I've been on the road - post vacation, 8 days now. Just took a load of steel from TN down to the Port of Ft. Lauderdale. 1/4 mile into the port I had to show my drivers license 4 times. It took 4 hours to unload the stuff. A security guard in a golf cart had to be there "monitoring" at all times. Why? Absurd and unnecessary. Is a terrorist going to jump out from the load and demand something? Hijack the load of steel? I don't think so.
The steel was loaded on a ship flatbed "container" (see photo) and should be in the Cayman Islands by the end of the week. Hurricane relief. Rebuilding a government building over there. I have to make sure to visit my contribution some day with Mrs. Grumpy. Maybe next cruise.
From the port I shot up I95 to Yamato Rd. in Delray Beach to visit my 80 year old mother. She was going into surgery for a broken shoulder. I might have stayed, but I haven't seen a good paycheck in about a month. My brother and his wife will (thank goodness) take care of things. There's a pre-load of great smelling Canadian wood going from Lake City to Anderson SC – a 650 mile trip from Lauderdale which I delivered this morning to 84 Lumber.
And so here I sit - waiting. It’s been raining all day. An Arrow truck that delivered before me this morning to the same place already was re-dispatched somewhere on a load. I guess their still strong too. Later operations asked me if I have 5 hours left. I said sure do. Ok, dead head 250+ miles to Huger, SC and load a "hot" coil to Springfield OH. About 900 total miles.
I just released the brakes when the Qualcom beeps. The final doesn't want the "hot" coil until after the 1st of the year. That ain't "hot." I re-applied the brakes and here I sit, most likely until tomorrow or Friday. My paycheck this week was under $500.
The photo credit is V Grumpy on Flikr.
Technorati Tags: Canadian trucking,Canadian wood logistics,Ft. Lauderdale trucking,trucking blogs,truck driving blogs,Arrow trucking
