I'm baaaaaack!!!!!!!!

Tractor done, just stopped for din din and back on road. 766 miles by tomorrow (going to Charlotte NC area). They're looking to get me out west but miles is miles.

@MNMover: just like chrome don't get you home, stories don't sell cars. I did do stand up for a (very) brief time a long time ago (where stories do make money) but that gig is REALLY tough. Long haul trucking ain't got nothing on the life of a comedian. I'll stick to trucking and be an on line raconteur.

I am Captain Zoom.
What the $#@!? is a raconteur?

 

(I know what it is; I just like the word)

 

Shut down for the night just west of Lexington KY. The load I picked up in the Louisville area was a Conagra joint. I was nervous about a long wait for a live load but it turned out to be preloaded with all of five pallets. Going to Harris Teeter in Indian Trail NC so I still have a shot at that fat fat detention pay. Gotta be there at 2100 and I'm 467 miles out, but I can't start til 1100. Gives me 10 hours, avg 47mph. When I have my druthers I like to plan on a 45mph average, especially with this 60mph slug. But the light load and (so far) cooperative weather mean I shouldn't have too much trouble. I have to fuel in Knoxville which can consume time. And I have to get through the Gorge which can consume even more.

I gotta get another goat.

 

Thanks Victor.

I was aware of the appointment time/window when I got the dispatch; I've always made a habit of having a good open communication line with my driver manager no matter where I work. They're really no different from Celadon or Dart or Schneider or any place else I've worked over my nine years as an otr driver. My dispatcher actually offered to remove this preplan because it could get tight but I asked to keep it. It is really no different from the thousands of JIT (Just In Time) loads I've pulled for other carriers; can't show up more than ten minutes early or late or you get smacked with a service failure, and many of those were shutdown loads (automotive or dairy production line loads where the trailer was part of the line). As far as pressure is concerned this load is actually pretty tame. Most loads are dispatched a little faster.

It may seem that the company is pressuring the driver with artificially short transit times, but the truth is a little less sinister -- they are covering their collective rears with the customers by taking into account the not inconsiderable ###hole quotient among truck drivers. In any population sample there is a subset I call the "###hole Quotient," or AQ for short. These are the guys who, through ignorance, indifference, or outright malice, seem to make it their life's mission to screw everything up for everybody else. I'm talking about the driver who sees he has all day to make delivery so he plays in the casino til the last second, then runs into traffic and causes the company to lose an account. Planners everywhere have gnashed their teeth, pulled out hair, torn clothes, and sacrificed legions of goats over these guys. Finally, after many hours of expensive therapy and menacing letters from angry PETA commandos, they agreed to hold any spare time in reserve and only tell the drivers an appointment that assumes their average planning speed and no delays. Then if something goes wrong there is (usually) time to deal with it without drama, fuss, or goat casualties.

The onus is upon the driver to always communicate with dispatch proactively about any concern, actual delays, weather/road conditions, etc. Then, to get to appointments forthwith (fifthwith, even) and live up to that communication. It has been my experience that making a lifestyle of keeping the signal lines open and always doing what you say builds sufficient trust with dispatch that you eventually end up being told about windows before you have to ask. This results in the dispatch saving time and headache, you getting more miles, and several goats saving money on expensive therapy bills.

The downside is that you will be called upon to do some tight loads as they now know you are not part of the AQ and can be trusted to get the job done. If you show a work ethic you gotta be ready to live up to it. But you'll end up getting miles that will mystify drivers who play at truck stops, and the goats will be so grateful they will form pickets to guard your truck from bums and lizards while you sleep.

Well, I gotta get some breakfast. Stay warm and be careful out there, and have a great d day!

I am Captain Zoom.
Friend to goats everywhere.

 

I call 'em PETA Commandos for a reason....

Got a chuckle imagining the moment of stillness when you walked in.

 

When the winds of change blow, some build walls. Others build windmills.

-- Monk Tze Chien