11/07/08

Damn you, Murphy. You just couldn't leave well enough alone. This is how the the day was supposed to have gone (in my perfect world): Leave the yard by 9am and drive up to De Pere where I would hook to my load, head south just in time to miss Chicago rush hour, and make it to Indianapolis around dinner time when I should have no trouble finding parking.

I didn't leave the yard until noon - Murphy intervention #1. And I had to take a load to Green Bay first, then go back to De Pere - Murphy intervention #2. I get to the shipper in De Pere and I'm told to drop my trailer and pick-up my loaded trailer which is ready to go. So after spotting said trailer, I hook up, raise the landing gear, connect all my lines, and pull away from the dock so I can close the doors. Only when I get back there am I able to see that the entire trailer is empty - completing the Murphy trifecta. Now, I was scheduled to pick up this load any time between 8am-4pm, meaning it should have been ready to go at 8am. I got there at 3:30 and didn't get loaded until almost 6pm. On the bright side, I missed Chicago rush hour. I made it to Lebanon, IN just before my clock was up and got one of the last spots available. Not bad.

And so, that was how my first day on the road as a solo driver went.