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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 4 - Three trucks in a circle - a round trip,
paid Delivering two Internationals with refers, and Isusi with a box. Today is June 18, 2003 I've been sitting for 4 days, no loads ... and fewer for the drivers that only have a Class C licence. Finally a run, actually 3 short runs in the next 24 hours, and most of the miles would be in America's dairy land. The day starts with a day hour shuttle to the first pickup spot, delayed as usual waiting for paperwork and then the driver who needs to fuel. I'd be spending the next day with another driver, sometimes driving sperate vehicles, sometimes sharing a ride. We pick up our first two trucks and head another two hours to a drop spot. This time it's no interstate and mostly two lane highway, an interesting change. At our first drop we also pick up our second truck, same as the first except this one has been detailed. Doesn't make sense to put their logo on the side of the delivery truck saying ... "It's not delivery, it's ..." Anyhow on this leg of our trip we had to ride together and share the driving for the next four plus hours. America's dairyland is not what it used to be ... it looked like only 1 out of every 10 farms was still used as dairy, but when / where I started counting it was more like 1 out of 5. Still not what it used to be, and seems to be a waste to see all those big barns and silos sitting empty. All those hundreds of thousands of dollar to build them most weren't even used for 50 years but many will stand for another 50 to 100 years. And you know you are way out in the country when you go by place after place where every thing that was ever owned is sitting in the front yard. Cars, trucks, tractors, implements, household appliances, all parked or pushed where ever there was an open spots ... just far enough off the highway so the snowplow doesn't hit them. And you are in a small town when ... your Cheverlet dealer is also your towns only full service gas station. And where your two state highways meet in downtown, you have a fourway stop sign. Riding, not driving can be a nice break but it means you're not making money ... but it also means you are not on the Greyhound, rental car or taxi. Hadn't seen this driver before so I asked him a few questions ... seems he had been off work for a month "after having a fight with his girlfriend." OK, that was more than I wanted to know ... time to get some shut eye. Dispatch had given us the wrong directions, address to our next pickup. We went to the main office, our pick-ups were at a remote location. Just as well, this guy closed the gate as soon as we got there and there was not a good place to park our extra vehicle. At the correct location our trucks were setting right out front with the keys in them. No gates and they didn't care how long we left them once we signed for them. Now for the time wasting shuttles ... we still needed to deliver our second truck which meant taking one of these trucks along so we had a ride back to the other drivers truck. (Dispatch is good about logging all the steps on paper ... it's a good thing, this other driver still didn't know which truck we were going to leave at this location while we shuttled.) The next drop is an hour and a half away ... I had called the guy early in the day who told me everyone would be gone by 6 pm. He did agree to meet us about 9, I'm sure we were interrupting his evening ... and he was even less happy when he found out there were not any licence plates on it and he wouldn't be able to use it anytime soon. We got to the drop a few minutes early and he was a few minutes late, he had gotten halfway there and realized he had forgotten his keys. But he was glad to see the truck, he didn't have a spare so if another one broke down he'd have a run that wouldn't get serviced. Guess originally we were to take his spare back to where we had picked up his new truck ... but that truck had quit completely. He signed off, I grabbed a sandwich from the convience store next door and we were on our way. (How much chicken has to be in a sandwich for them to call it a 'chicken salad sandwich?) I hopped in with the other driver and headed the hour and a half back to my third truck. We spent an extra three hours and put an extra 150 miles on two trucks so that we could do our little shuttle ... making the best use of the vehicles available I guess. During that hour and a half the other driver first asked if I had arranged our pickup after our last drop tomorrow, and was looking for motel's along the way as there was no place to sleep in his truck. But by the time we made it back to my truck he changed his plans, the dispatchers plans and the rules ... and said he would (fix his books and) complete the rest of the run tonight, another six hours. He dropped me off and he was gone. My last truck was a little Izusu with a box, didn't run too bad but being a cabover there wasn't room for me legs to hang straight down because the seat is on top of the wheel. I had seen a truck stop a few miles from where we picked up the truck and parked there. Full house, I could barely make it between the trucks not sure how the next 53 footer was going to get thorough. By this time the restaurant was fairly quiet so I parked in the 'auto parking only' area. And as usual had one of the overhead lights shining in my face. I was just an inch too tall to sleep in the cab, my feet were tight to one door, my head to the other. Oh well, another night with my legs bent ... cheaper than a motel. Did sleep fairly good, five or six hours in a truck is a long time. Waited out my eight hours and was on my way. I know stopping every couple of hours would do me good, but that doesn't happen very often. Wanted to get a little over half way before I stopped for fuel, as I was paying on this one. Was only going to put in enough to get me the rest of the way and hopefully not have to stop again. But staring right at the pump, I just kept right on a pumping ... just not getting enough sleep. Oh well, looks like I am giving the customer an extra $10 -20 in fuel. Not that I lost money on this trip but you hate to leave any money on the table. The tank had been almost full and I originally had thought I would make it without stopping. That would have made it a great run ... no expenses and more income in 24 hours than I have made in most weeks since I've started. Dispatch was wanting to know what I knew about the other driver, he had left the truck at the office and now dispatch had to find a driver to get it to the customer ... "I know nothing." The most exciting thing on the last leg of this trip was seeing a deer and her two little fawns in the median of the freeway. Not sure how they got there or how they were going to get out of there alive. They were in an area where there were a number of trees in the median and maybe the mother could keep them there alive until they were old enough to jump the fence. At one point I saw a cop in the median and reacted immediately ... then realized I WAS driving the speed limit, and the only vehicle I had passed in the last two hours was a motor home ... pulling a boat ... going up hill. The final drop was in my home area and I thought the address look familiar, so why bother asking directions? I was right, within a couple of miles, but I couldn't find it and had to call me wife to do a quick check on the Internet. As she started giving me directions, I finally knew why the address was familiar ... The drop location was across the street from the largest LTL carrier in this area, I had seen the address on those salesman's business cards for the last 20 years. My ride was there and waiting, as was a driver for the second truck, they had managed to grab a driver who stopped by the office and got him in the truck. Dispatch had been talking to me about another 'loop' run to leave on right away, but the paint was not dry yet on the trucks yet so the run would have to wait. But the other truck's on the loop couldn't wait and dispatch had to scramble to get a driver who was already out to cover them. |