Instant O/O and Load boards

Ok, well I had a certain number of loads to get me out there a bit and routed through home for Christmas.

Well that set back in LA cost me a couple days and things were looking pretty tough. I stepped on it double-time Monday and tried to get caught up.

The next place I got to to load salt to GA was open Monday night and they were going to load me, but the product I was loading needed lab techs on site to test. They weren't in and weren't going to be until the next morning. Great, I had only worked 6 hours that day! Spent the night, then they woke me up and rejected my trailer, sending me for a wash because there was no receipt even though I had cleaned it myself spotless. 80 miles OOR and $55 later I was back and got loaded.

Started my trip determined to drop off Wednesday morning overnight. Had about 3 hours to spare to drop off at 7:30am.

Close to midnight I was thinking about getting some fuel, but thought it better to wait until after midnight so I wouldn't get that subtracted from the next settlement. I usually go by a 1,000 mile rule of thumb since my fuel guage doesn't work, but I know I can get 1200 pretty easy. I got to FL and was doing that long stretch in the panhandle, going uphill, and then the rpms started dropping and everything felt rough... I was certain that tranny had just gone. I had just made it to the top of a hill and had a couple/few miles of downhill and took it, riding the curb with no power steering, but no stops to be seen. The good news is the tranny turned out fine, but I had run out of fuel. I guess I didn't factor in at all the 4 days of sitting in LA and idling off and on.

Well that stunk because I had about $30 in my pocket and had just sent off invoices, it was midnight and I wouldn't expect anymore funds until at least morning.

I stopped next to a callbox and hit service, but only a Sheriff comes out no matter what you hit. Well that was no help. Eventually I called a mobil service and got a really nice guy who wasn't going to leave me out there all night. He brought me 20 gallons, primed me up and held a company check til I could get back to him on a T-check.

Back down the road, my 3 hours extra were gone, and I needed to deliver that load, deadhead, get reloaded in GA, deliver that in Tampa, then reload all by 3:00pm... really no way that was going to happen and the next day was Christmas eve.

I got dumped off early Wednesday and was about as on track as I was going to get. I made a few calls and the guy in Tampa agreed to hang out for a little bit to give me an extra hour to get dropped off, and my reload said they'd be open Christmas eve until about 3pm if worst came to worse, so I had a plan at least.

I was making ok time until I-75 in FL, which ended up being backed up to a stop in about 5 different places over a 70 mile stretch. More hours went by, I was supposed to make it to the dropoff by 4pm, then 5pm, then 6pm... finally I had to call the guy "Willie" at the dropoff and bribe him with $20 to stay late, like after 7pm for me.

Well Willie is a character, apparently was still getting paid by the hour anyway, wanted me to bring him beer too which I didn't but overall very helpful under the circumstances.

So I got unloaded and everything was working out great for getting loaded in the morning and home by Christmas eve late. Since I was in Tampa, I was only about 25 miles from Wallygator whom I had never actually met but talk to all the time on the phone. Even though I was practically blind from not sleeping we decided to get together for a few hours anyway and he would pick me up. The next load was right across the street from that dropoff anyway.

Slick Willie was very accomodating... said no prob to leave the truck there, inside, outside, in the grass, leave it on the scale, didn't matter since no trucks were coming tomorrow and he'd be back at 4:30am.

Well Wallygator's significant other by the time he had arrived had me on Skype and enticed me to come over for chicken enchiladas, home cooked meal, shower, laundry etc... sounded really good so I went.

Wallygator and she are a blast, great sense of humor and she cooked up a storm! Had a very comfortable nights sleep and the next day, Thursday, he brought me back to the truck.

WELL.

It would appear that Slick Willie had sold me out. The gate was now locked and my truck was on the other side of the fence. I had his cell and we had texted back and forth the day I was bringing the load, but lo and behold, the man wouldn't answer the phone or text to save my life. My texts and mesages got more desperate over the next couple hours but to no avail.

Finally the depressing finalization came that the reload place was closing and the day had gone terribly wrong.

I had to make that call to my kids. Of bad days in trucking, this was among the worst for different reasons than other bad days.

So that was that. I would be stuck until Monday now.

HOWEVER, as alternatives go, Wallygator and fam were happy to put me up and help me make the best of the situation. We've gone to get-togethers, sang karaoke, did some drinking, went to see Sherlock Holmes today... basically passing the time. But that's where I am and what's going on!

I'll be back on the road Monday to take this load to VA but I'm not sure what to do from there. I still owe my kids a Christmas but they're coming to FL on Monday for a week.


Well I guess that's trucking!