Connections In California

I don't normally go out West on this dedicated account I'm on, but one week ago today when I sent in my empty call from Farmington, CT my dispatcher told me to head over to Cressona, PA to get a back haul. That is about a four or five hour drive and it is typical that I go there for my back haul loads. But apparently they didn't even have a load yet, they were just counting on their ability to find one while I was heading over there. When I get there they tell me "Well, it looks like we are going to have to get you over to such and such a town to pick up three coils going to Tennessee." Okay, so after I depart from there I get a phone call about thirty minutes later in which my dispatcher tells me to keep rolling, but he's not sure this second choice of a load is going to work out. He is suspicious that something is wrong because it is delivering to a storage building facility, and he is not confident that there will be a fork lift there to unload me. So, I keep rolling waiting on his phone call. When he calls he says the customer told him that they had instructed the broker to not make any deliveries that week because they were pouring concrete for their new parking area and there was no way for them to get trucks in and out of the location that week! Strike two! Then he gets this funny little tone in his voice that he tends to get when he thinks he has come up with something that I'm going to really be interested in. His words are, "Man I've got something really juicy for ya, but I don't want to tell you what it is until I know it is for sure. But here is what we are going to do - I want you to just keep on rolling back to Delhi, Louisiana, and by the time you get here I'll know whether we can do this one or not." I ask him, "You mean you want me to deadhead 1400 miles? You are making it way too easy for me to get my fuel mileage bonus money!" He laughs and wants to know my ETA on returning to the plant. After I give him that info he just says, "Do what ever you can to get here as quick as possible."

It turns out he had a load going to Sacramento, California! So, I ran this week from Connecticut to California! I even stopped by the house, which was on the way, and put in a 34 hour reset with my wife! Life is good. So, last Monday morning I delivered in Connecticut, this Monday morning in California.

It pays to have friends in this business, and Daniel B. is one of the friendliest guys I've met. He's almost too friendly - I mean it seems like I'm being stalked at times! It seems there was a small reunion of Trucking Truthers in California yesterday and today. Jopa, Ken, Daniel and his present student "Mr. Miaga" or something like that were all down in San Bernardino. That was a little too far for me to go over there and pay a visit, so I did the next best thing. I took Daniel's wife "Olga" out to dinner. She is really sweet, she brought me a bunch of Authentic Russian food to keep in my truck. Borscht, Russian potato salad (with chopped Bologna in it), dried fish, homemade bread, and Russian Salami were just some of the things she brought me. Daniel is a smart guy for marrying this girl, but after having dinner with her I realized that she is way smarter than him! He definitely married up. I would not be surprised if one day Daniel has to eat a lot of his words in this forum, because with her brains and talent behind him, I think one day he will end up trying to be an Owner Operator! Yes, Daniel has secrets that he has not let us on to. His little wife is learning all about being a dispatcher and how to negotiate the price and find loads - these two are like a dynamic duo in trucking. Well, that's all I'm going to say for fear that Daniel is going to rip me a new one!

Thank you Daniel and Olga! Your friendship means a lot to me, and your benevolence will definitely increase my waste size! I love giving you guys a hard time, but I always have to be careful, because you give as good as you take!

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Yes, Daniel has secrets that he has not let us on to.

Damn, see, this is exactly what I was silently worried about. She always let's the cat out of the hat.

Yes, Daniel has secrets that he has not let us on to.

Damn, see, this is exactly what I was silently worried about. She always let's the cat out of the hat.

"Let the cat out of the bag," my friend. The Cat in the Hat is an entirely different thing.

Just 6 years ago I used to read those books..

I love this Cat in the Hat:

ERBH Dr Seuss vs Shakespeare

There. I said it. I let the Cat In The Hat out of the Bag!

I'm thrilled that we changed the subject..

What about the Cheshire Cat? Nobody ever remembers him, I'm sure he gets lonely.

What about the Cheshire Cat? Nobody ever remembers him, I'm sure he gets lonely.

Felix and Heathcliff never get any respect.