Sunday, June 1, 2008

I've been traveling so long, how am I ever gonna know my home when I see it again?

STOCKTON, CA - You read that right, I'm back to the home base. Finally, after two full days on a Greyhound bus that followed three days of no sleep on a truck. This is gonna be a long one, kids.

The first issue at hand is that my beloved state of California, bless its heart, has screwed up royally by not sending me a permanent copy of my CDL. All this time, I've been trucking around on a temporary one, a print-out from the state saying that I was in fact a licensed commercial driver in wait of a new and shiny permanent copy. The temporary expires on June 2 (tomorrow, as of time of writing). The last couple weeks my roommate has been texting me status updates when he came home to check the mail - still no license. Each time I called the DMV, they'd tell me something ridiculous and apologize and say it would be in the mail that very day, but obviously they are a bunch of stinking liars.

With the expiration date so close at hand, Werner started getting worried about my driving status. When I was assigned a new trainer, they told me we'd get routed California-way immediately so I could either pick up my license or be dropped off to take care of this issue.

And in comes my third trainer, Dana, who is by far the best one of the lot. She and I get along great, and we hit the road on Tuesday once her truck gets out of the shop, with a load destined for Red Bluff, CA. We barely get an hour outside of Dallas when it becomes apparent that the truck was not really fixed, even though this was the truck's fourth time in the shop for the same problem - the AC freezing up. It works fine for the first hour or so after starting up, then either stops blowing air or starts blowing hot air. At that point, the only thing one can do is shut the truck down, pop the hood, chip off the LARGE CHUNKS OF ICE that have formed on the AC pipes, and wait at least 15 minutes for the system to thaw. Obviously, one can't make very good time stopping this way.

So here we are, driving through the desert with no AC. This is bad enough for driving, but absolutely unbearable for sleeping, because the sleeper windows don't actually open and the space heats up exactly like you'd imagine a closed metal box to heat up. Dana calls in an emergency maintenance request and dispatch tells us to go to a Peterbilt dealership in Albuqurque. We spend the entirety of Wednesday there. In the meantime, the company sends another driver to come get our trailer, since we obviously can't make it to the destination on time. We get out of the dealership by nightfall with the lead mechanic promising up and down that the problem is fixed, and are promptly dispatched to El Paso to pick up another load.

Imagine driving around El Paso, TX, where the weather is a temperate 110 degrees (yes, really), lost as hell trying to find a warehouse, with hot air coming at you from the windows AND the AC vents. Obviously, the problem was not fixed. Dana, completely fed up and angry at this point, calls dispatch and tells them that she's taking the truck back to Dallas (which is her home terminal) so they can give her another truck, since this one appears to be irreparable. They proceed to tell her that plenty of drivers do just fine without AC, and that she's just a silly lady driver who should quit whining. Eventually, her intention to trade in the truck turn into an intention to turn the truck in and quit the company. So we spend Thursday driving from El Paso to Dallas in the horrid Texas summer heat, stopping frequently to chip ice off.

Remember how I've said before that Texas is pretty much its own level of hell? Yeah, that. I drove the night shift, which was still hot but somewhat more bearable, but every time I stopped for ice-chipping I was attacked by legions of gigantic weird bugs. Have I mentioned yet that I hate Texas? Oh, and the load we were taking back was destined for Quebec. Last I checked, Quebec was sort of in the opposite direction and a different country from California, making it very hard for me to get my license issues taken care of, and far enough that it would be illegal for me to operate a truck by the time we got there.

We spent a few hours sitting at the truck stop just outside the Dallas terminal as Dana argued with dispatch. Finally, we took the truck into the terminal, cleaned it out and went our separate ways. I'd already requested to take home time by this point, since it was clear that my license was not on its way. My options at this point were to let Werner pay for a Greyhound bus ticket, or put a plane ticket on my credit card in hopes that the company would later reimburse me, which I honestly don't trust it to do.

Got on the bus in Dallas on Friday afternoon. Bus promptly broke down in Abilene, leaving all of us stranded in a roach-infested station for five hours until another bus came and retraced the roads I'd driven the night before. I slept, woke up, cursed the world for making Texas so damn huge, many times over. Several crazy people who talked to themselves sat next to me. Some guy tried to pick me up in Phoenix by saying, "Do you got a baby daddy?" Another guy tried to pick me up in Bakersfield by saying, "Where are you headed? Are you going home to see your kids? That's what I'm doing. I just got out of prison. Do you have a boyfriend?" The highlight of the trip was a three-hour layover in LA early Sunday morning, where I ordered an egg sandwich at the station cafe and almost cried from happiness when I saw the cook crack an actual egg on the grill because that's how long it's been since I watched real food be prepared for my consumption. Got off the bus in Stockton Sunday afternoon, filthy and braindead.

The interesting thing about Greyhound buses is that they are arguably the least pretentious way to travel. There are no excuses or apologies made for the lack of good service, comfort, or promptness, because let's face it, if you're taking Greyhound you're letting the world know that your ass is flat broke but you still somehow need to get from point A to point B, so you obviously can't afford to complain.

I am pretty sure at this point that I will not be going back to Werner. I haven't decided yet whether I want to keep driving trucks or not. I need to gather my thoughts here, sleep in my own bed, see people I love, eat real food, figure out what happened with my license, and process all that's happened in the past six weeks. Stay tuned.

17 comments:

Trkrjim said...

You are having the worst trucking experience immagionable, which i'm sure you already know. Knight, Gordon, even Schneider will all treat you like a human being.

Essential_L said...

I love you and am glad you're home safe. I hope you are able to do more trucking and enjoy it, and if you ever need a stand in baby daddy in Phx while I still live in Tucson I'll drive up and pretend to have a penis.

june in florida said...

Love your blog, i have spent about 4 hours reading yours and the trucker you met in the restroom blog. I am bookmarking both and will continue reading.Good luck with the license.I drove taxi for 16 yrs so i understand the independence of not having a boss looking over your shoulder.

Unknown said...

Ohmygosh, or as my sister says "bless your heart". I was always fairly sure that Werner would never be a choice for me. You have just confirmed it 100x over. I detest the "just a woman driver" line and unfortunately have had it used on me by mechanics (and that's being generous calling them mechanics). It's frustrating as hell.

Unknown said...

I agree with trkrjim, Knight, Schneider, or U.S. Xpress would be excellent choices for you with where your located. U.S. Xpress in particular appears to have great equipment. Can't recommend the company I'm with for a beginner because the pay is too low starting out and they wouldn't be able to get you home regularly.

Unknown said...

Wow, what an experience you have had. Might I suggest System-TWT, they have a yard in French Camp, and I may be biased, but they are a great company and would never put you on a bus. Their main office is located out of Spokane, WA. This company is family runned and they treat you like family. Don't give up on trucking yet, my husband and I have never regretted our life out on the road.

Gypsy said...

Some responses to the comments:

@gabsatrucker: U.S.Xpress is at the top of my list of companies to call. From everything I've seen and heard, they have good equipment, decent pay, and treat their employees well. And all their trucks are automatic, which is a big plus in my book.

@craig & diane: System was actually one of the companies that recruited heavily from my truck school (Western Pacific), but I really don't want to do flatbed or team driving. From what I understand, the System division is all flatbed, and TWT is all team.

Anonymous said...

Wow, no need to make up fiction -- this is stranger! Congratulations on making it out of Texas, and I think that if you made it this far, the next step is bound to be so much better.

Anonymous said...

Re: USXPRESS

I had a nightmare orientation experience with them last year. So did about another half dozen people who showed up with me for that week. Talk about stupidity, lies, and heartlessness. Drive those automatics for six months and you'll forget how to shift (even what little a person like me or you may know) - and no other company will hire you. Forget it.

Anonymous said...

Don't know what happened to my earlier post about - no, this is not the worst trucking experience imaginable. With a new CDL, the rookie driver is a DISPOSABLE COMMODITY. You can't get a job without experience except with the big companies, and it's luck pure luck if you can make it throug. Then, with this economic downturn, you'll see. They'll shut down some operations and leave drivers with NO MONEY and STRANDED. Gypsy, preserve your life and your sanity and don't listen to these truck-driving morons. Their day will come. The day of truth. tentmakertrucker at gmail com

Angela said...

Ok... first. WOW. Girl I can't imagine what you've been through or what you're feeling. WOW. Talk about crap!

Oh and yes.. Texas is hell on earth. I've often referred to it as the bastard stepchild of the US and Mexico. But Hell is a more widely accepted term. Texas is also #1 on my "F-U List".

SNI will treat anyone like a human being so long as they return the favor. But then, I bleed orange and am sort of partial. So Gypsy... if you decide to head to SNI... tell 'em Driver #64928 sent ya! ;o)

I love that I'm referred to as "the trucker you met in the restroom" by June... helarious!

Unknown said...

System has a flat bed division and a marine division. My husband was on the marine division delivering nice new boats all over the US and Canada. We are now on TWT, and he is a solo driver and there are many many more solo TWT drivers than teams. Might be worth your while to check them out again. Call Curtis in recruiting

Anonymous said...

I hate to say it, but this is pretty typical of OTR driving. Almost every load is problem, you'll break down, yada yada yada.

Tell Werner you need your own truck and don't want a trainer anymore. That way you'll get by yourself and all the adventures will be your own.

I wouldn't jump ship yet. All the trucking companies are pretty much the same and Werner equipment seems about as good as any. I worked for Schnieder and would recommend them 110%, but they had their problems as well.

The Daily Rant said...

Geez - what a story. And the one thing I TOTALLY feel you on is HATING Texas!! lol

I hate being in that state and driving across it (even at night). El Paso is horrible but your bus breaking down in Abilene - not much better. You're right - Texas IS its own level of hell. lol

Hope everything is better next week! Be safe on the road!

Unknown said...

Just checking in to see how things are going. Hope you're recovering from all the b.s. Werner put you through

Anonymous said...

OK, so this is from June 1....I think we're all dying to know what you finally decided!

So, if you get a moment to come up for air (ahem), spill!

Anonymous said...

Well, I guess this blog is finished....that's too bad, it was a good one.