the privilege of picking up some prime aluminum at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.... I had a wonderful time as there were Military Personnel, Law Enforcement and Firemen all present... No, nothing major was happening, but we all know how I loves me a man in uniform..... sigh.....

While at the warehouse, I stumbled across three more of our Drivers... Two from the Tennessee plant, and one from Georgia.... The fellow Georgian was all chatty and pleasant, while the Tennessee drivers were acting as if they were spoiled rotten angry belligerent idiots... I really hate running into any of them, as they all seem to be stoopid!!

But I was absolutely appalled at the behavior of the TN drivers.... It seems there was some conflicting paperwork concerning his particular load and the lady in charge had to take a few additional minutes to get it all straightened out for him.... While she was doing this, he was (literally only feet away from her) belittling her, her gender, her race, her intelligence..... Just blatantly condescending. And for some unknown reason, he felt I should be the one to vent to. I could not believe how he presented himself....

I was so embarrassed...

After the TN drivers left, I tried to perform a little damage control.

You see, this is why I don't like anyone else to take my route. I have no idea how they will behave. My demeanor with the customers has earned me some very nice benefits when it comes to getting unloaded and the last thing I need is for one of those idiots to go up there and make them angry. of course, then they would be kicked off the route permanently, but I just don't want the headache of having to make excuses..

Come on guys, we all work for the same company..Show a little discretion!!