This time around I brought my eight year old son with me. he wants to see the ups and downs of trucking and he got just what the doctor ordered. We didn't depart until tuesday morning. I had a load of plastic pallets going to Atlanta, GA with a noon appointment time. So we headed out and about 100 miles from destination we found a TS and hit the bunk. The area of Atlanta we were heading to I didn't know if it had parking or not and since I had my son with me didn't want to take a chance and put us in a dangerous situation. Beside there was no hurry and I knew that if we got there early I would just be sitting there all day anyways.
Wednesday we departed and got there with an hour to spare. Atlanta traffic wasn't bad at all this time. My timing was perfect and I just missed rush hour. When I got to the customer I spotted another Transland truck and we chatted for awhile. After about two hours I was unloaded and sat in the parking lot waiting for another load. Just as I thought I was sitting. I was gonna get kicked out of the lot at 5pm and the clock was ticking so just as I am looking at my truck stop book I get a call to head towards Conyers. now we have a drop and hook in Conyers and this made me happy because this load always goes to Oklahoma. An easy run and we have plenty of freight in OK. BUT just as I release the brakes I get the message that it's a brokered paper load in Conyers. DOH! I had an hour to go 48 miles and Atlanta rush our to boot. By some miracle we made it out without any major back ups to go through. A friend I called said that they had called ahead for me and told Atlanta to get out of my way. That works. Thanks!
Now I am bummed because I detest paper loads. they are heavy, dangerous, usually brokered, and paper mills don't realize the hardship they put on drivers with their wait and wait policies. This place wins hands down as the worst for me so far. I get there and tell security on the CB my pick up #. I was told to go to the staging area. I go in and I see skeletons behind the seats of trucks that have long been forgotton. A mood of despair and misery hung over the place. There were trucks sitting there that had been there since 0900 I knew it wasn't gonna be good. I was smart and put my e-log on off duty driving right away. Sitting wasn't an easy feat for my eight year old. But he was a trooper and a nice lady trucker parked near us gave him a bag of cheetos. Unfortunately the msg made it worse so I cooked a meal in the truck for him and we hit the bunk. To make this short I was finally loaded at 3am and I had officially put my ten hour break in. I had to drive until my hours were up and then barely squeeze a ten in and then depart at 0200 to get to the destination this time. Destination was Oklahoma City, OK on friday 8am.
Friday am I was unloaded in 20 minutes. Paper load recievers don't mess around. I wish they would tell their friends in the shipping department. My son and I head to the Pilot to get a much needed shower. We head north to Perry, OK and get a load of Smokers goin to Bass Pro in Springfield.
We dont quite make it to Springfield but we get to check out the massive shop at the Petro in Joplin. This place is like a mini Iowa 80. After buying a few trinkets we get a good meal and spend some time looking at the junk guitars that Petro is selling. We hit the bunk and headed home in the morning.
Did the negative side of trucking thwart my son's ambitions to become a trucker? Well my dad didn't want me to be a trucker and I rode with him and look at me now. That should answer the question. Oh almost forgot. If you are wondering about the title of this post here are a couple of pics I took this week. Enjoy life.
1 comment:
great title!!!
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