Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

I have to walk back a post I had a few weeks ago about a certain member of Ops that I was less than complimentary about his abilities. Back in January I spoke with our Ops manager (since January's miles sucked sewer sludge). During our conversation he asked what kind of miles I was looking for in the upcoming month (February). I said that anything north of 10k would suffice. He said 10k wouldn't be a problem. Earlier this month, when I was on my TX to AZ to TX merry-go-round, I posted that the way things were going, his claim that I would top 10k wasn't gonna happen. However, things improved dramatically after that week, so he did indeed make good on his promise. (That's 1 in a row, my faith in him has only improved marginally because previous statements he has promised haven't worked out as positively). Even with numerous 10+ hour delays in unloading, and almost 2 days waiting out the blizzard in the Northeast, I still managed to top 11k paid miles in February, one of my best Februarys in a long time. I am currently waiting to deliver at the Walmart DC in Terrell, TX. After all the long unload delays at other places, I actually caught myself saying "thank God I am delivering to a Walmart DC" while chatting with the wife the other day. I never imagined that looking forward to a live unload at one would be an improvement, but it is. I was planning on being home next week and using my 1 yr PTO/vacation pay to enjoy a week of hometime, however, the planner dangled a productive load going back to AZ in front of me, so I will postpone my hometime/vacation. I have always told any AM I was assigned to that hometime is flexible for me and if they ever need to see if I could cover a productive load going the opposite direction from home, all they have to do is ask. Well, the planner waited until my AM was at lunch to send me the preplan, and I didn't hesitate to accept it (1150 mile, 2 day run that is ready to pick up before I get empty). When my AM came back from lunch and saw that I wasn't gonna get home on time, he asked if I was o.k. with it, I said that this is one of those times that I mentioned when I was first assigned to his board about being more interested in productive runs rather than hometime, and as long as the next load after that is productive AND delivers by Friday, I am more than o.k. with it. I am guessing here, but by the way it sounds, a lot of his drivers would throw a royal fit if they don't get home on time. The way I see it, it's money in the bank before vacation. Maybe they can send me a Red Bull load back to Ft. Worth by Friday would make 3 good weeks in a row.

 

Right now, they only thing that is aggravating the crap out of me is the nanny sensor system on this truck. I do believe that I will have to have them recalibrated in the not so distant future because their accuracy is all over the place. I pretty much have to keep my foot on the throttle all the time when cruising because it randomly decides to pick up the ghost truck in front of me, even when there is no vehicle, sign or overpass around. Plus the side radar is way out of calibration, it'll beep when something is on the frontage road, or sees a vehicle I just let on the interstate, when it is 30+ feet past the front of my truck (and pulling away).