Finally, MN

I'm finally on my way home. It took awhile, but now everything is set. I picked up a trailer in Elwood, I'll and will drop it off in Menomonie, WI late this aft and then bobtail to the Cities and then drive home to Red Wing.

Yesterday was very difficult. The load I was to pick up in Akron, MI wasn't ready and wouldn't be ready until today. So, they took me off that load and assigned me another. This one was to pick up a load in Battle Creek, MI and take it to Kansas City and drop it off thur morning. But that would mean I wouldn't get home until tomorrow night or Friday.

(I had been told that my days off would begin on Wednesdays and that the driver following would pick up my truck on Wed. )

I called back to Schneider and told them the new load wouldn't work either. They then assigned me another load. This one had me driving down to Toledo, OH picking up a load and taking it to south of Chicago. But again the drop off time was Thur morning. So, I called back again, and pointed that out. They arranged for me to drop the load at the operating center in Gary, IN this morning. So, I finally left Akron 5 hours after first getting there. I drove south to Toledo (3 1/2 hours) picked up the trailer and drove to Elkhart, IN where I stopped for the evening.

If I wouldn't have insisted I would now be on my way to Kansas City and wouldn't have gotten home until tomorrow or Friday. I learned from this experience that I can't assume the Schneider people will arrange for my getting home. I need to monitor the process and remind them on what day I need to be home. It sure was frustrating. I can see why some drivers quit. I'm not close to that point. I think I can manage it better next time.

Tomorrow is Greta's birthday. She will be 33. Tristan has a baseball game which I will go to in the evening. Then on Friday, Tristan and I fly to Phoenix to visit Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend.

One last thing, I've created a trucking website '101st LugNut'. Eventually you'll be able to access it at 101st-lugnut.com. I'll let you know when you can do that. But for now go to http://temp.macdock.com/101stlugnut/index.html. You'll notice in the site there is a section called '19th Wheel' That contains all the emails I have sent. Crish had created a Blog site for them and I was able to link to it. Anyway, visit the site if you want.

Well, I'm closing in on Rockford, so I'm well on my way. I hope your day goes well. I'll keep in touch. - James (Jibs - Dad/Papa )