It was a Georgia Pacific paper load. More of those huge rolls of paper we haul so many of. They're called "Roll Stock" within the industry.
Anyway, I made my way up to Cedar Springs GA (it's only about 18 miles from the terminal) and checked in. Checking in and loading at this place means:
a.) parking in the "staging area", which is an area away from the main operations where all the trucks wait to be loaded. Lots of companies call it a "staging area";
b.) walking to a tiny little building where there's a house phone that connects to security - the guard shack. It's always called the 'guard shack' whether it's a shack or The Ritz;
c.)the guard shack answers and you give them your pick up number. If you don't have a CB, they'll send somebody up to get you or call your cell phone when they're ready for you;
d.) several hours later it's finally your turn to actually go to the guard shack, where they lend you a hard hat and safety glasses, tell you to put on some long pants, and send you around the corner to one of three loading docks where you;
e.) slide your tandems to the rear, lower your landing gear, turn your truck off, and then you;
f.) put on the hard hat and take the form you filled out when you first got there (forms are in the tiny little building next to the house phone) to the forklift operator. The form declares your pickup number; customer; destination city; that your trailer has a current DOT inspection; that you've slid your tandems; that you've chocked your wheels; that you've lowered the landing gear; then
g.) the lift operator come out and inspects your trailer on the outside and;
voila! he rejects mine because of this:
Inside:
Outside:
It seems real picky to me, but it's possible water could get in there and damage the last roll. And when you look at this, ROLL STOCK COMPLAINT PROCEDURES, from GA Pacific's website, it's easier to see why they're becoming so picky.
So now I'm at the Flying J in Dothan, 12 miles from the terminal, waiting for the rest of the world to come back to life in morning - the broker, dispatch, the shop, etc.
If they keep me on this load, it'll take me by the house for a while.
By the way Mom, I resized the load information so it'll print bigger.
Goodnight.
