I have a short run that delivers in Newport News in the morning. I hope Epes is positioning me to get me home. Hopefully after I deliver they'll give me something off of the Chester yard heading toward North Carolina. I only mention this because I talked to another Epes driver this morning who was pissed because he hasn't been getting home on the weekends like he should. He has the same outlook that I do. He would like to work the weekends some, but not every weekend. And it's supposed to be voluntary. One of Epes' main selling points in attracting drivers is “home weekends,” which they put on the doors of their trailers.

Having Sunday off does not constitute “home weekends.” That's “day off.” I've heard Corporate say things to suggest that they see it differently. Their reading seems to be that if you get to stop by home and have dinner on Saturday evening on your way to Bumfuck, Egypt, they've fulfilled their promise of getting you home.

Look, this is no big deal. I'm making better money and getting better miles here than I did with U.S. Xpress. Plus, I'm getting home every weekend, even if it's not for the whole weekend. What annoys me most here is that the one major thing that drew me to this company has turned out to work a little differently than advertised. Don't give me an apple when you promised an orange and try to convince me that they're the same thing. That's insulting.

Anyway, except for this one thing I have no major issues with Epes. I'm making pretty good money and I'm getting home. I'd just like to get more of a weekend so that I could cut my grass and work around the house. It's not like I have a wife at home holding down the fort.

I guess one bit of my James A. Childers indoctrination / life lessons proved true. Nothing is ever as good as you would like it to be.