Hurry Up and Wait

There are some aspects of driving a tractor-trailer that I really enjoy. Seeing the area that I drive in on a regular basis (primarily Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin) in all seasons. Some solitude and time to think. The satisfaction of doing a challenging job that helps keep the economy and our society rolling. The kids and attractive young women that gesture at me to hit the air horn.

There are other aspects of the job with which I am not particularly enamored. I loathe having to perform pre-trip and post-trip inspections in foul weather, particularly in sub-zero temperatures. The same could be said for coupling and uncoupling trailers in such conditions and waiting outside in such conditions for an unreasonable amount of time before being granted entry to a store. I sometimes have to contend with swarms of biting or stinging insects when I am outside of the truck. Driving in heavy traffic and/or inclement weather can be positively nerve-wracking. I am not always driving in nice, safe neighborhoods. I am not particularly fond of never enjoying a regular, consistent sleep schedule, nor am I fond of starting my "workday" at irregular times. While I typically get home at the end of a night's/morning's work, it isn't uncommon for me to be stuck out for my ten-hour DOT break away from the distribution center and my own bed/bathroom/kitchen at home, thus finding it necessary to "camp out" in my assigned truck. Oh, the joys of having to get dressed and put on your boots before trudging across an icy, snowy parking lot in freezing temperatures or across a wet, slick parking lot in a torrential downpour so that you can go to the restroom and relieve yourself and then reverse the process so that you can go back to sleep. Let's be honest. Driving a tractor-trailer, even if you are driving on a local route or on a dedicated account like I do, is not without its aggravations, challenges, and frustrations. I guess that it is just part of the job. But acknowledging that fact doesn't make it any more pleasant.

One particularly unpleasant aggravation is getting to a shipper early for my appointment to pick up a backhaul and waiting for an inordinate amount of time while watching my fourteen-hour clock steadily tick towards expiring. Once I start my "workday", I have fourteen hours in which to drive before I am required to take a DOT-mandated ten-hour break. The peak of frustration is getting to an appointment early with just over five hours on your clock, recognizing that the shipper is taking their sweet time in getting you loaded, recognizing that you will likely run out of time before you are loaded, requesting to drop the trailer so that you can get to a nearby truck stop to shut down for your ten-hour DOT break, being told that you can't drop your trailer, and likewise being told that you also can't take a break on company property. What?! I legally cannot drive to the truck stop after my fourteen-hour clock expires! I have to shutdown for ten hours! Really?!

And that is how you end up parked in an adjacent gravel lot with no facilities. And people wonder why we have a truck driver shortage. 🙄