By Ron Moore
Stafford County truck driver, columnist
Special to the Tribune

I’ve told the driver manager many times that I don’t want job site deliveries. My concerns seem to fall on deaf ears, and if I refuse, there could be retaliation. They’ll deny it, but I’m not one of their “special” drivers. So, I go ahead and take them.

Why don’t I like these deliveries? Let’s go back to two weeks ago. My load was scheduled for a new apartment complex in Baytown, TX. I called the contact on the bill of lading to ask what I needed to do.

He told me to turn onto the street south of the site, go to the end, and enter the job site. The problem? It was a cul-de-sac. And where do you think some employees parked? You guessed it—right in the cul-de-sac.

There was a 12-foot gate I had to go through. Since I couldn’t position myself far enough over, it was a close call—barely missing a porta-potty with the front bumper and squeezing through the gate with barely the width of a piece of paper to spare.

Now for the hard part. I drove down a narrow path to the north end. On my left was a garage, on my right a fire hydrant. Lumber was stacked in front of me, and to the northeast, a curb jutted out six feet for a tree planting. It took everything I had to maneuver my 65-foot vehicle through there.

Last week, I was sent to a new high school construction site in Salado, TX. I called the contact number on the bill—no answer. I called again. And again. And again. Still no answer. That’s not unusual. And when someone does pick up, they’re often sitting in an office hundreds of miles away.

I passed a gate I was supposed to enter, but how was I to know? Instead, I went to what looked like the main construction entrance—only to find out it was the wrong one. So, I had to turn around and go back to the right entrance. Luckily, once inside, there was plenty of space to maneuver.

As I write this, I have another job site delivery on Monday—this time in Saint Rose, LA. You head to New Orleans, turn west, and before you know it, you’re at the customer’s site.

So why did I take this load? Chances are, there wasn’t another load to get me home. If I had refused, I would have been stuck out over the weekend, not making money.

We have a group of drivers who throw a fit if they’re not home by Friday. I was in the driver’s room with two new hires when a driver proudly told them, “I’m home every weekend.”

I couldn’t help myself—I responded, “You’re welcome. Some of us work weekends so you can be home”.