Load from Hell

As i said in last Blog the truck was booked into the shop on Monday 14th...... Sorry for a certain person I'll rephrase that sentence... The lorry was booked into the garage.. (ok Mr P). It was strange it coincided with Valentines Day. So if your ready for the next trip, sit back, buckle up and lets roll....... Well not quit. I noticed when I washed my truck on Sunday that the mud guard behind the passenger front wheel was loose. Never mind they could fix that Monday when she goe's in I thought. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Apparently its a design fault on Freightliner and it took them till Friday to get the panel and put it on. Now if the wheels ent turning, I'm not earning so I'd written off that week. But Clarke are a good company to work for and all I can say is they looked after me, it was'nt a total loss. I picked my girl up Friday dinner time, so first stop was Dispatch to get a load and start earning again. The first part of the trip was to bobtail to the Mitchelin plant in Granton, Nova Scotia, then hook up to a Midland Transport trl then live load there. This trip was going to take me to Greenville South Carolina, a meer 1645 miles away. I was'nt expected to be there till Tuesday morning, but even without rushing I could be there by Monday morning. A nice and easy trip, or so I thought. Once loaded I headed for a truckstop in Salisbury New Bruswick to fax my paperwork to the Customs Broker and Clarke. Earlier i was thinking of pushing on a bit further but I was in no big rush so decided to stay at Salisbury the night. This turned out to be a wise decision because at 3am I got a call from Mitchelin to say they'd loaded the wrong goods on the trl and could I go to Midland yard in Dieppe and swop trls inn the morning. The paperwork I had would match the load on that trl. Well luckily Dieppe was only 15mins away so it did'nt take long Saturday morning to get to Midland, swap trls and start on my way. I made it as far as Sturbridge Massachusetts that night. The roads had been clear, no fresh snow fall in the past couple of days. Now Sunday as I travelled through Pennsylvania the snow got less and less on the side of the Interstate the further South I got. By the time I reached Virginia there was no snow at all. In fact there was some strange green stuff growing on the side of the roads and in the fields. It took me a while for me to realise it was grass. Wow it's months since Ive seen that. Virginia is a beautiful State and the drive down the 81 was a treat. Mountains in the distance, rolling fields with cattle gazing, old and new ranch's, oh I can't really put the words together to really do it justice. All that was missing were the cowboys on horse back herding the cattle. Now my truck was'nt that dirty from the journey down but the rigs that were on the road were spotless. You needed shades from alll the sparkling chrome, it was really giving me a inferiority complex. There was only one remedy, find a truck wash. Now I got as far as Troutville VA that and as I pulled into a parking spot there was the answer to my prayers. A 24hr truck wash. Sorted. So up early the next morning, into the wash then onto Greenville, only 4 hours away. Now on the way down there I could'nt believe the weather forecast, they were saying the temps were going to be in the mid 70's. Brilliant, clean truck and i'd got plenty of polish, result. Now when I reached the plant at Greenville I booked in and was given a door to back onto. Out came the polish. Now I'd done the cab and was just starting on the wheels when the guy comes out with the bad news. The paperwork was correct to what they required but the goods on the trl were not for them. The load from hell had risen again. The good news was it was meant to be at the Mitchelin plant in Spartunburg 36 miles away. So I informed dispatch and headed of. Apparently there were 3 more loads coming down with wrong paperwork and it was'nt the first time it and happened, the same thing occurred the previous week. Would'nt like to be the person who dropped that one. Never mind I soon was unloaded at Spartenburg and dispatch sent me my reload details. Head for Faison North Carolina and pick up a load of sweet potatos going back to Midland yard in Dieppe. It was'nt due to be loaded till 8 the next morning so another stress free drive. Now while they loaded me the next morning it gave me cahance to start polishing the diesel tanks. Roll on spring I say. That night i only got as far as Elkton Maryland.The trip up to there was hampered with all the scales being open. The q's can be long and slow at these places, still green light on everyone. I was under my gross weight but if you have'nt got your axles in the right place it could spell big trouble. The following day I decided to earn some brownie points with Sharen, so stopped at Kennebunk, Maine and got her some Popeyes. Now Popeyes is like KFC but much, much better and you can only get it Stateside. Now the real challenge for this trip was on. Could I make it back to Halifax without eating it myself. I parked at Baileyville, Maine that night only 5 mins away from the border. The following day was a breeze, left the trl at Dieppe then picked one our mt's up and took it back to Halifax. Now really I should have gone back out either Saturday afternoon or Sunday, but beings as Sharen works full time Monday to Friday I decided to bin it till Monday. It'll be the first full weekend we've spent together since Christmas. Dispatch were happy, so here's to an enjoyable weekend. You all take it steady and look after yourselves. I'll catch you soon