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| On the Way Home ... ...My Life as 'Drive away' driver |
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Trip 3 - Breakdowns and other alterted
plans Delivering both a GMC single axel with a refer box to TN, ... AND a 'load-all' garbage truck to TN ... AND heading right back out with another GMC refer to ND Today is June 9, 2003 ...today someone posted an on-line message looking for stories about a worst trip, I hadn't had one ... yet. This story should really start Friday, I had stopped in to pick up my check (which is a whole 'nother story) and dispatch wanted me to wait and talk to the other driver I would be running with on this run. Talking to the other drivers that were coming and going, and having time to kill I decided to do a quick check on my truck. Good thing I did, it was on 'E' to the point I didn't know if the gauges were working, this was a used truck with a new / rebuilt box. So I fueled. After seeing what dispatch wanted us to, it kept going over in my mind Friday night so finally on Saturday AM I had to make my own little 'cheat sheet' of when we were going to be where and a time log. I had wanted to be home by Thursday to see our grandson who we hadn't seen in about six months. It looked like we had about eight hours to spare if all went as planned. Or as I had planned ... I already wanted to change dispatch's plan to buy the other driver another 3-4 hours of legal driving time, even though it would cost me an extra $50 for the motel I would have to stay at. Time to leave, had not talked to the other driver since Friday, and he shows up 15 minutes after we were supposed to be ready to roll, already cutting into our tight time table. And ... someone has locked the area where we are supposed to park our cars, if we park them anywhere else within a 1/4 mile they will be towed. So I had to call a couple of people to come and get my car. I was luckier than those whose cars were locked in, coming home after a week or two on the road and finding out you can't leave until the next AM ... for me it could have been worse. Also, good thing I fueled on Friday, the closest station was closed and I would have been sitting until the next morning. As we are inspecting our trucks, it starts to rain so that we are well soaked by the time we finally climb into our cab's and head out. We now have seven hours to spare over the next four days. We headed out, the other guy in the lead. He's an older guy, retired, been doing this for the last four years. We're on the interstate and once the traffic clears, he starts pushing his speed to the maximum grace of the law and then some. I try to hold fairly steady ... some times I'm gaining on him, sometimes he's loosing me, which is normal for following someone for hours at a time. After a couple of hours his speed drops to the speed limit, so I guess there must be cops ahead. I don't see any but keep the speed down ... now at times he is 10 mph below the speed limit. This is going to be one interesting trip, either this guy is going to be driving very unpredictably or, he has problems that he's not stopping for. Because I still wasn't sure if my fuel gauges worked, or what kind of milage I would be getting on this old truck, we had agreed to stop at the first Flying J's we got to which was now about a half hour away. At the truckstop, I went for the propane tank, he went for the shop. "SORRY, we can't fill your tank we don't have anyone on duty qualified." That was good to know, as sometimes we run these tanks to almost 'E' to get to the next Flying J. Not a good idea. They told me there was a BP a mile away that also had propane, so I found the other driver who told me he was having transmission problems and told him I'd be back in a bit. More great news, the BP has a sign in the window saying "Propane service from 9 am - 7 pm," and it was now past 8 pm ... doesn't hurt to ask, and someone was still on duty who could help me. This wasn't critical as it looked like I still had a 1/2 of tank of fuel, but it was nice something was worked out. Meanwhile the other driver was not having such a good day. The transmission had stopped working about 30 miles back, then worked on and off for a few miles before quitting completely. It was stuck in drive, so it took some rpm's to get going once he stopped it ... and then made the mistake of pulling the front of the truck up against the building, so they had to use a fork lift to move him out into the parking lot. More good news, the guys at Flying J would not touch it. It was a computer problem, there is not any linkage on these new trucks, all computers ... that and it was still under warranty, less than three hundred miles on it. So he calls the companies 800 number and dispatch. Dispatch pretty much told him to get it to a shop and after a couple of hours quit answering the phone. The 800 number wasn't much more help, told us the name and number of a dealer two hours in the direction we were going and a second we went by an hour ago. However, it was Sunday night and no one would be open until Monday morning. There was one dealer in the US open 24/7, but they were in Nashville ... he was on the phone trying to reach them for almost two hours also, and the closest he got to help was being put on hold ... the rest of the time it would just ring. Thousands of trucks on the road, and no help desk to tell us what our next step should be. Midnight, we finally called it a night as it was obvious nothing was going to happen till the AM. Dispatch was wondering why I wasn't going ahead ... but wouldn't tell me I should. My thoughts were that this truck was not going to be fixed anytime soon, and the other driver would need a ride to his next truck. Another night to try and sleep in a truck. I had noticed this truck was dirty inside when I picked it up, ash everywhere. I had wiped a lot of it off, but as I got ready to get some sleep I noticed my bag and everything was covered again. Just the bouncing of the road was putting that stuff into the air. June 10, 2003 I did sleep for a couple of hours, then must have woke up when the truck next to me pulled out. I lay there a little while until another truck pulled in next to me, or tried to. He pulled partway in, then backed out ... then pulled ahead again, and I felt my truck rock twice, then four times. He hit my truck and kept on going!?! Once he stopped, I got out to look at the damage and couldn't find any, I'm guessing it was his tires rubbing against my bumper. But how does a driver hit a truck hard enough to rock it, and never even get out of the cab to see what happened? No damage done, so I left him alone. An hour later he was gone. We had called the shop ahead of us and knew that they would open at seven, so that is when I got up. The other driver had been up since six and had already eaten by the time I got in to the restaurant. From what he said, he was pretty much up all night ... two bucket seats aren't much for sleeping in. Finally, shortly before seven he did get a hold of the dealer ahead of us ... only to be told we would have to go to the other dealer, it was closer and the manufacture would only pay to the closest dealer. We tried calling a tow truck but no one would touch it when they found out it was under warranty, those orders could only come from the dealer. The second dealer didn't start answering their phone till after seven, but 12 hours after we broke down we were finally getting some where. They would have to call for the tow, and we were soon told it was on its way. A couple hours later we were told the same, by now dispatch had finally told us to leave the truck and ride together to the next truck. Another half hour went by and we decided not to wait for the tow ... we were now in danger of missing the other drivers second pick-up. 14 hours after the problems began, we were on our way. The hours were uneventful, finally. A couple of U-turns only blocks from our next truck, we finally found it. And what a find it was ... a garbage truck, one of those cab-over trucks where the cab is out in front of the front tires. The other driver thought it was amusing ... It was my truck. He had driven them before and wasn't making any offers to drive this one. The original plan (before the breakdown) was to "store" my first truck somewhere for a couple of days while I delivered this second truck. But now the other driver could follow in my first truck which would save me a few hours later this week. This truck looked like it was going to be a treat to drive, it had a steering wheel and some controls on both sides. For other functions there was only one set of controls located behind/between the drivers. It was distracting at first seeing the other steering wheel turning when I did, but you soon get used to it. Another mistake, the other guy had asked directions but asked me to lead the way back to the Interstate. I did lead, missing the the Interstate and US highway signs ending up on a two lane road through the corn fields. We were going the right direction, it was just that we spent an extra half hour driving on side roads when we could have been on the Interstate. Soon we were at another Flying J's, for fuel. We were now cutting it close on picking up the other drivers second truck before they closed. And we were off again, 60 mph, petal the the metal. It was a good thing this garbage truck had cruise, about 10 minutes standing on the gas was all I could handle ... I think these petals were made for standing on, not holding down as you sat. We had planned on storing my second truck at a truck stop, but we were up against the clock and had to park it in a vacant lot next to some highway equipment. The idea behind all this storing of trucks was to cut down on our back or deadhead miles. But it also eats up a lot of time. When we finally got into the right little town in central IL, we found the right street but went north instead of south until we ran out of road ... and found a cop. He was able to send us on our 'correct' way and we got their within a couple minutes of close time. Really don't like cutting things this close, miss a cut off and you are delayed 8-12-16 hours until they re-open, and it throws the rest of the trip off. Not sure what kind of a close time this was ... we were there an hour and a half before he was finally ready to go ... this thing looked uglier to drive than my garbage truck, but did ride a little nicer so we would use his truck to "store" my first truck / the one he had been driving. The idea was to store it at an airport an hour away, this way it would be only steps away when I returned my rental car. (Confused yet? That is why I had to put it all down on paper before I left.) So we pull these two trucks into this little airport ... I can't read, and try to get the 'out' gate to lift, have to back up and go in the correct gate, hit the curb and have to back up again. During this time the other driver is backing around on the highway, then walking around looking at his truck trying to find out what it is / what it does. I do get through the gate, but there is no ticket, nothing to say when I checked in. As I back into a parking spot with my truck, I see a security person running my direction ... this could get interesting. Some airports are really watching. But, he was chasing down some people who were going the wrong way past the main doors of the airport. Not realizing this I headed twords him and we met by the offending car. It was obvious these people were confused so he let them turn around and they headed off. By now the security truck is coming out, lights flashing, to see what is going on ... Yes, they were watching, they also were trying to figure out what this other guys truck was for, so they looked at it a while and sent us on our way. And no, there is no charge for parking, and they didn't seem to care how long it would sit there. Four hours after we arrived at the manufacture, we arrive back in the same town to pick up my garbage truck. Four hours, zero miles gained. The other driver offers to share a room at the Motel 6, I take him up on it, it gets the cost down to under $25 each. Neither of us had a truck we could sleep in. Another small town, and more friendly people. Both the Shell truck stop and the Motel 6 had gals under the age of 25 who polite and friendly ... it does stand out when you only see that once every week or two. I was dead tired, and this would cut into my eight hours of rest but I was starved. The Subway had closed while I fueled, sort of the way my luck was running this week. But there was also a restaurant that would be open for almost another half hour ... I ordered an omelet and gulped it down, 4 am was going to be coming early. June 11, 2003 Usually I would request a wake up call, just in case, but sharing a room with a guy who wasn't going to get up till 7 I didn't. And like clockwork I was awake at 3:45. This is where we were to part ways, he was going to Idaho and I was going to TN. If it had been daylight I would have taken a picture of these two 'unusual' looking vehicles, but at 4 am I didn't have enough flash to even try. The morning was uneventful, with a beautiful light show to the west, pretty close to non-stop lightning. By midmorning it started to rain ... and rain ... and rain. And I was getting low on fuel. Pulled off the Interstate a few times, but no one had diesel ... glad I wasn't looking for propane. Finally as the gauge was barely bouncing there was a sign for a "truckstop." One diesel pump with no canopy, and it was still pouring. Sixty plus gallons later I soaked, fueled and ready to go. Somewhere along this last stretch of highway in IL, I just missed witnessing another accident. I could see the trucks hit their brakes, pull to the right and stop. I stayed in the left lane until I could see the car which by then was moving. Looked like it was a single car crash on the bridge, must have lost control in the rain. A passenger got out to look at the damage before they pulled off the bridge to the side of the road. A UPS truck and another truck pulled off behind them, they would have been the two with the front row seats. I'm surprised I didn't see more accidents for as often as I felt like I was hydro-planing. It was also along this stretch that I was bounced out of the seat a couple of times, good thing I always wear my seat belt. Not sure who made the repairs along that highway but the state should get a refund. They main roadway was concrete and 12 x 12 sections had been cut out and replaced as they often do. However these 'replaced' sections were sinking to the point some of them had mud in these sinkholes. I'm not a big fan of all the OSAH rules ... but the older I get, the more I notice people doing stupid things. This time it was someone on a road crew ... at one of the many bridges they are repairing, the freeway was down to one narrow lane while they worked on the other lane and shoulder. With traffic flying by at 55 mph, here was a guy balancing on the concrete median as he worked on some road equipment. I doubt if there was a foot between him and the trucks going by ... one slip of the foot and you wouldn't have been able to tell him from the bugs on somebody's bumper. Illinois has a their own angle on getting your attention, as shown at the top of this page. Some same 'Daddy' others say 'Mommy' and they are signed by many different kids ... I've seen other similar signs, but none other 'signed' with kids names. Finally a half hour out of Nashville I drove out of the rain and stopped at a rest area. Five minutes at the rest area and the storm had caught up to me again. Usually my directions say "## miles to Hwy #, exit ##." But these current directions did not have an exit number ... and I never found the exit, finally exited five miles down the road on another state highway. Got me to the next highway I needed to be on, but it was all road construction ... as is every 4 lane highway in Nashville. Missing that exit cost me about another half hour, I was no longer trying to be back by Thursday PM but I was trying to stay ahead of the rain. Once I was on the right highway it only took a couple of U-turns to find the right exit and the right company. They came out to look it over ... as I was watching the dark clouds roll in. It took the usual half hour to get things signed and on my way again. One of the guys was nice enough to give me a ride to the airport where I would pick up a rental car. By the time he told the office where he was going, it had started to rain. It was coming down in buckets, the radio stations were playing the warnings from the National Weather Forecast (NWF) center. Another Avis oneway rental and I was on my way, would have gone a little quicker if they could have found where my dispatcher had reserved my car. Instead I had to put in on my credit card, not that big of deal but sometimes they don't have oneway rentals which is why dispatch is usually takes care of it for us ahead of time. Driving in a strange city in rush hour ... in the rain. Could have been worse according to the radio, seems the TN DOT was going to do a little blasting to prevent possible future rock slides along one of the Interstate's. Instead of closing the highway for an hour as planned, it would be closed for at least the rest of the day ... (did someone put the decimal point in the wrong place on how much explosives to use??) Luckily some radio station in IL did not have their emergency broadcast warning set right, so every time the NWF would release an update it would play right over the music. There was another storm coming in fast, I only recognized one of the city names and it was still ahead of me. Soon I could see the dark clouds rolling in fast and within minutes a blast of wind hit the truck ahead of me, the top started tipping and he was on the shoulder. He regained control, got back in his lane and hit the exit a quarter mile away. Within two minutes the rain was coming down so hard you couldn't hardly see the car ahead of you. I pulled off under the overpass, someone else was backing down the highway to park in front of me, others pulled behind me on the side of the road. A few cars and trucks continued to go past us, slowly with their fourway flashers on. In less than 10 minutes the car had stopped rocking from the wind and I could see the exit ramp across the highway which was about an eighth of a mile away, clear enough for me so I pulled out from between the cars and was on my way. Ended up driving the next hour with wipers on high and top speeds of 50-55. Had to keep the wipers on til I was about an hour away from my truck ... but all this driving under the speed limit had cost me so much time I was in danger of not getting to the car rental place before they closed. If I missed the cut of I would have to wait til the morning, delaying me about eight hours. I made it, with ten minutes to spare ... cutting everything way to close this trip. Told the gal at the counter about the wonderful weather I had to drive through. She started asking questions about when / where because she lived about an hour and a half south, the direction I had come from. Didn't think of asking her then, but how bad are the jobs, when you have to drive an hour and a half to to work at a ticket counter? I had hoped to log another couple of hours in my truck before shutting down for the night, but by now I was beat and needed a motel. Everything in town was $60+ but I had seen a sign about five miles away for $34 ... "those rooms were rented" but I did get one for $45. Looked like it had been a major hotel in it's day, pool, restaurant, etc. But now it looked like someone was trying to make a couple of bucks on it before it was torn down. Room was fine and I took a much needed eight hours of rest. June 12, 2003 A seven o'clock wake up call was late for me, but much needed. The rest of this trip in the truck was mostly uneventful. The only catch was I couldn't find anyone at the destination who wanted to help me out. I had started calling the day before, I didn't want to be waiting until the last minute, I've had enough unknowns on this trip. Did get ahold of someone on my first call, who said that my main contact only worked from 4 am until noon ... and I hoped to get in late in the evening. But there was a second person I could talk to if I called back in an hour. I called back in an hour, and a dozen times after that and got a recording. Finally this morning I did get my main contact who thought the mechanic may help me out, but I wouldn't be able to reach him until late in the afternoon. Here I was again ... not knowing what my schedule would be, would I be stuck in Knoxville until 4 am / 7 am until I could get a car? Or would I be on my way yet tonight? The Interstate coming into Knoxville from the north has some beautiful country, just not used to being above the clouds. Here and there you could still see the concrete where an old highway used to go around the hills and the 4 lane was now going through them. An old farm truck pulling a horse trailer had passed me on the climb, then later I passed them on the side of the road ... pumping fuel from the tanks in the truck box into the truck tank. Helps to have a spare. Saw a couple of interesting things reguarding the rest area's ... Some were only big enough for a dozen trucks but there was one that could have held about 100. Then there was the rest area that had this sign next to the exit sign "Do not pick up hitchhikers, Prison area." Great place for a rest area. Heard a song on one of the southern country western station called "If the south would have won." Guess there is a reason it hasn't been a nationwide hit. Now that I'm back listening to the radio ... it hasn't taken long to find out which are today's hits, that's the ones you hear every hour on every country station anywhere in the country. Finally contacted the mechanic two hours out of town, he was willing to meet me, sign off on the truck and get me to the airport. Four miles from my exit, the sky opened up again. Cars were hiding under the overpasses and I couldn't hardly see the road. Almost got off on the wrong exit during this downpour, one of those exits where if you stay in the lanes that used to be the freeway you exit. I was under the overhead sign when I could finally read it, or at least see that the Interstate signs were not pointing where I was heading. Then roads had changed at my exit so another U-turn and a good look at the map and I was going again. Pulled into my destination right on time. The downpour had let up but it was still raining and it kept raining for at least the next four hours. More minor delay's, at the airport the Avis computer had been down all day so everything had been done on paper until about an hour earlier. This time dispatch had made the reservation, and Avis could find it ... but they had given my car to someone else because they couldn't find those people's car. So at first they assigned the 'phantom' car to me, but they still couldn't find it. So they had to do a manual walk through to see what they did have. They were down to two one-way rental cars, I ended up with a Pontic van. I now had 24 hours to get home. The good news should have been that the speed limit was 70 mph. Should have been, but I was tired, it was raining, and I was driving in the 'mountains,' up and down and all curves. I should have just stayed in one of those $20 motels before I turned in the truck, or even now before leaving town but I didn't. I wanted to knock off a few hours tonight so I didn't have to drive 16 hours tomorrow. To keep going I set short goals, usually an hour apart, a stop for gas, food, rest stop. Tonight is was mile maker KY 41, when I came through with the truck earlier today I had seen a Rax Roast Beef place. I hadn't seen one of those in at least five years, used to be one of my favorite places. (Guess one of their sandwiches was the first thing I asked for when coming to after surgery almost 20 years ago.) I wasn't making any good time tonight, I may have hit 70 mph for a few seconds all night. Which mean I was going to be cutting into my sleep hours, not a good trade off. I finally made it to exit 41, only to find Rax closed, I missed them by an hour. Arbey's was next door so I still had roast beef, not a good choice. There is a reason I usually buy the small McD's hamburger, this sandwich was sliding out of the bun. By the time I was done, there was roast beef on the seat, sauce on the steering wheel, and a huge piece of aluminum wrapper in my mouth. Not a good feeling on my fillings. I try to keep a clean vehicle and my ORIGINAL plan was to never eat in any of the vehicles, that didn't last long, always being up against the clock. I do try to stick with only drinking water, in bottles with screw on caps, and it was a good thing tonight. Problem was, with the cup holders in the van I decided to make things easier on my driving and opened the water before I left the parking lot instead of only having it open when I was drinking. Sure enough, I hit a pot hole in the Arby's parking lot and the bottle bounced out of the holder. I reach around in the dark and pick it up ... upside down. Now to get my stuff off the floor before everything is soaked. I though the sandwich would buy me another a couple of hours driving, took me about a half hour to finish off the sandwich which is normal for me. The sandwich kept me awake while eating but that was about it, maybe a stop at the next rest area would wake me up. Nope, got back to the van, looked at the passenger seat, then the middle seats and the back seat, no place on the floor so I settled for the passenger seat. With making a couple of phone calls, two stops and a lot of slow driving I had only made about 100 miles in the first 3 hours of my rental. I needed sleep. Did manage to get almost six hours, only waking up a few minutes to try find a more comfortable position. June 13, 2003 As I "lay" there a few minutes trying to wake up, it starts to rain ... must have quit sometime during the night as the windshield was dry. It was now 5 am and I had 15 hours to get 12 hours distance. This shouldn't be a problem as by pushing the speed limit I can usually beat Rand McNally's estimates. Most of the hills were behind me but by the time I was awake enough to push past the speed limit I was out of KY and the speed limit was down to 65 mph. With three hours to spare I should have time for a couple of eat brakes, fuel brakes and any road construction and rush hour traffic I may hit... Wrong. I had planned on stopping at the first M'cD's or Burger King I found after 8 am. But ... before 9 I was at a dead stop. The only movement we were getting was when someone would make a U-turn in the median ... not something I was going to try after all the rain they've been getting. I was sort of hoping to see a couple of those guys get stuck in the mud up to their axels. But then a sqaud came and sat in the 'emergency only / U-turn area' and that put an end to that. Another thing I learned is just because there is an accident doesn't mean everyone else gets a free ride, saw a Safety-Kleene truck get pulled over within a mile of the accident. As I sat there I also saw a half dozen CF / Consolidated Freightways trucks heading south ... someone must have bought a few. (CF was was of the three largest carriers in the US before going bankrupt last year.) The freeway was closed due to an accident. They finally routed us off the freeway and around the accident. An hour and a half later I had gone about 5 miles and was moving again. I now had only an hour and a half over the next 9 hours, and I hadn't stopped to eat. In times like these you need to remember, this was only an inconvenience, for someone else it was either a serious tragedy or the end of a life. Now it was time for some serious time management ... no morning break, I had emergency rations in my pack. My water was almost gone after spilling it last night, but I did have a juice box and a 'toaster pastry.' They may be shaped like Pop Tarts, and packaged like Pop Tarts, but unless they are Pop Tarts they don't taste like Pop Tarts. But they were what I had, so they had to do. Barely out of the accident and the traffic slowed again ... this time we were hours behind the accident and they were just doing the final clean up. At first I thought the truck trailer was so badly damaged that they were cutting it apart. But it was a roll of steel that had come off the trailer when it rolled. Not sure how much those things weigh, but you only see one or two on a trailer at a time. I had stated to push the speed limit to gain another hour leeway, and saw that if I could get over half the miles out of this first tankful I would only have to make one fuel stop. If I was running on propane or diesel I would not have tried this, but with gas there were stations every 10-20 miles. I was soon down to E, and had made it over halfway. Now to find a stop with both gas and food to save time, found it a Shell and McD's in the same building. Topped the tank all the way off, took a much needed restroom break, and walked into McD's. "Opening Soon" ... all the signs were up with a small note on the door. So much for good planning. There was a Burger King across the street so in a few extra minutes I was on the Interstate again. I would hit Chicago around noon, at least it wasn't rush hour. Still traffic was at a dead stop, which has to be expected in that town. But after a half hour of stop and slow go, we were past the toll booths and moving. Boy were we moving. I knew I had more road construction so I still needed to make good time when I could. The speed limit says 55 ... I pulled to the left in the middle of some people going ... let's just say if we had gotten stopped you would have had to been a judge or an officer of the law to get out from those speeding tickets. Flying along in the left lane, and still whenever there was a break in either of the right two lanes someone would try to pass us. Somewhere in-between toll booths we caught up to an 'oversized load.' I didn't think about it at the time, but I have no idea how this guy got there / how he got past the toll booths ... He was driving down the center of two lanes followed by an escort car in each lane followed by a state patrol with lights flashing. Besides being two lanes wide, this "crate" was about 20 feet high and was on a truck with 18 axles / 72 tires plus the front tires. Luckily the people in the other two lanes seemed content to follow so there wasn't much traffic merging to slow us down. As we left Chicago behind us the traffic thinned and we slowed to a more legal speed. And then we were at a dead stop. Again. Another hour and a half to go under ten miles. This time they were finally cleaning up an accident that had happened this morning (per the Chicago traffic report). It was a Heartland truck, they were dragging what was left of the trailer onto a flatbed and the tractor was behind a towtruck. No tires left on the tractor and the radiator cap was about a foot from where the windshield should have been. If anything gets me off this job other than money, it will be being an eyewitness to too many of these accidents. ... If that last delay wasn't bad enough, we passed a few vehicles that had overheated sitting there with the air running for all that time. That last delay did me in ... I could no longer make the car rental place before my 24 hours was up, so add another $100 dollars to the cost of this trip. Time to do my twice daily check-in to dispatch, boy were they glad to hear from me (for once.) Seems the truck we had abandon four days ago was now ready and I was the closest. Even better news, there was an Avis location between here and the truck, I could turn in my car before my 24 hours was up, cab it to the truck and get paid for the rest of the way home. Unfortunately there was more road construction and stop and go traffic and I finally turned in the rental car with only 10 minutes left on my grace period. This truck was still going to TN, but I didn't want to be gone over Father's Day so I headed back to the office with it. Did have to wait about 20 minutes to make the pickup, the only guy who could release the truck was on the phone trying to explain to someone what "CASH ONLY" basis means. He was talking to a nationwide company who now had one of their trucks / drivers sitting for the night because they hadn't been paying their bills. Things like this can really make a drivers day ... As I hit the Intestate I could hear 'splat, splat, ping' ... the June Bugs were out thick that night, looked like I had followed a flock of geese. Another plus about picking up this truck, instead of having someone meet me at the airport in the middle of the night I would now "secure" this truck close to my house, sleep in my own bed to night and still have it to the office tomorrow before they opened. June 14, 2003 Friday the 13th, after how things have gone this week this should be my lucky day. There was a Bismarck truck waiting for me at the office, a nice one day run and be back sometime the next morning. Dispatch wanted to line up a rental car for me but I decided it was a good time to try the bus. That and the bus was a lot cheaper, I needed to have some money left over from this week. The trip out was uneventful, no scales, no accidents, no cops, not even much traffic. Did see one old truck with both stacks "blowing black as coal." There used to be a song about trucks like that. The only problem I did have, was the cell phones out in ND. I was trying to reach the customer who was on a cell and we never seemed to have good service at the same time. I even sat and waited at one exit for a half hour because he was going to "call me right back" when he got better service. He did call me back, an hour later and by then I was rolling again and my service was bad. Did get to listen to the local radio updates ... good thing I was taking the bus, if I had a rental car I would have had to stop in La Moure, ND. According to the radio interview the http://www.toyfarmer.com was having their annual event. Could have cost me a lot of money if I had a way to get there. (I only have roughly a thousand of those little -1/64 - toy tractors and trucks). And you know you're listening to small town radio when the DJ is talking about their garage / yard sale ... and then gives the address. I did have to wait about an hour for the customer to show up, not a problem as I had three hours before the bus was to leave. It was either sit here or at the bus depot, might as well split the time. It's been 15 years since I had ridden the bus and the only change is that they don't seem to stop as often as they used to. Bismarck actually has a depot, you're not just waiting on the side of the road or in front of a drug store. There was close to a dozen of us to be boarding in Bismarck, not a good sign that could mean a full ride. After we board there are only a half dozen seats empty, ever notice how many people "sleep" as people are getting on the bus, but are awake the rest of the time? Another question, do you have more offers for seats if you are right in front of a couple of 300+ pound person? Someone did offer me a seat so I didn't have to push my way in, but he kept the window seat so there whouldn't be much sleep for me. This guy was going from Seattle to Buffalo, NY - a five day journey ... on a bus. Glad I'm in the Central US, not more than 1,500 miles from just about anywhere. He had been laid off from a company who made parts for Boeing and was going to Buffalo to work in a restaurant for a relative. Between his accent and broken English he was a little hard to understand so we didn't talk much and I was going to try get as much sleep as possible ... which felt like about two hours out of the next 10. We had two 10 minute stops and two drive thru's between Bismarck and Fargo, and then 45 minutes off the bus in Fargo so they could clean and refuel. And where I finally broke down and bought a ham / egg mc muffin sandwich out of a vending machine. At every stop over half the people would rush for the exit ... to smoke, so much for a decline in smoking. The bus had a mix of people, a couple of retired couples ... a newly wed (or something) couple ... a family with three pre-teen kids ... a few of us middle aged people and the rest were 18-25, probably heading home from school. Later on in the middle of the night we would pick up an Amish couple of retirement age (do they retire?) and a nun. It was nice not to have any pre-school kids on the bus, my last trip had two women who had six pre-schooler's between them ... traveling from Boston to Seattle. I don't know what it was like for them, but it was one long ride for the rest of us. A little about the stops in case you are ever passing through ... Bismarck - The terminal is a fairly new building in what is supposed to be a transportation 'hub.' The taxi is officed next door as is another bus company. They also have a shuttle that runs twice a day to Minot. It looks to be close to the edge of town, but I wasn't driving so I wasn't watching real close. About a half mile away you can see the towers and fence for one of the state prisons. And ... there isn't any place to eat other than vending machines for miles. Steele, ND - We stop here to switch drivers, it's a little bar / restaurant / hotel ... but someone has advised not eating here, they didn't say why and I didn't ask. The building looks about 50 years old and the parking lot is still gravel ... but if you're passing thru, someone needs to eat there so they keep letting the rest of us use the restrooms. Jamestown, ND - Can only remember the town because we turned by the only Cat farm dealer I have seen. This was a stop at a gas station, and a rush to the restrooms. Unfortunately the isles were not made for 50 people at one time and they should have had one-way signs on them. The cashiers knew how to handle a rush and got us in and out quickly. Fargo, ND - Everyone off - as they needed to fuel and clean the bus. I doesn't look like anything in the waiting area has changed in 40 years except the food in the vending machines. Our gang of smokers were out front amusing themselves by yelling at the people going in and out of the adult book store across the street. We appeared to be somewhere close to downtown, but I didn't even walk to the end of the block to look around. They were re-doing the sideway and I would have had to walk on the street. Sauk Center, MN - Another stop at a gas station and when I saw people running to / from their cars, and then someone wrap themselves in a blanket as they waited for their car to fuel up, I decided to stay on the bus. That, and by now it was 2-3 am and even though I wasn't really sleeping much I was too tired to move. Minneapolis, MN - Another drive switch and bus fueling, the last before Chicago where this bus will turn around and head back to Seattle. Minneapolis has a new terminal in the last few years, right next to a huge parking ramp and city bus stop. This terminal also shares with Jefferson lines, and is supposed to have cooked to order food right in the terminal although I didn't look for it. As usual, I stood outside with the smokers to get some 'fresh air' and stretch my legs. Aaah the interesting sights of the big city, watch where my step ... someone lost their lunch last night. Watch the guy stop by the garbage can, slowly comb his hair, look around, then reach and and grab something to eat. And the all the guys and their packs, as one by one they are kicked out of the Mission to face the day. June 15, 2003 To top off my wonderful week, my ride doesn't get the my bus drop for an hour plus after I do ... but home again, safe at last. |