Hey all…

My TAH was quite enjoyable; four days with Terrie (she was off Friday and Monday also), and on top of that we got a chance to visit with our sons and their ladies.  Our soon-to-be daughter-in-law graduated from NC State this weekend, and the ceremony and celebration was enjoyed by all. 

But all good things come to an end, and on Tuesday it was time to get back on the road.  And there was a most unpleasant surprise waiting for me when I returned from TAH.  First a little background…

Last week my STL made a point to get me on the phone to tell me that someone had called in with a complaint about my driving.  When she described the complaint I recognized the “incident” immediately; I was making a left onto a 4 lane road from a truck stop driveway.  About half a block to my right a young lady in a pickup was also making a left from the gas station onto the same road.  When the last of the traffic cleared (from my left, by the way) I started out into the road, and a few seconds later she pulled out.  The difference is that I was lumbering out at a snail’s pace and she nailed the gas.  Well what a shock… when she got to me she had to slow way down and wait for me to get up to speed.  I suppose since she had her cell phone handy and there is a large “1-800″ number on the back of my trailer she took the opportunity to vent her frustration.

After relaying the facts to my STL we both had a little laugh over it, and she finished by saying “don’t worry about it”.

But NOW I was told that I had to go through a computer defensive driving course in addition to a driving remedial with an instructor!  The call-in that I “wasn’t to worry about” had turned into an incident that went into my driving record, along with the “corrective action” taken by the company.  Seems that my word as a trained driver and company employee means less to them than that of a stranger in a hurry with a cell phone.  To say that I was ticked off would have been putting it mildly.

Once again I held my tongue and “took it like a big boy”… but I promise when my year is up and I’m deciding if I want to stay with Schneider this little surprise will be on the tally sheet, along with the others!

• Date(s): 5/15
• From/To: Charlotte, NC to Bedford Heights, OH
• Mileage: 501
• Cargo:  Consumer Goods

After yet another remedial I was asked by my STL if I’d “save a load” for her; seems a driver had picked up a sacred load from BC (short for Beloved Customer) that was headed for Ohio.  He claimed he couldn’t make the 500 mile trip in time for the 10pm live unload appointment.  Since I didn’t hear his side of the story (maybe he just had a surprise too), and also since it wasn’t really any of my business I skipped over that part and said I’d take the load.

There was nothing special about it other than I needed to get going and make good time, which I did.  I was on time for delivery, and the unload went smoothly.

• Date(s): 5/16 to 5/17
• From/To: Euclid, OH to Murray, KY
• Mileage: 601
• Cargo:  Steel sheets

Wednesday morning I drove over to Euclid (only 17 miles away) for a live load, then headed for Murray.  Again just another load and trip, except this time there were several of us Schneider drivers there picking up the same material headed for the same place.

When I got to Murray and started looking for the delivery location I ran into (not literally) the others, who were also having a problem finding it.  After a few phone calls we discovered that the SNI directions had sent us to the south side of town when the facility was actually to the north.  Once we arrived we were all unloaded promptly.

• Date(s): 5/18 to 5/19
• From/To: Hopkinsville, KY to Orangeburg, SC
• Mileage: 580
• Cargo:  Cartons of Machine Parts

This was a load I’d done before, so finding the shipper and planning a route was simple.  It was a live load that went fairly quickly and I was on the road by mid day on Friday.

As I was just starting to go through the mountains on I-40 in TN I got a call on the CB from another driver; seems my trailer tandem was smoking!  I pulled off at the next exit to find that the tread had separated from one of the trailer tires and part of it had lodged against the brake drum, causing it to heat up and smoke.

Luck was on my side as there was a little diner right at the exit with a large gravel parking lot.  I pulled in, called Emergency Maintenance, and after getting a 1 hour ETA on the arrival of a mechanic with a new tire I stepped into the diner for a bite of lunch.

Soon after I finished the mechanic showed up, changed the tire, and had me on my way in about half an hour.  Like I said, luck was with me on this one.  This time tomorrow I would be wishing I could have saved some of that luck for later.  By the way, the fan for heat and A/C in the truck gave out this morning… that should have been a clue that things were going down hill.

Saturday morning I arrived at the destination for delivery, and instead of a live unload they wanted me to just drop the trailer.  Normally this is a good thing, but read the next load for the ‘gotcha’ on this one…

• Date(s): 5/19 to 5/20
• From/To: Beech Island, SC to Beckley, WV
• Mileage: 685
• Cargo:  Consumer Goods

Beech Island is one of the grand locations of our most beloved customers, who I will again only refer to as BC.  I was to pick up a loaded trailer any time on Saturday and deliver it 618 miles away on Monday morning.  Not only did I have plenty of time, but my expected stopping point on Saturday night would be Charlotte!  I would be able to get the A/C fixed on my truck AND spend a night at home.

The celebration lasted a short time before things started falling apart.  One of this customers strictest rules is that we have to arrive for a pick up with an empty trailer to leave.  Since my last load had me drop the loaded trailer there instead of live unload it, I now needed to find an empty before getting started.

From here the story is so long and involved that I’ll ask your forgiveness and just run through it quite quickly;

Called Support… told I could to directly to KC with no trailer… ten minutes into my trip got a QC (Qualcomm) message that I had to go back to Orangeburg to get an empty… the empty trailer number sent to me was the same one that I had just dropped… sent the necessary QC response message and waited… was sent another trailer number… got back to Orangeburg and found that the empty they wanted me to pick up was damaged… sent the necessary QC message and waited…

Bored yet?  We’re just starting… NOW I was to drive to a Sears warehouse in Spartanburg (130 miles in the wrong direction) to get another empty… got there to find that it wasn’t a warehouse, but a retail store in a mall… the delivery entrance (the only one trucks are allowed to use) was blocked by construction on a new store… made it to the shipping dept. of the store and talked to the store manager and mall security… they said the trailer could only be pulled out of the delivery area when the mall was closed and all the customer’s cars were out of the parking lot (and I agreed)… since there were special circumstances involved I decided to call support instead of just sending the necessary QC message… support wasn’t interested in the circumstances, and I was told to just send the necessary QC message… also told support that I was now running short on time and if there were any delays “On Time Delivery” would be in jeopardy… was told to call back if I was delayed… sent the necessary QC message and waited…

Honest, this IS the short version… by now it was clear that I would not make it to Charlotte tonight (mood quickly soured by several degrees)… new trailer assignment; pick up an empty at a Wal-Mart DC in Shelby, NC, another 40 miles in the wrong direction… drove to Shelby and got the trailer… got as far as Newberry, SC before I ran out of hours and stopped for the night…

Saturday morning: arrived at BC’s distribution center in Beech Island… dropped empty and picked up load… weather very nice, even without A/C… headed toward Ohio… 8 miles from the tunnel near the VA-WV border traffic came to a halt… VA DOT had one lane of the tunnel closed for construction… word on the CB was that it was taking one and a half to two hours to get through the traffic delay… stopped at a rest area to call support and inform them that I would not make OTD… suggested that they relay the load to another driver after I stopped that afternoon… they responded by saying the possibility of a relay was remote, and I would be charged with a “Service Failure”… I was to continue on as if I still had the load (no kidding?) and wait for further instructions…

As you can imagine my mood dropped a bit more at this news… weather was no longer nice without A/C… got through the tunnel 2 hours later… made it to Beckley, WV before hours ran out… called support and got an ANGEL… this person knew what she was doing, cared about the load, and was making an effort to get it delivered! … was told that a relay would be no problem… other drivers (team) showed up ~11pm and picked up the trailer.

So you can see my weekend was somewhat stressful, mostly thanks to unforseen circumstances but not without the help of several less than effective weekend support personnel.  But I won’t complain about them without also thanking Linda, my angel in support who, in a few brief moments, made everything happen that needed to happen.