Here and there

The Fayetteville load wasn't preloaded, like I was told. Nor was it 30,000 pounds, like I was told (it was over 40,000 pounds). The planners didn't even bother including the confirmation number I needed to make the pickup, causing me grief at the shipper.

Worse, by the time the load was ready and I left the shipper I was no longer able to make the delivery appointment on time. Which, by the way, was set before I even arrived.

I wasn't feeling too great when I got up this morning in Neosho, Missouri but I plugged ahead and got the load to the destination when I said it would be there.

Unfortunately, the bridge along the tiny state route I had to take from I-44 to Warrenton, Missouri had a weight limit of 20 tons and I was near twice that, so I had to divert to some absolutely tiny side roads. One stretch of about 18 miles was so steep I was having to double downshift -- going from fifth gear to third, for instance, a first for me. Just a nightmare.

Dispatch wanted to preplan me first on a load out of St Louis to Omaha that would require me to run all night and I nixed that. The next plan had me running a very tight FedEx load overnight to Kansas City and I nixed that as well. Fed up, I just told them I would deadhead home.

My dispatcher did manage to sweet talk me into first dropping an empty trailer near St Louis at the FedEx facility before retracing my steps, grabbing a new trailer then heading home.

Life of the trucker.