Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

After 7 years here at Abilene, 12 different DM’s, assorted changes to make operations run smoother, there’s only been one constant that has not been addressed or corrected, this companies piss poor communication issue.

 

Nothing really earth shattering to the masses, just BS that infuriates me. I let my DM know first thing Friday morning that when I get to Reno, I will have 3.5 hours left on my 70, will be 16 hours into a reset when everyone shows up for work on Monday morning, and that I won’t recap until midnight Tuesday night, or a fresh 70 at 5am Tuesday morning. So, I get to the consignee at 4pm local yesterday, bump the dock and snuggle up with my iPad, PJ’s and a nice quiet relaxing evening. At 4:30 this morning, I feel the dock plate drop in my trailer, I get up, dress and walk my paperwork inside. Get it signed, unhook and rehook an empty, then get my reload assignment. I’m looking at my QC message from Friday making sure my communication was correct. It was, 3.5 hours left on my 70 and 16 hours into a reset. At this point, the QC messaging starts, (no reply) the phone calls start, (no reply) the text messages start, (1 reply) and the frustration level peaks when I am told by my DM that he’ll take care of it in an hour when he gets in. Sure, no problem, the load picks up in 2 hours, but hey, take your leisurely stroll to Starbucks or Dunkin’, amble over to the office, then set up your desk to start your day. I hooked my empty, and PC’d the 10 miles to the truckstop. By the time I parked, made coffee, had a bowl of Cheerios, checked my time and saw I had 39 minutes before my load time 52 miles away. Boom, my phone rings. It was my DM telling me, oh, they took you off that load early this morning. Got it, thanks for keeping me in the loop, I’m going to bed now. And if you can see it throughout your busy day, have me a load assignment for tomorrow before you go home tonight. God only knows, I don’t need to go through this again tomorrow.

 

I just want to clarify something. I’m not a complainer. I’m expected to do my job 100% correct 100% of the time. Can you imagine if I only do it correctly 90% of the time, or how about on Tuesday’s only, or maybe in months that have 30 days in it. Anyone else? Nah. My problem? I’m a communicator. I let everyone in the loop know what’s going on the minute an issue arises, be it my DM, a load planner, the operations manager, or even the janitor. I know what my problem is, I’m from the thought process that there’s no room in my life for ANYTHING less then what’s expected of me. Another issue? After all the different DM’s I’ve had, (12) I’ve earned the right to voice my opinion, displeasure, anger or lack of correct information that directly affects me and my job. When that happens, it doesn’t matter who I get involved. Sorry, maybe after 7 years here, I should just be a puppet and allow someone else to defecate in me. Not!

 

I just told dude back at the mothership that if it’s going to go south and freight becomes an issue here, I’ll just put on for hometime. And when I do, make sure it’s for Richmond, that way I’ll go home without the truck and wait this Covid-19 issue to pass. He said it might be a while, I said I hope it’s until after the holidays.