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

I think it ought to be a requirement that you have substantial driving experience to be in the operations in the office…someone that knows what goes on..also i think it needs to be a requirement that anyone with 0 experience must go out on a truck for 2weeks to experience firsthand what happens out here in order to understand the business.

 

I don’t know what they do in that operations department, but the turnover rate is mind boggling.

 

Worse than driver turnover. I peeked in last Wednesday and it looked like a Chinese sweatshop making ping pong balls.

 

I just got back from a lovely trip to the west coast of Michigan. Delivered my large rolls of paper to International Paper in Richmond earlier today, and now have the weekend off.

 

You what they say, it all starts at the top and rolls downhill. Doesn’t help that they throw 70+ drivers who are pretty much used to getting their way on someone who is as green as the grass in the rolling hills of Kentucky.

Where I currently work, my dispatcher said you can make it from just east of Dothan AL to Edenton NC in a driving shift. Or from VA Beach to Orlando. Um, no, you can’t. Not in a 67 mph truck hauling 44k loads and having to take all the beautiful scenic backroads we have to take.

In her defense, there aren’t many women at this company at all and in operations, they are treated differently. Safety is all female, accounting also. Only about 4 or 5 of the drivers are women (there isn’t even a womens restroom for drivers) and she is the only female in an office with 6 men. She’s been there a year. Bless her heart. They definitely treat the women differently here. And Lord have mercy, do not stand up for yourself. They really do not like that. Even if you do it in a nice way. My dispatcher cannot even make a judgment call on her own. It has to be the lead guy or the big boss. If the big boss says “Now, Miss T…” one more time to me when I ask something or call them out on something, I swear I’m really going to blow a gasket because I know he is being condescending. And that cheeses my grits and I have told him so. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck and I won’t be bullied.

The saving grace is that I make darn good money, work 5 days a week 98% of the time, the shop is top notch (they have REAL mechanics who actually FIX things QUICKLY instead of just clearing codes), and the people are pretty nice mostly (but hey, it is south GA).

 

Finished my 34 this morning in Reno. Figured they would wait til today to find a load to start me back to Wytheville for home time for Thanksgiving. Wanted to send me to Washington first then to Memphis then to Wytheville, told DM won’t work out. Now waiting to see what else they come up with. Home time been in the system over a month. Only empty available is a reefer. Got options with a reefer, dry or wet load.

 

Don’t come up here to Washington. No freight. Got suckered into putting out a fire caused by one of our star drivers. Went from Seattle back down to Eugene to load 5 coolers that were dropped there by mistake last week and bring them to the proper delivery in Salem. Then hopefully getting loaded back east. Right now I have a rental car reserved in Richmond to get home for Thanksgiving. Loosing 24 hours here doing this. But hey, reward the screwup drivers and screw the ones that step up. One good thing? Marked off another month on my calendar. 19 months and counting.

I’ve been thinking about that day when I am finally done. No picture, no plaque, no hand shake, just show me the door. Hell don’t even say goodbye.

 

I kinda figured WA would be worse to get reloaded, another reason I said it won’t work. Im seriously considering getting my MS in nuclear engineering being I can do it all online at Penn State.

 

Ended up being deadheaded to Rocklin, CA for a reefer load going to Greenwood, IN. Put me home a day early, worked out perfectly. Prob get gatorade to Wytheville to get me home.

 

Gotta drive at night with this reefer load due to the 0200 Monday appt. and not looking forward to Wyoming…..hoping stuff gets dried up today and stays that way tomorrow.