After hooking up to the trailer in the drop yard (almost got stuck backing up to hook to the trailer; the gravel lot was not plowed all that great in last weeks snow fall), I fueled close by and was off to my destination in Charleston, SC. The weather went from drizzle in Milwaukee, to snow in northern Chicago, to drizzle in Gary, Indiana, to rain (at times fairly heavy) all the way down to Knoxville, TN. So, although it was a rather drab day of driving, the truck got a Natural Wash from all the rain and spray.
About last Friday....
Although I didn't journal about the day's events last Friday, I think it best to say a few words about it now. I arrived around 8:30 AM in the Kaukauna, WI maintenance facility/drop yard. Upon arriving, I informed Mr. K (my fleet manager) that my truck needed some repair work done and asked him (at the same time) if I should go ahead and deliver my load early to the delivery place. He said to deliver the load (a short distance away) and then come back to the facility to have the repair work completed. Once back, I then was instructed to go pick up another trailer (in the area I just returned from) as that would be my load going home to the Oak Creek drop yard. So off I went, picked up the load, and then returned to the yard. I unhooked from the trailer so that the maintenance people could work on the tractor in the garage. Then I waited. From 1:30 to 9:15 PM. Seems that if you're in the process of going home, your truck/trailer is the lowest priority for being repaired. Note to self: next time you need repair work done, have it done on the start of a trip. That way, you'll be near the top of the priority list and won't have to wait that long (the maintenance team did a great job as to the actual repairs--they even found something I was not aware of that needed repair).
Mr. K also gave me a pre-plan on next week's trip. I was to pick up a trailer on Monday and deliver it a few days later to a location in Texas. This was after I told him I would be starting on Tuesday (not Monday). I then politely QualCOMMed (Q'd) him and asked if it was OK to pick up the trailer on Tuesday. He did some checking and Q'd me back saying it was OK to do that as long as I still made the original ETA appointment time. I laughed. I then politely Q'd him back saying that I didn't have time to deliver the load on time. He then flipped out and Q'd me and scolded me that I shouldn't have had him to all the checking with customer service and the load planners. In effect, I had wasted everyone's time. I laughed again. I corrected his erroneous thinking by reminding him (via QCOMM) that I said I was starting on Tuesday, not Monday. I felt like sending him a knock, knock joke (Knock. Knock. Who's there? Nobody. Nobody Who? Nobody as in anybody home upstairs?!) Ah yes. This job would be more enjoyable if I didn't have to put up with dispatcher...er...fleet manager goofiness. (By the way: Mr. K did not send me another pre-plan load until yesterday right before he left for the day via voice mail. Oh well, better late than never.)
I got home after midnight last Friday. So I didn't get to see the kids until the next day. I sure did not enjoy that one bit--especially when they were expecting to see their daddy whom they hadn't seen for awhile.
miles driven = 650
8:34:04 PM
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