Day from Hell

Yesterday was THE DAY FROM HELL, but let me catch up to yesterday first.

We dropped our load of Michelin tires in Laurens, SC on time Thursday. It looked like a recycling plant. Tires going in and rolled roofing going out. We could not see any processing but that's what we could see on the outside. Pretty interesting if you think about it - lots of oil in both products.

During the day I had contacted Cathie, my DBL and let her know how things were going and that if she could get us to Charlotte which was about 80 miles away I would be able to get spring training out of the way. After dropping she bobtailed us there. Enroute I called Ron and asked him if he was up-to-date on reading the blog. He had to confess he was not - bad move Ron. In it was a heads up that we might be coming through and he missed it. Anyway he met us at the OC and we had dinner and he helped us out by running us on a few errands. Thanks, Ron. We really like Ron, really enjoyable to chat with.

Friday morning I got the spring training out of the way. Nothing really new mostly on-the-job safety, which they cover every year. It's mostly to cover Schneider's butt. If someone doesn't follow procedures and gets hurt, at least they were given the instructions even if they didn't follow them. One of the things they also do is review your logs. The OSR ( the S is safety, I can't remember the other part of the acronym right now) comes over acting like he just stopped a nuclear bomb and says "Buddy, you're going to remedial training." There are no errors on any log but he had calculated hours driving and miles traveled to come up with MPH and he gets several days in excess of 65 MPH. He says "it can't be done in a 60 mph truck." I tried to explain my process, but he was so satisfied with himself he did not want to listen. Cathie will schedule ANOTHER class for me somewhere that will be a pain to get to.

The class was at 0700 est - keep that in mind as it's 0600 cst for us. Finished by 0900 CST. I stopped by the maintenance shop and for a small repair and then fueled and washed the truck. Now it's about 1130 est and I've been on the clock for 5 1/2 hours. Our next w/a came while we were remaking the bed. Teresa got laundry done while I was in training.

The w/a was to pick up a trailer there at the OC and go to Gastonia, NC 27 miles away and get loaded. No problem so far. The delivery was to Kutztown, PA 555 miles and deliver by 1000 est on Saturday. After quickly thinking it through I called the dispatchers and informed them it could not be done as assigned. After a little "negotiating" they relented and agreed to 1300 est Saturday. We have a deal.

Friday was fine, but quite long. We figured if we could get 350 miles out of the way by 2000 then we could get on the road by 0600 and arrive by 1230, giving a little room for error. We got our part done, and stopped at a rest area around Staunton, VA.

Saturday started fresh in the Shenandoah Valley. Really pretty and green. Around Harrisburg, MD we got a shower and some ice for the road, we're doing pretty good we think we're going to OK. Then the proverbial "shit hit the fan."

We're on I81 in PA headed north and blow a tire on the trailer. I pull over and check it out. Skinny shoulder. I contacted SEM, emergency maintenance and we agree I can hobble on upt the the Carlisle OC, about 30 miles. We're carrying 39,000 pounds. Each tire can carry 7,000 and there are 7 left, so we're good. Without too much delay they got us taken care of. I contacted the consignee (where we're delivering) to let them know I was going to be about an hour late. Being patient, they agreed. So we headed out.

We now have about 80 miles to go. 65 miles later the coolant alarm goes off. So I pull over again, at least this time I can get well off the road. Yep, blown water hose.

I contact SEM again. After an hour I get a message that they have contacted someone to come get us back in order. Then the guy calls and he doesn't think he has the part. By that time I have a Mcgyver repair in order and have put almost a case of our drinking water in. I had no idea how much it held or how much I water had been lost.

The guy arrives two hours later and likes my Mcgyver repair then adds 3 more gallons of antifreeze. How naive was I to think a case of drinking water was going to work ? Teresa got a good laugh about that.

We sat on the freeway for 3 full hours and were 12 miles from our delivery. Now it's 1615 and I call them again. Remember it's Saturday. They were about to shut down but said a couple of guys would wait and unload me. They did and I really appreciated it.

I contacted SEM one more time and told them it was jerry rigged and I needed to get back to the Carlisle OC for a permanent repair. We got back last night at 2000 and it was fixed by 2100.

Many thanks to my navigator/team domestic for her patience throughout the day.

You want to know the repair? I took the guts out of a bic pen and shoved it between the two pieces of hose and clamped it. Wasn't pretty but it held for 100 miles and that's all I needed.

Now you can call me Mcgyver Bob, if you want !!!

It's Sunday. No w/a yet, and that's fine. We're out of dinners, salad stuff, cereal and milk. So a trip to WalMart is on our list this morning.