My first week since the surgery, back on the road. It went well! Better actually than I expected. Tiredness set in a time or two (which is pretty common for truckers anyway) but it was a bone-deep fatigue and I knew how to fix it… get sleep! So my honey told me sea stories until I couldn’t keep my eyelids open! Kevin spent 10 years in the Navy so he has lots of sea stories. Not that his sea stories put me to sleep! There are just so many stories to relate, after nearly 9 years I still haven’t heard them all yet!
We drive for Continental Carbonic now and they have been so good to us. When I took ill after only 3 weeks on the job, they kept me employed even though I spent most of my probationary 2-months off work!
We drive mainly from the plant in Beatrice NE to Dallas TX or Holcomb KS to meat packing plants. Did you know they grind dry ice pellets into ground meat to freeze it quickly (a process called flash freezing)? The dry ice evaporates and leaves no residue behind so it controls bacteria growth and makes it easier to package.
This time of year is busy for our company which is odd being winter and cold outside. However, businesses that ship food gifts use dry ice in their packaging to keep from spoiling. Our plant is in high production and I can only assume our other plants are as well. The boss tells us to expect a busy month!
Loading is new for us. We always depended on others to get the weight distribution right. Now it’s all on us! A ton of my first order yesterday landed all over the floor of my trailer when a double stack of containers full of ice pellets gracefully slid off my forklift tines and in slow motion tipped over. No one got upset, or yelled… just handed me the broom and shovel and I scooped!
Kevin had the past 6 weeks while I was off to master loading trailers. Now begins the learning curve for me. Yesterday, I had 3 orders of ice to load and dang it! I didn’t get any of them right.
There are so many positives with this new job. I’m thankful everyday for the little ways it makes our lives better. Getting home every weekend, having a regular schedule and never again having to wait for loads to come up or being stuck in Timbuktu for a days. It’s a much better situation when you drive for a living.
It’s snowing here and we’re cozy in our own house. Life is great!
Glad you’re feeling well enough to be back on the job. That’s quite an undertaking. Take it easy, but I’m sure Kevin is happy to have you back!