Becomming a Cereal killer

The saga of the Kellog's Frosted Mini-Wheats continues...

I was given strict instructions to submit the item IDs for each of the missing or damaged packages over the satellite unit or by phone so the folks in the rear with the gear could decide what to do with them. This took 15 or 20 minutes going over a very lengthy printed manifest, typing in the codes and so forth. In the meantime, I made my morning delivery and had the dock workers bypass the four broken up boxes near the back of the trailer while they got their few pallets off.

Eventually I was told -- get this -- that I have to bring the damaged product back to Omaha the next time I'm through there. Bring it back in the trailer, you mean? Oh no, my next load goes in the trailer and we don't mix loads, not to mention I can't break the seal on one load to take off four boxes of unrelated product so I get to carry the boxes of cereal in the cab of my truck. On my bed during the day when I'm driving, and up front on the seats while I'm not.

All for ten bucks worth of cereal. Maddening.

Today's dispatch took me north an hour to Fort Collins, Colorado to grab a load of Budweiser (in kegs, no less) headed to Sioux City, Iowa for Monday. The security people there were a bit uppity but eventually I made it out alive, having adjusted the trailer tandems perfectly the first time.

I stopped again at the Wal-Mart supercenter in Lexington, Nebraska which I shall henceforth refer to as "The World's Most Truck Friendly Wal-Mart". They have dedicated parking spots for trucks -- I mean like 50 or 60 trucks! Actual honest-to-goodness signage showing you where to go. I try to get a lot of fresh food (and yes, some cookies and other bad things) whenever I can and finding places like this is a true gem.

Speaking of which, the Bossleman Pilot in Grand Island, Nebraska is another gem. Huge parking lot, very nice facilities, the best bathrooms I've ever personally seen, a large store, not one but two movie screens for truckers. Very nice place at exit 312 on I-80.


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