Truck broke down, and the asshattery from my company that ensued
Yesterday sure proved to be a serious excersize in headache management. At around 5am yesterday, my truck blew a radiator hose while climbing a hill on I-84 in Connecticut. I called my company's breakdown department, and was told they would need me to unhook from my trailer before the tow truck could tow me, meaning i needed to relay the load, and that I'd have to call Ops to set up a relay before they would contact a towing company. Called Ops, waited on hold 30 mins, was then told they can't set up a relay until they knew when the tow truck would arrive, and to tell Breakdown that. I call Breakdown, hold for 30 mins, then get told Breakdown won't call a towing company until Ops gets a relay set up. his went back and forth with the two departments fighting each other, and using me as the messenger, even though they are both located in the same damn building! Now why couldn't they just talk directly to each other? ><
A few hours later, I finally get ahold of someone more helpful, and they tell me a driver will be in my area to pick up my trailer so I can then get towed off, so I call Breakdown and give them the driver's ETA, and they got things in motion for a tow truck to arrive at the same time as the other driver. (having the tow truck arrive early and wait, since i couldn't leave the trailer unattended, would cost the company $150 an hour, I believe)
Now, things get worse. The whole point of getting another driver to take my load was because the state of CT will fine tow trucks towing a truck+trailer combination due to overlength laws, so I had to be without my trailer. I was told the other driver would arrive without a trailer to take mine. I then got ahold of the other driver, and found out he had a trailer as well, and he was told to simply swap trailers with me. >< Whoever set up the relay dropped the ball badly.
The tow truck arrived around 9am I think, and I was eventually told by the other driver he would be able to drop his empty trailer at a customer a mile from me so he could take my trailer. Well, as soon as he got within minutes of the customer near me, he found out he was given the wrong customer info, and had to go all the way back to the east side of Hartford, a 40 mile trip. The tow truck driver was already there, and if we waited on the other driver to arrive now, the tow truck would have to wait probably an hour and a half, or more.
After a little bit of the tow truck company wrangling with my company, Schneider finally agreed it would be cheaper to have a 2nd tow truck come pick the trailer up and take it to their yard nearby, and let the other driver pick it up an his leisure, than pay the high waiting fee.
So, 15 mins later, the other tow truck grabs the trailer and then I get hooked up, and we're off. (my company was adamant that I be towed with the trailer to a parking lot off the freeway, but the tow truck driver and I agreed to go ahead and do the trailer swap on the freeway shoulder, because neither of us wanted to deal with the extra crap my company wanted us to do. XD )
An hour, and 45 miles later, we arrive at the Freightliner repair shop in Branford, CT, right on the coast. Pretty area, actually. I check in, and get told the truck won't be ready till Wednesday, so I get a motel. The motel turned out to actually be really nice. Granite counters and walls in the restroom, two windows, one on each end, a leather couch, and plenty of space. Oh, and it had an actual backyard, with a lawn and picket fence. XD Very quiet residential area, despite being a block from I-95. Only $66 too, though my company will reimburse me. Would be a nice place to take someone on a weekend getaway. The coast is only a couple miles from the place.
I'm sitting at the shop now, since the truck should be ready soon, hopefully things will go smooth from here, and I won't have to go into the NYC area on my next load. XD Do not feel like dealing with crappy traffic.
A few hours later, I finally get ahold of someone more helpful, and they tell me a driver will be in my area to pick up my trailer so I can then get towed off, so I call Breakdown and give them the driver's ETA, and they got things in motion for a tow truck to arrive at the same time as the other driver. (having the tow truck arrive early and wait, since i couldn't leave the trailer unattended, would cost the company $150 an hour, I believe)
Now, things get worse. The whole point of getting another driver to take my load was because the state of CT will fine tow trucks towing a truck+trailer combination due to overlength laws, so I had to be without my trailer. I was told the other driver would arrive without a trailer to take mine. I then got ahold of the other driver, and found out he had a trailer as well, and he was told to simply swap trailers with me. >< Whoever set up the relay dropped the ball badly.
The tow truck arrived around 9am I think, and I was eventually told by the other driver he would be able to drop his empty trailer at a customer a mile from me so he could take my trailer. Well, as soon as he got within minutes of the customer near me, he found out he was given the wrong customer info, and had to go all the way back to the east side of Hartford, a 40 mile trip. The tow truck driver was already there, and if we waited on the other driver to arrive now, the tow truck would have to wait probably an hour and a half, or more.
After a little bit of the tow truck company wrangling with my company, Schneider finally agreed it would be cheaper to have a 2nd tow truck come pick the trailer up and take it to their yard nearby, and let the other driver pick it up an his leisure, than pay the high waiting fee.
So, 15 mins later, the other tow truck grabs the trailer and then I get hooked up, and we're off. (my company was adamant that I be towed with the trailer to a parking lot off the freeway, but the tow truck driver and I agreed to go ahead and do the trailer swap on the freeway shoulder, because neither of us wanted to deal with the extra crap my company wanted us to do. XD )
An hour, and 45 miles later, we arrive at the Freightliner repair shop in Branford, CT, right on the coast. Pretty area, actually. I check in, and get told the truck won't be ready till Wednesday, so I get a motel. The motel turned out to actually be really nice. Granite counters and walls in the restroom, two windows, one on each end, a leather couch, and plenty of space. Oh, and it had an actual backyard, with a lawn and picket fence. XD Very quiet residential area, despite being a block from I-95. Only $66 too, though my company will reimburse me. Would be a nice place to take someone on a weekend getaway. The coast is only a couple miles from the place.
I'm sitting at the shop now, since the truck should be ready soon, hopefully things will go smooth from here, and I won't have to go into the NYC area on my next load. XD Do not feel like dealing with crappy traffic.