Well Hell....

Ah a couple days in a hotel is nothing. Enjoy the break. They never seem to come around that often. I lost a fuel pump in Tupelo MS and spent 5 days there. The truck spent 16 days. Could always be worse.

they said it could POSSIBLY be done tonight, but more than likely tomorrow. So I'm stuck in the hotel for another day. Frustrating, but at least I have a nice place to stay.

UHC, I've found that you'll see a marked difference in the way truck drivers react to things like this. I've learned to make the best out of the never ending changes to my plans. There are so many variables to success at this career, and it seems like we never have things go according to our best laid plans. You'll see some guys that just get all bent out of shape everytime they hit a snag, and then you'll find some drivers who never seem to let these things bother them.

Your ability to easily shift from plan A to plan B or maybe even C or D, will make your life much less frustrating and stressful on the road. If I get stuck in a hotel for a few days I'll find something interesting to do for that time. Dwelling on the problems or the frustrations never eases the frustration of them but usually intensifies the frustration.

To be Zen like in these situations is a practiced discipline, but it comes easier once you commit to practicing such things. My experience has been that it makes life on the road much more enjoyable.

We've all heard long time drivers trying to convince their friends or relatives to never become a truck driver, even after they've spent their whole career on the road. Those are the guys who never allowed themselves to enjoy this lifestyle, and I think they squandered a great opportunity.

That's the truth. I've taken up moving mobile homes. Our days depend on a number of things, one of them being weather. Winds over 30 (usually 20 to 25 we call it, visibility, time of day, permits. Most of those can change the day before. I've had plans change for the next day 2 or 3 times on several different occasions.

they said it could POSSIBLY be done tonight, but more than likely tomorrow. So I'm stuck in the hotel for another day. Frustrating, but at least I have a nice place to stay.

UHC, I've found that you'll see a marked difference in the way truck drivers react to things like this. I've learned to make the best out of the never ending changes to my plans. There are so many variables to success at this career, and it seems like we never have things go according to our best laid plans. You'll see some guys that just get all bent out of shape everytime they hit a snag, and then you'll find some drivers who never seem to let these things bother them.

Your ability to easily shift from plan A to plan B or maybe even C or D, will make your life much less frustrating and stressful on the road. If I get stuck in a hotel for a few days I'll find something interesting to do for that time. Dwelling on the problems or the frustrations never eases the frustration of them but usually intensifies the frustration.

To be Zen like in these situations is a practiced discipline, but it comes easier once you commit to practicing such things. My experience has been that it makes life on the road much more enjoyable.

We've all heard long time drivers trying to convince their friends or relatives to never become a truck driver, even after they've spent their whole career on the road. Those are the guys who never allowed themselves to enjoy this lifestyle, and I think they squandered a great opportunity.

OS, don't get me wrong, I am frustrated that I'm sitting in a hotel after 3 days off. But on the bright side, it happened during slow maneuvers on private property and I didn't damage anything, plus I'm getting paid breakdown pay to relax in a nice hotel. Yeah I'd rather be driving, but at least I'm safe and warm.

Update: Called the shop this morning, they said they still don't know what the issue is, so they can't give me a time frame. This would be the 3rd full day if they can't get it fixed today. It's getting to the point where I'm just straight up frustrated (on the inside of course).

I can tell you one thing about mechanics from 15 years of experience out there - they have a habit of telling you, "It's almost ready. It's almost ready" for days at a time. I lost count of how many times they'd say, "About 30 more minutes" and every 30 minutes they'd say the same thing for hours and hours.

One time the rear end gear burned up on me and it was an experimental tractor with disk brakes. I sat in a hotel for 8 days, and every single day the dealership told me it would be ready the next day. Turns out the parts were custom parts that had to be custom manufactured by the factory. Finally the 8th day my company put me on a Greyhound and sent me to get a new truck at the terminal. I returned to get my stuff out of the old truck, which was still sitting there on day 10. It was probably there for weeks. But every day, even though they had no idea when or if the parts would arrive they'd tell me, "One more day".

I used to tell the mechanics, "Just give me an honest assessment so I can take care of other things. If it's going to be 3 days then say that so I know how much time I'm working with."

They'd lie anyways.

So get used to it. It seems like a mechanic's creed. Always promise the customer it'll be ready soon, even when you know it won't be.

OH so very TRUE Brett.

Update. Shop said my truck should be completely done by noon today which is about 2h from now. Unfortunately it's snowing pretty heavily today and I'm aimed to start my day at 1300 which is going to put me in an awkward spot to be able to find parking later tonight...

So happy I am on a Dedicated Account when I read this kind of thing. Not only do we get shop priority , but for major breakdowns we have spares and rarely skip a beat.