SNOWY SUNDAY

I met 3 of the most immature guards last night. They were the most perverse men I had endured in quite some time. You would think that a trucker, such as myself, would be used to such crudeness. Not really. Today's truckers generally conduct themselves with a lot more decorum than they did even 10 years ago. The undesirable drivers are retiring or are being forced out of the industry by peripherally related laws and higher employer expectations.
Anyway, I was surprised by the lack of professionalism displayed by the men who guard the kind of facility I was delivering to. I delivered about a million dollars worth of drugs and medicine to a common Northeast drugstore chain distribution center. The snow was coming down hard when I arrived. They assigned a particular spot to drop my trailer into. I had to get out of my truck every so often to scrape the snow off of the spot number with my boot, to find my assigned location. My co-driver took over after I found an empty trailer to depart with. He drove 100 miles to a customer in New York. I was soundly asleep when he got there.
I woke up in western Pennsylvania 8 hours later. My partner had stopped at a truck stop to clean the windshield and smack the ice from the wipers. Winter was in full effect. This particular place was well-known for their coffee, so I got myself out of bed and made myself presentable as quickly as I could. My haste was rewarded with a wonderful mug of black Kona coffee.
My co-driver resumed driving for another hour while I leisurely ate my breakfast and browsed Facebook. We agreed to perform the noon shift change in Youngstown, Ohio.
The surface streets were mostly plowed of snow, but the truck stop's parking lot was snow and ice covered. I watched a pickup struggle to gain enough traction to escape the property. This was a perfect opportunity to wear my Schneider- provided snow/ice cleats. For my own amusement, I took them for a lap around the truck stop. They worked wonderfully. The 10 metal dots on my feet dug into the ice and compacted snow with secure ease. I still showed due respect for the ice as I walked. Painful things can still happen while wearing such awesome equipment. When I got ready to go into the store, I took my cleats off, put them in a plastic shopping bag, and stuffed them into my coat pocket. My day was off to a good start, and ended well, too.
I dropped my loaded trailer off at a Kohl's distribution center; picked up an empty trailer at a Lowe's; and wrapped up my day at a Flying J in Beaver Dam, Ohio. Our next load is expected to be ready at 3am. There's plenty to keep me occupied until then.