Ebro, Florida

5:22 PM 3/17/2008 Ebro, Florida (in between Panama City and Destin), Ebro Cafe table by the door

So here I sit, four days into my solo trucking career stuck in one spot for the second time in two days. It feels incredible to be driving by myself and I can honestly say that I am the happiest that I have ever been alone. I was assigned my truck on Thursday, and assigned a load the next day. Much to my surprise and satisfaction the load picked up in Memphis, stopped near Little Rock Arkansas, and then delivered in Madison Alabama. I couldn't think of a better destination for my first run.

The trip to Little Rock was totally uneventful, which is the way I would like it to be every time.

Once I got to Little Rock to the Target distribution center where I was delivering part of the load, I met a dock worker named Dewey who was the man unloading my truck. We spoke about what it was like working in a warehouse and ways that it can be improved.
During my training I became more and more interested in the business side of the transportation and supply-chain industry. I've been speaking at length with my friend Dan Nguyen about his degree and future career in supply-chain management and the more I hear him talk about it and hear how passionate he is about it, the more I realize how passionate I am when I speak about it and the more I really think that once I get into school I'm going to pursue that particular degree. And with the amount of time that I end up spending in the trucking industry, I'll be practically guarenteed a job. Which would be nice.

But really, who knows?

After Little Rock it was off to Huntsville. It took about forever to get the truck loaded so I could only make it to Memphis before it was time to turn in. I didn't mind at all because at the time the sky over Memphis looked like the second coming might be happening, so pulling over wasn't that big of an issue. I had to go to two different truck stops before I could find a spot to park, and even then it was right next to a No Parking sign. I decided to try my luck seeing as how it was a truck stop sign and not a local gov. one. It took me just about forever to parallel park my truck which was upsetting because at the academy, I could do it without a problem. My confidence level just isn't up yet, and I think as a result my ability is suffering.

With the morning time came my time to head off to Madison.

I made it there in decent time, and even stopped at a tiny little store/truck stop in Mississippi for long enough to get a shower, which was nice. Once I got to the Target distribution center, I dropped my trailer and left the grounds feeling great having successfully delivered my first load.

Then I took off to Huntsville.

As I was driving, I got a load assignment to pick up a load in... wait for it... PANAMA CITY BEACH FLORIDA! That's two out of two load assignments that were great places to go. Now I can say that I went to Panama City Beach for Spring break. So, the plan was to take only ten hours in Huntsville and get down to Panama City Beach as quickly as possible so as to maybe be able to sit down and have some nice seafood. But as plans normally go, this one didn't work out. I spent a good four hours of my originally planned ten hour break showing the truck to my family and taking them on a short ride in it, nearly getting stuck in the process.

During this time I decided that I wasn't ever going to take the truck anywhere else that I don't know for sure that it CAN go.

I went to Walmart at some point, bought truck supplies, and then ended up taking it back home anyway to sleep.

The next morning it was off to Panama City Beach.

I have found out that while I'm on company time if I am not in the truck, or doing something to work towards my final destination, I am frantic and frazzled. So I have decided that under most circumstances I am never going to blend personal friend time with business time.

I am much too fond of my friends and would almost certainly be late as a result.

The drive to Panama city Beach was great. Incredible, even. I stopped at the Florida welcome center and treated myself to some fresh orange juice, which tasted heavenly. Seeing as how my truck did not have a satisfactory sound system in it, I bought an inverter and put home stereo in it. So as anyone could guess, I listened to much house music (DAFT PUNK) on the way down. If I pretended hard enough, I could almost imagine that I was one of the many spring-breakers that I was being passed by on the road.

Once I got to Panama City, I got directions from a drunk man on a bicycle and found my way to the shipper, where I was issued a hard hat and safety goggles. I weaved my way through this mill which smelled of cabbage, backed the truck up to the dock, and then was told that I wasn't going to be loaded because the trailer was too old.

No good.

So then I spent the rest of the night searching for a trailer, which was a bust, and ended up parking at a rest stop-- feeling like shit. I felt discouraged, useless, and most of all like a failure.

You see, it was my responsibility to ensure that the trailer I hooked up to in Madison was of a certain age. This I did not do (I didn't know untill afterward that I was supposed to) and as a result the load was going to be late. My second load.

I washed up, worked out (I've brought my weights on the road), talked on the phone, and then
crashed hard untill morning.

I woke up around noon with no word of what I was going to do and where I was going to go next. I washed up, inspected the truck, wiped the windows and mirrors down, and called Swift to find out what was up. I spoke with my driver manager who explained to me that these things happen and that I'm a new driver and that it's no big deal. I'd be lying if I said that hearing this man tell me this didn't take a huge weight off of my shoulders. He told me to head to Destin to find a trailer. En-route to Destin I called where I was supposed to be going to verify that they even HAD any empty trailers to swap out with to find that they did not.
And that brings me to the Ebro cafe. I pulled off to wait for further instruction and stepped inside to find an outlet to plug the laptop up to, and to grab a bite to eat.

Three glasses of water and one plate of rice and gravy later I'm still waiting on Swift to let me know what's up.

In a way I'm glad I'm seeing the shortcomings of this company like this, because I think it'll give me an idea of what needs to be improved if I ever get into the upper-level side of the industry.
So for now I'm going to step outside, listen to the wind in the palm fronds, and wait.

(sorry for any spelling errors. I haven't been proof reading anything lately)
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