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

Me too. Cranking 40k of paper rolls was a biotch!

 

Had a rather strange few days... sent to pick up an empty reefer at USPS in Topeka, KS... picked up a new trainee while there... on the way back I could NOT get the pins to engage on the tandems (bumped hard forward and back, nothing would shake them loose)... so I drove back to WM with the extra long wheelbase... it started raining and one of my wipers fell off the arm (changed it in the rain) ... then sent to move an empty from West Jeff to WM... that trailer had no turn signals on the left side... (unplugged and replugged, nothing) ... stopped off at the nearest Loves to get repairs... two hours wasted cause when I finally backed into the shop, the darn things started working...

Someone doesn’t like me...

 

Congratulations Grandma.

 

Got a load assignment on Friday with a lot of time on it. Deliver Hill-Phoenix to Lakeland, FL. Due Monday morning at 6:00am. I got the assignment circa 11:30am.

No trailer number on the load assignment, which means it's not ready. Drove down to HP on Ruffin Mill to see if I could obtain more info and perhaps encourage them to step it up so I could put a couple hours on the road that day. But alas, nobody there. Everybody's at lunch.

Try a few more times, but due to bad timing the office continued to be empty when I peeked in. Couple hours later, I finally get ahold of their shipper dude. After some digging around, we find out that the trailer I need has been jockeyed over to their new warehouse on Old Stage where they are supposed to be loading it up with a 2nd stop.

My load assignment says nothing about a 2nd stop. Since I am a good citizen, I call up HQ to inform them that the load they have assigned me now has two stops instead of one. HQ blows me off and tells me to wait until I have the BOLs in hand and THEN call them.

Arrive at Old Stage warehouse. Consult with shipping clerk. Trailer is not ready, but they have only one small box that needs to go on the trailer, so could I go hook the trailer and bump it into the dock? Sure.

Time passes.

I go to get the paperwork. It's not ready. Why is it not ready? Because Hill-Phoenix is waiting on an email from HQ to update the load number now that it has two stops.

Remember how I phoned HQ to tell them about the additional stop? HQ said to wait until I have the BOLs in hand to call them, but HP says they can't give me the BOLs until HQ updates the load.

Catch-22.

Eventually common sense prevails, mainly because it's 5:30pm on a Friday and everybody at the HP warehouse wants to go home. So they "massage" (their words) the system to print me out a 2nd BOL. I take the trailer and the BOLs to HQ, where they dutifully update my load assignment.

Leisurely weekend follows. Seven hours on Saturday, six hours on Sunday.

Get up this morning at 5:00am for a 6:00am delivery. Arrive on-site. It's a construction site. New Publix going up. Nobody there when I arrive at 5:45am. Nobody continues to be there until about 6:30, when folks start trickling in. Finally get ahold of someone in charge around 7, and we make arrangements to bump a dock.

Get that finished, deliver one lone box weighing maybe 15lbs three hours to my 2nd stop in Lehigh Acres. That always amuses me. HUGE TRAILER, tiny little box, and lots of sailboat fuel. Dude who unloaded me at the 2nd receiver just walked onto the trailer and picked up the box. Wish they could all be that fast.

Head to truck stop 20 minutes away. Just as I'm pulling in, Qualcomm beeps. It's a deadhead assignment to Lake City, FL. No address. Just "Lake City, FL."

Arrived at a nice truck stop just south of Lake City circa 5:30pm. Sent in "end trip" macro.

So far, no further instructions. No clue where I'm supposed to go in Lake City.

I am strongly tempted to just sit here and see how much layover I can rack up before they remember I'm here.

 

Today's load assignment: Take the empty trailer that they had me bring to Lake City and backtrack three hours down the route I just came up yesterday. Apparently there is nothing in Lake City which requires me or my empty trailer. No clue why they sent me there.

Truly HQ moves in mysterious ways.

 

Amen!

 

Looking forward to home time that starts this Friday. September is a very special Month for me and the whole family; It’s the month that my two children were born and also it’s my wedding anniversary.
When I get home me and my beautiful queen will be celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary.

 

37th... WOW... congrats!!!
Enjoy the Home Time!!!

Seems January is a rather special month too...