This morning I was supposed to meet Mr. D at 2:00 AM at the warehouse. Mr. D is the driver who will be showing me a typical route. However, once there, I was informed that he wouldn't be there until 3:00 AM. I betcha they just wanted to see if I'd show up on time (if a driver was late, Mr. D could had an hour to play with). While waiting, I took an interactive computer training module. The company pays for each module you take (along with passing the questions presented you along the way). Good stuff. Mr. D arrived around 3:00 AM. In the process of hooking up to the loaded trailer, Mr. D explained that I would be observing him while he did everything.
On the way to our two stops south of Chicago, we fueled in Oak Creek and then headed to our first stop in Joliet, IL. Mr. D has been with the company for about 2-years (driving for a total of 9-years). All 2-years with this company he has been on this dedicated account servicing Wisconsin, the UP, Michigan, northern Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. He's very satisfied how things have gone for him at this company. You can tell he's established relationships with individuals at locations along the way. People were glad to see him and the chit-chat was in high gear.
Mr. D showed me how to take the pallet jack and unload the pallets as well as handling other items. This is the only account that has drivers regularly unloading van trailers. A full trailer takes between one and one-half to two hours to unload. If a driver doesn't want to unload freight, this is not the driving job for him/her. However, I welcome unloading the trailers--it's not that tough and I'll be getting exercise on a daily basis (similar to going to a gym on a daily basis). So I see this gig as a good thing.
At each stop, we picked up empty pallets and assorted items that were headed back to the warehouse in Milwaukee, WI. After the 2nd stop, we indeed headed back to Milwaukee. We backed in to a dock, the workers there removed everything from the trailer, and we were done. Mr. D dropped the trailer off and parked his truck while I received the keys to my truck and miscellaneous instructions about my load on Monday.
The tractor I've been assigned to is nice. It's a mid-roof Columbia Freightliner (which means I can not stand up in it). It's 2-years old and has nearly 100,000 miles on it. I inspected the truck to see if there is anything that needs reporting. It was in fine condition so there was nothing to report. I looked over my pre-trip assignment. I'll be going to a stop in the Milwaukee area first thing Monday morning, return to the warehouse, and then head for Iowa for two stops before returning back to Milwaukee. This run will certainly get me up to speed and it will feel good to be on the road again.
miles driven = 0
8:56:46 PM
back to top |
|
