Truck stop chains tend to blur after a while.
Not surprising. The essence of a chain is to blur the experience. Not only is it cheaper to run all your stores the same way, it actually sells better. However much people complain, they go back because they know what they'll get. Consistency is a virtue. Really.
That said, variety is good, too. I bitterly regret the disappearance of several truck stops in
the last year or two. Even though there's a perfectly good place to park and eat right there--sometimes in the same building. It's just not the same. Or perhaps it IS the same--the same as the place 20 miles back, or the one 35 miles ahead. There can be too much consistency.
Today I'm enjoying something in between. Most Flying J(tm) truck stops have a Denny's(tm) attached nowadays.* But there are exceptions. A few are run by an outfit that include a restaurant called Patriot Farms(tm). I'm having a late breakfast at one now.**
The theme is Revolutionary War, with pictures of re-enactors and bits of 1700's food trivia in the menu. Mostly, it's just a good "home cookin'" restaurant, which is a good enough reason to stop in when I find one. But there's one standout.
Johnny cakes, they call them. Where I grew up, they called them corn fritters. Pancakes made with cornmeal. I remember them fondly, and these are the only places I've ever found them on a menu. They'll even give you a couple of little ones with any breakfast, free. Mmmm...
I have some need for comfort food right now. I just heard something a little nervous-making.
My satcom has been down for several weeks now. This has made getting in touch with my dispatcher interesting. Details later (from notes made earlier--I am so organized). But this was such a fine example I couldn't wait to write it up.
As I mentioned earlier, I just drove about 800 miles with a load, and was promptly told to turn around and go back to where I started--empty.
Well, okay, I thought, and asked where I should fuel.
Uhh, said my (weekend) dispatcher, and stared in consternation at his computer.***
It was telling him I'd never left Atlanta.
Or picked up a load there.
After all, I'd never filled out the official email forms, right?
And since I never picked up the load, or left Atlanta, obviously I shouldn't be paid for delivering it, now should I?
He swears he'll get it fixed. And of course I trust him.
And in the meantime there's comfort food.
-----
*They used to operate their own restaurants in most of them, but they apparently decided to outsource. Not necessarily a bad decision…
**11:00 am--I don't always post when I write. Or even often.
***I assume that's what he did. His comments seemed to suggest it.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Haulin' air
I haven't seen a pager in a while.
Some of you may remember those--the gadgets that would beep plaintively if someone was trying to contact you. A victim of the cell-phone tsunami, they are now relegated to bars in crowded restaurants, where they sit ignonomously under your drink until your table is ready.
This one is old-school, with a belt clip and everything. When it goes off, I will push a button on the side and it will tell me what door to back into. A clever use of old technology.
("Old technology"! Lord!)
Once I get unloaded, I will then do something I have never done before. Well, not on this scale. I've been told, as soon as I'm unloaded, to start south to our terminal in Atlanta.
About 800 miles.
With an empty trailer.
If the Company had its way, trailers would never move at all unless some shipper was paying for the privilege. An empty trailer moving means a truck is towing it. Burning fuel. Wearing out parts. Being driven by someone they have to pay.* They don't like that.
So why are they paying for 800 miles worth of it?
My best guess is, they're getting ready for Christmas. Too many trailers in the Northeast, not enough down South, and National Shopping Day on the horizon. So I'm hauling a load of New Jersey air to Atlanta so they can trade it for some toys for WalMart(tm). Better than defaulting on a contract because they didn't have enough trailers.
No matter. Long as they're paying.
*That last part varies from company to company. It's still not that uncommon for a driver to eat any time he spends not UNDER a load. But the one I work for pays for every mile I'm TOLD to drive. If I unload at Point A and they send me to Point B for my next load, I get paid for driving there.
Some of you may remember those--the gadgets that would beep plaintively if someone was trying to contact you. A victim of the cell-phone tsunami, they are now relegated to bars in crowded restaurants, where they sit ignonomously under your drink until your table is ready.
This one is old-school, with a belt clip and everything. When it goes off, I will push a button on the side and it will tell me what door to back into. A clever use of old technology.
("Old technology"! Lord!)
Once I get unloaded, I will then do something I have never done before. Well, not on this scale. I've been told, as soon as I'm unloaded, to start south to our terminal in Atlanta.
About 800 miles.
With an empty trailer.
If the Company had its way, trailers would never move at all unless some shipper was paying for the privilege. An empty trailer moving means a truck is towing it. Burning fuel. Wearing out parts. Being driven by someone they have to pay.* They don't like that.
So why are they paying for 800 miles worth of it?
My best guess is, they're getting ready for Christmas. Too many trailers in the Northeast, not enough down South, and National Shopping Day on the horizon. So I'm hauling a load of New Jersey air to Atlanta so they can trade it for some toys for WalMart(tm). Better than defaulting on a contract because they didn't have enough trailers.
No matter. Long as they're paying.
*That last part varies from company to company. It's still not that uncommon for a driver to eat any time he spends not UNDER a load. But the one I work for pays for every mile I'm TOLD to drive. If I unload at Point A and they send me to Point B for my next load, I get paid for driving there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
