At Home

Just about three weeks ago last monday I left home.  I'd been sitting waiting  at the yard in Houston for a load to become available for  several days.  I'd unloaded at the port there ( that's another post but it was ridiculous) on Tuesday.I sat over there the whole week until thursday or so waiting for a load to show up.. Any load.  I wasn't picky I just didn't want to spend all my money on fuel getting there.

Dispatch 'had a deal' and I took it.  I was supposed to take a trailer from the yard in Houston to San Antonio and drop it at the customer, then go home for the holiday...that next tuesday i'd pick up a DIFFERENT trailer from that same place and go to Baton Rouge La and load an oversize going to Pennsylvania.

Ok...so I do that and go home.

The holiday comes and goes and I show up to pick up the trailer.  It's broke.  It's a step deck but one of the landing gear won't roll up.  So a 'road service" is called and they show up to fix it.

Half a day lost but no problem.  Not due in Baton Rouge until the next morning.

I drive until dark and get to Orange Texas.  Spend the night there.

At about four a.m I wake up and continue on.  I get as far as Rayne La. and decide to stop and take a little nap.  I don't want to be drowsy driving across the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge,  Twenty miles of bridge is no place to have problems.

I get woke up by a guy banging on the door.  My truck is on fire.

To make a long story short I manage to put out the fire, in the engine compartment, but the wiring harness (and other stuff) was melted.

I was on the phone with the company the minute they walked in the door to coordinate what needed to be done.  Around ten another truck arrived to take the trailer.  We had problems but we managed (dispatch panicked).  

Around 2 an appraiser arrived to survey the truck.

Around 3 I decided that sitting in 90 degree weather left a lot to be desired and carried some of my stuff, and the cats to a motel near by where I sat for six days waiting on the insurance company to decide what to do.

They decided finally and I rented a pickup.  I removed all my 'stuff' from the truck and put it in the pickup, then drove to austin and turned in the pickup.  

The big truck was towed to beaumont...(this was friday...two weeks since last load was delivered....the week BEFORE memorial day)...I've been sitting here at the apartment, ever since.

Yesterday I discovered that the insurance was going to pay to have the big truck repaired.  I talked to the repair guy and he said it might be as long as six weeks to six MONTHS before they even got the parts to start work.

So far it's been Four weeks without a paycheck. From the looks of things and at the rate things are going it might be next year before I get another load.

Oh yeah.  

My twic card expires next month.
My medical card expires last month 
My physician has quit (obama care?)
The rules regarding DOT physicals have changed...for the worse.(I've been on blood pressure medicine for some years)

I'm beginning to think that something is wrong.