I am alive.... mostly.
I've not blogged for a little bit and apparently a few of you have been concerned. I am alive... mostly and just truckin' right along. I had a great few days at home and the break was certainly welcome.
When I left out on the 19th I headed over to Catlettsburg, KY to pick up a load that was bound for Providence, Rhode Island. On that trip I added two new states... Conneticut and Rhode Island. I don't particularly like either of them. Crappy road surfaces was the main deciding factor in that decision. But I digress. I picked up the load and headed for RI. The trip took me two days and then I was picking up another load in West Warwick, RI to head back south with. I ended up at the Carlisle terminal in PA on my way soundward, in a hotel getting my truck fixed. I was having charging issues so they had to work it all out and I got a night in a hotel!
And to boot, the ol' man was working in the eastern panhandle of WV, only 70 miles away and he came up and stayed the night with me. Which was good, because the hotel had a bar and I drank just about everything they had (beer wise) and I needed the comforting the next morning when I was hung over as a willow tree!
After a delicious breakfast and sending the hunny on his way, I got myself together and hit the road headed for Georgia with the load I'd picked up in W. Warwick. It was a pleasant drive and after an over night stay in Wytheville, VA I made the rest of the trip on Saturday. Delivering my load on the south side of Atlanta and heading to our terminal just minutes away for my overnight stay.
This morning (Sunday) was a very frustrating one. I started getting beeps on my Qualcomm at about 4am for my next load assignment. And of course, being the good girl that I am I couldn't just ignore those beeps and the persistant red light that stays on when you have a new message. So I got up and checked it out and then went back to sleep once I knew what was ahead of me for the day.
Little did I know what was REALLY going to be in store! I had been dispatched to pick up an empty trailer across town to take as an even trade on a fully loaded trailer bound for Illinois. After fueling up and getting all my paperwork for the day started I headed over to the place to get the empty. I arrived only to find out that all of our company empties they had on the lot were lined up to be loaded and therefore they would not release any of them.
After sitting on hold for 20 minutes, I was dispatched to pick up an empty at another location. I headed over there and lo and behold... no such empties existed. After a little more frustration of sitting on hold, I was dispatched to just bobtail over to the facility I was supposed to pick up the load.
Upon my arrival the guard came out of her shack and started screaming at me telling me to get off the property that I would not be allowed to step foot on the property without an empty trailer behind my truck. I was appalled... and pissed. To say the least.
I left immediately and parked at a gas station down the street to call the company once again. This time I only held for about 5 minutes before getting a person to gripe to. After calming down a little I got dispatched to pick up a guaranteed empty (that was being held for me) at a location in.... oh wait for it....
Chattanooga, TN.
Yep. 140 miles north grab the trailer, 140 miles south... stay at the terminal another night in Atlanta. In the morning I will go trade my empty for my full trailer and head to Illinois.
Just very frustrating. Albeit good for the pocketbook since I will be getting paid for all the miles I drove needlessly. But it was just annoying.
So here I sit at the terminal, wasting time before I go get some sleep. Tomorrow I will pick up my load and hit the road. And who knows where I will land next time I have a chance to blog!
Take care everyone!
When I left out on the 19th I headed over to Catlettsburg, KY to pick up a load that was bound for Providence, Rhode Island. On that trip I added two new states... Conneticut and Rhode Island. I don't particularly like either of them. Crappy road surfaces was the main deciding factor in that decision. But I digress. I picked up the load and headed for RI. The trip took me two days and then I was picking up another load in West Warwick, RI to head back south with. I ended up at the Carlisle terminal in PA on my way soundward, in a hotel getting my truck fixed. I was having charging issues so they had to work it all out and I got a night in a hotel!
And to boot, the ol' man was working in the eastern panhandle of WV, only 70 miles away and he came up and stayed the night with me. Which was good, because the hotel had a bar and I drank just about everything they had (beer wise) and I needed the comforting the next morning when I was hung over as a willow tree!
After a delicious breakfast and sending the hunny on his way, I got myself together and hit the road headed for Georgia with the load I'd picked up in W. Warwick. It was a pleasant drive and after an over night stay in Wytheville, VA I made the rest of the trip on Saturday. Delivering my load on the south side of Atlanta and heading to our terminal just minutes away for my overnight stay.
This morning (Sunday) was a very frustrating one. I started getting beeps on my Qualcomm at about 4am for my next load assignment. And of course, being the good girl that I am I couldn't just ignore those beeps and the persistant red light that stays on when you have a new message. So I got up and checked it out and then went back to sleep once I knew what was ahead of me for the day.
Little did I know what was REALLY going to be in store! I had been dispatched to pick up an empty trailer across town to take as an even trade on a fully loaded trailer bound for Illinois. After fueling up and getting all my paperwork for the day started I headed over to the place to get the empty. I arrived only to find out that all of our company empties they had on the lot were lined up to be loaded and therefore they would not release any of them.
After sitting on hold for 20 minutes, I was dispatched to pick up an empty at another location. I headed over there and lo and behold... no such empties existed. After a little more frustration of sitting on hold, I was dispatched to just bobtail over to the facility I was supposed to pick up the load.
Upon my arrival the guard came out of her shack and started screaming at me telling me to get off the property that I would not be allowed to step foot on the property without an empty trailer behind my truck. I was appalled... and pissed. To say the least.
I left immediately and parked at a gas station down the street to call the company once again. This time I only held for about 5 minutes before getting a person to gripe to. After calming down a little I got dispatched to pick up a guaranteed empty (that was being held for me) at a location in.... oh wait for it....
Chattanooga, TN.
Yep. 140 miles north grab the trailer, 140 miles south... stay at the terminal another night in Atlanta. In the morning I will go trade my empty for my full trailer and head to Illinois.
Just very frustrating. Albeit good for the pocketbook since I will be getting paid for all the miles I drove needlessly. But it was just annoying.
So here I sit at the terminal, wasting time before I go get some sleep. Tomorrow I will pick up my load and hit the road. And who knows where I will land next time I have a chance to blog!
Take care everyone!
Comments
Oh well I'm sure we will meet again DAVID