Murphy's Law

When I chose my route this week, I already knew I was at a disadvantage with it being a Holiday week. I was secretly hoping some of the customers would be closed and that would help me shorten my route. It has happened before, in fact, I am suppose to also make a pick up of damaged goods, but that customer is closed all week.

It is in my nature to reassess my route as soon as I pick up the trailer, to make necessary adjustments for a more efficient delivery schedule. The pencil pushers at the plant never seem to grasp that there could actually be a better way. And I have proved it time and time again. I could just go with the flow and follow the route, but that is cutting into my personal home time. So, I thrive on the frenzied melee that ensues as I completely reroute myself several times throughout the journey. The end result is that I regularly arrive home at least a half of a day ahead of schedule.

I made the initial 950 mile trek to my first customer with only one slight delay. It seems aliens had crash landed in the median..or at least that was the story told by another truck driver. I was feeling pretty good about the week. I figured if I unloaded stop 1, then stop 2, 4, 3, 5, 6 and 7, I would be at 9 the next morning and finishing up with stop #8 by lunch time. These changes were necessary due to hours of business. With a strategy in place, I snuggled in for the night.

So here is a quick timeline of how my Monday went.

• 7:00 AM unload stop # 1
• 7:17 AM miss turn for the Jersey Turnpike, rerouted myself to 287
• 7:58 AM Interstate shut down for offloading of cattle
• 8:19 AM Delays for merging (3 left lanes closed on a 4 lane hwy, construction)
• 8:40 AM Arrive at stop # 2 (61 miles in 1.75 hours)
• 9:06 AM Depart #2
• 9:23 AM Delays for accident on George Washington Bridge
• 10:02 AM Reroute myself to Queens, to avoid further delays
• 10:23 AM Arrive at stop #4 (24 miles in 1.25 hours)
• 10:41 AM Depart stop#4 after purchasing unidentifiable lunch item from Roach Coach
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• Reroute myself to avoid fore casted delays on BQE
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• 10:53 AM Delays due to lane closures on Bruckner Expressway
• 11:13 AM Delays due to worker falling from Throgsneck Bridge
• 11:14 AM Place call to stop#5 to notify of rescheduling
• 12:02 PM Delays due to idiots not knowing how to merge
• 12:41 PM Arrive at stop#3 (52 miles in 2 hours)
• 12:57 PM Depart stop #3
• 3:12 PM Place call to stop#6, begging for mercy. They agree to wait for me.
• 3:36 PM Arrive at stop#6 (143 miles in 2.5 hours) not bad for Connecticut
• 4:04PM Depart stop#6
• 4:08PM Place call to stop#7, They refused to wait Grrrrrrrr!!
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• More delays for evening rush hour in Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA
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• 6:21PM Purchase FIRST cup of coffee for the day
• 7:17 PM Arrive at stop#9 (104 miles in 3.25 hours)

Settle in for the night.....

So, it seems, when I normally am able to reconfigure my route on a weekly basis, the reward is getting home earlier than expected. During the one week when I want to get home, Murphy's Law takes affect. There is no way I can recover from the delays today.Tomorrow's goal, unload stops 9, 8, and 7. I will not be able to finish out until Wednesday morning at 4:00 am...That makes for one long ride filled with Holiday congestion...Guesstimated home arrival...2 hours after the Holiday dishes have been washed and put away. I hope somebody saves me a Turkey Leg.

Really, it is not so bad. Just for clarification purposes, I will not miss all the festivities as my Father throws his annual bash on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so I will still be fed and able to see the whole gang.