Gi-Gi Roxx - The Ravings of a Lunatic

I feel like beer and pizza... but I'm living like water and banana's. So far, that's what I've ingested for the day. I was really hoping that things would work to my advantage and that tonight I'd get to indulge in the first two items at home. But its not looking promising. Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity for me. I'd picked up a load in Beloit, WI the other day that I relayed first thing at our terminal in Columbus, OH yesterday morning. From there I was dispatched to grab an empty trailer and take it to swap out for a pre-loaded one at a Wal-Mart DC nearby. Once I'd acquired the pre-loaded trailer I was to relay it at the terminal as well. I had a little fun in the midst of it all when I arrived at the Wal-Mart DC and found that the place they wanted me to drop the empty was basically a mud-bog. I was careful while still attached to the trailer, but once I'd dropped it... I figured a little fun was in the stars. So I locked in the differen...

No, thankfully I didn't get fired, although I wouldn't have blamed the company had they decided to do so. I was partially responsible for everything that happened on the beer load from hell. However, thanks to tons of documentation and the fact that the shipper shot themselves in the foot by overloading the trailer in the first place, blame was relieved from me and placed on them. I was so afraid I would end up with what we call a service failure, which basically tarnishes my record and puts me in a position of having to be watched more closely should I make any more screw ups and keeps me from earning the quarterly bonuses. After stressing out and wondering what would happen, I finally got the answers I needed during a discussion with my manager this morning. He hadn't been in the office during the whole debacle and so I had to tell him the whole story, beginning to end. He asked lots of questions and I gave lots of answers. In the end it was determined that despite my fa...

If you're unsure what the title means, read the blog I posted yesterday about "Getting Screwed" before going any further along with this one. If you're already up to date...then proceed. I woke up this morning after a restless nights sleep filled with nightmares about being fired, being robbed, and getting food poisoning. All things that popped into my head because of my situation with this beer load. After playing on the Internet , reading a book, and talking to peeps on the phone all evening I finally had to try to get some sleep. And it was during that quiet time that my mind began to race about all the things that still yet could go wrong with this load. I woke up for the 10 th and final time at about 6 am this morning and went into the truck stop to relieve myself and call our cargo claims department, hoping to maybe light a fire to get a resolution going. I was told by the representative that it was still to early and that it might be a few more hours before...

I never in a million years imagined I'd get screwed by my favorite adult beverage maker. But it has happened. I had sat overnight in a hotel in Charlotte the night before last while Trucky was getting a makeover in the shop (preventative maintenance, alignment, exhaust work etc). Yesterday morning I headed back to the terminal and found Trucky healthy and anxious to get rolling again. I'd gotten settled in and let dispatch know we were ready for a load and while we waited, we got washed and fueled and found an empty trailer to tug along behind us. My Qualcomm started beeping with a load assignment fairly quickly and for that I was grateful. The load was about 130 miles away at a beer plant in Eden, NC. I wrote down all the info, noticing right away that the weight listed on the assignment was no where near the realm of legality. So I sent in a message asking if it was a typo or if the beer people were crazy in thinking we could haul that particular weight capacity. Shortly a me...

In the early afternoon on Monday I picked up a load in Quakertown, PA bound for Seekonk, MA, just east of Providence, RI. The load was for a 2am delivery, which I was not thrilled about but managed to deal with. I sat around as long as I could stand (mostly long enough to get my full two days' worth of layover pay) and was finally too antsy to sit still around 3pm, so I hit the road. I acquired the load and started to make my way eastward. I took my time and was enjoying the drive as dusk was rapidly approaching. I stopped in Milford, CT for fuel at the pilot, which took over an hour because for some reason the traffic was more insane that I've ever seen it in the northeast that evening. The truck stop was packed and it took me 45 minutes just to make my way through the line to get to a fuel island, then after I spent a whole 10 minutes fueling, it took me another 10-15 minutes to get out. Seriously, I've never seen that place THAT backed up before. So finally on the road a...

That IS the question... isn't it? I have been meaning to make time to blog lately, but honestly... a sexy Italian by the name of Mario has kept me otherwise occupied. When I was on home time last weekend I stopped by the local GameStop to trade in a few games towards the purchase of Mario Kart for my Nintendo DS Lite... and well... it's addictive! Heck, I'd even bought 3 books at a book store, had three others waiting at the house that I'd ordered off Amazon and have only touched one of them since being back on the road. I (heart) Mario Kart! haha My time off was super fun. I'm so glad to see the end of Winter and warmer weather finally. It allowed my sweetie pie and I the opportunity to start something new. Bicycle riding! Friday we got up and ran a bunch of errands, paying bills and doing a bit of shopping. I needed a few things from K-Mart and I had to get a few things outta my truck still that I didn't feel like hauling out the night before. After pi...