What A Weekend

That was one long boring weekend. I had to spend the holiday weekend camped out in a truck stop because the business I was delivering to was closed for the whole three day holiday.

This all started the other day when I was dispatched out of Waterford, N.Y. The load I was sent to pick up was a hazmat load. Hazmat loads require at least two load lock bars and I had none. I lost all I had when I dropped a trailer in Orlando Fl. the week before. The trailer I picked up, of course, had none inside.

As I mentioned before I had been staying in a little Mom & Pop stop and their store was severely lacking in basic truck supplies. So, off to the nearest name brand truck stop over 40 miles away.

Well this little jaunt eventually led to my demise. The two hours I spent running in circles to pick up the load locks caused me to run out of hours before I could reach my destination just outside of Atlanta, Ga.

I called my dispatch to let them know I wasn't going to make it and to see if they could find another driver in the area who had a few more hours available than I did. After about two hours they sent a message back saying they couldn't find anyone so just get it there when I can. Little did I know that was going to be Tuesday.

Normally we get the phone numbers of both shipper and receiver in the dispatch info but, this receiver had just moved into a new building, and shipper did not have the receiver's new number when they booked the load with SRT.

I guess when the receiver ordered the product from the shipper, nobody thought to get to get their number. You know, in case there's a problem with their order or something like that.

Don't ask how I knew but, when I saw the Hollywood phone number (555-55...) in the dispatch, I just knew it was going to hurt me.

The next morning (Saturday) I drove the remaining two hours to the receiver only to find the place locked up tighter than a drum. Not one single car in the lot. Not one single light on in the building. I tried all the doors anyway. Yep. They remembered to lock every single one.

An overwhelming dread came over me. If they're not open on Saturday, they'll probably not be open on Sunday. If they're not open Saturday or Sunday, than they're probably the type of company that gives all their employees Labor Day off too.

So the Truck is really, really clean now. I finally got to deliver Tuesday morning, and off to pick up the next one.

I'll be heading to Dallas, Tx. as soon as the repair shop in this truck stop can take care of a sticky tandem pin. All trailers that have sliding axles have four locking pins that extend through two rails (one on either side) on the bottom of the trailer. If one pin is missing it puts too much stress on the other pin on that side and could cause it to sheer off leaving that side free floating. when one side is firmly locked in place and the other side is not, the free side can slide back and cause the trailer to start going side ways when you're still trying to go straight.
Never a good thing!