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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 2 - My first solo trip Delivering a GMC single axel with a refer box to MT Today is May 28, 2003 ... Today should have given me some insight as to how this trip was going to go. We didn't have any runs for the long / Memorial weekend, and no runs (for me) on that Tuesday. By Wednesday I'm beginning to wonder what is going on. I call at 10, and again at 2, their preferred times, have to leave a message both times. This is going on five days off and I need some money coming in. That afternoon when I need someone's phone number, I go for my cell phone ... Opps, I had left my cell in the car, and they have been calling that number since my 10 am call. Not sure what I missed out on earlier in the day, but now I have a choice of NC or MT. Without a return run from either, I will choose the west. This one HAS to be there by Friday eve, so I opt to head out yet tonight, I hate running up against the clock if I don't need to. The load I picked was for Missoula, a good 1,000+ mile run. The bad news is that the car rental places in Missoula are agent's and do not allow one way rental's. So it is going to be the Greyhound for me. I pick up my truck, fuel, and head for Fargo. Halfway there I stopped at a rest area, and as I was walking out I heard the radio from the employee area ... the older guy was listening to polka. So I had to ask him the station location ... he seemed a little surprised, but I like a variety. You can always find an Oldies or CW station, so I like to tune into some of the other types when I get a chance. I was able to listen to one song ... before they went to high school baseball. So much for tonight's driving music. Did find a "Real Country" station that I was able to hang on to for the next hour ... every song was an oldie I either have, or wish I had from the 40's through today. I'm not out of hours, but decide it's a good way to split this run over three days. Other than a little road construction, this leg is uneventful. The stop at Flying J's is big bucks, $2 a gallon for propane, plus tax ... this is more than we have had to pay at campgrounds. Had time to grab some food and settled in. My first night trying to sleep in one of these trucks. I'm sure I got a couple hours of "quality" sleep sometime during my eight hours off. Trip 2 May 29, 2003 Who needs an alarm clock? at 5 am, the truck is running, waiting for my eight hours to expire. I give it an extra minute, and I'm on my way. Unless you are interested in farming, there is nothing in ND. Having grown up on the farm, (and still driving tractor between runs) I enjoyed the ride. Saw my first Cat Farm dealer ... saw a total of three by the time I was back. Saw my first John Deere on track that was in use, I have seen them on dealers lots before. This one was doing road construction along I94. I think there were about a dozen sections of road construction on this trip. The 20+ year old Versatile 4x4 still seems to be the tractor of choice, appeared to beat out all other 4x4's combined. Dealers still advertise servicing both the Versatile and Steiger even though nether has been made under those names for 20-30 years. Also saw an old Big Bud and a Minneapolis Moline 4x4. Not too many of either of those around. Not everyone is using new equipment, one farm had a couple of tractors rolling ... both about 40 years old. But there is the new stuff also, the self-propelled sprayers are everywhere as well as some kind of new seeder for wheat. Wouldn't have known what it was if I hadn't seen the 1/64 scale model toy earlier this year. Today's aroma ranged from farm animals, to the chemicals the farmers were spraying, to the loads of railroad ties that were passing me. One of those things I never understood ... why the railroad uses trucks to move railroad ties, railcar axles, etc. 300 hundred miles across ND and I was at Flying J's again, last exit in ND. So far the scales have either been closed, or 'keep left if empty,' so no delays in that area. All the scales in MT today are closed also, CLOSED is always a good sign. At the Rosebud rest area the signs said 'Rattle snakes in area, stay on sidewalk.' These signs seem to work much better than the 'Keep off the Grass' signs. From this rest area, you can look about 200 ft straight down at the Yellowstone River. It seemed to be running awful high, and with a lot of debris. Rest area's are getting to be fewer and fewer, in every state I've been in, I can see where old rest area's used to be, some a long time ago others so recently the grass isn't growing yet. I'd like to make it past Billings yet tonight, but as I look at my log book I realize that if I do the milage won't add up. My miles will average over the speed limit, so I need to add some time on this end before I log off tonight. Not sure how I did that, the max speed for this truck is listed at 65, and that's what the speed limit has been all day. And with the hills and road construction ... Third and final fuel stop this trip, again at a Flying J, here the price is a little better. Have to get my 'Rewards' card, I've spent well over a couple hundred dollars each of the last two trips. It's nice being out west, lots of Ma/Pa motels advertising for under $30. I settle on a Motel 6 for $35 ... right next to the adult book store. Huge sign's on the motel door "No semi's, trailers or large trucks." Must have been a slow night, the manager said I was OK ... They must have a problem with this because the clerk asked me again what I was driving when I checked in. They also told me there would be free coffee in the morning starting at 7am ... which was of little interest to me, as I requested a 4 am wake up call. Right across the street was a restaurant that was built in the 70's as a Country Kitchen ... I recognize those styles buildings and signs anywhere/everywhere. It is now the Silver Dollar Restaurant and Casino. They had taken out half the tables and put in slot's, the other half was the same tables as 30 years ago. The food was good, had an omelet for $4 even, which was a lot less than the omelet at the Flying J last night. Of course at the J you have 'atmosphere.' This place was missing the overweight truck drivers in sweaty tee shirts, smoking and cussing that this country was going to HEL#. May 30, 2003 After sleeping/not sleeping in the truck last night, I was still in a deep sleep 9 hours later when I heard the Tom Bodett wake up call. Doing my pre-trip inspection, checking the lights is faster in the dark, but finding the dip sticks is a little more of a problem. It's cold this morning, it was still in the 90's last night when I went to bed, this AM it's down in the 40's. As I drove though the book store parking lot, saw the huge sign on the door. "Cash only, that means no Checks or Credit cards. Understand?" Make good business sense to me. How many people are going to swear up and down to their spouse that that they did not make that purchase, and try to not pay the bill ... Hit two more scales this AM that were open, plus those that weren't. They were open ... but nobody home. Crossed the Yellowstone river a few more times this AM, and finally heard on the radio that the river was a foot over flood stage and should crest in a couple of days. Guess the snow is still melting in the mountains, and the 'highway to the sun' at Yellowstone Park may open soon. Didn't realize we were still that early in the season. This is beautiful country. The sun is shining on the snow covered mountain tops long before it reaches the country side. Most of an hour later we are still driving in and out of the shadows as we go up and down the hills. This morning I go past a few chain up area's, even this truck empty is having a problem on the climb. This mornings radio was an all talk format, seems they take every comintator in the country who does a five minute 'insite,' string them all together and call it a radio show. And the weather reports out here ... you have to pay attention, they give you the weather for ID, MT, WY, SK, ND, SD, the detailed ones seem to last 15 minutes. And they update you with shorter versions every 15 minutes. Very easy to get 'weathermania.' A few minutes after 10 am, I find a rest area and call in for my morning check in. OPPS... I get a different dispatcher, who doesn't understand when I say I am still on schedule to deliver the truck to Missoula by noon .... Because the paperwork she is looking at says Belgrade ... a town I passed three hours ago. In part due to a cell phone that would fade in and out, it took an hour to confirm that I was indeed supposed to go to Belgrade, so I headed back. (The office had re-printed my paperwork with the new address, AFTER they gave me a copy of the original paperwork.) After a few hours and re-crossing the continental divide I am finally back to the correct town. Without any written directions, I am now relying on what I could hear over the phone. As I exit the freeway, I head the wrong way, assuming they were giving me the 'original' directions coming from the other way. After turning around I find the correct highway sign, but quickly loose it. At one four-way stop I try three of the four directions before heading back where I came from. I see the highways sign again and head a couple of miles in a new direction. Finally I see a parking lot big enough to turn around in, a landscape business, they should know the address I'm looking for if I still can't reach the people by phone. By now I want to check my propane tanks, the inside gauge does not match the tanks, and this is the lowest I've run this truck. As I get out of the truck, someone pulls in behind me and asks if I'm lost. (Lucky guess.) So I ask where this highway 391 is, and why I can't find it. He gives me directions, all the way to the drop location. I ask him how he knows where I'm going. "Because it's my truck." Seems he had been sitting at a gas station when I first pulled off the freeway almost an hour ago, and had been trying to find me since. Lucky he did, or I could have been going in circles for hours. The good news about leaving from here instead of Missoula, is that I was able to get a rental car and drive instead of taking the bus. The bad part is that if I had gone directly here, I would have made the delivery at 8am and had 5 extra hours of daylight for the drive back home. Am not a big fan of McD's, but it is easy food to eat and drive, and the only one at this exit and I'm not about to waste any time on the return trip. If I can't see it from the highway, I don't stop. A regular hamburger was $1.19 ... I'm used to paying 79 cents. For a buck you can usually get a double, but I didn't see any dollar menu at this location. After holding my speed fairly close to 65 for the last thousand plus miles, I wasn't quite ready to just put it to the floor in this car, at least not until I was done eating. Turned out that was a good choice. A couple miles down the road I see two squad's in the median, that's as many as I have seen in two days prior to this. By the time I get the where they are I can see three more, each has someone pulled over, and I see a sixth squad in the oncoming lane. Time to set the cruise control. 75mph for cars, I add a couple mph and people still go flying by. I had hoped to make it back to ND before I had to fuel, but just because the gauge is close the "F" doesn't mean it's been topped off. Stopping every two hours sounds like a good idea, but when you are sailing along at almost 80, I hated to stop and add any time to this trip. At 350 miles I have to fuel while still in MT. By the time I hit ND, I am starting to drag, but these oneway car rentals run about $100 a day, so you don't want to go over that 24 hour mark. When it gets close to 10pm I want to stop and grab something to eat, that should wake me up and keep me going for another two hours. Just outside of town I cross the timezone, it is now almost 11. This town has three exits with McD's, I choose the one called 'McStop,' assuming it is a truckstop and is open 24/7. It's been hours since I've stopped, so I hit the rest room first, when I come back out the counter is closed ... They have closed at 11. Bummer. So instead of a hot fresh McChicken for a buck, I have to go next door and pay almost three bucks for a cold sandwich that is date stamped. May 31, 2003 It's Saturday, I do make it a couple of more hours before I find a rest area, but I have given up on the cruise control. I don't like using it in bad weather or when I'm tired. But this also means I am no longer holding my speed above 70 which is costing me time. I stop for a couple of hours, felt like I only slept for one of them. When I woke up, I was cold and something I had eaten didn't agree with me. Not much chance of getting back to sleep, so I decide to drive. I got about another hundred miles before I decided to stop again, this time I tried sleeping in the back seat. Not much better luck, but it did keep me off the highway now for five plus hours. It was rest, but hardly sleep. The sun is coming up and I'm awake again. I've got a few more hours to go... One of these days I will have to try the bus and see if it is any more restful. After these drives out and rental car back I need a couple of days off to catch up on sleep. Would I be gaining drive time if I took the bus? In the last couple of miles in ND I see my only accident of the trip. Not sure what happened, a FedEx Ground truck is up against the side of a car, which appears to have hit the concrete median. Seems to be very little damage to the car, none to the truck. Lucky this time. Was able to get 450 miles this tankful, and that was without using the cruise for a few hours last night, those numbers make it look like they shorted me a couple of gallons when I picked up the car. I cost me under $20 difference between the car and the bus, and I'm home over 12 earlier. It's worth it to me. |