We're heading to Lincoln, Nebraska from Wisconsin; not from the last load I mentioned, though. We were just about to the Minnesota border last night when USX asked to do a repower. We agreed. From there it gets weird. They told us where the other driver was; about 100 miles south of our location. So we turned around. They told us it was a plant-shut-down load (that's a load for a company that doesn't warehouse much stock or supplies, but instead relies on constant deliveries of materials by trucks or train to keep the plant going; so technically if that supply stops, so does the plant).

The other driver (a lease truck) was an ass. He was mad because USX wanted to repower the load. But he was solo. He was parked. We shrugged and left. Well, there was a pre-planned load attached after delivery. We assumed that maybe it was the return load that was a shut-down load. Anyway, we delivered this morning near St. Paul. No one there seemed worried about a plant shut-down. We dropped our load, grabbed an empty and left. The pre-plan picked where we would have delivered the load we gave Dude.

This is where the other driver really earned his Asshole stripes. After he had delivered the load we had given him he tried to get the customer to give him our return load. Sure, it had been his before the repower, but it became ours when we finished the repower. That he tried to steal another driver's load makes him an asshole. That he had met the other driver and was largely responsible for that same load being assigned to that same driver and still tried to steal it makes him an Asshole.

The only consolation was that the customer refused. And our way out with the load we stopped at a truckstop on that same exit. He was sitting there and was still sitting there when we left. Given the fact that this new load doesn't deliver until tomorrow, I'd say that this one isn't the shut-down load. So all I can figure is that they repowered his load because he pissed somebody off. And he's sitting in Wisconsin as punishment; a USX version of a time-out. Given our impression of the guy I'd say he probably earned it.

For us it means a leisurely stroll down to Nebraska in cool weather, down-time for showers, washing clothes and sitting down to an actual meal, play-time in SWG or EQ, and probably some good lovin'. We definitely got the better end of the deal.