Oh, goodness, everyone wants something for free...

Fat is short for a grain finished beef animal, a steer or heifer. It's much quicker when quoting prices or numbers to use that term.

 

I do some of that, too, then, usually a multi-drop load to Chicago land.

 

Nothing goes to the zoo from here, yet, but I'll run it by the sales staff, LOL.

I have places I hate and places I like, you have to remember Chicago land is large with literally thousands of places to make deliveries of meat. I like the Woodmans markets, they are easy to get into and backed up to a dock, the warehouse is continuous with the coolers accessible. There are places you have to blind side in from a busy street and make a blind 90 degree into an alley to the dock. There are other places where you park on a level spot on the street and have a pallet jack lifted into the trailer to tailgate the load. Fulton Market Street is a bad area, it's not far from Harpo Studios where they record Oprah. The underpasses need to be watched out for, if it's too low, you can top a trailer or get wedged underneath. I really like driving 7-10 miles to get around low clearance to make a delivery less than 10 blocks away. Probably the worst place I have been was nowhere near Chicago, those old mines in Missouri are a real pain for OTR tractors and 53 foot trailers.

I'm pretty good with people but some people are wound too tight, and even the easiest going people set them off. I enjoy going to places I have been before because you usually get treated better on return visits than you do on the first one, plus it's quicker getting to somewhere you have been than finding a new place. Burky has a thread about Newlywed Foods, I have been there to pick up breading mix, and I wasn't treated too badly for a first visit. This place is right next to the Metra train tracks and is a secure yard, I really didn't feel in danger staying there overnight to sleep. The loading was slow but I have seen worse.

 

You get pretty good at backing in this job, I have done things I never even dreamed were possible while backing, driving ahead actually probably gets a driver in more trouble than backing.