When I arrived at the delivery location this morning I spent a couple of minutes talking to the guy before I started working on untarping and unsecuring the load. I made sure he knew that the thing had been sitting outside in the weather, was rusted, and that it had been loaded in the rain. I didn't want him bitching at me for it's condition, especially after going through the trouble of tarping it.
He informed me that he knew that it had been sitting outside for a month and that they were just going to be scrapping it for whatever parts they could.
What??!!!!! As my hip was still sore and hurting from tarping the damn thing I was less than happy to hear this. I asked him why the hell they had wanted it tarped in the first place. "Company policy" was his irritating reply. He did say it didn't make any sense to him either. Grrrrr.
I got the thing untarped, the heavy tarp folded, rolled, and stowed away, and then stood back and watched them unload the pile of rust while trying to ignore the incredible pain in my hip. Those tarps are quite heavy and don't do my bum hip any favors. The last thing I want is to have to handle one for no good reason.
Once the unload was finished I drove the 6 miles to the truckstop before calling dispatch. As I'd expected they didn't yet have a reload for me so I had time to limp inside to wash the grime off my arms and have some breakfast.
By the time I'd finished eating I found that my hip had done exactly what I expected it to do and had stiffened up to the point I could hardly walk properly. Naturally I'd left my damn cane in the truck (stubborn or stupid, take your pick). I limped back out as best I could, the walking helping to loosen things up a little bit. It'll hurt for a few days but eventually go back to it's abnormal self again. I topped off breakfast with several Ibuprofen tablets, not that they really help all that much.
It's one thing to go through this because a piece needs protection from the elements, but quite another when the thing is already rusty and ruined by those same elements, all in the name of company policy. Idiots.
Ok, I'm done bitching now.