Three live unloads, two trailer swaps, one giant P.I.T.A.

PITA being short for Pain In The Ass, for the uninitiated.

My first live unload happened on schedule, though one of the pallets in back had fallen over the load lock and various goods were strewn about in the back of the trailer. After it was cleaned up and that part of the load was taken off, I made like a tree and split to my second and final PetSmart drop in Arvada, Colorado. The docks were set close to a blind corner on the wrong side of the building from which I came in on so I had to go back around, make a u-turn in the parking lot then go back around to try to dock it. This was my second live unload.

Hours later, the Powers That Be chimed in with one load that I wouldn't have the hours to run, then a different one with a separate local dropoff first. I thought the plan sounded like a bad bet to begin with but I signed off on it and got directions.

This brought me to Commerce City, Colorado to exchange my (now empty) van trailer for a loaded reefer to take south to Fountain, Colorado to be unloaded. After some fun dodging trains and other traffic, I eventually made my way back to the interstate and south to my third live unload.

This was, of course, the Unload From Hell. I mean, it was 14 freaking pallets and it took over four hours! I could have dropkicked all that off the tailgate myself in that amount of time. Finally, the paperwork was ready and it was determined that Kelloggs shorted whoever three boxes of goods. The pain and the misery inflicted on everyone involved over five bucks worth of corn flakes. Sigh.

By then it was mid afternoon and I had to drive 300 miles along state highways to get to Dodge City, Kansas where I dropped off my empty reefer and picked up a full one headed to Chicago. Of course, I was told when I agreed to take the load that it delivered on Friday morning at 0900, but the actual bills say 0600. Plus, the snafu at the last place has put me hours behind so I'll have to see if we can work something out tomorrow as I make my way towards the windy city.


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