Let's see. On my last entry I was rather immersed in the whole DOT influence on my world. From there was a family emergency and being that I was only 250 miles from home, I figured that I should have no problem getting home to handle this problem. I had after all, been out on the road since the 6th of July. I called my driver manager, Bret and told him about this problem and that I would need to be home as soon as humanly possible. Bret did his typical, I am having a bad day and have no intention of doing anything for you routine. He sent me on a load from Sioux Falls to Fort Atkinson, WI. Then after jumping through all the hoops the jerks at Jim Palmer Trucking wanted me to jump through, I anxiously waited for my next load which should have gotten me home. It was from Darien, WI to Fulton, NY. I know, it is in the opposite direction. I got on the phone with the driver services manager Curtiss and gave him the calm end of my growing rage. Which, at this point, I was amazed at how really calm that was. Finally, Curtiss decided to kick Bret in the behind and get him steered in the right direction. To sum it all up, I picked up the load in Darien and met with another disgruntled driver that stated that he was not at all surprised about my predicament. He lives in a major trucking lane and has to beg to get home as well.
This runs right against what I was given to be the impression of this company. First of all, they state that since Jim Palmer Trucking is run by the gentleman that started this company with one truck, you have a very good chance of being given a fair shake because he has (been there). Well I have only one thing to say. Ol' Jimmy is pretty old now and I doubt that he has driven over the road in the last 35 years maybe 30. Jimmy is like the rest of us, that is, he likes money. He has his company being run by some really unsavory people that are there to collect a paycheck and could care less about loyalty and truth in their dealings with people. That is not to say that that building in Missoula is chock full of losers, but half full means that you as the driver must deal with lower life forms on a regular basis and those lower life forms usually have titles and get big bonuses off of our efforts.
I did finally take three days off and handled things fine. Got what I had to get done and now I am back at it. I took a load from Grand Forks, ND going to Dickson, TN. Delivers tomorrow at 1300. I have 600 miles or so to go. A good effort today will put me in striking distance. Just where I want to be.
On another note, I have some unauthorized passengers aboard. Actually, I have had them for several days. Yeah, you got it, flies. The efforts I have made to get these little buggers out of my truck have all failed. I think there are 4 of them. They love to buzz my face while I am in traffic and they get bored around 3 am and like to land on my legs, arms, face wherever. I wouldn't have so much of a problem with them but they keep stealing the blankets.
Yesterday, I was driving through Minneapolis on I-94 and passed the area on 35w where the collapsed bridge was. I got off the interstate on a side street and caught a glimpse of it although I could not stop the truck or get a picture. Picture 10 football fields completely wrecked. That was the image I took from the view. What a shame. Gotta go for now, Tennessee awaits.
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