Crappy brokered loads

I told my dispatcher when I was in Omaha the other day after being assigned the load to Mississippi that the three times I was down there were all followed by crappy brokered CH Robinson loads. I considered declining the trip, but flipped a mental coin and took it anyway.

Yep, it was followed by a crappy brokered CH Robinson load.

The trip distance wasn't bad, going from Tupelo to pick up in Olive Branch, Mississippi, then delivering near Minneapolis, Minnesota the following day. The first problem was that they stopped receiving at noon and the load wasn't scheduled to go until 3 PM, so only 21 hours to go 900ish miles (deadhead included). That simply wasn't going to happen.

I moved up to the shipper and went through a needlessly complicated check-in process then was given a dock. The security guard (at the "welcome center", as the guard shack was euphemistically called) told me to back it in then "get comfortable." I took this to mean that it would be a while, and I was right. Oh, a few pallets were put on board during my first hour... then an hour or so went by and a few more, then a few more... Five hours later, all 11,000 pounds of whatever was aboard and I was allowed to move out.

I drove up through Memphis and across the river to West Memphis where I got my grimy truck washed and fueled up. I met a down-on-his-luck driver at the Pilot while I was fueling who was either what he said he was or a damn good liar. Either way it was worth the two bucks for a couple Wendy's Value Menu burgers. I stopped yesterday at a truck rest area (meaning, a rest area that has no facilities; normally a closed weigh station) just north of West Memphis.

This morning I was up with the sunrise and heading north through snow flurries. Most of today's drive and almost all of tomorrow's will be along state highways -- always fun in the snow. Luckily, none of the occasional snow I ran across seemed to want to stick to the roadway even though it never got above freezing.

So the delivery got pushed back a day and I can deliver as soon as 0630 tomorrow. I stopped tonight at Waterloo, Iowa and just got back to the truck from an honest-to-goodness buffet dinner.

I feel like such a trucker.


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