Monday, December 27th Well, I certainly don't want to go through another day like today for quite awhile.
Christmas was a good time of celebrating Christ's birth and being around family and friends. The day after Christmas weekend turned out to be just plain weird.
A phone message from Mr. S (after hours dispatch) instructed me to pick up a trailer early in the morning on Monday and deliver a load an hour away. So I called up to confirm this and the after-hours dispatcher I spoke with could not find anything about delivering a load north of the city. He did however find a load that was going to Baraboo, WI Monday morning.
I arrived early at the drop yard to plug in my truck (heats the oil so that the starting process is eased in cold weather) since there were no outlets available Christmas Eve (I think I was the last truck in the yard that day). Hmm...reminds me of no room at the inn in an odd sort of way. But I digress. I plugged in my truck and went over to the truckstop to grab a cup of coffee. About 45-minutes later, I went back to the yard and tried to start the truck. Nothing. The starter solenoid had decided to go kaput.
Back to the truckstop to talk to maintenance. Mr. L asked me how many volts were left and to try manually starting the engine by putting an iron bar across the starter solenoid points in the engine compartment. Back to the truck. Got out my flashlight and gingerly placed an iron bar across the solenoid. The truck begrudgingly began to stir. However Mr. L had mentioned that it probably wouldn't for another 5 or 6-hours. The oil needed time to get warmed up. The person I spoke with last Friday who told me to plug it in one hour before I tried to start it this morning was either a practical jokester or a complete clod. Of course it also would have been a nice gesture for the trucker next to me to plug the extension cord into my truck when he left on Sunday (Guess he had one too many eggnog over the weekend). Then I talked to after-hours dispatch. They said that the load north of Milwaukee and the Baraboo load were on the same trailer. So, I was supposed to deliver both loads (the first being due by 7:00 AM). With dismay, the dispatcher said "we're screwed." (I felt like saying, "no--you're screwed. I ain't" -- but I kept my mouth shut).
Sooo...back to the truckstop to wait an hour to see if the truck might start after being plugged in less than 2-hours (instead of 5 or 6-hours). No go. Sigh. Mr. K, my fleet manager, told him to let him know when the truck started. Then he'd assign me my new trip plan. So, should I twiddle my thumbs at the truck stop for 4-hours or go home? I went home. At least I salvaged some of the day.
After 4-hours or so, I said goodbye to the family (again) and headed back to the truck stop. Success! The truck started. I sent a message saying so to Mr. K. Almost immediately came my trip plan. I was going to North Carolina. All I had to do after notating all the information was to find the trailer in the yard. I drove around twice to make sure I hadn't missed it. Nope, the trailer wasn't there. After making sure for the nth time (even sending a list of all the van trailers in the yard to dispatch and the planners), I received a new trip plan. Oops--somebody screwed up! This time I located my trailer and was on the road by 1:00 PM. Not bad considering I was ready to go at 5:00 AM
Down at our drop yard / maintenance yard in Gary, IN, I waited to have a few things checked out (Change fuel filter; windshield wipers, and check the starter solenoid) before I took off. However, they were kind of busy. I also found out they were out of the fuel filter my truck needed. So, just as I decided to bypass the maintenance department and take off, a mechanic said they could look at the truck. I politely declined and said next time--I needed to get going. For some reason, I just did not want to sit around for any more periods of time.
I arrived at a truckstop in Indianapolis just before my hours for the day expired. That's when I found out I forget to pack silverware (Did you ever try to eat hot noodles without utensils? You should try it sometime...just for the heck of it.)
Yuh know, I'm glad this day is ending!
Oh yeah, almost got stuck in the truckstop--they've had some snow down here.
miles driven = 252
9:36:32 PM
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