The Load from Hell

Last night was a very interesting night to say the very least. I was given a run by the distribution center I'm helping out to deliver to 4 stores along the border of southern California.

Now I was running very close on my hours of service with my logbook, but I had enough to be able to do it with only a small buffer. I like having a bigger buffer than that but the last few runs went well so I didn't worry about it.

I got to the first store and the load was off in a jiffy there. I was happy how that store went and quickly got to the second store. This is where things go downhill. I go into the Walmart, and it took me 30 frakkin minutes to locate a manager!!!! Really?? These stores know when these loads are to be here. And then we had a problem with the load. It took almost an hour and a half when it should have taken half an hour max.

Now my schedule is extremely tight. The next store has to be able to get their load off quickly if I am to make the last store on time. I arrive there and see all the dock doors taken up by trailers... WHAT THE HELL!!!! I go in and once again it seems to take forever to find a manager so I can see which one I need to use. So I unhook my trailer, pull one out of the door, then put mine in. I go in and once again no one is around. Come to find out, they are now doing Shift Change! Uh, hello, I told them I was on a very tight schedule to make the next store and no one is around once again.

So I end up calling my driver manager, to let them know that I had two options. I could basically run illegally to get the last store delivered, or they would have to repower the load. They decided to repower it so I wouldn't take the hit on a log violation. The other thing I hate is not knowing whether or not this fiasco will show up as a 'service failure' on my record. I pride myself on my record. I am not late on loads....period. The few rare times I am are due to reasons such as above and it drives me nuts!

So now I am sitting behind the last store here in my truck. I don't have any hours left on my log to be able to go anywhere. Another thing that sucks is that in this part of California, there are NO truck stops...gee thanks guys. I get to spend the next 34 hours at a strip mall. At least I was able to get a broadband card for my laptop, and they have plenty of eating places. And I'd hate to tell the State of California, but screw your no idling law...I plan on being comfortable in my truck!

Now the one bright spot is that I get to talk to a great sexy woman over the time I have to sit here and enjoy getting to know her more. See I can find the silver lining in the clouds.

Staying Busy and Open Communication

I am sitting here at a Walmart Distribution Center near Phoenix AZ. I was asked by one of our dedicated planners that work here if I wanted to make a few runs for them. I talked to my driver manager and she confirmed freight was very slow in the area so I jumped on the chance. Its a way to stay busy and make money instead of sitting.

Now you may ask how does communication come into play? Well without good open communication the planner would not have mentioned it to me and I'd be stuck somewhere right now.

This also brings to mind some very good conversations I've had with a few friends. Without that good open honest communication where does that leave us? It almost always leaving us getting hurt sooner or later in one way shape or form. That communication can help keep that massive pain from happening. Now I won't say you won't get hurt by being open and honest, but from what I have seen the pain is a lot less vs finding out in other ways and forms.

I guess the purpose of this is that I am very happy to have been able to find people that also believe in this type of communication. I can honestly say this is the happiest I have felt in a very long time. I really love these conversations with everyone and hope they continue and develop into more..

A good start

Well I can safely say I am extremely happy with the job change that I made. Today I was able to get out on the road and just drive and it was a nice stress free day for me there. This was exactly what the doctor ordered so to speak for me, and I'm loving it. I'm also able to carry on some nice deep conversations with friends and that is helping me to rediscover myself. I think in the last few years that was something I had lost track of, was me. Everything revolved around my identity as an officer, but not me as a person. I have to say I am really liking the guy that was hidden there and I'm hoping to be able to share him with someone who would like to take him there. Right now from what I can tell things are looking up in all areas. Taking it one day at a time I know I will let loose that fun, honest happy guy that's been hiding there lol.

A late Start

Sometimes a person has to love big corporations. Now I'll admit starting a new job right before the new year has not been one of my top 10 ideas to do. I will admit thinking that going back to a company that I enjoyed working for and had a good relationship was a great idea. What I didn't count on was Murphy's Law.

Let me explain here, Murphy's Law is when the complete unexpected happen. In my case it was the computer system flagging me for a company class before I could leave. No big deal except the class was required back when I was deployed to Iraq and is not offered. So when the company reactivated me no one cleared out this kind of stuff. And being a holiday weekend no one is at corporate headquarters to fix it since it won't let us on this end. So they better get it done Monday I swear lol.

Now the good thing here is that I was able to make it to another meet and greet in the area. I am starting to get to know the group more and they me. I also was able to spend more time with someone I am really interested in so this is the silver lining in the cloud here as far as I'm concerned.

Here's to funky computer mistakes and making the best of it