Suck it, Dick Cheney

There is this particular shipper in the Chicago area that Stace and I have been picking up at for years. I would guess we have picked up at this joint while working for at least three different companies. Their loads are always timed-transit and they almost always release at some god-awful time in the morning… usually at 04:00 or shortly there after. Now this was a pretty decent gig back in the day, but everything changed about a year ago or so.

Suddenly, you had to scale your load on their scale and write down the weights of each axle group on their sign-out sheet. This might not seem like a big deal, but it really seriously irks me. I know whether or not I need to scale my load, and I don’t need this jack ass company forcing me to do it whether or not it needs to be done. The first time I pulled up to the gate fully loaded and ready to hit the road and that snarky little rent-a-cop told me I had to turn around and scale my 13,000 pound load I thought my head would explode. (For those of you who don’t drive, it is literally impossible for a 13,000 pound load to be illegal — therefore it does not need to be scaled. Period.) Anyway, that was the first change that started my relationship with this shipper to head onto the rocks.

The second change was when they decided that all outside trailers would have to start being inspected by their yard-dogs before being dropped with the empty trailers. Now… I understand the reasoning for this move… a lot of drivers bring in trailers with missing mud flaps or with lights burned out and drop them for the next guy to deal with. Then when the trailer is fully loaded the next morning and ready to roll, the new driver who has that load has to waste precious time having the trailer repaired. This can cause late deliveries. Ok… I get it. So what they decided to do was when the driver (me) checked in to pick up their load they would give the driver (me) a sheet to be filled out by their yard-dog stating that he had inspected the trailer and it was road-ready. Ok. No problem. I was supposed to take the sheet and stand at the end of my trailer out in the yard until a yard-dog came by and checked the trailer. Uh… ok… it’s Chicago… it’s 12 degrees… come on… seriously… I’m freezing… how many times are those stupid-assed yard-dogs going to drive right by me acting like they don’t see this giant pissed off woman with her hands on her hips standing at the end of her trailer glaring at them? The answer is many — many — times.

The third and most heinous rule they put in place about a year ago was that we could no longer sleep on their property over night. We (and many other drivers) had always gone to them the night before we were due to pick up our load, checked the trailer in and dropped it, settled down in a far corner of their lot and gone to sleep so we would get a good night’s sleep before heading out in the morning. About a year or so ago we showed up to do the usual routine and were informed that we could drop the trailer, but we were no longer allowed on their lot more than one hour before our pick up appointment. What the hell!?! It’s Chicago! Where are we supposed to go to spend the night? (You all may not be aware of it, but there isn’t a ton of available parking in and around Chicago even if you’re just bobtailing) Anyway, we dropped our trailer and finally found a spot a couple of miles up the road to hide away in and went to sleep.

That was it for me and this shipper. I now seriously hated them. It was just the final straw in a long string of treating us like crap. We went there a couple more times shortly after that time and I had to grit my teeth every time I had contact with them. Then we didn’t go there for a very long time. Until this week.

We showed up there about ten pm and prepared to drop the trailer so we could go find someplace to park for the night. I was talking to the new shipping clerk and asked him how early we could come back in the morning before our appointment:

Clerk: You can just sleep back on the corner by the fuel pumps and check back in around 07:45. Don’t bother checking in before then cause your load won’t be ready early.

Me: I thought we weren’t allowed to sleep here on the grounds anymore?

Clerk (looking around to make sure we were alone): Girl! I’m telling you! That was one of their stupid-assed rules they had to back down on! I’m telling you it just about killed them but they didn’t have any choice! (chuckling)

Me (shocked): Really? What happened?

Clerk: Well when they said you guys couldn’t sleep here anymore, suddenly about 40% of their loads started picking up late. Drivers were straggling up in here over an hour late and blaming morning rush hour traffic.

Me: Well it is Chicago.

Clerk: I don’t know about that but I know in the end they decided they would rather go back to letting drivers sleep here and pick up on time than make them leave and have almost half their loads picking up late! (laughing) Course all their other stupid rules are still in place. (Handing me a form) You’ve still got to get a yard driver to inspect your trailer. After he does, drop it in the empty line and park over in the corner out of the way. Check back in at 07:45 for your load.

Wow! I would never have even imagined that they would be forced to back down on their access rule. In the end, they had to because the little guy refused to accommodate them. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the little guy was acting out some sort of protest or anything. I figure the average driver just parked as near to the joint as he could find, got up at a reasonable hour, and if he made it ontime “great” or if he ran into traffic “oh well” he was late.

It seems like so much is completely out of our control lately. These bailouts are being crammed down our throats. We’ve got a justice system that almost none of us admires or believes in. We’ve got a political system that is nothing short of horrific. We’re in an illegal war started to enrich a bunch of already rich old assholes. I realize this shouldn’t feel like such a victory, but for some reason I can’t help but celebrate it. Let’s hear it for the incompetent little guy! Way to use your utter lack of professionalism to bring the man down!! All I know is that one very special night this week I got a great night’s sleep in a quite and safe location, woke up around 07:30, and leisurely walked into the shipping office to check on my load.

Viva la jerk-offs!