Keep on Truckin'

It is great to be able to do business on the web - when it works. We purchased a new tractor trailer for the composting business. First order of business, after getting proper insurance of course (you can take the girl out of the insurance industry but you can take the insurance industry out of the girl), is to license the truck. The Missouri Department of Transportation, aka MoDot, allows you to add a truck to your fleet over the Internet, thus avoiding a drive to Jefferson City. Great! Unlike the MoDot office, the web is available 24/7. I attempted to log on to our account last night so my husband could struggle through the governmental gibberish on the application with me. It would not accept my login or password. Our login (a series of five uppercase letters and two numbers) and our password (a series of seven upper and lower case letters and one number) were assigned to us by MoDot, and sent to us via email in December. You cannot change them. So this morning I called the non-toll free number shown as the "Help Desk" (oxymoron) on the email. After providing some basic information to the lady, she took my name and number and said someone would call me back. About an hour later, an employee did call me back to tell me that I had called the wrong number, and she proceeded to give ma a different one. This one was thankfully toll-free, as I listened to the recording of all my choices and took a wag (wild ass guess) on the correct one for my issue. After I listened to a recording of where MoDot is located, received information on their hours and directions to the office, I was informed that most of my questions could be answered by visiting their website. Not! I was then advised that I was number one in the queue, and then blasted with the worst country music I have ever had the misfortune to hear. Finally a representative came on the line, listened to my problem and said that my password must have expired (sounds like a catch-all phrase). She said she would let someone know and they would reset the password and email it to me before noon.

At 1:45 the long awaited email arrived, and I entered the login (still the same) and the new password. Same error message popped up. I called back on the 800 number, got a different gal on the phone, and she said she would try to login on my account. Well, it worked just peachy for her! I asked her what password she entered, and lo and behold it was not the new password I had just received. It was something totally different. I tried the password she was using, and I got right in. Alright, now we're truckin'! As I began to fill in the online form, I could not get past the first page without getting an error message. Another call to Motor Carrier Services (fourth in queue this time - more crappy country music) to find out that I was supposed to be a mind reader and know what they had entered as my fleet number and the expiration date of said fleet. With this correct information duly entered, I continued with the form until I came to some blanks I needed my husband's help with. As he was unavailable, I figured we could complete the rest after supper. We finished up the form, pressed the submit button and got a new error message. Even reviewing the ten page instruction pamphlet I had printed off gave no hint as to what the program did not like. So now we need to call the office again, and since it is after hours it will have to wait until tomorrow. I love doing business on the Internet. I think I could have been to Jefferson City and back by now.