STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

BCC BIRTHDAY BASH

On the 30th, the BCC and I celebrated their 5th Birthday (either 35 years old or 34 years old in human equivalency depending on which method of calculation you prefer). The first method of calculation is straight forward: 7 years for every “dog year”. In the second (more modern and arguably more accurate) method of calculation, you use 14 years for the 1st year of ‘doggie life’ then 5 years for every ‘dog year’ there after.
I’m reasonably certain of Wolfie’s date of birth. I recieved him as a Birthday present in 2000. He was 6 weeks old (plus/minus a day or two) when I got him. July 13th, minus 6 weeks equals May 30th (hence: sometime during the Memorial Day Weekend). Being a “foundling”, Walter’s actual date of birth is unknown. His Veterinarian estimated his age to be about the same as Wolfies’, therefore, I just celebrate both of their Birthdays on Memorial Day Weekend. Neither He nor Wolfie have ever complained about the arbitrary method I used to calculate the actual ‘celebration’ day. They are just happy to get the treats and the attention.
The ‘celebration’ entailed little more than buying a “Happy Meal” (I DO NOT let them have the “Toy Surprise”). I had the counter-person divide it in half and leave off the pickles and onions (doggie breath is already bad enough). This I did in Lincoln, NE early in the afternoon. It was raining, so they enjoyed this treat in the cab of the truck. When I stopped at the Bosselman Truckstop in Big Springs, NE in the early evening, I bought them each a”soft serve” (ice-cream like substance) cone, and divided a package of Twinkies. We then went to a small patch of lawn behind the Truckstop where I removed their leashes and had the PARTY!! They enjoyed the cake and ice-cream, then had a good ‘romp’ on the lawn.

Walter (Life Day 1826)………….Wolfie (Life Day 1826)
No “silly” hats or noise makers were allowed.

VEINTE Y NUEVE DE MAYO (Life day 21140)

I awoke at 5:30 this AM, the 29th, with a Pre-Plan. According to the time stamp on my QualCom it was sent at 4:12 AM. The load picks up anytime today before 11:00 AM (actually yesterday as well) in Woodburn, IN and delivers anytime before June 2nd in Reno, NV (153 miles empty and 2064 miles loaded). Naturally, I accepted it. What I don’t understand is why I didn’t recieve this Plan YESTERDAY?? The time frame for the pick-up is/was 05/28, 00:01 to 05/29, 10:59?? I could have already picked up the load and been en-route. We (Swift) have been utilizing an AUTOMATED Dispatch system for over 2 months now, and so far, I’m NOT impressed. I’m not getting as many paid miles as I did under the ‘old’, antiquated system when actual PEOPLE did the Planning. I could “game” the system then, talk to them personally. Now, they don’t want to hear from you. “Just let the COMPUTER do it’s job.” Call me a techno-phobe if you want, but I still like working with actual warm-blooded, reasoning, homo-sapien types. ANYWAY, about 6:00 AM, I drove to the ‘drop yard’ to look for an empty trailer. This load is Pre-Loaded, but requires an ‘empty’ to replace the trailer you take out. There were no ‘empties’ there, so I messaged my DM and asked for some help in finding a trailer. He said that he would message the Planner. After an hour with no response from the Planner, I messaged the DM again. He repeated the same “montra” about messaging the Planner. This rigmorole went on every hour until about 10:00 AM. At this time, I suggested that he use “more strident” measures to find a trailer for me because “obviously”, the Planner had us on “ignore”. I suggested that he ACTUALLY pick up the telephone and CALL the Planner to see what the problem was. The load was “supposed” to have already been picked up by now (I’m still 153 miles away), and I didn’t want any “grief” from the Shipper when I FINALLY show up to get the load. At 10:45 AM, with still NO RESPONSE from the Planner, serendipity interveened. A driver showed up, WITH AN EMPTY TRAILER, to pick up another load. I ’snagged’ his empty as soon as he dropped it. It took another 30 minutes to get me Dispatched on the load because the COMPUTER was slow and we had to wait for his L-Call to go through before I could be Dispatched with his empty. Another 15 minutes for a final BCC walk and paperwork, and I FINALLY departed Indianapolis at 11:30 AM. I arrived in Woodburn at 1:45 PM. No “grief” from the Shipper. In fact the woman in Security was quite friendly. She liked the doggies. I guess that the 10:59 AM time in the “pick-up window” was simply a computer generated time based upon the distance to the Consignee and the scheduled appointment time, and not “carved in stone”. The Shipper had a vast lawn area, so the doggies got to “help” daddy do the ‘drop & hook’. They do this by “exploring” the grass while I drop the trailer, then getting back into the cab while I drive to the loaded trailer (they don’t like daddy moving the truck without them inside), then “exploring” the grass again while I hook to the loaded trailer. After the “exploration” and doing the L-Call, I left there at 3:15 PM. I drove to our Terminal in Gary, IN, where I fueled, walked the BCC, and turned in some Pay Envelopes. They can be turned in at “Trip-Pak Xpress” kiosks located in most major Truckstops, but Swift prefers that they be turned in at Terminals whenever possible. Those turned in at the truckstops have a higher risk being lost or delayed. The sooner Swift gets paid, the sooner I get paid!! It’s that simple. I left Gary at 7:15 PM and drove to the Flying J in Davenport, IA. I still have a couple of hours remaining to drive, but I decided to stop here for the night. It’s already 11:00 PM. I can’t make it all the way to Des Moines and another WiFi hot-spot. I can start from here in the AM. The remaining States that I have to drive through on this trip all have 65+ MPH speed limits so I’ll make good time from here on. I drove 445 miles in 8.75 hours.

VEINTE Y OCHO DE MAYO (Life Day 21139)

On the 26th, I left North Baltimore at 10:00 AM and drove to our Terminal in Columbus, OH. I arrived at Noon and after feuling and a pleasant romp off-leash with the BCC, I departed at 1:00 PM. I drove to Nitro, WV (I don’t name the towns folks, I just drive through them). A half-hour break here, and I was off to Cleveland, NC (not Ohio, the Mistake by the Lake). I arrived at 8:45 PM. This is a drop/hook Customer, so I spent little time at their facility. After securing the last empty Swift trailer, I drove the 2 blocks to the minuscule Truckstop to await further instructions. At this point, I only had about 1.5 hours remaining to drive and in my 14 hour driving window. The Planner offered me a load that picks up tomorrow AM in North Wilkesboro, NC and delivers in Brownsburg, IN (51 miles empty and 518 miles loaded) ASAP. I accepted it and after a moments deliberation, decided to just stay put for the night and leave from here in the AM. I was already in one of the 4 plausible parking spots available here and decided not to take my chances elsewhere (a bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush). I drove 490 miles in 9.25 hours.
On the 27th, I left Cleveland at 7:45 AM and drove to North Wilkesboro. The directions I had proved to be woefully inacurate, and before I could blink, I was through town. I pulled into the North Wilkesboro/Fairplains Joint Volunteer Fire Department’s parking lot (the last wide-spot before the road narrowed to 2 lanes) and called the Shipper. None of the landmarks given in the original directions matched after entering North Wilkesboro. He however, couldn’t understand where I had gone wrong, and gave me some directions from there. I followed these directions and GOT LOST AGAIN. I stopped at a tire repair shop and asked if they could help me (and to turn around, again). They gave me directions and in about a mile, I was looking directly at the Shipper, but there was NO WAY for a big truck to enter. I slowed to a CRAWL and called the Shipper again. After explaining exactly where I was, he started to rattle off directions again. I said: “WHOA, just stay on the line and TALK me in.” He did, and I discovered how I had gone awry in the first place. The Subway Sandwich shop (one of the landmarks in the original directions) was closed and just another vacant building. The directions said to make a right turn immediately after passing the Subway, however, this is not a road, but an unpaved PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL DRIVEWAY about the length of a Football Field!! By this time, I’m thinking that this guy has never been in ANY TYPE OF VEHICLE other than the SHORT BUS that brings him to work and picks him up at the end of his shift. At the end of the driveway, however, not visible from the highway, is the entrance to the facility. But Wait, There’s More!! After making the extremely tight left turn at the end of the driveway to enter the facility, you are staring at the wall of a building about 150 ft from you, and there appears to be NO PLACE to go except directly through the wall. By this time, I’m thinking that he’s just a SADISTIC S.O.B. having a PRIVATE JOKE at my expense, and am contemplating various schemes to HIDE HIS BODY after COMMITING MURDER MOST FOUL when, and if, I finally get to the ACTUAL loading docks. About this time, a “garage door” off to my right begins to open, and he instructs me to go through it to the loading docks. Another extremely tight turn (this time to the right) to get my 8.5 ft wide vehicle through the 10 ft wide door, and I’m staring at a POSTAGE STAMP sized dock area. By this time, I don’t know WHAT to think. I just stop after entering the dock area. It appears to be too confined an area for me to do anything. Directly to my left are 2 docks, both already occupied by trailers with the nose of the trailers facing my left door. Directly ahead of me, about 100 feet away (bear in mind that my truck/trailer combination uses up approximately 72 feet if this distance) is a 15 ft drop-off onto the roof of an adjacent building. Directly to my right are 4 docks, the farthest dock already occupied by another trailer. These docks are situated so that the nose of the trailer is facing the precipice. Directly behind me is the previously mentioned “garage door”. The “shipping guy” comes out to my truck and tells me back into Door 1, the closest door on my right, and heads back to his “inner sanctum”. I decide that it’s time to exercise the BCC and survey the surroundings to weigh my options. After the walk, I have a “plan”. If I pull forward, and bear right, barely skimming the edge of the precipice, then go “hard” right at the trailer in the far dock, doing a couple of “double jacks” (going as far forward as possible in the turn, then cramping the steering wheel in the opposite direction while backing up, then cramping the steering wheel back into the original direction while going forward) to miss the building, then angling toward a narrow space to the far (precipice) side of the trailers which were on my left as I entered, I MIGHT be able to back into the 3rd dock on my right without plummeting over the precipice into the abyss. After about 20 minutes of, literally, inching my way in, I was SUCCESSFUL. I went into the Shipping Office and told him that unless he wanted to hire a CRANE, dock 3 would have to suffice. He said that dock 3 would work, and began to load me. WHEW, I EARNED my “meager stipend” this day. It took about an hour to load me and do the paperwork. I left the Customer at 11:00 AM. Compared to getting into the dock, getting out was “a walk in the Park on a sunny Sunday afternoon with someone you Love”. I knew the matriculations necessary to un-ensconce myself from the dock as well as the “escape” route out of the facility by then. I drove to Wytheville, VA. I had lunch here and walked the BCC. I departed Wytheville, and drove to Walton, KY. As I was having dinner, it occured to me that this was the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, and that I was going to Brownsburg, IN, about 10 miles WEST of Indianapolis, home of the Annual Classic, the Indianapolis 500, held each Memoiral Day weekend, virtually since the invention of the internal combustion engine. HUNDRERDS OF THOUSANDS of people will be converging on this spot for the festivities. I would be approaching from the EAST, so I would have to go completely through Indianapolis to get to my destination. I decided that I was close enough for now. I drove 492 miles in 8.25 hours.
Today, the 28th, I left Walton at 7:00 AM and drove to Brownsburg, IN. Much to my surprise, traffic through Indianapolis was light. I guess that since the race isn’t until Tomorrow (I think, though it may be on Monday??) the Traffic Crunch hasn’t ocurred as yet. I always thought that it was an event like the Super Bowl, or the Kentucky Derby, where there is something going on for the whole weekend. I passed within a mile of the Speedway about 9:00 AM (11:00 AM local), and NOTHING. One would think that there would be “speed trials” or some sort of “pit area” activity to attract a few fans. What about a “fan appreciation day”?? SOMETHING. Maybe it’s just my impeccable timing. Anyway, I digress. I arrived at the Consignee at 9:45 AM. This is a drop/hook Facility. Unfortunately there were no Swift empties onto which to hook (I’m detecting a disturbing pattern here). I dropped my trailer and ‘bob-tailed’ to a Wally World just down the street to buy some food for the BCC, and yours truly as well. I also picked up some needed toiletries. I settled in to wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. About 1:00 PM I contacted the weekend DM du jour. He said that he had messaged the Planner for this area. About 2:00 PM, I decided pull up stakes and drive to the Flying J in Indianapolis. I wanted to get a ‘prime’ WiFi parking spot, which I did. The outlook for getting a load today is BLEAK. It’s now 8:00 PM. Tomorrow, if they can’t move me out of here, I’ll move myself out of here. There is a ‘drop yard’ here similar to the one in Buffalo, NY. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find an empty trailer there in the AM.

VEINTE Y CINCO DE MAYO (Life Day 21136)

On the 23rd, I did not “shuffle off to Buffalo” as I originally intended. I “shuffled” only to Harborcreek, PA (about 80 miles from Buffalo). I stopped here because: 1) I found a parking place, 2) I’m not familiar with the Buffalo area and did not know if there were any “safe” places to park and wait for my appointment time, and 3) New York is a Neo-Socialist Nanny State that does not allow smoking in restaurants and other public places so I wanted to get in and out ASAP.
On the 24th, I left Harborcreek at 8:30 AM and drove to Buffalo. When I arrived at the Consignee, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was a drop/hook facility. Much to my chagrin, I also discovered that they had NO empty Swift trailers available. I contacted my DM, and she, in turn, contacted the Planner for this area. Soon after, the Planner sent me directions to a Customer in Tonawanda, NY (about 10 miles north of Buffalo) and told me to check for an empty there. The Planner also gave me a Pre-Plan that picked up somewhere in Ontario, Canada and delivered in Detroit, MI. I turned it down because I Don’t Do Canada anymore after 911 Disaster. Too much B.S. crossing the border (more from the American side than the Canadian. It can take HOURS to re-enter the country.). Anyway, there were no empties at that Customer either, so I went through the rigmarole again. This time the Planner sent me to a ‘drop yard’ that we have in Tonawanda (a corner in the lot of another trucking company). There were no empty trailers there either. O.K. Now, I’m getting a little peeved. Finally, I get a Pre-Plan. It said that it picked up in Williamson, NY and delivered in Newport, MI (12 miles empty and 345 miles loaded). Because of the shortness of the trip, My DM arranged to T-Call it at our new Terninal in New Boston (greater Detroit), MI. I accepted it. After waiting about an hour, I contacted my DM and asked her to Dispatch me on the load so that I could pick it up. I assumed that it was a Pre-loaded trailer since I still didn’t have an empty, and I wanted to get rolling. She said that the load was a ‘live load’ and that another truck was picking it up and would ‘drop’ it at the ‘drop yard’ in Tonawanda. I was to wait there. It was scheduled to pick up at 2:00 PM (by this time it’s already 1:30 PM) and the other driver was already there. I settled in for the wait. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Williamson to Tonawanda, so I asked one of the “local” drivers about a place to eat while I was waiting. I was directed to a fairly nice ‘Mom & Pop” restaurant called the Olympic Restaurant. As one would infer from the name, it had a large variety of Greek specialties. I was about to try one of them, when I spied ‘home-made’ corned beef hash on the menu. I opted for that, along with an order of cinnamon toast. It was really ‘home-made’ and delicious. The cinnamon toast came with a ‘glaze’ that made it a little too sweet for my taste. Should the occasion arise, I’ll order it again, but without the ‘glaze’. I returned to the drop yard and waited some more. FINALLY, about 8:00 PM my load arrived. The driver said that it had taken 4 hours to load him. I can believe it!! Been There, Done That. By the time I got hooked to the trailer, walked the BCC and did the paperwork, I left beautiful downtown Tonawanda at 8:30 PM. By this time I only have 2 hours remaining on my 14 hour window, so I drove back to Harborcreek, PA and went to bed. I drove 192 miles in 3.5 hours.
Today, the 25th, I left Harborcreek at 9:15 PM and drove to our Terminal in New Boston, MI. Soon after the T-Call, the Planner offered me a load that picked up in Montpelier, OH and delivers ASAP in Cleveland, NC (95 miles empty and 555 miles loaded). I accepted it and went to find an empty trailer. This went much smoother than yesterday. I located one in about 15 minutes. I left New Boston at 4:oo PM and arrived in Montpelier at 5:45 PM. There was a truck ahead of me, so I had a little wait. There were 2 open, grassy, fields there, and little traffic, so the BCC got to run off-leash. They had fun chasing the birdies. After loading, I left Montpelier at 7:30 PM. I drove to North Baltimore, OH and stopped for the night. There is an excesssive amount of non-freeway driving on this load, and I prefer to do it during daylight hours. The 73 miles I drove from Montpelier to North Baltimore convinced me of this. About 300 miles of the 555 miles on this trip are on State or US highways (the back-roads). I drove 425 hours in 7.75 hours.

VEINTE Y TRES DE MAYO (Life Day 21134)

On the 22nd, I left Strafford (Jesse James country) at 10:45 AM. I drove to East Saint Louis, IL where I took an hour break to have a snack, walk the BCC and buy a pair of sunglasses. I somehow misplaced mine yesterday evening. I left there at 3:00 PM and drove to Indianaplois, IN. After a dinner break here, I left at 8:30 PM and drove to Spiceland, IN where I stopped for the night. I drove 468 miles in 8.25 hours.
This morning, the 23rd, the prodigal sunglasses were discovered lurking furtively behind my Drivers seat. GREAT, now I have “spare” pair. I can put them with my OTHER spares, as soon as I find THEM. In the interum, I’ll put them in a place “where I’ll ALWAYS know exactly where they are should the need arise” (just like all the other spares). Today, I’m going to drive to our Terminal in Columbus, OH where I’ll take some time to do a load or two of laundry and take a shower. After that, I’ll “shuffle off to Buffalo”.