Well, Junior at my old company told the dispatcher to have me call at 10:30 saturday. It sounded like he wanted to talk to me. So I did. And again at 10:45. And at 11:15. At 12:00 Brian said he'd give Junior my number and have him call me. Thinking that he actually might, I accepted that.
At 3:30 I blew a tractor tire. It was a retread I'd had to take when I got the truck; one of four I'd intended to replace as soon as I saved enough money. The tread only came 75% off, so it was flopping like a clown-shoe, and tore my front splash-guard mostly off (I had to finish that), bashed my APU's exhaust pipe down and tore it out, and beat the hell out of it's housing. (I was going 70).
Road service was a last resort for me--I had a little over 400 bucks. And I couldn't drive faster than 10 ir 12 mph or I'd tear the APU's exhaust the rest of the way off and out. plus scour a hole through it's housing and into it's guts.
Oh, I was tempted! Damian has given me holy hell over the years, and subconsciously I want him dead...but we have to think with our cortexes. Also, if the rest of the tread tore loose, it could blow the tires behind it or tear the air lines and/or cause an accident.
Thanks to another trucker I ran into (since my CB is broke), I found out that the Pilot I'd passed 3 miles back had a Wingfoot and two other tire places around it.
I love Texas! Much of I-35 has access roads parallelling it, and they're two lanes! I could limp at 10 mph all the way back there, ("FAP-FAP-FAP"), at 10 mph without causing a traffic jam. I called my former comany, thinking if I could get any money at all, now would be the time. Junior had gone home.
Yep. So I get to Wingfoot and they don't have used tires. That was a massive problem, since you have to match tread-depths...it meant that I'd have to buy two NEW tires. (Later, I did run around, finding other places closed on weekends--no used tires to be had anywhere).
So I had to call Courtney and borrow 700 MORE bucks to get two new tires (and patch a third, and move everything around.)
This was not a ripoff compared to other places. I got open-shouldered Michelins for 450 bucks each. These were the tires I'd intended to replace my four old ones (and eventually the others) with anyway. I would have got something cheaper, but (inexplicably), these WERE their cheapest drive tires!!! (Well, Dunlops were a little less, but he only had one).
Michelins are better than ALL other truck tires, for both durability and mpg's!!! So there was good news to go with the bad news: I now have only two tires to replace, and know where to get them.
I'll have a decent week as-is, or a monster week if I'm able to get this load delivered monday (a day early) and scan the paperwork in.
The carrier is still keeping my settlements to get all the money they fronted me back, and now I've just added 700 to that total.
It can be deceptive, ya know? Okay I get 35% advances loaded onto my fuel card, for fuel and road expenses. The majority of that does indeed go into the fuel tanks. You tend to forget that what you get in settlements is now only 65% of what the load pays.
I was well on my way to working with this, however. I was pretty shocked to average over 6 mpg's hauling 44k through hills and towns, then to get over 7 with this 42k load to Laredo. I also beat the lowest internet fuel price I'd found on the internet by a nickel.
So now I had a little traction, and knew that I'd get to Texas with over 400 bucks on my card and 150 in my pocket, plus 600 miles of range; the next advance would put me farther ahead, and by the trip after that maybe I could get some money into my business account to avoid cancellations and pay my road taxes.
Then POWfapfapfapfap...
Even Junior...I think he might offer me a percentage of the new company. I threw the idea out last time. I just want this episode over with, and if 2 or 3% could pay me a couple hundred a month or something, I could deal with that.
Anyway, I had intended to treat myself to a night in a hotel with a bar nearby. Damian was refusing to air condition me and I was momentarily defeated. (He just wears you down. This owing my soul to the company store/being unable to collect what I'm owed even in emergencies, no call-backs, 10 calls per-day, getting Damian fixed, loose end after loose end unpaid bills--yeah I'm worn down a bit).
After paying the tire bill, thanks to the guy knocking off the labor on the tire-patch, I found myself with 130 bucks. Still planned to do it. But this guy says it's 79/night inc. taxes.
It's okay. With renewed vigor, I went after Damian again, and figured out how to make him cough up the cold air. This lot is shared by the Mexican Restauraunt and hotel, so I'm parked here 80 miles from Laredo. I can't show up at my consignee before 1200 monday anyway, so tonight I'll go over there and drink some beer or margaritas or something, and just sleep in Herbie.
The reasons I stay in hotels when I can are the sense of space and normalcy. I can catch up on all my TV shows, take a bath, and (in a bar) meet new people and get away with misbehaving. It's even partially offset financially, as I don't burn fuel or put more wear-and-tear on Damian.
Anyway, Damian's exhaust pipe is pointed down and dangerously close to the ground. I was able to beat it snug to the block with my BMFH (one-handed sledge hammer), but the brackets are partly torn out, and I couldn't bend the pipe back up--I'll need a torch for that. Until then, I've got to be really careful, because of it hits the ground it's gone, and I won't know it.
I just have to keep plugging. A month from now I know I'll have my life back. It'll feel good to get square with the company, and I'll have the new harness and all but two of my tires. I'll be making more than I even made before (possibly with dividends from the new, well-managed trucking company augmenting it), and get trips to Texas or maybe other places when I ask for them---or even ongoing.
Courtney: I didn't know that she had to call the company--actually I'm not sure, but I think Korena--to get me the money for repairs.
See, I'm a contractor and the truck is all on me. To fix a trailer--that's not an issue. But owner-ops are rightfully expected to fix their own equipment. I know that Korena, for her part, has to get to some VEEP or something to get approval on the stuff I've incurred. And I can imagine this person throwing their hands up and saying "why not?" by now.
But it was neccessary. I'd exhausted the alternatives, and the load needed to get there. Anyway, I would hope the company considered the fact that NEW tires are an investment, making a breakdown far less likely on that unit.
I personally would have paid me half my settlements, however, since then I could have knocked this out without bothering them.
But hell--their books aren't set up for this stuff. they have a maintenance budget--only for trailers. For MY stuff, they had to open a separate file and put me off to the side. They can just close the file when they get their money back. They probably don't want to carry it over into the next fiscal quarter--they can't be certain that I won't just bug out and leave them stuck for the balance--yeah I get it.
So I sure hope I can get this in and scanned by monday night. I got to pay this off ASAP.
Well time to conquer the world and blog some more and drink margaritas and stuff okbye.
Post script: I have lost APU a/c again and haven't been able to correct it. It's 103 degrees and I think I'll burn twenty gallons idling before I get to the consignee. Oh--and of course I have to get the bastard fixed again. And pay for it. Somehow.
I'm not a gypsy. I have a family that I need home-time for. His name is Damian, and he came from hell.
He might work fine an hour from now, but that's just so he can get my hopes up again.
It just never stops.
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