Ready Steady....... Stop!

Wednesday 29th Feb I get a call from my dispatcher, you have a load for Falconer in upstate NY delivery Friday March 2nd at 8am, it loads at 7pm tonight!   I need to point out that just because its booked to load at 7pm does not mean it will be loaded at 7pm, and true to Cavendish Farms tradition, a quick call to shipping confirms my load will not even be looked at until 10pm at the earliest.
A quick call to dispatch to advise them of the situation and I would now be leaving the following morning.  With this agreed I relaxed into my bed for a good nights sleep.

NOTE TO SELF;  Remember to warn the wife that you have set your alarm on the phone for 0430.

So with the upset wife trying to go back to sleep, I then fire the 15ltr engine up and head off to get my load, I later find out that did not go down too well either!

OK got the trailer, got the paperwork, sent all the info via my satellite, pre trip trailer and reefer unit, get back in the truck and have engine warning lights and message up on the display, great, that's all I need.  The delivery point is 1118miles away and I got this, so off we go to Freightliner in Dieppe via Penske, who the truck is leased from.  3 hours later I leave the Workshop after having a sensor re-calibrated and head off to Penske.

By now the delivery has been cancelled as I will not make it by 1300 Friday the last receiving appointment and they don't take deliveries on a Saturday.  So it was agreed I would leave on Saturday, I would take a trailer back to the Island and bring a loaded one back to Moncton on Saturday.

I called back to Penske to find I was 2 weeks overdue for a service and that I would also need the drivers side windshield replaced so they rolled up the door and in I went to loose another 4/5 hours of my life.

Old one out, just waiting for the new windshield to be fitted.

So with the service complete, I grab an empty and go home to try again Saturday.

I arrive at Falconer 1/2 hour late due to me forgetting my phone automatically switches to Eastern time zone, Doh!  After giving them a com check for $150.00 and waiting 2 hours to unload I wait for my next instruction.  Now I am only 45 Min's from the Canadian Border at Buffalo/Queenston and just over 2 hours from our Brampton terminal, BEEP, my pre-plan, load at Tropicana, New Jersey, 395 miles away!!!!!! 6.5 hours drive away, I'm not complaining easy miles.

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So after a very relaxed run down, I grab my load, park up for the night ready for a short run up to our Terminal in Dorval QC.  I arrive at 1430 and drop the trailer and am 4th in line for a load east, not sure what time to expect a dispatch I go to bed at 7pm fully expecting a load between 1am and 4am.

0615am BEEP, trl 856045 ready in Dorval for Dieppe, A full LTL load bound for Halifax Nova Scotia.  Oh well I slept well and fully refreshed set off for our Dieppe Terminal, arriving 12 hours later, a quick message to dispatch and get a full load going back to Cavendish Farms and eventually getting home at 9pm.  Turned out to be a nice run just a shame it was delayed for so long.

For those of you who wonder what upstate New York looks like, I took a few shots between Falconer and Bath on my way to New Jersey.

Southwest Airlines landing at Albany International Airport.