The Scene: My Co-driver had just driven through Illinois and Iowa, and was just entering the Flying J in Nebraska. It was five in the morning, and I was feeling good so I took over. I had only driven five miles when I hit the weigh station in Lincoln, Nebraska. As I put the truck on the scales the light stayed red for just a few seconds too long. That's when I knew something bad was about to happen.
"Driver, pull your truck to the side, come inside. Bring your logs, licences, and paperwork," said the disembodied voice. Just great, a D.O.T. inspection.
As I walked in, the D.O.T. Officer told me my right front headlight was out. My co-driver had been driving all night and didn't notice. I had only been driving for a few minutes, and didn't notice either. What made me mad is that, this must have just happened. The truck had a complete preventative maintenance inspection performed on her only one week before.
I handed the officer all my paperwork and licences, and gave him all my information. He told me he had to give me a "Fix-it Ticket" for the headlight. What that is for those who don't know, is that, I get the part repaired that needs repaired, and have a Law Enforcement Officer sign off on the repair. I don't pay a fine, I don't have to go to jail, or do community service. I just have to get it fixed and signed off. Hence the term fix-it ticket.
The officer then tells me that my paperwork inspection is all clear, and that I passed that no problem. He then gives me the fix-it ticket and the clear inspection paperwork. He then very nicely informs me that I can have a D.O.T. Officer at the North Platte, Nebraska scale house sign off on the paperwork.
I then head to the T.A. to grab a new headlight. I then had to fight Cassie the Cascadia to give up that blasted headlight. It took me asking a mechanic how to get that stupid thing out, and even then I had to resort to breaking out my channel-locks to remove it. But I got the new light bulb in, and got it working.
It was then, and only then that I called our company's citations department. I told them what happened, and that I had already got the bulb repaired, and I would put the expense down on my expense sheet. Needless to say, the citation department was happy with all my efforts.
And then! It was then that I let my dispatcher know what had happened, and that I repaired the bulb, let citations know what happened, and would have the D.O.T. Officer in North Platte sign off on the repair.
I also let him know what had happened the day before. I basically sweet-talked the Sears Distribution Center in Illinois give us a load early. There was a paperwork snafu, and we were told to get a load at 18:00 that day instead of the next day. So I talked them into loading the trailer early, and I managed to get it out that night. Then something happened that had never happened before. I was given a complement by a dispatcher. He told me, "Thanks for all the effort out there."
I then made my way to the North Platte, Nebraska scale house. The D.O.T. officer was less than nice to me, but did sign off on my paperwork. I then faxed it to the citations department along with the clean inspection report.
And then, something happened that had never happened before (yet again.) I got a message across the Qualcomm (our truck computer) that I had gotten a bonus for a clean inspection, and it would appear on my next paycheck. My co-driver had to tell me that the amount for a clean inspection was $75.00. I had to ask him, "So I just made $75.00 for a blown light bulb?" Sometimes this is one weird company.
Now, I will mail in the signed off fix-it ticket to the Nebraska D.O.T. I will chalk this up to one of my weirdest days of work in a very long time.
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