OH-IL-OH

Started Thursday at #4 on the board. Things got crazy from then on. I got up at 0630 to clean up, get the truck ready, and eat an unhurried breakfast.

Nothing happened until 1545 when dispatch called with a load offer from Perrysburg, OH to Lexington, NC. It was a good load, but a 14 to 15 hour drive given it was almost 200 miles to the pickup and 561 miles to the drop or 761 total miles. I asked if there was a break built into the load and was told no that it was direct. That meant I would have be up for almost 24 hours straight. I refused the load since I couldn't do it safely. She hangs up in a huff. When I checked the board a few minutes later, I noticed I had been put on 8 hour refusal. Now it gets dicey.

Since Friday is trash day around here, I gathered up the trash and took it out to the curb. A neighbor from across the street came over and we talked for 20 minutes or so before I went back into the house. I checked the QC message log to see what they had sent concerning the load I refused and found that they had sent TWO other load offers. One was a transfer and was doable and the other didn't pay enough. However, both had additional messages saying refused for no contact within 10 minutes. They knew that I wasn't in the truck where the QC is and they knew the truck wasn't running since the QC registers the ignition being on. Contacting them would serve no purpose as the loads were gone and all the calls are recorded. If you blow up at them they have a record of it. Funny thing was that I was no longer on 8 hour refusal, and was #1 on the board.

I figured there was no reason to cry over spilled milk and went to get some rest. Dispatch called at 0000 with a load from Bucyrus, OH to CAT in Peoria, IL. Pick up was at 0300 direct delivery. Ran the load and dropped at CAT at 1315.

Went to a truckstop in Bloomington, IL and had just laid down when they called with a load offer from Decatur, IL to Evansville, IN. ready now, direct delivery. Told them that I needed a couple of hours sleep first and she said she would put me on a 10 hour break and hung up before I could say anything. I sent a QC message saying that I didn't want to be on a 10 break that 2 would do. No response. Since a 10 break would keep me from getting any loads out of Peoria until Monday, I decided to get some sleep first and then head home and avoid the snow storm that was due to hit the area. Arrived home at 0045 this morning and am #2 on the board. Should get a load Monday provided the dispatchers have recovered from their brain disease.

The moral of this story is simple. Dispatchers sole purpose is to get a load covered. They do not concern themselves with how much sleep or food you've had. It is you're responsibility to determine if you can run a load safely. The dispatcher will not ask you anything about that. If you put your truck in a ditch because you fell asleep at the wheel, the first thing they will say is that if you could not run the load safely, you should have refused it. Their sometimes crappy attitude towards you is one of those job benefits that you don't have to pay for.