BLOCKED BY BREAK-DOWN

Much of Thursday afternoon was spent in New Jersey, bobtailing from place to place, looking for an empty trailer. One location I was sent to was the Save-Rite supermarket. As I drove there, I was expecting a large distribution center. No, it was an actual grocery store - buried in a busy shopping center. From the street, there was no indication for where trucks were supposed to enter. I circled the block & went in the unmarked exit, before meandering through a crooked alleyway to find my assigned empty trailer. It was left in a "no truck parking" zone. They were anxious to have it moved. There were two trucks parked ahead of the orange trailer I was sent to pick up. The driver of the bakery tractor-trailer walked to my window to tell me that the truck in front of him was broken down & help was a significant amount of time away. Backing out was not an option for him, but turning around was an option for me - if I left without my trailer. I called my supervisors to explain the situation. They considered our options for about 40 minutes. I used that down time to walk around the corner to order a giant slice of pizza. They decided to send me 200 miles away to attempt to pick up yet another trailer. It was in the way to my shippers's facility, so no further time or miles were wasted. This is a fairly typical adventure in the life of an OTR driver. It may seem too mundane to write about, but some of you surely do find it fascinating. This is my life & I like to write about it.