Part 2

Well Wednesday morning rolls round and saddo here (thought i'd say it before any of you did) got up early to wash the truck before turning in for the safety meeting which resulted me turning up 15 mins late(had to wash her properly). John(head of safety department) had arranged for 2 DOT guys to come in for a Q and A session and to show how they do a level 1 inspection. Well John had got the 1 st person who turned up to hook up to a trl with his truck so they could do sed inspection. Oh boy what a f**k up, the guy had'nt taken enough time off the previous night, his rear brakes where out of adjustment, air leak and play on the 5th wheel (someone has'nt been doing there pre trip properly). He was meant to be heading out after the meeting insted he had to put his truck in the shop and sit on his hands for a couple of days. Anyway the meeting was all over by 130 (did'nt tell you we get paid for turning up to these meetings) so I headed up to dispatch to see what they'd got for me. I should of slowed down and let someone else go up first cus as soon as I walked in Penny looks up at me and gives me a big smile and says" Buster just the person we need". Ron then gets up and walks across with a smile on his face, I knew then I should have made a run for it. "We're in trouble with a load can you help us out". My own bloody fault, should of asked what it was before saying yes. I'd just landed myself with a second load of trees. Each year a driver is expected to do one load of trees only. Now our usual work is just one delivery, if the load includes more we get paid extra for each delivery, Christmas trees is an extra $20 on top of the usual pay. Now this was my second load so Ron told me i get $100 on top. Result, that took the pain away. Now this load had 6 deliveries on, starting in Stoney Point NY and finishing in Virginia Beach VA. Right mixed bag of places to go to, 2 Fire Halls (fire stations), 3 garden centres and a church. Friday morning saw me backing into the small parking lot at the back of the Fire Station, the guys had'nt turned up so I made a start on the unloading. Thats where the pics were taken, the trees had'nt fallen out, i'd thrown them out. Firat 70 trees were delivered and i was off to my second Fire Hall in Merrick, which is on Long Island NY. Plenty of people on hand to unload and I was soon on my way to Raritan NJ. The place was easy enough to find, the only problem was was his gateway. G's with taking all the road up outside she only just got in there with inches to spare each side. Turning round inside involved a couple of shunts but not to bad. When the trl was loaded they must of counted them wrong as the guy ended up with 3 extra trees, which because i said he must of counted them wrong resulted in a $20 tip. Getting out was just as tight but was managed without incedent.  My next del was in Poquoson VA, I was'nt going to make it that night so just drove my time out, ended up south of Washington DC. Was going to call in for tea with the old President but did'nt think they'd appreciatte me parking on the Whitehouse lawn (bloody snobs). That first delivery Sat morning was one of the easiest I'd made, next was the Church in Chesapeake VA. Now this was the best part of the journey. Anyone driven Germany up to Sweden? Well they have the same system of getting over and under the water. You drive over a low bridge first and you see these ships crossing in front of you, next it's down we go into the tunnel under the sea. Anyway only had to del 30 trees here but they were all 12 footers and boy are they heavy. Some folks must have some lge houses for these beauties. Out of there and onto my final delivery, 200 for this one. Found the place and saw the tree lot at the side of the store, so swung across the main road and backed in. Mistake should have done it the easy way and walk in as they want them in the yard at the back. Wow easy, bloody great yard to turn round in. So trees off and trl swept out and onto my reload. I'd been sent the pre plan earlier, reload Aberdeen MD, which was ready Monday morning. Early shower, supper and reset my hours Sunday, or so i thought. I was just parking up at a TA in Baltimore(only 30 mins away from Aberdeen) when the satellite went off " pls ring me asap, Penny". I knew then my plans were going to go out the window and sure enough they did. They'd had another truck doing trees around Long Island and he'd ripped the roof off the trl. Thats the trouble with the area around NYC so many height restrictions and if you don't know the area you can soon be in trouble. Anyway he was meant to be picking a load up from Hazleton PA and delivering the first drop at 3am Monday morning "can I do it". Bit p'd off but I said I would. Now I'll skip over the next day as to do Hazleton PA to St John legally in a day is questionable, so mum's the word. Oh god I love my log book. The load had 3 drops on, St John NB, Fredericton NB and PEI. Ka ching, ka ching just listen to them dollars mounting up. Done at PEI and it was take the mt to our yard in Moncton, pick a loaded on up and head for Nth Sydney. Now i was planning on having the following weekend off, but by the time i got back into Halifax on the Tuesday morning my hours were 'cooked'. "No worries" Ron said," take Wednesday off and I'll keep you busy Thursday and Friday local so you can be home". Any other trucking company would have said 'tough, reset Wednesday then Thursday get back down the road'. Tell you I really landed on my feet when I got this job at Clarke, there one hell of a firm, so remind me of Draycotes. They know how to look after their drivers. In fact they have just been named as one of only two companies in the Atlantic Provinces to be named " Employer of Choice". This designation means they have met or exceeded the trucking Industries best practices, one of them being driver retention. No surprise there for me cus they treat you as a person and not a commodity.
Now it's Jan 15th and I'm sat reseting my hours in Bloombury NJ. I'll try and fill you in with work since the begining of the month later. Am going to make the most of the time now catching up on my emailing. You stay safe and I'll catch you soon. Thanks for reading my ramberlings.