STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21295: Halloween Harping

I arrived in OKC yesterday after an uneventful drive from Albuquerque. I arrived at 1830. I had dinner, ‘geeked’ until about 2200, then went to bed.
I was awakened at 0530 on the 31st by a violent thunder cell wreaking havoc. Well, I guess it wasn’t really wreaking, and I detected no havoc except thunder & lightening, but it was enough to wake me up. I had a light breakfast, then drove to my first drop. I arrived at 0745. This customer had a huge groomed grass lot, so while I was being unloaded, the MMM enjoyed a nice, untethered romp. I was finished here by 0815, then drove to stop 2, conveniently only about 2 blocks away. I arrived at 0825, and my day began to decline rapidly. First of all, the employee parking lot and the dock area were intermingled. Cars were parked haphazardly throughout. Second, when I checked in, I was told that the dock I needed was currently occupied by another truck, and I would have to wait until he was finished. I was told to park in the lot until the door was available. Fearing that I would be blocked in by some BOZO, I pulled around and blocked some of their smaller trucks at other docks to wait. At this point I had no idea that I would be waiting there for over 3 1/2 hours. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I went inside. The truck in the dock was still fully loaded, and no one was around. I asked someone working in a nearby dock what the hold up was. He said that he assumed they were making room in the warehouse for his product. I had to move 3 different times during my wait so they could get their trucks out of docks, but I still went back to my same position to wait because it was better than being blocked in. The Planner sent me 2 Pre-Plans, both of which I turned down because I had no idea if I would be able to make the pick-up times because of the delay. After another hour, I checked in again. Still, the truck was full and no one was working it. Finally, about 1/2 an hour later, I saw some activity around the trailer. It took them another 1.5 hours to unload it. Finally, about noon, 3 hours after my appointment time, I backed into the dock. By this time, i’m seething. I still have 2 more stops in Tulsa, 2 hours away and now, I may have to wait until tomorrow to deliver them. I had already contacted my DM to inform her of the situation. At 1330, I FINALLY left stop 2 and drove directly to stop 3 in Tulsa. I arrived over 3 hours late, but since there were only 5 pieces, the dock workers unloaded me even though Recieving had already gone for the day. While being unloaded, I called the Final Drop customer. Their Recieving too had gone for the day, but fortunately they needed my product, so they concented to unload me as well. I arrived at 1615. I was extremely fortunate. Had they not needed my product, I would have been stuck here until God knows when tomorrow. There was another big field for the MMM to explore (a good day for them, 2 fields and leashless romps in 1 day) while I was being unloaded. After that, with only about 5 hours remaining on my 14, I drove to the Flying J, called my DM and told her to re-set my PTA for tomorrow morning because i’d had ENOUGH for today. My hours status is modest. I have a total of 26 hours available for the next 3 days. That’s enough to get me back West, if everything falls into place. It’ll have to be a long run with plenty of time to make the delivery.
ADDENDUM: The Planner just offered me a Pre-Plan which will work for me. It picks up tomorrow in Muskogee, OK and delivers in Porterville, CA (49 miles empty and 1539 miles loaded). They scheduled a T-Call in Henderson, NV, so I can get home. Obviously, I accepted it.