Joplin

I had reported back to the "home office", dropped my last recovery tractor (good old 94820) and I received a call from my boss.We met and had a nice conversation about the next several days and I got my next recovery assignment. I noticed that the next recovery was for a 2013 model...I was tickled to see that this was a new tractor because to date all of my tractors , all the way back to August, were rode hard and put up wet. Usually a lot of miles and needing an array of little creaks and rattles fixed. Always though, the bones of the thing are well cared for ...engine , tranny, brakes,lights etc.. They just sort of wear down around the bones.

My recovery was in Joplin,Mo. In the back of my mind...there was a remembering but at first I could not quite remember just what major thing had happened in Joplin...but I was sure there was a recent  thing....

I was at the gate in Dallas gate B-9 sharing the power pole with others and I heard someone say something about the tornado in Joplin. It came to me the tornado .

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/us/23tornado.html?_r=0

We flew from Dallas to tiny Joplin in an American Eagle ( really only a little bigger than a mature eagle) and all the while I was wondering what stories these maybe residents of Joplin may have . I didn't ask until I got in  the cab. The cab lady had lost an Aunt and her hair cutter. She was patient with me and showed me the path on the way to the hotel. A path thet is still visible and has some good number of constrution sites going on.This path was in an "S" and in parts is a mile wide. 

The next morning as I was being driven to my recovery tractor I saw more evidence of the destruction and of new homes and an impressive new hospital being built to replace the one taken by the storm. I thought my tractor was to be at a truck yard . Which is usually a place where there is a guard of some kind or at least a guy keeping track of the goings in and the goings out. But, my cabbie said we were on the way to a residential area. and, sure enough as we were moving along I saw the truck up ahead. Just parked on the street in front of a quadraplex ...just sitting there.

Would I have a personal encounter? How sad that a fellow driver had signed a lease on a new tractor and was only able to keep it financially viable for such a short time. Would he be there ? Was he angry or upset ?

As it turned out he had only had the tractor for 32 K miles and he was expecting someone to take the vehicle because it was cleaned out (no CB radio in it) and he had left his company fuel card and debit card in the tractor.

I wish I had known that . It would have reduced my adrenaline flow as I knocked on the door of the tractor, and knocked on the doors of the apartments. All the while going through my brain the comments of my friend Saul " Oh you mean its a repossession".  Receiving no answers from my door knocking I went to my luggage , loaded it quickly into the cab , fired that mother up and got out of Dodge. Never had that much fun writing a renters insurance policy LOL.

It is sad. This person had gone through all the effort that I have. The testing, the new information and the low pay. He had gotten all psyched up by the leasing agent. (they show some great numbers you'll earn if you drive a bazillion miles). Then when the reality set in, not enough miles assigned, cant take any time off or you'll fall behind on your weekly debt burden. Also, I might add the notebook left behind was written by someone that struggled to spell and write for that matter. I am glad that I chose to be an employee and glad that Kristin insisted on it.