Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

I remember why I dislike paper mills...driving across the moon surface would have been smoother. Plus, I drove around and around and around, thinking "I am either blind, or someone else pulled out with my trailer by mistake". I finally found my trailer loaded with finished product all the way over in the inbound scrap lot. And the landing gear were jacked up so high that not only my 5th wheel would clear, but I could have made a fist and fit it in between(the previous driver probably did it that way when they dropped it in the moon crater lot, and it's so uneven, it was the only way to get the feet close enough to the ground so they could pull out). Plus, the yard truck drivers had it so close to the sea can next to it that I was under the other trailer cranking it down in low gear (because I didn't have the room or the angle to get enough leverage to use high gear). I finally got it hooked up and out of there. Will deliver this load this afternoon, then ditch this dry box at a cat litter plant near Richmond, then head south and pu a reefer at a repair shop, then head over to I-81 to pick up a load to the St. Louis area, so...I am back in the fridge freight business.

 

When I first came back, I was getting lots of long runs, now it's a once or twice per tour of duty for me...it's doing the same thing it did for you...short or shorter. The wife has an appointment with her BiPap supplier today and I get a week of vacation in 5 weeks.(maybe that's why my quarter is so lousey...vacation pay is paid based on the previous 13 weeks from the date you start your vacation. Perhaps they're thinking I am gonna take it as soon as it's available and they want to save a few bucks)...after that, there is nothing worthwhile keeping me here.

 

I have a question for my fellow Creaffer drivers on here. We got a message today about new DVIR forms being added along with instructions on how to use. The way the instructions read, it's almost like they want us to send in a DVIR with every PTI, even though the regs say we only need to send in one if something wrong is found...plus they want us to pull the last DVIR on the equipment as well? Anyone else get that from what they sent?

 

It wasn't me...I have an alibi.

 

The message said, any questions ask your A/M or your Fleet Manager...I asked my A/M if they are gonna require us to do a DVIR for every inspection, because that's the way the instructions they sent make it sound...he said he didn't know and I should watch the video...what video...they only sent us a PDF. Told him that unless told otherwise I would be doing it the same way I have always done it, and if safety doesn't like it, then they can call me and tell me I am wrong...like they need an excuse. And they need to stop telling us to ask our A/M if they aren't gonna give them the right info to start with.


Plus, the reefer trailer they sent me to pu at the repair shop after I dropped the dry van had been sitting there a while...and, the previous driver decided that they didn't want to clean or wash out all the wet cat food from a spilled load before they dropped it, so...my trailer smells like it was used to store a dead body. It stinks so bad, not sure a Blue Beacon can clean it, and...it's going to a Hershey's plant. At least when a dry van needs cleaned out after a OSD issue, it's normally a routine sweep/blow out...but this has set a new record...only took 2 days before I got in a totally ####ed up mood...it usually takes 5-7 days.