Gravy Train Ended

But when the geezers come back from medical leave it can get rough if you're low on the totem pole.

Unfortunately, my terminal only has 1 guy nearing retirement. Everyone else is 5+ years away. Going to take awhile to climb the ladder now.

The only reasonable thing to do is play roshambo for the run.

I've spent the last 6 weeks filling in for someone on maternity leave. His run was a meet for about 2,700 a miles a week and pretty much never was canceled.

He comes back today, so I'm back on the extra board today and have already been called off due to lack of work.

I wish I could go back in time and take a scheduled run instead of the extra board. I would be working a lot more, at least this time off will give me a chance to work on my time machine.

Hey bobcat when does your terminal have bidding? We have ours smack dab in the middle of winter so we start our runs with the worst weather. I know where you're coming from though. I've been on my assigned run close to 2 years now and I've thought about going on the wild board. I just sign up for extra runs on the weekend to try out the other runs.

We should have been bidding in September, but a guy in the top 5 was fired in January so we did a rebid then.

I wouldn't be surprised if we rebid again, seems like I average twice a year here.

If you can share, what did a guy that high up do to get canned?

Been there. I got lucky last summer. The Youngstown run feel in my lap because everybody above me was running days. I'd start at 7PM (that part sucked), but I was getting 3200 miles a week. He was on vacation for 2 weeks, and then he came back. Selfish.

Why did you bid on the extra board in the first place?

I always bid extraboard because I like the variety. I'm available 24 hours a day, voluntarily, following HOS rules of course.

Too bad you and Banks don’t live near each other for the fishing thing.

He and his dad are like that. His dad is interested in ABF, they're a green family and would never be seen with a purple person. It's ok, I understand. I'm not hurt, I'm disappointed.

As for people retiring, I have a few that are getting up there in age. My building is unique in that most of our runs are 500+ mile meets. I'd say about 75% of them are. I don't need to get too high up to fall into something decent.

If you can share, what did a guy that high up do to get canned?

He was involved in a accident thought he was going to be fired, the company reviewed the dash cam and cleared him. He was so happy he got to keep his job, he went out drinking and got a DUI after crashing into a tree.

He and his dad are like that. His dad is interested in ABF, they're a green family and would never be seen with a purple person. It's ok, I understand. I'm not hurt, I'm disappointed.

I am glad they didn't hire him, he would probably be home a lot right now.

I have no problem with purple people, it just clashes with green. Had you taken that Saia job and been red we could have a Christmas thing going.

As for people retiring, I have a few that are getting up there in age. My building is unique in that most of our runs are 500+ mile meets. I'd say about 75% of them are. I don't need to get too high up to fall into something decent.

We have too many terminals near by, our shortest run is Fort Wayne In, I think it is 360 miles plus they usually make you stop in Chicago which adds time. Most of our runs have to stop at other terminals, mostly Chicago. I keep missing on a Saint Louis run by 1 or 2 people, most drivers consider that the best, since it isnt as long as a Des Moines and most of the time you come straight back.

I have no problem with purple people, it just clashes with green. Had you taken that Saia job and been red we could have a Christmas thing going.

I do like Christmas 🎄🤔

The commute was too long. It was an hour each way on a good day. Factor in winters and holiday traffic and it was just something I didn't want to deal with. FedEx is 15 minutes away, I can take back roads to avoid tourists and in the event of surprise snow my commute might be 45 minutes.

We have too many terminals near by, our shortest run is Fort Wayne In, I think it is 360 miles plus they usually make you stop in Chicago which adds time.

Our shortest run is about 100 miles each way and has about 5 hours of dock work. It's a favorite for most in the winter.

Our longest is 648 miles. I've done it, but I don't like it. The money is phenomenal, but I like hanging around 500-550 miles.

I keep missing on a Saint Louis run by 1 or 2 people, most drivers consider that the best, since it isnt as long as a Des Moines and most of the time you come straight back.

That's the worst. I get in my feelings when I find out the extraboard guy right above me got one of my favorites.

I plan on just hanging out on the extraboard. It allows enough flexibility for me to work and take care of the stuff I have to take care of.

How’s it been going now Bobcat?

How’s it been going now Bobcat?

Pretty good, since Yellow closed I've only been off 1 day. Since they shut down I'm averaging almost 2,300 miles a week and that is with a couple vacation days. Had one week with over 2,800 miles.

This is a time I like the extra board. It is really nice to go different exotic places like Des Moines IA, Tomah Wi, Saint Louis MO, instead of boring Indiana all the time.