Nustar Energy, Vancouver WA

2nd most detention pay earned for me at a given location.

Product: chemical fertilizer. 3600 pounds a bag, 14 bags total. Do the math.

Appointment time: 0800

I arrive: 0745

They open a dock for me: 1030

I must describe their dock. It had 3 trailer ramps, but they refused to use the 2 that weren't right in front of the warehouse door. The dock was also a foot higher than the average trailer floor, so they had old railroad ties positioned to lift the tires and level everything out.

First weigh-out, 38000 on tandems/82000 gross: 1230. Made them remove one bag.

Second weigh-out, 37500 on tandems: 1315. If I was going to anywhere other than California the adventure would have ended here.

Third weigh-out, 36000 on tandems (see a pattern? I did): 1400

Fourth weigh-out, 37000 on drives (I admit it, they surprised me this time): 1430

Fifth weigh-out, legal by ounces: 1530, accompanied by "Naw, don't bother tying it down, those won't shift", also known as "famous last words". (My own fault for believing them, though)

Final departure, after getting new paperwork reflecting the reduced bag count: 1545.

Total detention pay earned: Approx. $86.00

Every single load rework was done by a different dockworker, who would invariably badmouth whoever'd done such a horrible job before them, and promised THEY were a pro and knew what they were doing.

I have since realized that if you're driving a forklift at a fertilizer plant, you're probably pretty much out of other career options.

The upside: They didn't mind me sitting on the dock while they loaded me, and were generally OK to ######## with. The dock was easy to get into and out of, and they had a scale right across the parking lot for us.