September 18 – Normally I write this up at the end of the day. I'm starting a little early today, though. We all know how wanton stupidity just gets my back up. Yes, I'd like to say I'm immune from such stunts as might display my idiocy, but I try. And I do NOT make a habit of flagrantly stupid actions.
In this case, I'm talking about overnight parking. Sure, it's a Pilot and the lot is a little tight. However, when these three particular drivers arrived, it was only half full, with plenty of pull-through slots. How do I know this? They arrived at about the same time as I did. Even without the pull-through stalls, there were a good dozen or so open stalls they could back into. One stretch was five stalls wide.
Do these morons even attempt to park legally? Do they even look? No. Pull through the fuel island and find a handy curb to pull along side. Or park in the clearly marked no parking zone next to the scale. Convenient for them, but compressing the available maneuvering space for anybody else who comes along.
It seems such a little thing, but it's the kind of uncaring thoughtless arrogance that – at best – doesn't help the driver image.
No, I'm not mentioning carrier names. There's no need to, since just about every carrier has drivers such as these. It's not restricted to company drivers, either. Owner/Operators do it too.
The powers that be decided I should swap trailers with another driver ... not sure where at the beginning of the day, but by mid-afternoon, it was decided that Des Moines was the place to be. I opted to push hard- I want to get there early enough to allow the other driver plenty of time to do whatever he needs to do before hitting the road.
Running low on fuel – refuel point is 160 miles down the road. Absolutely will not make it with the on-board fuel.
Found the Pilot at MM 126... found the parking lot for trucks. Can't find the driver I'm supposed to swap with. QC'd dispatch for assist. Gah., drove right past him, and WALKED past him TWICE. I'm obviously tired.
Trailer and paperwork swap.
Requested different fuel stop,since- as I said – there is no hope in hell that I can get to the currently designated stop. Got one – about 16 miles up the road. Dunno if I can get there or not – I'm REALLY low. I may drop $20 into a tank in the morning.
No wrecks, no unusually stupid drivers... and darn few stops. Usually when I stop,I take a few minutes to stretch, bend,walk a bit. Not today.. back into the truck ASAP. Leaves me a little sore and quite tired at the end of the day.
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