Another Roller Coaster

Just a week ago I was posting about my frustrations of Pittsburgh, PA, and my job. Well this past Sat., they finally sent me over the edge. No, I didn't run the truck into a store, but let me just lead you up to and through the night in question.

My week started on Tuesday (remember the 6 days on and 2 off). I worked 16 hrs., breaking every log book law that exists. I'm thinking Wednesday is gonna be better right? (Wrong!) I work 17 hrs. breaking all the laws again (these laws are supposed to protect me and you from all the dangers of a driver on the road from having fatigue). Thursday comes and I've had something like 8 maybe 10 hours of sleep all week long, but the good part is my wife is going to ride along with me this night, so I'll have some company anyway. Take a wild guess where they send me? That is correct... Pittsburgh again. That night I pick up my second load and deliver that one, but I'm exhausted so I need to take a nap. I sleep for about an hour and back to the wheel I go, apparently breaking the laws yet again to make it back for a break and more loads.

We're now to Friday night, and my load is not going to pull out until 02:30 a.m. Sat. morning. All day long I'm awake (at the house, during my break) talking to my wife about how I want to leave my job (she wants me to leave, too, but we are worried about finding another one where we live now). I keep asking her what she wants me to do, but she just says, "I don't know," not wanting to make the decision for me. Finally, I doze off around 11:00 p.m. My wife wakes me at 01:30 a.m. and asks what I'm going to do about the job. I said, "I guess I'm going to work."

I get ready and sadly leave my house, to go to hell again (this is what I've been referring to work as for about a month now). I get there and ask about my load. The dispatcher says, "They haven't even started loading the trailer yet." At 07:00 a.m. they come out, beating on the side of the truck because I've fallen asleep on the steering wheel while waiting on the load. I now wake in a stuper trying to rush and hook-up to the trailer and get out of there. It takes me about an hour to get to the store. I back into the dock door and head for the entrance. I wait at least 15 minutes before someone answers, then I'm told I have to wait... they don't have time do take my load at that moment, they have vendors to deal with (I'm the grocery truck, and am supposed to take priority over all others, according to the distribution center). I'm totally pissed off at this point. So, I throw the oh-so-important paperwork in the air and tell the woman, "I'm going to drop the f****** trailer, you deal with it then!"

I go to the truck, send a message over the computer telling the office what I am doing, and that I'm coming back without a trailer so they better find somone to cover the load. I did exactly that, and then I cleaned out my truck (all the crap I've collected in the past year of hell.)

I then went into the office, turned in the keys to the big truck, and told my dispatcher that I was done. At that point, he proceeded to lecture me... told me that I didn't work hard enough for him and that I was not devoted enough to my job. I could tell you more stories about this guy, but I will just say that he obviously doesn't have any family values or much respect for anyone else's. If dedicating the majority of your life to your job is not enough for him, then I truly feel that my "stupid decision" to leave without any clue what I was going to do next was, indeed, the right one.

I went home Saturday morning and told my wife I had quit my job. So for the next two days I tried to figure out what I was going to do. How was I going to support my family? How was I going to pay bills? Where in this area am I gonna find another job? Even with all of those questions, I was still 100% relieved to be away from the job from hell in "the big truck."

But, I didn't have to ask myself those questions for long.

First thing Monday morning, I set out looking for a new job. When I returned home in about 2 hours, I had already found a job. (What a relief!)

I started my new job this morning. For the first time in a very long time, I woke up after a night of restful sleep in MY bed, set out for work at a normal time (08:00 a.m.), and was home from work by 4:30 p.m. this afternoon. I was free to enjoy an evening with my wife and kids. Yes, I believe I made the right "stupid decision" Saturday morning.

My wife wrote her version of this story on her blog yesterday. Click here to read all about it, from her point of view.