Time to start Houffing -- new gig at Houff Transfer

Oh yeah. They've got trucks with 800k miles on 'em.

They say they're thinking about revising that policy for the newer trucks like my 2026 Cascadia, because it's just harder to keep them rolling than it used to be. But their older trucks? They try to milk every last mile out of 'em.

 

I do deliver into and around Philly a fair amount. We deliver to a beer distributor that's in Philly proper, and also a regular pick up down near the docks. And a few other shippers and receivers in the suburbs. Most of it is drop-and-hook.

We also have a terminal in Baltimore, and while we don't do a lot of pickups or deliveries to locations in Baltimore, we do a lot of drop-and-hooks at the Baltimore terminal.

We don't get to NYC, so that's not a worry. Farthest north I go is Scranton, PA. Furthest south I go is Burlington, NC. We do, very occasionally, get loads to Wisconsin and to McDonough, GA. I've only gotten the Wisconsin load once in six months. They've put the McDonough load on me twice in six months, but they fell through both times so I didn't have to go.

 

A couple days ago, I found out an interesting thing. There is a malady called "trigger finger". Like, this is the actual, official name that doctors use.

Now, if you had come up to me beforehand and told me there was such a thing, I would have chuckled and said "Sure, uh-huh." I'm an old man. "Itchy trigger finger" is a phrase I have used all my life. It brings to mind western movie characters who were quick on the draw and quick to fire their guns at any provocation.

However, it was a doctor who was telling me about it, and that was because I have it. And since it was a doctor looking me in the eye and telling me about it, I guess I believe him.



This thing is super obnoxious. I'm right-handed, but there's a lot of stuff I do with my left hand. Open the driver's door of the truck when it's time to get out, for example. I try it now, and I just bang the splint up against the door. Raising and lowering the landing gear has become a real challenge. Fortunately, Houff keeps their landing gear in tip-top shape. And their drivers will do the correct thing and leave the landing gear an inch or so off the ground before dropping the trailer. So most of the time, I can raise or lower the landing gear one-handed. But when I can't, it's a huge pain in the keister.

Only gotta put up with it for a few more days, then it's back to the doctor where (I suspect) they'll give me some kind of cortizone shot to clear it up.

 

They dunno. There are some correlations. Folks with diabetes tend to get it more often than folks without. Women tend to get it more than men. Low thyroid function seems to be common in folks who develop it. But they don't have anything like a smoking gun to point at and say "This little microbe" or "This vitamin insufficiency" or whatever is the cause.

I ain't diabetic and I ain't female, but I am among the thyroidally-challenged Americans since my thyroid developed cancer 23 years ago and so we figured I was better off without it. So at least I fit one of the profiles.

 

Houff requires all their drivers to have a hazmat endorsement, and I went and took the hazmat test and submitted the paperwork for a background check some time ago. They told me it would take 30-45 days before I heard back. They said they'd send me a letter. So I have been going about my business waiting for the results.

Well, it's been long enough now that I figure it's been at least 45 days. Wasn't sure how long, but I knew it'd been a while. And still no letter. So I started digging around in my email to find out when I'd sent in the receipt to get reimbursed. Turns out, it was June 1st, well over 45 days ago.

So I called the DMV to find out my status, since I have not yet received a letter, and since the 45 days have come and gone.

Turns out, they approved my hazmat endorsement on June 5th, four days after I applied.

Not sure what happened to that letter.