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  • Why Me?

    I don't know if I should laugh or cry at how this week has been for me at work. Started off on Tuesday, coming out of Virginia and having to rescue a load that was running late from Maryland, seems the driver's truck broke down and he was unable to deliver and was already a day late on the load. So I deliver his load and get the next load he was planned for out of Hershey PA. It is going to Edwardsville IL.

    Problem The First:
    The trailer the load is on has a brake problem, so I call Roadservice and they direct me to take it to the TA Repair shop about 15 miles from Hershey PA. Get there about 7pm Tuesday night. The ABS (anti-lock break) system has a very visible light on the drivers side of the trailer that comes on if there is a problem. If I get stopped by DOT or go into a weigh station with that light on I can get a fat ticket (several hundred to several thousand depending on what state I am in). I spend about 22 hours in the shop, while they have replaced sensors, cables, calibrated the brakes, and replaced the ABS Electronic Control Module (which is about $650 that is thankfully not coming out of my pocket). The shop tells me they cant figure out what could be wrong since everything that COULD have been bad was replaced, but still showing a faulty brake system. So after a bit of back and forth between the shop, my company, and me, it is decided to take the load BACK to Hershey, PA to have it reloaded onto another trailer. Which takes us to...

    Problem The Second:
    Get back to the Hershey plant on Wednesday, and they don't want to swap trailers there, they want me to drive about 50 miles away to another location and have them do it there... and it means driving THROUGH an OPEN WEIGH STATION.... with a trailer that may or may not have a brake problem. Me being the smart guy that I am, I say I am not moving the trailer at all, and of they want it reloaded somewhere else, they can move it themselves since I am not going to risk a ticket. Five more hours go by and they finally agree to change trailers at the Hershey, PA location. Moving on now to....

    Problem The Third:
    Now that they have agreed to swap the load to another trailer at this location, they realize they have ZERO empty trailers belonging to the company I drive for, so we have to wait for an empty trailer to arrive, or a currently loaded inbound trailer to be unloaded. Now this is Wednesday when they realize they have no empty trailers, so I wait... and wait... and wait.... till FINALLY they get an empty trailer Thursday night. Which brings us to....

    Problem The Fourth:
    I have been sitting and waiting on this load for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Given them my phone number, email, and several other ways for them to contact me and let me know when the load is ready. I have walked into their receiving office every 2-3 hours since the load was brought back on Wednesday by me to see if it is ready. I am running out of instant and dried foods to eat, and my last case of water is almost out. Also in slight need of a shower since there isnt one at the Hershey plant. So I leave about 10pm and drive trailer-less over to the closest truck stop about 10 miles away. I eat, drink, and clean up, do some laundry, and call Hershey to see if the load is ready about 1am. They told me it was not going to be ready till prolly noon. Ok. Sleep time. And time for....

    Problem The Fifth:
    I wake up at about 9am on Friday, dilute my blood stream with caffeine, then call Hershey to check up on the load. Evidently it has been ready since 2am, and they have been trying to call me for HOURS. Strange, no missed calls on my phone, so I ask what number they are calling. I don't know who got phone calls every 30 mins, but I am sure they are pissed. So I go get the load, and drive my ass off, and get to the delivery point in Edwardsville, IL on Saturday morning delivering the load 2 days late. At least they don't get mad at me and blame me for everything, they were pretty cool with it. My next load is out of the same place I am delivering to, so easy for me. Grab my next trailer, and check it out to find...

    Problem The Sixth:
    Three bad tires on the drivers side of the trailer. One had the tread pealing off a bit on the edges which can cause a blowout or possibly a 6 foot chuck of rubber to fly off at great speed and hit someone. The other two bad tires look rippled, like someone flattened random spots on the tires (this is caused by driving on the tires with lower than normal air pressure, normal being 105PSI). none of the bad tires has more than 75 PSI in them and I really don't want to air them up and risk killing myself if they cant hold pressure and blowout while I am crouching right next to them. So I call Roadservice again and they give me directions to a tire shop about 1 mile from where I am picking up this trailer, and they easily change the 3 bad tires so I can get on my way. Fast forward a few hours later and I am on the i-70 turnpike just east of Topeka, KS and start noticing...

    Problem The Seventh:
    My trailer is pulling to one side more than it had been in the previous few hours. So I stop at one of the Turnpike service areas on I-70. Checking the tires out, the 3 new ones are fine, the 4 tires on the passenger side are also good, but the one tire on the drivers side of the trailer that WASN'T replaced is now at 40 PSI. That is strange, since it was perfectly fine when I left Edwardsville, IL, a few hours ago, and the tire shop even checked out the 5 tires they weren't replacing to make sure they were good. So calling Roadservice again (seeing a pattern here?) they tell me they are sending someone out to change the tire, and he should be there within an hour and a half. Lucky me, he makes it here in 20 mins! And now we have discovered....

    Problem The Eighth:
    Tire guy gets here in his truck, and spends about 15 minutes looking for the cause of the air leak, saying he can "fix" it. I ask why he cant just change it like my company requires, and he says "Um, I don't have any tires on my truck, I was just going to fix it with a patch". Finally he finds the leak, a crack through the sidewall that cant be patched. OH JOY.... so now he has to drive BACK to his shop, 15 miles away, get a tire, then drive BACK to me to change it out... Thank GOD this happened at the end of my driving time instead of in the middle.

    As soon as he is done changing the tire, I am going to sleep and pray that this week doesn't get any worse.
    You call, I haul. You bitch, I unhitch!

  • #2
    So, on #8, the guy was told there was a tire problem on the road, and he didn't bring a just-in-case replacement tire? What kind of idiots does the road service co. hire?
    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
    OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
    she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
    Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

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    • #3
      Do you use up all your bad karma a week at a time, and spend the next 30 weeks having nothing but happy days? Holy crap..a week like that probably would have done me in!
      Pain and suffering are inevitable...misery is optional.

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      • #4
        This is Only Tuesday to Saturday, I have 2 days left in my week!
        You call, I haul. You bitch, I unhitch!

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