Mon... Feb 2.... Just Put Her Out!

We sat in San Antonio all day Sunday with 3 other company drivers. The waiting game! We were number 4 on the board the majority of the day.

As Trapper turned in for the night...knowing the beep was coming in the middle of the night... I sat up and did school work. Finally, around 1:30 a.m. I noticed one of our fellow drivers making his way slowly out of the parking lot. I waited....

The two beeps - signifying we had a pre-plan trip - happened around 2 a.m. The noise woke Trapper and I jumped into my part of this madness.... look at the messages, see where we're headed and what time we have to be there. I plan and he does the math!

As I read the "driver instructions" I noticed it said no pets allowed on the property. We were picking up at a chemical place at one of the ports in Texas. Ports are becoming more and more strict!

I read on... "no pets, passengers, children allowed. pets must be left at weigh in station".... there were several more instructions, 2 pages of driver's instructions. I brought this to Trapper's attention quickly and reminded him of the one instance where I sat in the gaurd shack and waited.

"Read that again," he asked.

"Hand me my phone, please."

A call to dispatch took place..... "I just received a pre-plan that does not allow passengers on the property. I have a passenger... she's been on the truck for a year and a half... did anyone notice this? Do we need to make other arrangements for this load?"

The dispatcher replied, "Hang on, I will check with the planner." (so he's holding, holding, holding.....)
"The planner said you are the only truck in the area and you will have to put her out."

"Put her out?????" he replied while laughing and speaking sarcastically, "I'm NOT putting her out!" (I'm relieved at this point!) Where do you want me to put her out at? And no, I'm not the only truck in the area... there are 2 more right beside me that don't have pets, children, or riders."

"I'll let you talk to the planner.," the dispatcher replied.

The load was unassigned immediately, while he was on hold.

What the planner failed to realize is that this actually worked out for everyone. The chemical company is very strict. They might not have let me sit in the guard shack, as I'm not a licensed driver and wasn't allowed on the property. If they had refused to load us, due to having a passenger (me) then the company would have had to send another truck there and the load would have been late, etc. The planner should have looked on the driver screen and picked the logical choice of trucks on the board.

Oh the rest of the driver's instructions, which I noticed later said.....

"Beware of alligators in the parking lot after dark!"

I'm glad I'm still in the truck and currently sitting in Oklahoma City, OK!