The day I went to renew my CDL was a frustrating one. It began at about 04:00 in Russell, IL. Nothing wrong here. My morning ritual including my pre trip went fine. I drove up to my customer about 5 miles away and was backed into a door by 04:30 and went back in the sleeper. At 06:15 I noticed that they had not even locked me into the dock yet. I shuffled across the skating rink / parking lot to where I turned my bills in. They sent me to a different dock door a few hundred yards away and they told me that they did not get the bills until just now and would start me at 07:00.
It was 32 degrees and raining. After I got empty, I white knuckled the empty trailer 130 miles to pick up a loaded trailer to bring up from Neenah to Green Bay. There was a some confusion on where to deliver the load. The bills said one thing and my dispatch said another. The 2 locations are about 3 miles apart and it was a drop trailer. So – no big deal – I would go to the address on the bills. You know how that goes. Whichever guess that I made would be the wrong one.
That day I had a 12:55 appointment with an eye surgeon. My plan was to get to Green Bay at around 09:00 get a workout in then go to the surgeon and then the DMV. If all went perfectly I could even go to the DMV too and go directly home from the surgeon's. Little delays kept happening. By the time I got to Green Bay, I did not even have time to shower and change out of my dirty clothes.
The appointment with the surgeon as expected. The inclement weather made the DMV lines short. I suggested that anyone who made it in on a day like that must be a good driver and should just be given a new license. The first clerk suggested that I take it up with the governor. Then when I got to the final clerk's window she asked me if I had my birth certificate with me. What? I would need my birth certificate to renew my CDL. She sent me to downtown Green Bay.
The door was locked at the address that I was given. There was a sign to use the entrance at the other side of the building. I went to that entrance. The lady there told me to go back to the entrance that came from. I informed her that the door was locked and there was a sign on that door telling me to come there. Huh – maybe you need to go next door. I did. They told me that they couldn't help me and gave me a website to check out. I did. They all wanted boat loads of personal information. I cooled my jets until the next morning.
The next morning I contacted the Kane (IL) County Clerk's office. That is when that one person, Ayesha Tague, entered the picture. Ayesha guided me through the process. I did not have to drive a 500 mile round trip. I got my CDLA with and added my Haz Mat endorsement back in. One person can make a difference. Be like Ayesha.