Looking for input from you good folks

Wanted to give y'all an update on this.

Last night during dinner, the owner of the local gig called me. Apparently, he had recently hired someone who decided to walk off the job yesterday, leaving the truck in the middle of the field. (Remember, most of what they haul is sod.) He wanted to know if I'd meet one of his other drivers at the shop and ride with him to the field, bringing the truck back to the shop. I say, sure - I can do that. Glad to help out.

I leave right away and meet the driver at their shop, then ride over with him to the field. I notice in his truck that there are no seatbelts, a couple of the gauges don't work, seats are completely worn out - but, hey, he's good with it so who am I to say anything? We get to the field and there sits the truck, loaded with palletized sod rolls. The owner and his wife show up in their personal vehicle and he tells us that he will take the other drivers truck back to the shop while we take the abandoned truck to Pensacola to deliver the load of sod. The other driver will drive over there, I'll drive back.

Ok. Not a problem - loads exist to be delivered.

We get in the truck and, apparently, it has to be started with ether each time you crank it. Lights seem to work. Inside is trashed, no seatbelts, no working gauges. Before we pull out, I ask the guy if we should check the straps over the sod. He says, no, why? I tell him, well, for example, one of the pallets of sod is leaning over and extends about 6 inches (at the top) over the side of the trailer - you know, just as a thought. He tells me that, yeah, that's a good ticket - so I open the door to go fix it. "No, leave it alone. We're not far from Pensacola and we take back roads to avoid all the scales, anyway. Always use the back roads." Ok, thanks for the advice.

On the way over to P'cola, I learn that that he's been with the owner longer than anyone - a fact he's proud of. He started in January, so that's... what?... 8 months? Good to know. The driver that abandoned the truck had just started that day. Oh, and there was another driver - who also started that day. So there's 5 trucks (not 6) and 3 drivers, including the owner. And the lights seem to come and go, depending on bumps and vibrations.

At an intersection in Pensacola, the truck stalls while the guy was giving me tips on using loose leaf logs since I'll probably re-do them at least 2 or 3 times a day. It's a local job, but they do often into Mississippi, Louisiana and, of course, Florida. But I call him or the owner anytime I have a question about re-doing my logs. These folks are really helpful!

We get on a four-lane, go down it a mile or so, then get into the center lane to turn - we're only about a mile from the landscaping company we'll be delivering to. Waiting in the center lane to turn, traffic clears and... opps - it stalls again. Jump out and spray ether to get it started again. Jump in, put it in gear, give it fuel and... we're not moving. Uh oh. Try every gear, including reverse - play with the selector... can't get it to engage. Seems the transmission is taking it's break.

I start looking around in the cab and he wants to know what I'm looking for. Triangles. For what? Well, it's dark now, were in stopped in the center lane at an intersection on a busy four-lane and, since I just walked around the trailer, I noticed we have no tail lights. I'm told we don't need triangles and even if we did, we don't have them. So, I ask if we aren't supposed to carry them in all trucks? He asks is we aren't supposed to also have things like seatbelts and working gauges. He wins on that point - it's a good point!

So I play with the pigtail and it doesn't seem to be a connection problem there. Walk to the back of the trailer, wiggle some wires and now we have lights again. So I feel better about that. Go back up to the cab and find out the owner is bringing another truck and should be there in an hour or so. 3 hours later, the owner shows up with the other tractor. We unhook the trailer and pull the broken tractor from under the trailer. I assume he's going to just pull it into the parking lot of the corner convenience store, but they keep going down the side road and disappear around a corner. Apparently, they decided to go ahead and pull the truck the last mile to the landscape yard before coming back to get the flatbed of sod that's sitting in the middle of the road with no lights - no truck, no lights.

So after 10 or 15 minutes, they come back and we hook the trailer up and make the turn. The owner gets in his personal vehicle (his wife had followed him) and leaves. He has to drive to Tampa, pick up some cows and deliver them to Houston by 6 a.m. Is he serious? Apparently, he is. It's already 2200, we're in P'cola, and that's about... oh, 6.5 hours from Tampa - at best. Then he's go from there to Houston before 0600? I don't see it happening, but even I'll admit that he's got a heck of lot more experience than I do, so maybe he knows a trick or a shortcut.

So we take the sod to the receiver, who is closed, but we can get in the yard. There are 5 forklifts sitting out there and we manage to find the 2 that work, so we begin unloading the trailer. 3 of the other guys pallets break and rolls of sod go everywhere. I finish unloading my side of the trailer, go around and restack one of his pallets then move it over with the others. During this time, he finished unloading his side of the trailer, parks his forklift and gets in the truck to talk on the phone. I asked him if he was going to help restack the other 2 pallets and says no, he's gonna leave them there. The receiver will get it tomorrow - they know stuff like this happens sometimes.

He asks if I want to drive back and I say... uhhh... no, bro. You go ahead. This truck is in worse shape than the other one. The transmission seems to work, but again there are no working instruments, and even if they worked, there are no dash lights, so you wouldn't be able to see them anyway. The air breaks on this things are super touchy - apply the breaks and everybody lurches forward - and, again, there are no seatbelts to help restrain you. Turn signals don't work, but you can just use the 4-ways whenever you're going to turn, so that comes in handy - especially for those dreaded last-minute decisions on which way to turn.

Anyway, I was again offered the job - the owner called me again after we got back and told me to come and grab a truck whenever I was ready to start - in the morning would be good with him.

But I'm thinking I'll go to PTL.

I know things break down and things go wrong. That's not a problem for me. And I don't mind unloading sod or picking it up off the ground to restack it. I actually had a pretty good time last night and me and the other driver found quite a lot to joke around and laugh about. It was fun. Besides, if I ever found work where everything always went perfectly, I'd be so bored with it that I couldn't stand it. To me, things occasionally going wrong is what helps me really appreciate the good days. And I was glad to be able out last night.

But I see so many CSA points just waiting to jump on my license that I'd be worried that, if I ever decided to find a better job, I wouldn't be able to get hired. I really don't want to be hiding from DOT when I'm driving. And even if only the local law enforcement pulled me over at some point, I can see a brief conversation going as something like this:

LEO: "Your supposed to be wearing your seatbelt, driver - where is it?"
Me: "You know, I've been wondering the same thing, officer - I haven't seen it since I started working here. Do you have an extra one I can borrow?"

Mmmmm.... yeah, I think I'll be in Kentucky next week.

Thanks again for everyone's time and comments - both to those who advised PTL and those who advised the local gig. Y'all brought up some good points and gave me things to look at that I may have missed on both sides.

 

That is precisely what I considered it from the moment I got the call. I had wanted help in not making the wrong decision and in not passing up the better opportunity. That's exactly what I got. Thanks for the observation.

Ghost: Yeah, I know, right? I'd really like to keep the lack of points for as long as possible!