Spirit of the Road by Rick L. Huffman

Author:Rick L. Huffman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781492252368
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2013-07-07T05:00:00+00:00

Week 27: "Shagged" again!

We went all the way from Scottsboro to Orlando on Sunday night. That was not my original intention, but we left later than planned and it was the only option to make the delivery on time.

I got irritated when the security guard in Orlando told me I would have to wait a long time to be unloaded. My irritation, as it turned out, was unfounded as I was one of the first to receive a dock assignment. I’d had a lot of trouble with this dock last time but, this time, I nailed it on the first attempt. The Florida heat was relentless, so I was content to sit in my air-conditioned truck the entire time.

Afterward, we got another series of loads from High Springs to Jacksonville and back. I could not believe that Dispatcher Bob assigned me a third Trifecta from Hell. I cannot say for certain, but this might have been when I decided to switch to the National fleet. To make matters worse, a forklift driver in Jacksonville accused me of hitting the fence the last time I was there or as he referred to it, “My fence.” I knew darned well that I had not hit the fence, so I asked him to show me the damage and let me speak to the person who allegedly saw me do it.

“My fence has already been fixed,” he replied.

He conveniently dodged my second request but persisted with his accusation. In so many words, I conveyed to him that he either needed to make a formal complaint to my company or shut his damned mouth! Otherwise, I intended to complain to his supervisor. After an exchange of more choice words, I brushed him off with a hearty harrumph and returned to my truck. I never heard anything more about the matter.

We sat in Jacksonville all night because the customer refused delivery until the next morning, even though I arrived on time. Dispatcher Bob told me that I would receive thirteen and a half hours detention pay, but I never got it. After this third Trifecta; dealing with the my fence guy, and needlessly sitting idle, I made a firm decision to put in a request to switch to the National fleet.

Next morning, we picked up another load in High Springs and delivered to the Coke plant in Knoxville. I headed toward home after delivery, but Dispatcher Bob nailed me with a shag run from Knoxville to Vonore, Tennessee. In trucking vernacular, "shag" is not a pleasurable experience. It is a very short trip for which the company pays an additional stipend; an amount that is almost always too small to warrant the time, trouble, and aggravation of the shag. This one, however, went smoothly and I actually received my extra pay for this one…unlike the last time.

I was happy to get home after this troublesome week. I called Dick, my terminal manager, and formally requested to switch to the National fleet.

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