I decided to go back on the road after nearly three weeks off this morning. Everyone was cool with that, right up to the point where I was chatting with the local dispatcher. "You're blocked," he said.
Apparently, someone at HQ had put a block on my getting back on the board and didn't bother mentioning it to me.
I trudged over to the main building and chatted up someone in Safety. "Isn't us," she said. Apparently, it was someone in dispatch, so I marched upstairs while speed dialing my fleet manager.
Eventually it was determined that when I changed my original "due back" date in the system someone decided to put the block on. Not sure why.
Anyhow, I sashay back across the parking lot to local dispatch and now I'm not blocked. I'm immediately offered a delivery in Colorado for Friday or Austin, Texas for tomorrow. Good luck to the driver heading west, I chose south:
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I arrived just north of the DFW metroplex as the afternoon traffic jams were starting, which I had anticipated. I'm overnighting at a truck stop here and will get back to my usual early morning departure tomorrow when I finish the last 200 miles. There is, apparently, a super tight right turn that you have to make to get to the consignee which should be fun and giggles.
Despite the fact my truck was in the shop twice while I was on vacation, it still hasn't been turned back to 65. Sweet!
The drive today dragged by terribly slowly. After 13 months of driving, a few hundred miles in a day can go by in a blur once you get into the rhythm. When you aren't used to it, however, it can feel like ages.
