Tues, Oct 14... Everywhere Was Tight!

We had 4 stops today. The first one was the dock we were backed up to. Our appointment time was 5 am, the second stop was at 7:30 am (9 miles), the third was 9:30 am (18 miles) and we were preplanned to pick up a load at 10 am in Glenshaw, PA (18 miles) headed to Middlebury, VT.

Our schedule sounded ok, but Michael’s loads are unloaded by hand. We were carrying a load of Lenox Christmas decorations. It was 7:27 am when the first load was unloaded. We sent the unloaded QUALCOMM message and we were dispatched 9 miles to be delivered in 2 minutes. We both laughed. Trapper called operations and they had already contacted the customer and advised we would be late.

It took us 30 minutes to travel 9miles. It was rush hour traffic, 35 mph speed limits, and really skinny curvy roads. Detours don’t help either. There was bridge repair and a detoured truck route. We finally arrived at our second stop. Being docked and checked in with the customer… coffee was a priority. A quick walk across the parking lot marked coffee off the list. By 9:30 am we were unloaded from our 2nd second stop and en route to stop 3. By now, we’re late for the 3rd stop and our preplanned load that we were suppose to pick up at 10 am. We get the dispatch to the 3rd stop and we were given 30 minutes to drive 18 miles. We just shook our heads at each other this time and drove on.

We find the last shopping center, pull in, go around back and viola! Check out (in the pics) the overhang on the building! They removed part of the corner of the building so a truck/trailer could make it around. The other pictures (of the rocks) are out the passenger window of the cab. TIGHT!!!

We got around the building, checked in with the customer, docked, and all the Qualcomm messages were sent. We were here until 12:30 pm. We received the dispatch for our 10 am appointment and we were given 30 minutes to drive another 18 miles.

Another call to dispatch to explain our situation, the dispatcher agreed to move our appointment time back 15 minutes. … The dispatcher didn’t seem to understand why we couldn’t make 18 miles in 30 minutes, so a little explaining that the speed limit is 35 and in some places it was 25. We now had 45 minutes to get there.

We quickly look at the map we are on the road. We twist and turn through these tiny towns, curvy roads, and steep grades. We drove right past the place because the name we had was not the name on the building… find somewhere to turn around (which in a tiny town is not the easiest thing to do)… and we arrive at 1:30 pm.

Feeling like we have run a triathlon… the guard met us at the gate. Really nice man and very apologetic. He told us they wouldn’t be able to load us for approximately 3 hours! Ok… so we sit… and talk… and sit… Around 4 pm we’re docked and being loaded. The pictures are of the building and the driveway around the building. You have to exit the same way you enter… there is no room. The plant is sandwiched between a hiway and a railroad track.

At 4:15 pm we get a QUALCOMM message that the load won’t be ready until the next day and we need to stay put and pick it up tomorrow. Trapper was talking to another driver… I read the message, but couldn’t bring myself to respond the way I wanted to. This is Trapper’s job after all.

Trapper gets back in the truck and I read the message to him. He just looked at me. His first words… “Did you respond.?” I said, “No.” He looked relieved. We were loaded shortly thereafter and I sent all the QUALCOMM messages. We were finally on our way to Middlebury, VT with 35,000k lbs of empty bottles.

At this point Trapper calls our dispatcher again and inquires about the message we received. Everyone was totally confused on this load… but hey… didn’t matter to us… we were loaded and rollin’.

Driving too long today was not on either one of our minds and legally we don’t have too long that we can drive or be in service. Our home for tonight was at a rest area and we were glad to get there.

The underlying message for today…. A little communication goes a long way. Correct communication goes further!

Ok so I can't spell squeeze... LOL