Still no load out of here. I called the office around 4:30 their time as I knew they'd be closing up shop around then. "D" said that he had been looking for a load all day and had so far not had any luck. He sounded a bit stressed out so I made a couple of jokes to chill him out a bit. Even though I am losing a great deal of money sitting here, I know so is the company so we're all in the same boat so to speak.
I'm not one of those people who gets all bent out of shape over things we can't control. If there isn't a load, there isn't a load. Getting stressed or upset isn't going to make one magically appear out of thin air. He relaxed once he realized that I wasn't calling just to ream him out about it. After all these years he should know me better than that anyway, but I guess he'd been dealing with pissed off drivers all day. Freight is slow everywhere right now.
I'm sitting here looking at many of the same trucks that have been here as long as I have, and some longer. Everyone is waiting for a load out of here. Luckily, they are mostly van trailers and reefer units, so we aren't competing for the same freight. Hopefully I'll be getting out of here some time today.
As I had confirmed there was nothing happing on the load end of things, I grabbed my coat and cane and hobbled the mile and a half down to the tavern for a couple of cold ones and some socializing. Having been couped up in the truck all day waiting for a phone call, I need to get out a bit.
As it had been the previous night, the place was populated with pretty much the same daily regulars. A friendly bunch of folks and they seemed genuinely happy to see me back again. It was a different bartender working, while one of the bartenders from the previous night was there on my side of the bar. He insisted that I show this bartender the magic trick he'd seen me do the night before. At first I played dumb as if I had no idea what he was talking about, but finally relented and repeated the trick for this bartender. That set off a round of everyone doing their own little bar tricks and that was good for about an hour of entertainment even though by their own admission none topped my own.
There were a couple of fellow truckers there last night as well. I got to talking to them. One, who is from FL, was training the other who is from Detroit. The only thing that bothers me about these traininig situations is the fact that invariably the trainer isn't all that much more experienced than the trainee. In this case the trainer has only been driving for about 13 months himself.
They were a couple of decent guys though. The trainee seemed to be pretty sharp, and had even picked up on the fact that his trainer had made some mistakes and had given him some wrong information which he verified with me when we were talking out of earshot of his trainer. I gave him the correct information but advised him to just go along with whatever his trainer taught him to get through his training period and he would learn far more once he was out on his own. I'm not about to interfere with a trainer and his student regardless of how inexperienced the trainer may be. Besides, the kid seemed sharp enough to spot the bullshit parts anyway.
I did spend a little time talking alone with the trainer and in a round about way educated him on some things the trainee had mentioned. I did it with a few casual off-hand remarks so that the trainer himself asked me the questions I wanted to address, making it seem like it was all his idea. No offending someone that way. All of those years conducting technical training still comes in handy at times. I hope I helped a little.
It was a pleasant evening and I eventually wandered back to my truck. It was a chilly night but far warmer than it normally would be this time of year in the Pacific Northwest. I was bundled up and wasn't at all uncomfortable on the walk back. I was again offered a ride back to my truck (these locals are quite nice people), but I declined as I wanted to enjoy the night air and a peaceful walk in the country. The sky was clear and the stars marked the silhouettes of the mountain tops on all sides. Quite pleasant.
It's another morning watching the sky start to brighten about the mountains, waiting for that phone call that will send me on my way to who knows where. Although I am losing money sitting here, it's still not such a bad life.