Not So Welcome Back....

So I wasn't really expecting all the hoopla....fireworks, parade, dancing in the streets....when I returned to work Thursday morning. But, I was somewhat expecting to NOT have to deal with any mechanical issues for at least one trip.

It is a new year, and I had sincerely hoped I could delay posting about the trials and tribulations of my so called trucking life that seem to have become a predominant staple in my little weekly routine.

But..it is not meant to be.  Oh well, Welcome Back!

I had been given two gravy runs to get back in the groove. The first went off without a hitch. Pull an empty trailer 100 miles to exchange for a loaded scrap trailer. Travel 270 miles to dump loaded scrap trailer at Tennessee plant. Bring empty back to exchange for second loaded scrap trailer and rinse and repeat....

On my way north, with the first load, I was told that the front-end loader was not working and I would not be able to dump my load and there were no empty trailers. I should know better than to believe anything a truck driver tells me, but it did set the tone for the next 36 hours. By the time I arrived in Tennessee, the loader was working and I emptied with no delays. 

However, on the way back to Georgia, I lost power....Major power!! I was dropping gears on hills I had no business slowing down on at all, with an empty trailer.  Yikes!! Time for a new fuel filter. I managed to pick up my second trailer and was completely befuddled to find myself tooling around Atlanta at a cruising speed of 40 mph, uphill...It is predawn, so of course the shops were closed.

Now, when I arrived to pick up my second trailer, I was absolutely thrilled to find it was one of the newer spread axle numbers we had recently purchased...That is when it all went to hell. First, it had a low (70psi) tire...Next, it had an even lower (30psi) tire...Missing mudflap, lights not burning, and to top it off, the door would not close. After an hour of struggling with it, I finally decided to take the damn thing back to the Georgia plant and tell them all to give me another one of those kisses, once again, not on my smiling face. But I realized, that if I went to the local plant, I would not be able to get my truck repaired. 

Oh, I didn't mention this part. When I use the headlights and turn on the highbeams, the wipers come on....When I use the headlights and turn on the fourway flasher (which I was doing a lot of that night) the warning buzzers would flash as bells screamed throughout the cab. WARNING WARNING  STOP  TURN OFF ENGINE WARNING.......Also, the lights would dim to a non distinguishable illumination at random...

Okay, with that being said....After struggling with the trailer door (one heavy door that extends the entire width of the trailer), I had used my best judgement and headed back north to sleep it off at our Chattanooga shop.  I was greeted with a fresh cup of joe when I crawled out of bed the next morning. 3hours later, all repairs made, except the door issue, I was on my way to the TN plant to finish up.

Now, me personally, I think this next part is the icing on the cake!

While on  my final leg of the journey, a fellow driver called me and inquired about all of my delays. He said I should have picked up the trailer that he had dropped the previous day, because there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.....The trailer just happened to be THE VERY SAME TRAILER that I had  just suffered through the previous 14 hours with. And he said nothing was wrong with it.

This my friends, is the very reason I get somewhat intimidated by making these little gravy runs. Because we have a large number of drivers who do not attempt to perform any sort of a pre-trip.  And then I am left to deal with it.

All in all, it was a quick (could have been quicker) two days. My truck is in even better condition, and I made it home without blowing a fuse..  Amazing, huh?

Lady Liberty is calling my name, so I better get some sleep. Back to New England!!!!