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

Update……. 5.5 hours later, new tire and good to go. Only issue was the wire that controls the ABS, cruise control, traction control and the beeping got cut. Easy fix tomorrow with a splice. Just not in the mood tonight. Been up since 2:30 this morning, Abilene got enough out of me today. I’m done.

 

It’s official, we are now being micromanaged and ALL drivers are now lumped in to the same category, including this one with 42 years OTR, 4+ million accident free miles, 1.3 million miles here and never been late with a load. This was a QC message I received Saturday morning while sleeping in, in order to regroup from the steer tire blowout. Needless to say, this really got me the wrong way. I’m not going to air the dirty laundry about the phone conversation that took place after I read this, but let’s just say there’s 2 very important dates coming up, February when our yearly contribution to our 401K takes place, and April when I get my new vacation weeks. One of those 2 dates will be my sayonara. I’m a greedy SOB, I’ve earned them, I’ll make sure I collect them.

I knew the direction this company was going in, I accepted it as their business model, but I’ll be ###### if I’m going to be lumped into the same category as the rest of the drivers that can’t exit a fuel island without hitting something or tearing up stuff at one of our yards.

Two things are holding me back from following through, one is the planner that sent this is new, has no idea who was on the receiving end of this QC message, and 2, we have a big issue with drivers being late, not caring and not giving a poop.

My issue? I care, I do this job correctly, and take care of the customers freight I have back there. Say what you will, but one of our biggest customers that gives us a ton of loads every week, has a particular load that I’ve done quite a bit, in all types of weather, the issue? We have a no chain policy, except of course this particular load. Chained twice last winter and once the year before. I’m not mentioning that to start any discussion about chains, I do what I feel is necessary at that particular time. My point is this, not everyone runs out there in the winter, very few will chain, I get it, some of us do. If I am being lumped into this same category as everybody else, then it’s only fair I start acting like everyone else. I was so pissed this past weekend that I remember squat about this trip out here to Reno. My DNA won’t allow me to do my job any differently here as I have the last 9 years. But for Gods sake, the people looking into the computer everyday need to realize we aren’t all the same. Rant over. Hopefully when I get home next week for a week off, my pea brain will have calmed down.

Oh, in case anyone was wondering, I’m sitting in Sparks, 12 miles from my delivery, about 15 hours early