Goofy Three Days!

Man!. I have just had the worst three days since I started to drive. It all started with a rock in my windshield just North of San Bernadino Ca. I was on a load that I was to drop in the yard and pick up one going back North. Really don't enjoy Southern Cali at all. Bad roads, bad drivers and it was HOT! Got the windshield replaced in a couple of hours but by then my load(s) had been reassigned. Now I am dead in the water.

My DM got me a load out of SoCal the next day. I was to pick up a load at the Port Services yard and take it to Hayward Ca. It was already two days late when I picked it up but I thought 59 miles to pick it up and 381 miles to Hayward. No problem. Should be 7-8 hours with traffic. WRONG! Spent two hours bobtailing to pick it up. Half an hour in the yard waiting for some nut to get out of my way so I could leave. Got going and headed for Hayward. Well when I get to the area, 805 North just outside of San Jose Ca, the traffic is backed up but still moving. However it takes two hours to travel the last 20 miles. Grrrr! Calm down. Get it done and move on. Oh yeah. Forgot to mention that while I was on the way to Hayward my next load got changed 4 times. Yeeeesh! Nice planning.

I deliver the Hayward load and I have 1hour and 24mins to get to Sac to pick up the next load going to Clackamus OR. Ok. Could have done it but there is an accident on the freeway that has all 4 lanes blocked. Needless to say there was a violation on driving day. Just five minutes which I thought was a damn miracle.

Well I get the load and the planner calls me wondering if I am going to make it to Clackamus Or by the delivery time(midnite that night). I almost crashed laughing so hard. Not a chance. 780 miles. Not enough hours in the driving day to get there even IF I didn't stop to pee. They had me relay it to another driver in Weed Ca and I took his load.

The next day I take that load to Sac Ca and drop it in the yard(wasn't due to deliver until 7-8). Pick up a local to get an empty. Drive to Modesto Ca. 72 miles away and find out that the receiver is CLOSED for a long weekend. Thanks for the info planners! Take it back to Sac Ca yard and get an empty.

Drive back to Tracy Ca, another 77 miles to Crate and Barrel to pick up a pre loaded trailer bound for Delta BC. I get there. Go to shipping. The door is open but nobody around. By now my clock has and hour and a half left before the 14 hour expires. I call dispatch and they say well it should be there. I tell them I can't wait and head to the Flying J in Ripon Ca to stay overnight. Twenty miles. Got there with 30 minutes to spare.

Get up in the morning and call dispatch asking what am I doing? They say go back to Crate and Barrel and pick up the load. Ok. I go. I get there and check in only to find out the the market manager at my company has CANCELED the load. Thanks for the info! Would have been helpful YESTERDAY!

By this time my patience, which I have have wells of, is running a little thin. The dispatcher asks me if I want to go home for a rest or go to Clackamus tomorrow morning and take my rest there. DUH! Home is only 230 miles away and I need a decompression.

So here I am at home for my 34 reset. Will be ready to go Monday and hopefully things will go a bit smoother. This is pretty long. Sorry. This all started on 7-3 and ended (I HOPE) today 7-6

Be safe and patience!

Gotta LOVE this job

Don't apologize for being frustrated, man...us rookies need to know what we are going to encounter out there..good thing we can see that there will be days like this..so we know that EVERYONE has them...it's easier to handle when you know that there are other people out there who can feel your pain...

Don't apologize for being frustrated, man...us rookies need to know what we are going to encounter out there..good thing we can see that there will be days like this..so we know that EVERYONE has them...it's easier to handle when you know that there are other people out there who can feel your pain...

As a soon to be rookie, I am curious. Did you get paid for all those miles driving to pick up / drop off nothing? Detention pay? How does all that work?

Don't apologize for being frustrated, man...us rookies need to know what we are going to encounter out there..good thing we can see that there will be days like this..so we know that EVERYONE has them...it's easier to handle when you know that there are other people out there who can feel your pain...

As a soon to be rookie, I am curious. Did you get paid for all those miles driving to pick up / drop off nothing? Detention pay? How does all that work?

Got regular miles for all of it plus the extra 15bucks for the pick ups. I was just annoyed at how it happened. Good thing that I have LOTS of patience and also that IS really do LOVE this job. Oh yeah. One more thing. NO FLIP-FLOPS. Dangerous. Be safe and above all, relax.