Dispatching disaster -- narrowly averted

Yesterday afternoon, after the load lock incident, I was dispatched to Oklahoma City to receive a relay load bound for Springfield, Missouri. My arrival had to be before 7 PM local time which was no problem since it was only about 90 minutes away.

While I was driving the relay point got changed from one truck stop to another, and I dutifully reprogrammed my GPS and headed to the new destination. Upon arrival, I shut the rig down and took a closer look at the dispatch information, only to find:

1. The estimated arrival of the other driver was 7 PM the following day, some 28 hours hence.
2. The load was high priority and needed to get to the destination as soon as possible... but since I was going by CFI Joplin I had to stop there for inspection and fueling.
3. It was a driver assist unload, meaning I would be inside the trailer helping them get whatever it was out.

If I left OKC at 7:15 PM I would arrive in Springfield around midnight, or 1 AM assuming I got in and out of CFI Joplin expeditiously. Assuming they were still open at that time, figure at least a couple hours to unload making it 3 AM. Then, assuming I could park on site for my break, I would be ready to take another load mid to late afternoon on a Friday. This after basically blowing three days for a 288 mile, driver assisted load.

I called my fleet manager and asked as sweetly as possible: "Am I reading this right? It looks like a 30 hour wait to relay this load in OKC?" My dispatcher brought up the information screen and agreed that it looked a bit odd, but noted that there wasn't really that much else in the area to carry. My offer to deadhead to Seattle or Miami forthwith was quickly rebuffed.

She said she would look into it and check my satellite box when I got back to the truck for any update. Upon arrival, I found I was taken off the relay load and instead given a pickup in OKC bound for my oh-so-favorite CFI terminal, Laredo. All things considered, a good trade.