Years ago, I discovered that most trucking companies will not route a driver through a city where they have a connection, to prevent sudden resignations. (Cue evil plan.)
I was teaming, and my co-driver and I were regularly route to Seattle via Denver or Cheyenne. In the winter, the 1400 or so miles (2200km) from Northern Colorado to Seattle can take a week due to weather.
“We can't afford this,” I told my co-driver. He agreed. “I'm going to fix it.”
I called dispatch. “We're at the truck stop outside Denver. We don't have a load until morning? Heeey, that's great. I'm going to call my niece. She lives in Fort Collins.” (Fort Collins is also the location of a large brewery, about half-way between Denver and Cheyenne.)
Yes, I did have a niece, but apparently I confused Aurora (right around the corner) with Fort Collins (about 50 miles/80km.) Oh, silly me.
Yeah, silly me. We spent the rest of the winter bouncing between LA and Harrisburg. Because my wife's family was in northern Jersey…