This morning I'm waking up in Austin, TX in the parking lot of Intelligent Logistics. After driving all night on Wednesday night to Corpus Christi I got unloaded at Horton Automatics, but then had to park my truck and take a ten hour break so I could legally drive again. Then around six in the afternoon I took off for Austin to deliver the final portion of this load. I made an eight o'clock in the morning appointment with Intelligent Logistics, and although it is now about 6:30 a,m. I am already getting it ready to go by removing all the bungees from my tarp and moving my truck around so that I can block any other trucks from getting in the unloading area ahead of me. There is a certain aggressive posture that one has to take at some of these receivers if you want to keep yourself ahead of the game - it goes contrary to my personality, but I have learned how to survive out here, and it is the shrewd who know how the game is played, that are best able to keep the wheels turning. The advantages of serving this dedicated account helps you to know how you have to conduct yourself at the various locations you go to.
I've mentioned in here several times a location in Riverdale, New Jersey that I often deliver to. They once instructed me to always get in there early and park my truck in such a way that I am blocking off all four of their loading docks. I have done that ever since they told me that, but it never fails that there is always at least one or two "dry van" trucks that show up and want me to move before the folks in the warehouse have even showed up for work. It angers them when I refuse to move, but the harsh reality is that if I allow them to get in place I will have to wait for them to get unloaded first, which may take several hours out of my already overly scheduled day. This is the kind of stuff that sets me apart from some of the less successful drivers in our fleet. Not the fact that I'm heartless, but just the simple fact that I understand how it all works, and I plan my days accordingly so that I can get more done. I make sacrifices all the time like sleeping in parking lots where I don't have the conveniences of the truck stop just a short walk from my truck. You have to do things like this to survive out here, and the truth is that the guys who get frustrated and angry with me understand this also. They are usually more frustrated with themselves than they are with me because they realize they didn't make the necessary sacrifices that they should have and got outsmarted by a more savvy driver. They understand that if I were to let them in there then I would end up waiting, but they are just hoping I haven't developed those "street smarts" yet.
I'm headed home for the weekend after I get unloaded here - I'm very excited about that prospect! It is a strange way to earn a living, but somebody has got to move all this stuff across the country, and the American Truck Driver pays a great price so that his fellow citizens conveniently have their favorite brand of toilet paper right there on the shelf every time they want it. I actually enjoy what I do, and I hope it comes through occasionally in this blog, but man I miss my family, my friends at church, and especially the beautiful and charming woman God gave me to walk through this pilgrimage with.
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