I have been with Panther for exactly two weeks. The first week after the buyout I was OOS. I returned to service this Tuesday and promptly was offered a load. Panther has kept me busy all week. I even had to turn down a 950 mile load because I already had driven 150 miles and it was 120 more miles to the pick-up. Now for the bashing!
Friday afternoon I was offered a mini. It picked up at 06:00 Saturday, about 10 miles from my house. I verbally excepted and then formally excepted via QC. The shipper was UPS Freight (formerly known as Overnight Transportation). Not good news for a early Saturday morning pick-up. Oh well, I'm committed now.
It's Friday night, I had an afternoon nap and I feel like doing something wild and crazy. Like stay up until midnight. That's just the kind of guy I am.
Well its midnight and time for bed. The Twins won in 10 innings and my daughter is home from work. I set my alarm for 05:00 and fall asleep.
I'm having a really weird dream. I'm parked at a truck stop somewhere in the Carribean Ocean. The lot is white sand. I am facing the ocean. All around me are bikini clad women sipping blinker fluid cocktails with a stalk of celery. Wow! This isn't my dream. I'm in someone else's dream. It's bernard40's dream. Bernie how did I get in your dream? By the way did you ever find a skinny chick for a co-driver?
The dream is over. Interrupted by an electronic noise. It's not my alarm clock. I'm confused. More so than normal. My wife tells me it's my phone ringing in the bathroom. Time 02:46. When I finally reach my phone it already has gone into voicemail. Now I have to find my glasses so I can retrieve the voicemail. It's somebody from Panther offering me a load picking up on Sunday. Sunday, that's more than 24 hours away. I did the math! I don't bother returning the call. Back to bed. I'm wound up and can't sleep.
Eventually I fall asleep. Bernie's dream is gone. 05:00 my alarm rings. I get up and jump into the shower. 05:11 cell phone rings. Didn't answer in time. Another voicemail. 05:12 my wife comes into the bathroom to tell me Panther called our home phone to find out why I wasn't enroute to pick-up. 05:23 Pouring coffee to go in my kitchen. Cell phone rings. Panther checking to see that I'm awake. I assure the nice lady that yes, I'm awake. I inquire about detention time knowning that this load is screwed up. Panther says first two hours are free. I tell the nice lady I'll give them 1 hour free then I'm gone.
05:36 enroute to shipper. Phone rings. It's Panther wanting to know why I'm not moving. I calmly explain that I am indeed moving. I can tell because stationary objects are going by both sides of my van. There goes the post office building and some trees. Woooeeeee! Forward motion, what a concept. She still insists that I'm not moving because she "pinged" me. I tell her I'm moving bacause I getting motion sick. I make vomitting noises in the phone, scream and then hang up. Hey, she pushed me over the edge.
05:50. Send arrived at shipper message. Jee I'm 10 minutes early and the gate is closed. Only one side is locked so I slip my van through. Of course the dock and office are locked up tight.
06:00 Send QC message that everything is locked up and nobody is around.
06:02 get reply to stay put someone will be there in 15 minutes. If not QC back.
06:50 3 sets of doubles pull to the gate. Lead driver unlocks other side of gate. All 3 proceed into yard to drop trailers. What luck, I know one of the drivers. I worked with his brother for 13 years. We shoot the breeze until 07:00. He tells me nobody comes in on Saturdays. The freight I seek is probably in one of the 6 trailers that just came in. These trailers won't be spotted at the dock and broken until early Monday morning.
06:02 I advise Panther that my one hour is up and I'm gone. I ask about dry run pay and am told that I must stay there until it can be authorized. On my way home I get another load offer for when I deliver the load I didn't pick up.
06:30 Arrive home. The dog and I go for a nice long walk.
Friday afternoon I was offered a mini. It picked up at 06:00 Saturday, about 10 miles from my house. I verbally excepted and then formally excepted via QC. The shipper was UPS Freight (formerly known as Overnight Transportation). Not good news for a early Saturday morning pick-up. Oh well, I'm committed now.
It's Friday night, I had an afternoon nap and I feel like doing something wild and crazy. Like stay up until midnight. That's just the kind of guy I am.
Well its midnight and time for bed. The Twins won in 10 innings and my daughter is home from work. I set my alarm for 05:00 and fall asleep.
I'm having a really weird dream. I'm parked at a truck stop somewhere in the Carribean Ocean. The lot is white sand. I am facing the ocean. All around me are bikini clad women sipping blinker fluid cocktails with a stalk of celery. Wow! This isn't my dream. I'm in someone else's dream. It's bernard40's dream. Bernie how did I get in your dream? By the way did you ever find a skinny chick for a co-driver?
The dream is over. Interrupted by an electronic noise. It's not my alarm clock. I'm confused. More so than normal. My wife tells me it's my phone ringing in the bathroom. Time 02:46. When I finally reach my phone it already has gone into voicemail. Now I have to find my glasses so I can retrieve the voicemail. It's somebody from Panther offering me a load picking up on Sunday. Sunday, that's more than 24 hours away. I did the math! I don't bother returning the call. Back to bed. I'm wound up and can't sleep.
Eventually I fall asleep. Bernie's dream is gone. 05:00 my alarm rings. I get up and jump into the shower. 05:11 cell phone rings. Didn't answer in time. Another voicemail. 05:12 my wife comes into the bathroom to tell me Panther called our home phone to find out why I wasn't enroute to pick-up. 05:23 Pouring coffee to go in my kitchen. Cell phone rings. Panther checking to see that I'm awake. I assure the nice lady that yes, I'm awake. I inquire about detention time knowning that this load is screwed up. Panther says first two hours are free. I tell the nice lady I'll give them 1 hour free then I'm gone.
05:36 enroute to shipper. Phone rings. It's Panther wanting to know why I'm not moving. I calmly explain that I am indeed moving. I can tell because stationary objects are going by both sides of my van. There goes the post office building and some trees. Woooeeeee! Forward motion, what a concept. She still insists that I'm not moving because she "pinged" me. I tell her I'm moving bacause I getting motion sick. I make vomitting noises in the phone, scream and then hang up. Hey, she pushed me over the edge.
05:50. Send arrived at shipper message. Jee I'm 10 minutes early and the gate is closed. Only one side is locked so I slip my van through. Of course the dock and office are locked up tight.
06:00 Send QC message that everything is locked up and nobody is around.
06:02 get reply to stay put someone will be there in 15 minutes. If not QC back.
06:50 3 sets of doubles pull to the gate. Lead driver unlocks other side of gate. All 3 proceed into yard to drop trailers. What luck, I know one of the drivers. I worked with his brother for 13 years. We shoot the breeze until 07:00. He tells me nobody comes in on Saturdays. The freight I seek is probably in one of the 6 trailers that just came in. These trailers won't be spotted at the dock and broken until early Monday morning.
06:02 I advise Panther that my one hour is up and I'm gone. I ask about dry run pay and am told that I must stay there until it can be authorized. On my way home I get another load offer for when I deliver the load I didn't pick up.
06:30 Arrive home. The dog and I go for a nice long walk.
