Found out this morning that the dedicated account of my company in Lansing, MI wanted to borrow me from the dedicated account that I was assigned to for the remainder of the week. The dispatch/manager needed to check with my dispatch/manager as long as it was OK by me. It was--as long as I could get a cash advance! Then I found out that next load available for me today would be ready at 6:00 PM. Great...a 3rd shift schedule. Hmm...perhaps I should have found out about the 3rd shift schedule first before saying "OK.". Even better, I should have asked my dispatcher yesterday if the Michigan run would be 3rd shift to begin with. Oh well...live and learn.
Out in the lot, I witnessed one pour guy whose truck wouldn't start. Another guy pulled his trailer into position in front of him so that he could pull the other guy to jump start his truck. Too bad they both didn't think that the tail bar in the back of the flatbedder's truck (preventing vehicles from going underneath the trailer in a collision) wasn't strong enough to pull a loaded tractor/trailer. You guessed it, it sheared clean off. They then tried hooking the chain around a secure part of the trailer and tried again. No go. And again. No go. I then radioed them and suggested that they might want to drop the loaded trailer first before jumpstarting the tractor. That did the trick and the guy's truck was once again running.
Well, the rest of the day will be one of relaxing a bit before starting up in the evening.
By early evening I was on my way towards Northern Indiana. It felt good to be steering nearly 62K (pounds) of truck down the Interstate (most of my dedicated account loads on my regular runs weigh far less). In addition, this was my first refrigerated trailer I hauled with this company. The trailer was nearly brand new and handled flawlessly. At the delivery location, I unhooked the trailer and then hooked onto another trailer (returns) and headed back to the warehouse in Lansing (this was a dry-van trailer and was also very new). I must say that dropping the trailer I took down there took some doing. Some genius waste-hauler put his trash bin directly directly across the dock that I backed into. That made the backing procedure a bit longer than normal. Oh well, at least I didn't take any doors off the trailer. Come to think of it, there are no doors to lose since the door is on rollers and rolls up into the truck. Come to really think of it, I wonder if I was assigned to this account for the week to teach me a lesson about not ripping any more doors off of trailers. Nah...that's reeks too much of conspiracy theory musings!
I got back to Lansing in the wee hours of the morning. Another trucker and I talked most of the way between the Indiana / Michigan border to we split (he to Detroit and I to Lansing). He really wants to get his own rig and become an O/O (Owner Operator) or perhaps do a lease/purchase option with a company so that he can be making more money. He has a dedicated account route and likes the home time he receives. That makes it difficult since he would be away from home a lot more (in most cases) if he became an O/O. He's got some more thinking to do.
The lighting bug show of yesterday was almost nil this time around. I think they partied themselves out the night before! I did see one lightning bug slam into the windshield just as he was lighting up his whatever he lights up. The remains glowed an eerie florescent glow for about 20-seconds before fading into black.
I arrived back in Lansing in the wee hours of the morning, dropped off the trailer, and went to a nearby truck stop for some refreshing sleep time.
miles driven = 420
10:10:02 AM
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