GET r DONE..

From one of our owner operators.....

Way back when(think it was 2002) our 400N tariff came into being,the first job(as it ALWAYS turns out)without long carries and stairs being paid....HAD 400 FEET OF CARRY(Long driveway,single lane)and 4 flights of stairs to deal with..Down on the Mississipi gulf coast,in the swamp...My shipper had a house on a small river 5 total stories,28,000 pounds..As with all large jobs back then,I arranged for 2 guys to go with me the day before to inventory and pad so everything was ready for load day.That was a mistake...My help got to see the residence and the next morning...NO HELP,everyone at the agent knew by them how bad it was and it cost me DOUBLE just to get help...But,I'm getting ahead of myself...45 minutes of drive(still just the inv.pad day)and I pull up to this 400 foot driveway....God that's a long way to carry and not get paid for it...only to discover ½ way down the driveway was underwater,a spot maybe 10 feet(low spot)wide had 8 inches of water...No other axcess,had to come out THAT driveway.The yard was swampy,no way to cut through the grass without losing a shoe in the muck.Believe it,I had a conversation with my shipper that day about the water from opposite sides of his driveway lake.This has to be a shuttle,NO I've a gp,well,I'll tell you what,IF,that's not dry tommorrow for load day,shuttle or we don't load.He said he would try to dry it up...We used the neighbors drive and a sheet of plywood over the wet spot in the grass to get pads and ourselves in that day,and had NIGHTMARES about tommorrow.....

Tommorrow came and we got to residence only to find my shipper sitting in a lawn chair(baggy bermuda shorts,hawaiin shirt,flip flops)with a shop vac sucking water out of his lake,then draining the vac back onto his grass,draining right back into the drive....Almost fell out of the truck,laughing....He did not see that...Still would not pay for a shuttle....Started thinking...Alum bars,plywood...I built a temporary bridge across his lake,got it loaded and finished the day.....What did I learn....

Don't give up.

There's always an answer.

Adapt.

Improvise.

Get r DONE...(moved him by the way,Vegas to Sanford Fl.).