Trucks Can Be Like a Kid Throwing a Tantrum

Well I should have known that my week had been going just a little too smoothly.  I left Nova Scotia on Wednesday with a load of snow crab bound for San Antonio, Texas.  Had a bit of rain for the first couple of days, but that only served to clean a few thousand bugs off the grille and mirrors.

Plenty of time, and the truck was running well. Regular stops for meals, showers and sleep. All was right with the world.  Then I was informed that the earliest appointment I could get for delivery was 5 PM Monday, so that gave me even more time.  I actually dawdled a little.

Then when I was less than an hour from point of delivery a message came on the satellite, “By the way there could be a lumping fee of up to $150.” And me already 10 miles past the last truck stop coming into San Antonio.  They would put that amount on my card they said, but then came a mad scramble to figure out where I was going to be able to access the money.

Finally after studying the truck stop directory and the atlas I drove right past the customer and on east a couple of miles on I-10.  After the third truck stop I tried, I finally had my $150 in hand as well as a couple of hundred I decided to take out of my own account through the ATM just to be on the safe side.  Back to the customer, and still a half hour early for my appointment.  But then I was informed I had the wrong PO number and they couldn’t find me in the computer.

By this time it’s after business hours in PEI and everyone’s gone home for the day.  However, I tracked down a dispatcher on his way home for his supper and he reluctantly turned around and headed back to the office. Thanks Johnathan.  A half hour or so later, I have the correct PO number, I’m backed into a receiving door and waiting patiently for the lumper to show up. Finally the lumper knocks on my door and informs me the price will be $180.  Thank goodness I had the foresight to take out the extra cash.

Now when I left home the temperature was in the upper teens and low 20’s Celsius.  By now I’m looking at low 40’s, which is something I’m not really accustomed too, but thankfully the A/C is working fine and I’m pretty comfortable except when I have to go outside.

A couple of hours later my load is off, my bills are signed, and I head back over to the Flying-J for the night.  I’m not really expecting a quick turn-around because there are hundreds, maybe thousands of trucks in the area all looking for paying loads.  So, I settle in to the truck stop, hook up to the WIFI signal and work on my websites.

The next day (Tuesday), mid afternoon, I’m informed I have a reload out of Laredo about 2.5 to 3 hours away.  Trouble is it doesn’t load until 7 PM Wednesday.  So I hunker down, make myself comfortable, happy in the thought that I’ll at least get a reset on my logbook. Well the real problem began after supper, when without warning the truck’s engine shuts down.  There goes my A/C, and believe me it doesn’t take long in these temperatures to notice the loss.

To make a long story short but sad, I ended up awake most of the night, since the earliest appointment I could get at the Freightliner dealer was 7:00 Wednesday morning.  I worked away on the computer inside the truck stop till 3:00 in the morning or so.  Then I tried sleeping in the truck, but the heat and humidity soon drove me out into the cooler night air with a nice breeze blowing.  I ended up for the last 4 or 5 hours in a chair in the driver’s lounge in front of a blaring big screen TV.  I don’t know why they call it a lounge as any lounging I was able to do in that most uncomfortable chair was painful to say the least.  Somehow I managed to doze on and off and maybe got a total of an hours sleep.

Anyway I’m now at the Freightliner dealer awaiting the news.  I know it has to do with the emission control system, and it shut off on me 5 or 6 times on the two mile drive over here, but at least it didn’t require a tow which would not be included under warranty.

The long and the short of it is that a truck is just like a kid.  When it behaves it’s a genuine pleasure to have around but when it doesn’t, it’s like a kid throwing a tantrum.  There ain’t much you can do except stand by and wait for the air to clear.

Here’s hoping all your miles are happy ones.