Be "On Time"

"I will be at the state line at 0745-0750 local time. Catch me on the roll. Need to keep going...gotta cover some miles. Don't be late."

New pilot car. He was where I told him to be, flagged and bannered and fueled. Radio on. Impressive! The biggest complaint drivers will have about pilot cars is that they are late. Had one last week that was supposed to meet me on the roll, supposedly sat there for an hour, but when I go flying by, he says something about needing to fuel up. If you're not ready to go, you are late.

You did your homework last night, right? Even got out google maps to look turn by turn. Cliff notes on the back of your permits even. You know the curfew zones down to the milemarker. You know exactly where you need to be in order to be on time and make your goal. Can you stick with the plan? If you can't, there's really not much point in trip planning an OSOW.

"Oh, I was a little late...no big deal."

It is a big deal. It is the very first step in the A Game. Yes, I know that your police escort and your pilot cars are going to be late. You still have to be on time. Do what you say you're going to do. Rolling out at 700 means I am releasing the brakes and putting the truck in gear at 0659. Not getting coffee. Not starting the engine. Not at the fuel island.

Was doing the afternoon ritual. Standing in the parkinglot, taking off the beacon light and the quick disconnect flags, watching the heavyhaulers come in. They park next to me and we all stand around sharing notes. Pilot cars are standing around too. One driver tells me that he has a good pilot car that was only 15 minutes late. The other tells me that his pilot car was 2.5 hours late. The pilot cars think it's funny. I tell my rookie pilot car that if he can be on time every time, he will make lots more money than these clowns. They don't think that's funny. But then, there's nothing funny about clowns anyway.

They each ask their drivers, "What time tomorrow?" So you're gonna get your SH T together and be on time in the morning? Impossible. You were late today, you will be late tomorrow. In fact you are a pilot car for the simple reason of you can't hold on to a job that requires you to be punctual.

 

The biggest gripe in heavyhaul. You have crane appointments at shippers and receivers. They say 0800 but the crane doesn't show up until 1100. It's always some story about how 'the crane broke down.' Really? And it only took 3 hours to fix? Lemme guess...loose nut behind the wheel. We all know what really happened.