Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Why Ask Why?

As I mentioned yesterday, I didn't really see the reason why I had to take a van trailer instead of a reefer to pick up that load going to PetCo. This bit me in the butt today when my next load came up and it required a reefer. When I pointed this out to my dispatcher I was sent from the PetCo distribution center in Joliet, Illinois about 45 miles west to the PetSmart distribution center in Ottawa, Illinois to exchange my van for a reefer. Then I ran back east along the same route to Morris, Illinois to pick up a load for Nabisco. Fifty miles out of route because whoever booked the previous load put the van requirement on it for some reason.

The Nabisco place was interesting. Each trailer is tagged with a yellow GPS device as it enters so the yard dogs know where each one is as they roll around. I dropped the trailer I painstakingly took from PetSmart and picked up a loaded one and was rolling very shortly thereafter.

The rest of my driving day was uneventful and I end up about two hours away from the Kansas City area where I delivery first thing in the morning.


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