Back to Solo

After a few well deserved days away from 2148, i phoned in Thursday to see what was going on in the world of Teperature controlled distribution, i already knew what my job was i was just confirming.

The plan was still good, i was taking a bonded load down to the Mexican border at Calexico, that was a good run and i was looking forward to it. Next morning i turned up about mid morning (no meat inpection deadline to worry about) settled in to 2148, unpacked, pre-tripped and prepaired paperwork.

I went for a walk up to dispatch to see where the trailer was and was told there was a problem, the trailer was too heavy and had to be reworked. Ive had loads like this before and it can be hit or miss with rework times, its either very quick or horrendously slow.

The load was not due to be reworked till the early hours of next morning so i went home. There was no point hanging around so i planned to leave the first thing next morning.

I set the alarm for "crack of sparrow's" which means very early in my old army slang and placed the phone by the bed. he alarm went off, i was told it wasnt ready, i rolled over and went back to sleep, job done !

I woke up later on and leisurely got my self together and was doing some stuff when Steve W (Hi Steve) phoned me and gave me a new load asignment. Shh, i gave Steve a menion just to make sure he's still reading my blog but dont tell him. That was good coz it wa a multidrop so i could make up a bit of the lost money on the late return to work.

Anyway, grabbed my kit and Jan dropped me off at the truck where i waited for my trailer. I spent a couple of hours chatting to the other drivers and catching up on some gossip. Bumped into Alan (Andy) Milne who i hadnt seen since he arrived over here and had a bit of a chat.

This trailer didnt turn up till 15:00 so meat inspection (this wasnt a bonded load) was pretty much out of the question. On the way out i told Lorna (One of my dispatchers) (Hi Lorna), not sure if she reads this but if someone gives her a nudge and tells her she got a mention then we may have gained another reader.

Oops sorry lost the thread, oh yes, i told Lorna that i was going to cross the border anyway and if there was any possibility of keeping meat inpection open then call me. I quickly spun round to the scale, scaled out and scooted down to Sweetgrass.

On the way down i got a macro off Lorna saying yes, it was open till 17:30 for another load. Brilliant, im in with a chance as long as customs are on the ball as i have to renew my I-94 visa.

Well they werent on the ball and it took them an hour to call my name, find a stapler and punch a few buttons on their computer. So even though USDA (Meat Inspection) stayed open for an hour, i now still wouldnt make it.

Anyway i got the visa, cleared the load thru APHIS and sauntered back down to my truck and i was quite annoyed. As i got to my truck another H&R driver called me over and asked if i was going down to USDA, i said that i was but its closed.

No its not, he said, its staying open till 18:00 for me, hee har was my reply, i gunned 2148 and sped round to the inspection shed, arriving in one helluva cloud of dust...............

30 minutes later i was heading south and got down as far as Idaho Falls before pulling the curtains and calling it a night.

Next morning i fuelled both 2148 and myself and we headed south again, at the moment i am sat at the Flying J at Winnamucca Nevada. Im delivering at 07:00 day after tomorrow in Tracy so there's no rush.

I stopped off at Walmart in Jerome this after noon to buy something after a little tip-off by Kev & Lisa. I would love to take the credit for this one but i wont so thanks Kev & Lisa for this money saving idea.

All will be revealed in the next post......................