Texas Two Step

Don't you just love it when life throws you a nice little curve ball. You swing, you swing, you swing...but inevitably you strike out !!

Last weeks load started in Lynchburg, Virginia. After saying my "goodbyes" to a very handsome Bedbugger, I headed to the shop to put on my Little Trucker cape.

I am the only driver I know that actually uses a tire pressure gauge to check actual tire pressure. I got in this habit years ago and it has probably saved me a lot of time by avoiding unnecessary blow outs. At least that is my logic. But not today. I checked every tire before I left but, I barely made it through Atlanta when I sent traffic into a frenzy by chunking large pieces of rubber at those who were tailgating me... Bet they wont do that again !!

After sitting roadside for over 4 hours, I managed to make my way into North Carolina and found a suitable camping spot. I prefer to sleep on location of my first delivery, but the delays would have kept me driving until 3am, and I was not going to get much accomplished Monday anyways with the mileage between customers exceeding a normal hop, skip, or a jump. So early to bed, early to rise!!

Once I climbed inside my load, I was deflated when I realized that the masterminds of metal mobility had been hard at work while structuring my load. I no longer question WHY things are done in a certain fashion, but I do become quite impressed with the different techniques they employ to make my week a living nightmare. Each of these bundles are EXACTLY the same length... 14 Feet. I assume they were stagger stacked in order to give the 28' items that were placed on top a better foundation. It did not work!! This picture was taken at my 4th delivery, after I rerouted myself and tried to salvage the bundles that had already fallen into the great abyss. I was determined to deliver the product with as little damage as possible, and that was going to put me behind.

I left Lynchburg, and opted for Stop # 3 next. Williamsport, Maryland. Because I had the crane, I was able to unload myself while the receiver dealt with other trucks. I then made a mad dash over to Baltimore and arrived 15 minutes before closing time. With 20k of material to offload, I was parked for the night.

During Tuesday morning's unload, I found some material that should have been shipped to Atlanta, tucked in amidst my Baltimore freight. I set it aside, and followed the protocol of reporting such mistakes. Baltimore's delivery was going to be short. Ninety minutes after leaving, I received a phone call telling me to go back and pick up some items I had left that did not belong. Grrrrr! How could this have happened, I am pretty good at checking freight. I asked what product it was and Customer Service could not tell me, they suspected it was more Atlanta freight. I want confirmation, damn it!! I did not get it.

Being half way to my next customer, I scheduled my return to Baltimore for Wednesday since it would be on my way home anyways.

Stop #4 was in Ringtown, Pennsylvania. No worries there, except afternoon was rapidly encroaching and I had to make my Scranton delivery before 3pm. I phoned Scranton is an attempt for a reprieve, but was informed that 7am to 3pm was firm. I arrived in Scranton at 3pm and headed straight for the truck stop, knowing the drive thru town would put me at the customer 15 minutes after the mandated closure time. So with another 16 hour break ahead of me, I was able to kick back and relax. This probably helped keep my frustration levels at a minimum, because even with the blown tires, missed deadlines and mis-delivered freight...I was still in a radiant mood and was able to find humor in the turmoil that was encasing my trip.

Bright and early Wednesday morning, I arrived at the Scranton customer with plenty of time to offload myself and wait for someone to come in and check freight at 7am. It was then that I was informed that the receiver had waited yesterday until 5pm for my delivery because he needed to ship the product out yesterday. Huh?? But?? So, in return, I had to wait until 8am for his arrival to check my freight in. Nice....17 hour break due to miscommunication between the office and the warehouse. I had been sitting on me arse, while he was waiting for me, only because 3 pm was confirmed by his receptionist. Oh Joy!!

Moving forward, I reached Stop # 6 and within 10 minutes I was on my way back to Baltimore. From Clifton, New Jersey (#6), I would normally head back towards Interstate 81, as I find it a much more peaceful than 95, but with the mis-deliveries..ugh!!

I made several calls to Baltimore to ensure that someone would be waiting for me at the warehouse. It is a new facility and has not officially opened, so I am at their mercy. Unsure of what I am trying to retrieve, the Baltimore Boss personally meets me and we determine that I never left anything by mistake. The items I set aside the day before were, in fact, the items that my employers sent me back to pick-up. The items that never left my trailer !!

It is 2pm and with Washington DC looming in my windshield, I leave Baltimore without any additional items. Thinking I could clear the Capitol Beltway before rush hour, I start grabbing gears only to find the Anti-Destination League is already in full effect. Traffic is creeping at about 15mph. Knowing I would not have been here, had they given me confirmation the day before on exactly what had been left behind, I begin to feel the first twinges of angst.

...but I am finally on my way home. What should have been an easy 3 day trip, turned into 5. It seemed that for every two steps forward, I was forced to take one step back. And so it is, in my trucking life. Surprisingly, I was able to keep a delightful attitude through it all. Even when I got back to the yard and learned that I will be getting reacquainted with Maggie next week.

B!tching and Complaining

Recently I have been going through some major changes and adjustments at work. Both the Boss and the Assistant, had both recently turned in their resignations. Lucky for me, the Assistant was convinced to stay, with a healthy pay raise and a snazzy new title. Lucky, I say, because she is the one person that every driver can count on at all times to know what is going on and to treat each driver equally. Corporate then decided to bring in a few more Chiefs to run the show. So now there is one fellow doing something....(I am not sure what), and another who had taken the Boss' position, while a third has been hired to seek out back hauls for every out going trailer. Yikes!!

The back haul situation is one that has been attempted in the past. It didn't last long because the Aluminum Company put an end to it when the trailers were not returned in a timely manner. This caused major delays in reloading and even shut the docks completely down a few times. So, I am anxious to see how long it will last this time. I know, most other truck drivers have to sit and wait on reloads, but that has never been the case with this dedicated account. I am concerned that the trucking company's greed will get the best of them. Aluminum should always remain the number one priority! Not to mention that I get paid peanuts for any additional work I do outside of my metal loads. Two weeks ago, my back haul took a total of 6 hours out of my work day, loading and unloading. It forced me to work 12 continuous days with very little time out of the truck, because my day off was spent playing with "additional" freight. And it only profited me and additional $37.50 to haul it. I do realize that I am at the mercy of the folks who sign my paycheck, but I am not too enthusiastic about working 6-7 days a week, for mere pennies more than I would make in 4-5 days.

Another issue that developed during the first week of seeking additional freight, was a crazy notion our new "Load Man" got lodged in his noggin. He wanted me to pick up a load in Indiana on Friday. A load that was not going to the Aluminum Company. A load that would then leave me stranded at a truck stop over the weekend, waiting to deliver on Monday. A load that would also knock me off of the following weeks dispatch for extrusions. A load that would tie up a trailer that would be needed to load the extrusions that I was not going to be around to haul. A load that would reduce the following weeks paycheck because I would be too busy sitting around a truck stop waiting for Monday to deliver outside freight and would not be able to return in time to haul my extrusion load because there would be no trailer to load it on and no driver to deliver it because I would be sitting my lazy ass at a truck stop all weekend WAITING. I asked the "Load Man" who was going to deliver this Indiana load, and pointed out all the pitfalls involved. He called me an hour later and said the load was cancelled, but I have a sneaky suspicion that someone told him that he could not follow through on those crazy notions of his.

As for the new Boss. I have not met him yet. But already he has ruffled my feathers indirectly. The first feather fluffing incident involved a small note that was placed with our load manifest his first week on the job. It simply stated that all drivers were required to fill out DAILY INSPECTIONS on our vehicles. Well, duh!! Not something to get upset over except that we do this already. If he cannot find them, maybe he should look in the Shop Foreman's trash can, where they are filed daily. Once again, the blame is laid at the feet of the driver, with no research or questions asked!! This, my friends, perturbs me to no end because of all the unnecessary complications I have faced while dealing the Shop Foreman, or Moe, as I like to refer to him...Head Stooge!!

The second issue I cannot wait to address with the New Boss, is load safety. This week, we all received pretty bright yellow stickers all over our trip packs requesting that drivers check their loads often, tighten straps and drive safely. I know, I know....it is just a sticker. But this sticker seems to indicate that the recent misfortunes with certain loads are due to driver negligence. Seriously, a sticker.....Why not teach the loaders how to place metal safely on a trailer to be hauled thousands of miles...That would be too complicated, now wouldn't it. I mean, after all, a sticker is the easy way out, except a sticker does not get my trailer loaded safely. I can tighten straps all day long, but if the metal does not have a good foundation, the load is going to collapse anyways. An experienced driver can work around these complications, but a new driver might not know what to do in a bad situation. Hey, lets give him a sticker and that will make it all better!! Lets just go ahead and blame it on the driver now and get it over with.

Third week in a row my load has collapsed!

No items were placed in the center to support the outer bundles!!

In reality, I am not complaining about the sticker, I am grumbling about the 3 punches that the Boss has already thrown at us, and I don't even have my boxing gloves on yet!

The third mussing of said feathers, came when it was brought to my attention that the temporary drivers were being dispatched first, because they had other things to do that week. Um, seriously, what have we spent years doing, building up our seniority if only to have the loads given to temporary drivers. And when asked why this happened, it was rumored that the Boss stated that in no uncertain terms that the permanent drivers would take what they were given or else they could seek other employment...WOW!! Now that definitely tends to ruffle the feathers, especially now that I have relocated back to Georgia, to eliminate my weekly commute.

I have no intention of abusing any of the new commanders, and the 2 that I have met are dealing with my personality very well. For example, when the Load Man called last week, I muttered into his ear, " Do you think it would be very rude of me to say What the heck do YOU want?" He laughed at me, because he has been told I am the company clown. I am anxious to meet the new Boss, and will do so at the conclusion of this load. Wish me luck!! I think I will leave my boxing gloves in the truck, at least for the first round.