Was Late today

People still wonder why truckin is the way it is . . . . .?

 

how about this situation? Now, this is the ONLY TIME i have EVER delivered a load late that was my fault.

I had a load of iGPS pallets (used with robot forklifts) going from Palm Plastics in Morenci, MI to SC Johnson/Waxdale in Sturtevant, WI

Now, i've run this load before and i'm fully aware that i will be turned away if i am more than 15 minutes early. My appointment was for 5am. I got to the Petro at exit 333, 2 miles away, at 1am. I was tired. I took a nap. Set my alarm for 4am.

I woke up at 4am. Was really tired. Set my alarm for 4:30am. Or so i though. Went back to bed for another 30 minutes.

i woke up at 6:30 am! My alarm was set for 4:30 PM!

you can't tell me you've never atleast been in a situation where something like that was plausible.

 

I have went to bed at 3 am and woke up at 5.

Twenty years of going to the office the same time, my body wakes up.

Running as a medic, I could be up all night. Lay down at 4 or 4:30 and be wide awake at 5.

Can never sleep during the day. Do not get sleepy until 10 or 11.

 

Plausible
adj.
1. Seemingly or apparently valid, likely, or acceptable; credible:
2. Giving a deceptive impression of truth or reliability.

 

Love my cell phone! I use the alarm AND the scheduler! Then there is the American Eagle Alarm found mainly at the TA. It's powered with the DC power and you have a snooze and regular curt off. I cut a piece of Velcro and put it over the regular cut off so I don't hit it and go back to sleep but with both alarms on the cell set I never over sleep BUT I did get in the habit of getting at LEAST 6 hours of sleep back in the old 8/10 days and I never want to see those days come back! I enjoy the actual time I need off for taking care of you off time business! A real 7 or 8 hours between the sheets sure beats trying to eat, shower, paperwork laundry and what ever else you need to do in that pathetic 8 hours of the old days!

Just start training your body to get a minimum amount of sleep and quit playing games on the puter answering posts in threads and sitting around the dinner counter jacking you jaws! This isn't a game but a lively hood!

 

I do it ALL the time. Any time i drive late night hours and have to wait til morning for a delivery, i take a couple hour nap. Just like that day. Never had a problem with it unhtil that day.

I set the alarm for that extra 30 minutes. I was 2 miles away from the consignee, knew exactly how to get there without directions, and was giving myself 20 minutes to get there (including airing up the truck and dealing with morning traffic)

Man, I don't have a problem waking up with an alarm. I have a problem with pushing the button and laying back down. I lay back down and im OUT instantly. Generally I wake up, realize im in the truck and not in Hawaii or wherever i was dreaming (these days it seems like i drive trucks in my dreams though..wtf?), and thusly realize i have work to do.....

Usually the LESS i sleep the easier i wake up. Stayed out at a bar all saturday night once, got to bed at 7am, went to work at walmart at 11am that day. yup yup. No problem waking up at all.

 

I made the mistake of setting it for an extra 30 today and it didn't go off.

 

I stayed in a hotel last night and didnt use an alarm at all. Felt good for a change. In the truck, even when i dont use an alarm i use the buzzer on the qualcomm (anyone whose ever driven for werner knows what im refering to) incase i get a load.

Hell i called dispatch at 7:30 for a ride, got told to call back later. Hehehe.

Fuel pump went out in my truck

 

One little thing I've always done is carry a little black book containing phone nos of shippers and recievers. Every place i deliver with any regularity I ask for the number "just in case". Believe it or not most will appreciate this little "personal touch". When you go through "procedure" management calls management and somebody in that chain will decide it's not "important" enough to actually notify the guys on the dock. That's why you get "attitude" when you show up late.... you've screwed up his schedule and he's the guy you're working with.

When asking how to contact him direct you just tell him "hey, crap happens on the road sometimes and I just want to be sure you know so that your time doesn't get wasted 'cause I know your management is just as inept as mine." Show him a little respect because his job is just as hard as yours, if not worse.

Of course you do still follow "procedure" too, this is just a little "extra" between you and the dock boss. But you'll be surprised at the difference it will make over the long term.

 

When a shipper or reciever tells me I'm 'late' I get very upset now...

And respond by saying.'I'm not late...If I could have or should have been here earlier...I would have'...

Logs? what are those...sleep? what is that?

The last few companies I've worked for seem to forget what those are...and I'm not about to kill myself or hurt others, by running 24 hours a day or not listening to my own body...

Companies need to consalt with drivers before making deliver appointments...ask the driver...'When can you make it'....after all it's you energy that's being used to get the truck and trailer there...

Irresponisble or sloppy dispatching is responsible for more late freight than any other factor...

Again...your human, your biological...and between industry needs, dispatchers, brokers and planners, they sometimes tend to forget that...

They forget that the average driver may be awake for up to 18 or 19 hours a day...

You may have alread been awake for 10 hours, before you even get your load...and then expected to drive another 11 to fulfill your log book allowence...

I'm at the point in my career now..where I just tell them, whoever....no!

not only no...but heck no!...I can't do it and won't do it...

And I tell them that if they don't like it...tough....

give it to someone else....I'm not out here to destroy my body and health....

They don't pay enough for that...