Did you say cariaaage?

On Thursday afternoon, December the 17, I found myself at the Pilot Travel Center in Hampton, New Jersey, right off I-78 in North Central NJ. My hometown of Bridgewater is a stone’s throw away. I could spend weeks here and not visit with all my friends. I still know a lot of people here, even though I've been gone nearly 8 years. Besides being away from my family and home, this is a part of the job that is especially hard for me. I find myself in places where there’s nothing more I’d rather do than see old friends, family or do some sightseeing. I love to sight see. There's a lot of "off the beaten track" places and things I want to see. Our country is full of them.

With the kind of business I’m in, moving time sensitive freight requires being ready in almost an instant to travel hundreds of miles, often without travel breaks longer than twenty minutes in effort to meet a tight delivery schedule. We move freight that can’t be put on a plane or that of which needs special handling. My day can, and usually does, change quite abruptly sending me packing down the road in a hurry. The other challenging aspect is that you can’t just drive a big truck everywhere. There are often road restrictions, meaning low overpasses and power lines I have to watch for. I don’t need to make a sling shot out of the electric line leading to your house! Many residential areas also have low hanging trees and autos parked on both sides of the street that prevent passage. So, that truck with a circle and a slash line through it doesn't mean they don't like you, it means that if you come this way, you might break something.

All that said, I still remain hopeful that I will be able to turn the tables of logic and visit my family and friends on the road. I’m still relatively new to this type of work, and I’m learning how to manage the company, my locations and my time.

As I was sniffing the Bridgewater air from Hampton, the “Price Is Right Theme” sounded on my cell phone, signaling that the company was calling with a load opportunity. The automated system’s female voice told me that pick up was in Edison, NJ at 17:12 hours (we follow Eastern Time in military fashion at all times) and delivery is in Atlanta, GA the following day at 13:15. The pay was good and I couldn’t hit “3” for accept fast enough. I looked at my watch (that keeps military time) and it said 16:00. Holy crap, I’ve got to go right now! With afternoon Central New Jersey traffic warming up, my anxiety was building. Basically, it was a flying leap into the driver’s seat and a needle threading around a bunch of loping trucks at the Pilot.

With Edison in my mirrors, it was time to steam like a freight train without brakes to Georgia.

Somewhere just beyond upstate South Carolina and the Georgia line at Lake Hartwell, the relentless rain that became the biggest snow storm I’ve seen in December in years had began. My delivery was at the Lenox Square Mall in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. If the name sounds like a place for hunters, it isn't. It's far from that. For those of you who are un-initiated, Buckhead and that Mall caters to the richest people in Georgia. The Governor’s Mansion is right up the street and people buy expensive homes on busy streets here so they can be seen. At the Lenox, the floors are Italian marble and the stores rival what you might find on Park Avenue in New York or Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. This is a place for the filthy with a snooty schnazola.

This was a special delivery and required taking the load off the truck by a power lift gate and carting it on the wooden pallet to the store in the mall. I pulled up to the delivery area at the mall and found 3 Mercedes Benzes, a Volvo and a BMW parked on the grid where I’m supposed to be. Some guy is sitting in a running S class from Stuttgart, so I let him have it with the air horn. I gave him a long, steady and loud blast. I got a bird in return. Well ok then, we'll just double park it like they do in New York, put the flashers on and off load it in the fire zone. Christmas Mall traffic can drive around me.

So, here I am, wheeling a pallet jack down the mall corridor and all of a sudden, I’m surrounded by mall security led by some guy who reminded me of a wedding planner. This dude was impeccably dressed with an earpiece and a walkie-talkie in hand. He gave me a thorough scolding for my cartage on sacred Mall floors. The reprimand included an inquisition of “Sir, did you NOT see the signage posted at the entrance? I replied that I didn't see a sign and inquired about a different entrance for deliveries. Martin Short shot back "you will HAVE to break that stack of boxes down and bring them in by hand carriAAAGE.” Hand carriAAAGE? What’s a hand carriAAAGE I inquired? "A carrAAAGE, a carrAAAGE, you put dhe boxis on it and wheel eet in." Oh...you mean a hand truck...gotcha. The planner's look made me feel as though I had committed some sort of transgression in this house of acquisition. I complied without discussion. I just wanted to be finished with the job. It was a long trip down the coast and I was wet, tired and hungry. At that point, I wasn't going to let some guy who talked funny take my day down any further.

Now, at the massive Petro Travel Center on I-285, I planned on resting for a bit. A dry change of clothing was in order, and perhaps a nice sit down meal at the Iron Skillet. I hadn’t had real sit down grub in a while. Whew, this would be a good opportunity to re-charge and get ready for the next mission.

The Qualcomm rattled off a series of places and scenarios I declined. I don’t have what they call “forced dispatch” so I can pretty much decide where I want to go…sort of. Sometimes, when the company has freight they really want to move, they will call me personally and apply some advanced sales techniques to secure a commitment to move the shipment. The Price is Right chimed on my phone and it wasn’t my little automated friend. It was Natasha, live and in person, making a case for a pick-up in Tennessee and delivery near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I responded with a “I don’t know, Natasha, there’s a major snow storm about to blow on up the coast going that way. Her response was “we will never hold it against you if weather prevents an on time delivery. How much will you do it for?” Well…since you asked, I offered my number , I’ll do it for $XXXX. Natasha sealed the deal with a “great, I’ll send the details on down the Qualcomm. Have a safe trip.”

This trip would turn out to be the longest 600 miles I have ever travelled. Winter weather loomed very large on this expedition and what seemed like a good deal, turned into a tribulation.