I woke this morning to find the world shrouded in a thick fog. While I'd hoped it was just a local fog I have been in the Northwest enough times to know that wasn't likely. It never ceases to amaze me how many dumbasses are out there who lack the common sense to turn on their damn lights in the fog. Amazing stupidity.
I made my way through the fog to Boring, OR and to my pick up location to find that another truck, one of our competitors, had beaten me here by about two minutes. Luckily, he is only picking up one truck so won't take as long as my two. Of course that also means that I am getting paid more then he is, which is a small consolation as I wait for him to get loaded first.
Normally when one picks up a truck you back to a dock and the truck is driven onto the trailer. This place is a bit odd in that they don't have a dock and set the trucks on with a crane. Seems like a major waste of a crane to me, but it's their business and I really don't care except that their way takes longer.
The lady had told me yesterday that they would be ready to start loading at 9:00 am local time. I pulled in at 8:30 am hoping to be the first one here. Ah well, second is almost as good as first I guess. Maybe by the time they are ready to load me they'll be more awake and efficient. Or not.
The lady here was nice enough to copy a local road map for me and highlight a short cut up to the interstate from here. I asked her for a second copy and carried it out to the driver who had beaten me here. He was grateful for it, as was I. It's a much shorter route than going all the way back the way we had come in, and will get us both up to the truck stop in about half the time.
I'm low on fuel and want to be sure I can make it up there to fuel up. I intentionally didn't fuel at the little place I stopped for the night last night because I knew that I would want to get a shower after loading this morning. No point in taking a shower and then getting all dirty the next morning. Best to get the dirty work done first and then get a shower. I hate wasting a free shower.