Friday night I ran into Canada for a load. Pick up time was tight because dispatch took 45 minutes jacking me around. I am not anticipating any problems crossing into Canada empty. I get to the border, clear shot. Wrong! It's my lucky day. I have been chosen at random to back up to door 4 for a search. Then get to walk over to the other building, birth certificate in hand to visit Mr. Immigration. 35 more minutes wasted!
I'm late to the shipper but get loaded. Don't know why but it took almost 4 hours to get cleared by ViaSafe and FedEx. I get to U.S. Customs and everything is cool except I get the dreaded blue sheet of paper. I won the scan lottery and get to report to the scan bay. This only takes about 10 minutes and I am no longer in a hurry since I don't deliver until Monday morning.
So I do the sleep thing and then the driving thing. Now it's time for a full night. About 2 hours after stopping I get called by dispatch. Something about a 5 hour break alert. Panther has a rule for cargo vans that after 16 hours on duty the driver must take a 5 hour break. So I get pestered to take a 5 hour break after sitting for 2 hours already.
6 hours later I get a phone from a concerned dispatcher that noticed I haven't been moving. He knows I am on a 5 hour break and tells me that usually after 5 hours the driver starts driving again. This is 5 a.m. Saturday morning. I have about 320 miles left to go for a 09:00 Monday delivery.
I better pack up my laptop and hit the road before dispatch starts calling me again. Sure is nice to have people that care!
I'm outta here!
I'm late to the shipper but get loaded. Don't know why but it took almost 4 hours to get cleared by ViaSafe and FedEx. I get to U.S. Customs and everything is cool except I get the dreaded blue sheet of paper. I won the scan lottery and get to report to the scan bay. This only takes about 10 minutes and I am no longer in a hurry since I don't deliver until Monday morning.
So I do the sleep thing and then the driving thing. Now it's time for a full night. About 2 hours after stopping I get called by dispatch. Something about a 5 hour break alert. Panther has a rule for cargo vans that after 16 hours on duty the driver must take a 5 hour break. So I get pestered to take a 5 hour break after sitting for 2 hours already.
6 hours later I get a phone from a concerned dispatcher that noticed I haven't been moving. He knows I am on a 5 hour break and tells me that usually after 5 hours the driver starts driving again. This is 5 a.m. Saturday morning. I have about 320 miles left to go for a 09:00 Monday delivery.
I better pack up my laptop and hit the road before dispatch starts calling me again. Sure is nice to have people that care!
I'm outta here!