Huntsville, AL

I just couldn't do it. Last night I couldn't bring myself to relive
the hell that was yesterday by blogging about it. But I found out
today my troubles were worth an extra $230, so that helped to take the
edge off.

I arrived at the consignee, which turned out to be a state prison,
yesterday morning and was greeted by a helpful guard that pointed me
in the direction of the dock. After another guard came out to inspect
my truck and unlock the gate, I was allowed to back in. The receiving
manager came out and immediately rejected the load because it wasn't
on pallets and they couldn't get it off the trailer. Sweet. A short
while later, I was instructed to go to warehouse in Norcross to get
the load palletized. Okay. The forklift guy at Norcross worked
pretty quick and I was soon on my way back to Buford. They're pretty
serious about security there. The guard had to inspect my truck
before I entered and again before I could leave. Anyway, after I
opened the trailer doors and backed in, I walked the the back of the
trailer and found the manager staring at the load and shaking her
head. Forklift guy in Norcross stacked two rolls on each pallet and
the receiver had no way to get the top rolls off.

Before I could get instructions from my dispatcher, I was pretty much
kicked out of the prison; that old guard was rushing me out of there
like he was late for a date. I was only fifteen minutes from the yard
where I park the truck during hometime, so I went back over there to
wait. And wait. Two hours later, I was told to go deliver the load to
the Norcross warehouse and they'd deliver it themselves tomorrow. At
this point, it's clear there has been a serious lack of communication
among all interested parties, but hey, I just go where I'm told.

Back at Norcross, I'm finally empty and go inside to get my paperwork
signed, only they wont sign it because they're not keeping the
freight. Oh no, they're palletizing the load on individual pallets
like they were supposed to the first time and putting it back on the
trailer. By now, it's after five and the prison stopped receiving at
three. And according to my dispatcher, I was suppose to leave
Norcross empty. Repeat to self: "I just drive the truck, I just drive
the truck..." By the way, I haven't been more than thirty miles from
home all day. Unable to deliver the load, I went home for the night.

This morning I called my dispatcher and was told to go back
to....Buford. They finally accepted the load and I was on my way.

I picked-up my next load in Doraville, made a drop/hook in Cherokee,
and have called it a day here in Huntsville. I'm headed toward
Virginia and have a pretty tight schedule, so I'm off to bed.