Con-Way Relays

I am getting tired of relays. Seems like they never go as planned anymore. Nobody is ever on the same page. They either get to you early or way late, then your fighting the clock being dispatched at 47 mph with no breaks. Or the other person isn't even coming to meet you because they broke down or they were never informed to begin with. Seems like there is always some slacker driver that gets thrown in the loop that screws up the whole process. Then there is the whole lets do this at the busiest most crowded truckstops in the area in the middle of the night thing that really gets me. Thats where the whole "not on the same page" thing really comes into play. I remember one time they had me deliver a load to a guy at the pilot in birmingham off of 78 one night in the middle of week. I pull up there about 15 minutes early and he proceeds to tell me that he wasn't ready to do it, because he was tired. There were trucks parked and sleeping on the fuel islands was how crowded this place was. So, I got on the phone with dispatch and asked them what they wanted me to do, being that I was kind of just stuck there in the middle of the driveway. They were dumbfounded and told me to just hang out for a few minutes while they figured out what was going on. I told them when they figure it out they will find the trailer up at CWF in Bessemer, and that's where I went. 10 minutes after I dropped the trailer and parked here comes that other driver from the pilot all huffing and puffing. I guess they made him wake up or something. All I can say is that drivers need to be ready on these middle of the night, busy truckstops relays. If you can't be ready you need to call dispatch and let them know you won't be ready so they can find someone else who will be or at least tell them to advise the other driver, so he(or she) can be prepared.