Happy Fathers Day

A Bad Case of the Mondays

My goodness, where have I been....

I have been busy indulging in the simple things in life and enjoying every moment of it. But that doesn't mean that all is well with trucking.

During the course of the past few weeks, I have endured several teeth gritting, nerve grinding incidences.

On Monday, May 31st, I awoke at my first customer of the week in Norfolk, Virginia. My mood could not have been better and as is par for the course with new to me customers, I was getting alot of attention. Good attention, compliments, and "OMG, I cannot believe you drive that big ol thing". After I backed into the unloading area, I noticed this....

I have no idea how it got cut. The tire was fine when I left the yard and I had no problems with it while driving the previous night.

The next occurrence in my list of Manic Mondays involves the reason I have been feeling so poorly the past 16 MONTHS !! It seems every week, when I climb into Frankentruck, I can make it about a day and a half before I start to lose my voice and my chest becomes overwhelmingly congested. I have suffered thru this everyweek while at work and notice signs of improvement after spending a few days at home, but then the vicious cycle continues as soon as I head back out on the road. I have spent numerous hours trying to find the cause. I am allergic to the little pine tree air fresheners, so I have stripped the truck several times looking for one that was perhaps hidden by the previous driver. I have checked for exhaust leaks and APU problems. It was then that my Dad reminded me of the water leak that flooded my flooring approximately 16 months ago, and suggested I may have a mold or mildew problem... BINGO!!

So, on Monday, I pulled back the flooring to check and my fingers reeked of the smell of mildew. After checking the webs, I came to the conclusion that this was indeed my problem. My symptoms were textbook for prolonged exposure to mildew. The shop has been approved to order an entire new interior for my truck, complete with all flooring, seats, bed, and curtains. That was 2 weeks ago , I am still waiting !!

Next up, Monday, June 7th. This was an exceptional case of the Mondays !! It started with the load being reversed in order, therefore causing difficulties for the customers to unload. But the real load issue was a very bad balancing act.

With the help of one of my customers and 2.5 hrs hours of tugging, pulling, prying, fussing and cussing, I finally got the load secure enough to travel. It still took extra precautions to get the trailer open and the items safely removed the next morning.

But it doesn't end there !! Monday followed me into the next day and after finishing up my Carolina deliveries, I ventured forth into Virginia where the DOT decided to pull a full inspection on me at the weigh station. I am actually glad they did because it got me a much needed repair that could have left me stranded further down the road, but the 2.5 hour delay caused me to add an additional day to my weeks journey...Oh well, all is well that ends well.

All of this just after the Monday I spent sitting on the side of the road after blowing out the duct work on the air compressor. So, it is Sunday and I am sitting in Kenly, North Carolina, anxiously awaiting to see what tomorrow's Monday might have in store for me. Wish Me Luck?