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

Load of paper rolls to Wisconsin for Monday. Exhaust boot decided to pop loose being clamp was bad, had both clamps replaced by road service. This place is turning into Knight/Swift more and more, was told to keep the bad clamps and turn them into the shop next time through….new safety director been on a firing rampage, watching following distance, over speeding the governor and reflection in the windshield if picking up your phone.

 

A friend of mine still over there got called by the new safety director and asked why he was using his cruise control at night. Give me a freaking brake, I would submit my resignation on the spot. Turning into a micro managing cess pool.

 

I would’ve had some really good words of advice for that idiot too the safety manager that is

 

I would’ve asked him if the roads were wet, frozen or otherwise dry? Then tell him to that if he thinks he can drive the truck better than me to come do it.

Then be on the unemployment line later because I got fired. This guy seriously needs to just let you guys do your job and deal with the ones that keep messing up.

 

He definitely got control issues….what happens when you give younger college educated idiots power. Personally pure business folks need to stay out of trucking. All higher ups in my opinion need to have at least 20 years or better of behind the wheel experience. They picked the worst ppl to step in and run stuff.

 

The very first job, I had in the transportation industry, was with Carolina Trailways and every one in management except the CEO, came from drivers. Dispatchers, drivers supervisors, safety, you name it, if you were in a job, in management, you were once a driver. I must say, if I had my life to live over again, I would have never left there. I have never been with a better company when it comes to how management and labor worked together. Oh, yes, the drivers were union, but if a problem came up, a little discussion was all it took to solve it. It was only three things that a driver could get fired over. 1-A rear-end collision2-Stealling the company money3-Messing with high school girls on charter trips

 

Dropped a loaded trailer at a warehouse Saturday, about 10 minutes away from the Knight yard in Atlanta. It was 4:30pm, and I was reasonably confident that there would be no more loads that day.

Tried to get a load the next morning, was told they didn't have any, and to try again tomorrow. So I got paid layover to watch football. Geaux Saints.

Finally got a load yesterday. Pick up an empty trailer off the Knight yard and be at the Pepsi plant in Stone Mountain by 11:00am. Since I got the load assignment at 10:15am and it was 47 minutes to the shipper, I figured I would be late.

And then there were no empties on the Knight yard.

Subsequent instructions were to go to the warehouse where I dropped the trailer on Saturday. When I dropped the trailer, they didn't have any empties and I bobtailed out. But since it was now Monday, the hope was that they might've unloaded a trailer or two in the meantime.

Alas, it was not to be. 10-12 trailers, all sealed. So new instructions: Drive 3 hours away, to South Carolina, grab an empty, and bring it back to the Pepsi plant.

Well, alrighty. But the Pepsi plant stops shipping at 5:00pm, and there was zero chance I would be back by then. Informed my DM of these facts, and moseyed my way to get the empty.

I asked if they could find out when the shipping hours start, but never heard back. So I rolled the dice and rolled in this morning a bit before 7:00am. Turns out, the Pepsi plant is undergoing major construction AND they're completely replacing their old computer system with a new one. And everything is chaos. Took them 45 minutes to even find my load in the system. I jokingly told them that the load was due today in Orlando at 11:00am, and I didn't think I was gonna make it. They told me I'd be lucky if I was even loaded by then. Oh boy.

Apparently this place is being converted to a fully robotic facility. Robotic yard jockeys, robotic truck loaders. Feel bad for all the folks put outta work. They're coming for us pretty hard, too. It's only a matter of time. It's why I told my son not to be a truck driver.

 

He did. Got his ASE mechanic certification last month. I am a proud papa.