Sorry for the long post
Quote:
Originally Posted by devildice
So I headed about 50 miles up the road and over to Dunnigan, CA off I-5. I am sitting at the Pilot here waiting to find a decent load and by the looks of it, I am gonna be here a while. 
I said that on the 5th fully expecting to sit in Cali for a while as the load board didn't look to good. Well come mid morning of the 6th I got a call from an agent offering me a load from Sparks, NV to Tempe, AZ for $2.70 a mile on some 790 or so miles. That is a decent rate for these economical times so there was no way I could pass it up. Turns out that the original load was damaged in transit (not sure if it was a LS truck or not) and now the shipper needed to get the replacement load there ASAP. However.....this load came with a price (to me).
The load was some sort of acoustic boxes that are used to sound proof large industrial A/C units. They measured 4' wide x 4' tall x 8' long. I had a total of 14 stacked on the trailer and they weighed in at just under 16k and had to be tarped.
I bounce the 170 or so mile up to Sparks and get loaded. Because these things were made or aluminum they had some sharp edges and I needed to protect my tarps from them. now messing with 8' drop tarps is never fun but unfortunately sometimes it just the nature of the beast in flatbedding. Low and behold when its time for me to tarp the load the freaking wind kicks up. And it wasn't just a breeze.
It got to the point that there was no way I was going to be able to tarp this alone, at least not where I was sitting with all that wind. So before I went to ask for help (I'm kinda stubborn that way) I decided to bump a dock in between to vans and see if that would help block the wind. It did a little but the wind still came up under the vans and was blowing the tarps around. 2hrs later I was all done and ready to roll. By now it was 3:30 local time and I knew I had to get as far as my log would let me in order to make my delivery on time.
the next morning I call the consignee to get my final directions and their receiving hours. The directions were simple enough but they said they stop receiving at 3pm. Based on my GPS, I was going to be arriving there right about 2:45pm, so I bumped up the cruise a little in an effort to make better time. The ride down went smooth and effortless and by the time I got to the Pheonix area I had made up some time and the GPS now said I would be arriving about 2:15pm.
As my luck usually goes, there was a roll over accident on I-10 (right at the exit I needed to get off on none the less) and traffic was at a dead stop.:angryblue: When I finally got to my exit, the GPS now said my arrival would be at 2:57pm.
I get there and thankfully it is a medium sized outfit and there were no trucks there. I could tell they were not to thrilled to see me so late and I can't blame them. By the time I get both tarps on the ground and all my straps off I am soaking wet in sweat. I grab my bottle of water and look at the outside temp. It says 106!!!!
No way that can be right. It must be because I am sitting on blacktop in between some warehouses and I am not getting an accurate reading.
As they are unloading me, I start rolling up my tarps. When the 1st one is done I am absolutely exhausted. I go to use the restroom and as I am walking over I start to feel light headed. No sooner do I get there I vomit. Since I had not eaten all day all that was coming up was water. Uh oh, I know what this means. I am experiencing the signs of heat exhaustion and now I am thinking that the 106 temp is in deed accurate. I take a short break in the shade and know that I must be very careful. I work for about 5 min and then break in the shade for 10 while sipping (I know better than to chug) water.
I now have about 15min to stow my gear and back out of there yard before they need to lock the gates. I am so beat down that I can't even continue to work my 5/10min cycles anymore. I have both tarps rolled but still need to stow my bungees, roll my straps, and stow some other odds and ends. I say screw it and just grab hand fulls of bungees and straps and start shoving them in my side boxes. Now for those that know me, know that I am very anal about things including how I stow my gear and for me to just stuff them away things must be pretty bad.
I back out of their yard and sit there for the next 30min getting myself back. I am drenched in sweat (which is actually a good sign. If I was NOT sweating then I would be on the verge of a heat stroke) and light headed. Although still exhausted, I feel well enough to get rolling and all I can think of is getting to the Loves in Chandler where I can shut down, get a shower and really rest and recuperate. I'll stow my gear properly later.
After sitting there at the Loves relaxing for about an hour, I go do the dreaded but necessary task of untangling all my bungees and straps and stowing them away. 1 1/2 hours later I've got them all put away and am off to get a nice cool shower and a bite to eat.
That was the "price I had to pay" as I mentioned at the beginning of this post. For those that flatbed I am sure you know my pain, for those that are thinking of going into flatbedding, let this be a real lesson that you MUST always stay hydrated and never over exert yourself. Even though this was one of those time where at the moment I HATED this job, when it was all said and done I must be sick in the head because I still love this line of work......:thumbsup:
I haven't got off my lazy you know what (not to mention I'm a little frugal with my money) and gotten one. I am on the verge of trading in this truck and I assure you my next truck will have one!
