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

I've gone well over 100 miles with my Volvo display reading "zero gallons". Then could only fit about 130 gallons in my 150 gallon tank.

 

Here now, A Mighty Tale of Mirth and Woe. This is long, so go grab a drink or something.

So yesterday, I finally got that heavy load off my truck and out of my hair. Gave Madeline her first full tank of gas in a week.

And lo and behold, I got a new load assignment before I even got to the receiver who was going to offload all that wet black rubber. Bonus!

Leave the receiver, do all the paperwork, punch in the address for the next shipper. Next shipper is also in San Antonio, across town. Shipper is Cyrus One. Address given to me is 9997 Westover HIlls Blvd.

Walter, my Garmin Dezl GPS, calculated a route. Jessica, my tablet which runs Google Maps, calculated the same route, but with a different destination. I have learned to Investigate Further(tm) when Walter and Jessica disagree, and a bit of zooming revealed that Walter's destination was pointing at a location labellled "Cyrus One", while Jessica was running me off into an empty field.

Score one for Walter.

So I make my way to the site, whereupon I make a fascinating discovery: There is no 9997 Westover Hills Blvd. Cyrus One is at 9999 Westover HIlls Blvd.

Well, okay, what's 2 digits between friends, eh? What are the chances that it's NOT the "Cyrus One" at 9999? I ask you!

I talk to security. They have no idea why I'm there. They pass the buck to shipping and receiving and flag me on through to go pester the guys on the loading dock. I drive around the building and meet the shipping supervisor.

He has no clue why I'm there. He certainly doesn't have anything he's planning on shipping out today.

Oh boy.

I get on the phone and call the one phone number I have listed in the load assignment for Cyrus One. I get no answer. I call Alan, my DM and tell him what's going on. He gives me another contact at Cyrus One to try. I call that number, and get a guy named David who used to work at Cyrus One but hasn't in a year and a half, and he doesn't know why he's still listed as a contact for Cyrus One, but he does know that he can't help me out.

I apologize for bothering him, he says no, it's cool, he just gets these calls all the time and he wishes they would stop. I tell him I'll pass the word along.

Then my phone rings. It's the other number for Cyrus One that I called earlier! Maybe now we can get somewhere!

Talk to a guy named Mark. Mark was the point of contact for the construction company that built the site five years ago. He doesn't actually work for Cyrus One, and never has. His association with Cyrus One ended five years ago when the construction was completed, but he's been stuck as the main contact number ever since, and gets about one call a month from a confused Abilene driver. I tell him about David, we both share a bitter chuckle, and I tell him I'll pass the word along to see if I can get the calls to stop coming.

OKAY, SO!

Back to talk the shipping guy at Cyrus One who doesn't know anything about the shipment I'm supposed to be picking up. He says "Well, we DO have another facility down the road at 9554."

"Do you have the phone number for their shipping department?" I ask hopefully.

"No, the people who work for Cyrus One over there don't actually handle the shipping." he replied.

Great.

I call Alan again and update him, and he vows to find out what he can on his end. And I motor on down the road to 9554 to see if maybe there's someone there who knows what the [CENSORED] I'm supposed to be picking up.

Get down there and find that most of the site is under construction. There's a completed Cyrus One facility there, but driving around the building shows that they don't have any way for an 18-wheeler to get in.

I park my truck on a side road and talk to the guys in the construction site. "You know anything about something I'm supposed to pick up?" "Nope. But the loading dock for the building we just finished is over there. Maybe they know."

So I mosey on in that direction. MEANWHILE, a Werner truck has come into the site with an actual delivery. And I get to watch him try to navigate this maze of a construction site. There were a couple of times I had to help him make a very tight turn, 'cause he wasn't gonna make it on his own.

I get to the loading dock. I talk to the construction guys there. "You got anything you need to ship out?" "Nope."

Crap.

I wander around some more. I help the Werner guy make another tight turn. Seriously, it took him close to an hour to traverse this construction site from the entrance to the loading dock. I was very thankful that I didn't have to do it, and made the mistake of saying so aloud.

FINALLY get ahold of someone who works in the Logistics department of Cyrus One. "You know anything about what I'm supposed to be picking up?" "Nope."



Get a call from Alan. "We found the correct address. You're supposed to be at 9554 Westover Hills." "I'm already there. Any point of contact?" "No, that's all I can find out is just the address."



But at least I know I'm in the right place.

Head BACK to the construction offices and talk to some of the folks in charge. They don't know anything about it, but at least they recognize the name of the company that I'm supposed to be taking...whatever it is I'm picking up...back to. So they start making phone calls. And I go back to my truck to make more phone calls.

After about 45 minutes of phone calls, we finally get ahold of a real, live person at the receiver. They make further phone calls on their end, and eventually we find out that I'm supposed to pick up a damaged computer server from the construction site and bring it back to Richmond. (Actually, I had to bring it to West Memphis where presumably it'll be added to some other load going back to Richmond.) And where is the damaged server you ask?

Remember how I said I made the mistake of saying aloud "Man, I'm glad I'm not that Werner truck driver having to navigate this torturous maze of a construction site?"

The server was on the loading dock. It had been there the entire time, including when I was actually back at the loading dock trying to find out what I needed to pick up.

So I put on my high-visibility vest and borrow a hard hat and start walking the path I'm going to have to navigate to get to the loading dock. At which point I see the Werner driver making his way back out. Clearly I won't be taking this path through the site until he's back out on the road.

He gets to the exit after almost rolling over. (Seriously, I saw his right rear tandem tires come about six inches off the ground.) Now he's got to make a SHARP U-turn around a jersey wall, with cars and trucks all in front of him. Took him 20 minutes just to make the U-turn.

And I am seriously not looking forward to this.

But he's back out on the road finally, so I have no excuse. Time to do my job and earn my paycheck. I start backing up down the road towards the entrance.

At which point the guy who directs truck traffic in and out of the site stops me. "They're bringing the server down here on a forklift. They're gonna load you up on the street. You just need to open your doors."

And there was much rejoicing.

 

Lord have mercy! You've just won the "You're not gonna believe this s&@$!" contest for the week. Heck, for the year!

 

Good evening everyone. I have enjoyed reading through this thread the last few days trying to learn as much as I can about Abilene since they are one of he 4 or 5 companies I'm interested in. I begin CDL school at the end of May and should be ready to begin orientation around the end of August. I am currently in NW Ohio and am looking for something regional (I also have a passport). Any advice, suggestions or info about Abilene would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Probably best to just ask any specific questions you may have. I am not aware of an OH regional gig, but we have multiple loads going there (and IN) every week so its unlikely you would ever be far from home.

 

Waving a Hand... I saw an Abilene Mack followed a few minutes later by an Abilene Volvo headed west on 460 rolling past LU (Lynchburg Wards Rd. exit). I just wanted to wave a hand in case it was anyone from this forum.

 

If you wait another 39 years it may happen again!

 

A question to those of you who've been here awhile: I'm considering taking that shiny week of vacation we got at the start of the year but I was wondering if I need to be worried about someone using my truck while I'm off. I've seen a few of the city guys rolling in sleepers from time to time. Any chance for unsavory shenanigans while I'm gone?
Edited to add: I live in the RVA so I'd be leaving the tractor at the yard, hence the concern.