We're in Indiana, desperately trying to deliver this Waukegan load and get down to Chicago Heights for pick-up before the customer closes. Ray just says "you have to get there before they close." We told him Monday before we even left that it getting to Chicago Heights on time would be tricky at best. This is the reason: he sent us to Depew, New York.

We left late because of Charlotte Freightliner, live unloaded in Depew, then were live loaded at our next pickup in Watkins Glen, NY. We knew when we left Watkins Glen that getting to Chicago Heights on time today would be almost impossible, and we told ray this.

He ignored us. But after we delivered in North Cove and picked up the Waukegan load, he suddenly started taking us seriously. Now he's essentially dealing with it by just saying "but you have to be there."

At the moment Mara and I are both wondering if we've been set up. I suppose we'll only know if Ray uses this as an excuse to fire us from this run. If he does, I’ll be firmly convinced that he sent us to New York knowing that we couldn't get to Chicago Heights in time for pickup. I know this sounds paranoid at the moment, but it would explain why he's ignored this problem on the SatCom. On the surface it looks like some ass-covering has taken place.

I really hope I’m wrong. We like this run, and we'd prefer to stay with U.S. Xpress. Our problems with ray are minor and mostly fall under the "are you listening?" category. But i do think that we've been a bit of a headache for ray. We certainly don't defer to him in the manner i think he would prefer. And given the many problems and delays we had during our last 6 weeks out, he may have just figured it was time to get rid of us.

I hope not, though.