Bombs Away....

Once again the Kia gods have got me in their sites.

Last week I was sent to load up some more of those disposable cars. I backed an Optima over the hood and raised the deck.  It was dusk by the time I finished loading.

I was making my way towards DC and after awhile I noticed the puddle of water on my hood was not dispersing. How odd!! I stopped for fuel after a few hours and that is when I noticed the puddle of water, was lumpy, almost taking on a solid form. From my vantage point, it appeared to be either A) Pterodactyl poo or, B) vomit.

The longer I drove, the more disturbed I became by its presence. I could actually begin to "smell" whatever it was on my hood. Amazing how the mind can play its on itself! It had no odor, but the longer I stared at it, the more it reeked.

The next morning, I decided to investigate further in broad daylight. It turns out, it is just a rust proofing agent that is used to lubricate the inside of the frame of a car. Apparently, the Optima was filled beyond capacity and when I raised the deck, it came spilling out onto my hood.

After an entire evening of dry heaving and smelling the nonexistent scent of regurgitation, I am even more convinced the KIA gods are angry... The busted windshield, the lightning strike, the "vomit", all happened whilst hauling those little jewels....

What makes it even worse, is that anytime I have a chance to do some baking while I am at home, the extras always make their way down to West Point. I have taken coffee cake and cookies to the guards. I have given a cake to the guys and gals in the transporters office. In fact, just last week, I dropped off a few slices a Pumpkin Roll to my own WP dispatcher, Jim.  You know, now that I think about it, I use to take goodies to a truck shop in South Carolina and it turns out that just about all of their repair work was bullshit!

Perhaps it is not KIA, but rather, Betty Crocker who needs to be appeased?

Venting....

I know..... it has been awhile!

So I am sitting here in my little motel room for the night and I can't help but wonder if my job just went to shit.

I have been hauling cars 14  months now, and have had very few altercations. The only thing that notably stands out is the time a co-worker cut straps on my load to get back at me for something that was out of my control to begin with. I have managed to stay out of the politics and bickering for the most part. I am reasonably content... Or I was.

My first boss was awesome. He knew his job. He kept me loaded and made me good money. I never had a problem with him. I ended up in somewhat of a routine and could easily plan out my week. But, alas, he was fired. The new crew stepped in and even though they had no previous knowledge of the car hauling industry, I  once again was able to get into a groove, make money and stay very content. But their lack of knowledge essentially caught up with them and they were also banished from the kingdom.

New Bosses enter the picture, along with the politics of the game. The terminal I am assigned to is now running on a forced central dispatch system. To be honest, this causes me a bit of anxiety. The way I worked in the past, if a load was available for an area I preferred, I could grab it and essentially know what would be in store for me the next few days. I was in a sweet little groove. Now, I am sent wherever someone else sees fit. Yeah, I know, tough shit! But it just seems to me that if trucks are making money, and drivers are happy, why not let them continue on the routes they prefer. So last week, it started. No more choosing the areas I wanted. I was able to work my way back into Greer, hoping they would leave me alone with the routes I have been running the past few months, but that didn't happen. I was assigned a load that would finish up in Syracuse. Normally this would not have been a problem, except for the minor discontent in running new areas and not knowing where my head would hit the pillow at night. The major discontent came from the fact that I had asked to be home on a specific date next week for a family function. I gave them 10 days notice for my desired arrival at home. The Syracuse load would have me scrambling to find my way home. I asked for Ohio or Kentucky because that would leave me plenty of wiggle room. Nope, no Ohio or Kentucky.. Not that there weren't any loads going there. Just not for me. Head to the Upstate. So with that in mind, I told them I was going to have to reset my hours over the weekend, hoping they would throw me a bone and hand over my desired run. Of course, I loaded for New York... After doing a reset and getting all cars delivered this morning, I was told to head to Buffalo and grab a load to Queens, NY. What the hell????

I wouldn't be able to load until Tuesday morning because of the business hours. I wouldn't be able to unload until Wednesday due to business hours. That would put me reloading Wednesday afternoon/evening if everything fell perfectly into place. Now, if I load in New York on Wednesday afternoon, how the hell am I supposed to be empty and home on Thursday. Then there is the imperfect scenario in which they couldn't find me a load south until Thursday... You get the idea. So, I called to remind them I was suppose to be at home....

As it turns out, this is all my fault. First, supposedly the reset threw off my schedule. BULLSHIT!! The 34 hour reset only set me back 2 hours, because the cars could not be delivered until Monday morning anyways. "Oh well, it wasn't the reset that hurt you. It was that we didn't know you needed a reset" BULLSHIT.... I sent messages early on Friday mentioning a reset in hopes that I could get something other than Syracuse... I was told that if they knew I needed a reset that I could have gotten the Ohio or Kentucky that I had asked for. BULLSHIT!! I told them 8 hours before I loaded that I would be taking a reset...

I am sooooooo frustrated. Not with this particular exchange or the way this week is shaping up. Yes, I still need to get home and there is still time. But the reason, I am frustrated is because I am fairly certain that I am now on the "shit list". Perhaps everyone is on the shit list? This is the first time I have asked for a specified date in 14 months. And the reasons they are giving me for the difficulty in getting me home are clever excuses based on knowledge they claim they didn't have... BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT!!!!! Yes, I do understand that everyone is heading northeast after last week's storm. Another reason that I did not want Syracuse, I didnt have time to play on the east coast.

Nothing pisses me off worse than lies, deceit and feigned ignorance... If this is the way the dispatch is going to be run, I fear I may experience an elevated level of discontent.. Now, again, if the trucks are making money and the drivers are happy..... WHY WOULD YOU CHANGE IT ?  I think I just became a truck number........