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

guess calex wasnt so bad after all atleast u had suffin dedicated atleast

 

Calex was great for the 4 years I was there. But I also don't cow down to anyone, including the President of the company. When I asked for a .02 raise after 4 years of safe driving, on time delivery and a perfect record only to be told no, I took that to mean my job performance wasn't worth the 2 cents I was asking for. At that point I knew it was time to leave. Good gig or not. After all these years out here, one thing is for sure, all these companies are the same, except for one thing, the color of the truck. My deal I have here is fine for me. But that's not to say that if things go south I wouldn't hesitate to take my services some place else. They keep telling me there's a driver shortage, so I'm quite sure if I can fog up a mirror I would have another job tomorrow at another company.

 

I'm in Richmond, empty at the motel. We made it to the 36mm on 81 in Tn at 2:30 this morning. They said the road was closed near Roanoke so we decided to grab a nap on the on ramp shoulder with about 100 of our closest friends. Right at day break we left. I made it to Richmond at 12:30 without any issues. We dropped our trailer at the cold storage then got a deadhead move back to the terminal. Tim called me and told me they had a Florida load for me. I told him I had some important issue to discuss with him when I got back in and he said to see him when I arrived.

This has been a very tough 3 weeks. I no sooner leave the house on the 23rd and my wife comes down with a serious issue with her right eye. Long story short she lost 25% of her vision in her eye that she will never get back. She had to have a biopsy done to the artery that supplies blood to that eye to find out the cause. We went through all this with me just leaving, her not having me there, and dealing with the insurance companies getting the specialist lined up, the anesthesiologist approved and getting one piece of bad news after another, all while I'm out west dealing with every snow storm that could be thrown at me. Then I get the news about my Aunt.

If that wasn't bad enough, I put in for my home time to be home for the 13th & 14th to spend my birthday and anniversary with my wife, it was all going to work until I got to Riverside Monday morning, was empty at 10am and never got loaded until 7pm the following night. As you can tell I didn't make it home.

I got back to Richmond and told George I needed to talk to Tim. He knew why. I sat with Tim and explained to him what was going on with my wife. I told him that I needed to stop training for a month because I needed to be closer to home until we can get a hold on what my wife is going through. What she has to go through is basically having a by-pass done on the artery that supplies blood to the eye. The section they are by-passing got a disease that effects older people, in their late 60's and 70's, not someone in their early 50's. It won't restore her vision that she lost, but it will stop the disease from causing total blindness. Tim asked me what I needed. I told him that in all my years as a company driver, I have never asked for anything. I did have 2 funerals I had to attend, my grandfather whose name I carry and my Uncle. That was 25 years ago.

I asked if he could run me back and forth to the house for a month. My wife is having this procedure done next week so I need the whole week off. He told me not an issue at all. I told him I would be able to come back out on Saturday and he said done. I also asked for and got from him his word that I will stay under his dispatch. He told me that as soon as he went back to his desk that he was sending an operations wide email about what I need and also sent it to our operations manager. I felt so relieved when it was all finished and agreed upon. My back up plan was to take a month off and do what I had to do, but plan B wasn't needed.

My other issue to deal with was getting George finished. I am someone that hates to not finish something that I start. George turned the corner with his training this round. 100%? Not yet, but boy did he climb that ladder. I came down with a 24 hour bug early Wednesday morning after finishing my shift. I had a high fever while having the chills, every muscle in my body was aching, and everything I ate the last few days came up, thank god for a garbage can I have in the truck. I was in bed all day. George took over and drove, drove 705 miles that day. I started feeling better, then was able to drive a little. My fever broke and only lost 6 hours. My delivery was just a drop so getting their 6 hours late wasn't a big thing. I spoke to Sally Wednesday about what was going on so she said she would work on it.

When we got in today we went to Sally and worked out that George will finish his stage 2 training with Craig, BigBrin, who is now traineeless. George likes him, he's got that class and attitude that a professional has, and I know he will finish Georges training the right way. It's tough putting two grown men in a 15 sq ft space for weeks on end. But it worked with us. George is starting a new career, asked questions, observed how I did things and how I handled issues that arose. He turned out to be a great team driver. He's going to be a good driver, he's safe, good with customers and has that one quality that is needed out here, patience. I wish him the best in his new career, safe miles and the one thing I get out of it? A new friend.

My load home will be done at about 3am. I'm tired, in fact I'm wiped out. I'll get it about 6am then leave. I'll be home about 10am Sunday. I have my first drop at 7am in Miami, been there before so I know that deal. My second drop is 8pm Monday night. I'll get home about noon then spend the rest of the day home and leave the house about 7pm to finish the load. I have things to do around the house but nothing more important than being there for my wife. God Bless all, be safe.

 

All the best with your wife's eye procedure

 

Thanks pal.....

 

I am glad that you got things worked out without the hassle and I hope that all goes well with you wife.

 

Thinking good thoughts for you and your wife, JB.

 

So sorry to hear about your wife, John. I hope the surgery is a success and that there is no more disease and no more loss of sight. You (and she) are in my thoughts and prayers.

When everything gets back to normal, we may end bumping into each other on occasion back out on the road. This winter running the water took a huge emotional beating on me, stressing out about things freezing up all the time and possibly imploding a tank. There were other issues as well, but that alone was enough to make me leave and go back to running freight. I start orientation on Monday with the new company.

 

Thanks Steve. Good luck with the new gig.

 

I also hope and pray things work out for you and your wife JB.

I would have gone with plan B. Plus a month if you can afford it.