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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 18b - New ('02 Demo) Peterbuilt - Garbage
Truck Long Island, NY to Waterloo, IA 10/24/03 - The cab ride was only $10 so it was a very short ride, if the boss hadn't arranged it, we would have asked one of the Avis shuttle drivers for a lift ... the return lot was about as close to the airport as our pickup location was. The customer knew exactly what we were looking for ... and was looking for us on last Monday, and now it was Thursday afternoon. It took us about an hour to do the inspection and load ourselves into the cab. There are two seats in these things and a huge counsel between them full of controls. On the left / passenger side there is enough room for a suitcase on the floor as long as you don't want to put your feet down. On the right / drivers side there is no room ... if you put it on the floor, nothing could go on the floor without the danger of getting in the way so it was only the front dash and the armrest area. I only carry my backpack and a plastic grocery bag with some food in it that I can throw away as / if needed ... this guy has a huge brief case, a small soft-side cooler and a huge suitcase with rollers ... I could have lived with that suitcase under my feet, but knowing it was going to be in the way for the next two days, he decides to strap it to the out side of the truck ... that took a while, there are not a lot of flat spots on a side-pick garbage truck ... he finally settled on a spot right behind the driver, and strapped it on with the two bunggy cords the he had been using to hold the mudflaps on the last truck. A quick check with dispatch and we are ready to go ... now they have two trucks ready going to GA when we get to IA ... this location had opened at seven, it is now after one, meaning we are six hours later than planned, it will also make for long days ... the drop locations is only open until 5 pm. The trip is twenty hours, we can run from 1 - 11pm today and then 7 to 5 pm tomorrow, no problem right? Good news, depending on where we pick up these demo's, the truck can have as little as a gallon of fuel or ... we are lucky this thing is half full so we are going to go-o-o-o off this island as quick as possible. We had been watching for diesel stations just in case and there was one within a mile, does make things a little easier when two minds are focused in the same direction. We're off on the same trail that got us here, so ... as was an hour ago ... there were not any traffic delays, and our luck holds ... traffic is not bad until we get to the bridges ... toll bridges, one costs $4.50 ... the other $8 ... but the Washington bridge is free?? Dispatch was adding a few perks on this trip ... they covered the $10 cab ride (it all helps) and threw in $30 to cover toll (which came to $39 this trip). Once past the bridges the traffic was moving good and the other driver decided to drive the rest of the day and I would cover tomorrow ... that way we wouldn't have to move our stuff from one side of the truck to the other. Total trip was just under 1,200 miles but due to the late start we opted for only doing 500+ miles today ... that would put us in a motel by about 11pm. (it would also leave 700 for me tomorrow). Sometime after dark we see a few SNOW flakes and soon there is enough you can see it on the shoulder of the road ... that's why it feels a little cooler than the near 80 we had a couple of days ago. When I called dispatch from our pickup location they said there were two trucks in IA heading to GA when we would get in Friday night ... we both said 'no' to that one ... we had only planned on being out three days, already it was going to be a long four days. A few hours later dispatch calls again ... how about picking up a (single) truck in IA and delivering it in WI before coming home? Both of us wanted to be home by Friday night and the end of the day for dispatch came before they had all the details and before we really decided, but neither of us was really interested. The driver is watching the miles and decides Youngstown on the eastern edge of of OH is going to be our stop. As we we get to the exit I recognize the motels ... this exit has a "Tallyho" motel which advertises room $29. For two of us it would cost $38.80 after taxes. But they do make you put down $5 for the room key and another $5 for the remote which we get back when we check out ... they also have signs saying you will be charged for any items that are missing from the room. Not a bad place, better than most of the Knights Inn's and 1st Inn's I've stayed at ... even better than some Days Inns and Super 8's. After two nights without supper we call the only place still open ... Pappa John's ... and they deliver. By the time they deliver it is after Midnight ... I thought the 'big guy' would finish off most of it, I usually only have a piece or two ... but he's watching his weight and would only eat as many pieces as I had ... so we each had three and threw the other two in the 'fige for breakfast. 10/25/03 - The wake up call comes after a few short hours and it's time to go ... by the time we have the truck inspected and fueled we can legally head out. Having someone to talk to does make the time go faster, it also cuts your pay in half. We usually wait until after 10 to call dispatch ... knowing how long it takes for them to get the morning crew out of there ... The other driver knew what his answer on the WI trip was .... 'no' ... I've done those 'less than eight hour runs before ... and by the time I'm back I've spent over 24 hours and only made $30. With two drivers the best this would pay would be $45 each, if the trucks flat on 'E' or ANYTHING happens it would be less ... and we'd not be home on Saturday. Anyhow, the other driver calls dispatch ... gives him something to do when not driving ... and tells them 'get me home' ... when we left they had said they would 'have a ride' for us ... when he won't take the IA truck, they start telling him the bus schedule (which only runs once a day and will get him home later than taking the truck) ... Then dispatch wants to talk directly to me ... since yesterday I've talked to home and no events are planned so now for me it's more a money issue for me ... they tell me they REALLY need help on this one ... and remind me they'll still pay for the rental car even if it's only me ... I ask I'll get any 'fuel surcharge' money, if they REALLY need help, let's make it pay for both of us ... they throw a few more $$$ in and I agree to take it. Now we have to get the other (unhappy) driver home ... we had expected a driver in IA to pick us up Friday night, now with a truck there that was not about to happen and he was on his own. We had three choices, dropping him in the Quad cities, Waterloo or Madison ... Madison was the least time on the bus, but it would get him in before 5 am Saturday and rides aren't always easy to find at that hour ... the other choices would get him in mid-day but require up to 12 hours on the bus ... if we made it by the departure time. After a few hours of stewing about the new situation, dispatch called back with another truck about an hour from our IA drop that would get the driver home in about six hours. At this point we still thought we would be in by about 5, maybe 6 pm and he'd be home before midnight and I'd be home mid-afternoon Saturday ... But the other driver had been wrong on the miles we had traveled the first day and we now had over 700 to go today ... which meant he would have to drive some to get us there tonight ... and a few more hours to allow me to run with the next truck tonight. Due to adding another leg to this trip, we would have to have our paperwork faxed to us ... being a frequent customer of the Flying J's I know they do this service, so we try to have our paper work faxed to the closest Flying J ... there fax doesn't pickup so we have to have it sent to the Gary, IN location ... one of the most crowded truck-stops we frequent, and now they have road construction besides. Before we get that far, dispatch calls again and says there will be two faxes ... now they want be to 'stop by the shop' for a few minutes once I pickup the truck. We get to the Flying J, may as well stop for fuel also ... I run in and get the paperwork but they can only find the first set, the bills of lading ... wanting to get past Chicago as fast as possible I opt not to call dispatch until we are on the road and have them fax the second set of paperwork to the next Flying J. None of the fuel lanes have moved in 15 minutes so we back around the trucks and head back out on the highway. On a recent trip we were at a dead stop back at the 12 mile marker in IN ... we pulled of at exit 9 and traffic is still moving well. We had planned on switching drivers before Chicago ... it was my hours after all, he had done his yesterday ... but with our fast get away he was still driving ... this worked out fine, he grew up in Chicago and started to drive like he lived there. At first he said he was going to stay in the center lane but soon decided to go for the right lane and pulling over on any entrance ramps to gain that extra half mile when we could ... so we spent very little time at a dead stop. But we were still hours behind ... instead of 5 or 6 tonight, it looked like we would get in between 8 and 9. Time for a break and some fuel, from here we should make it 'home.' This was TA / Travel America ... not much for cold sandwiches and not much for service in the restaurant ... the other driver tried to order a quick sandwich from the restaurant ... he was ignored until he interrupted their personal conversation and they pointed he to someone who disappeared before he got to them, and never came back out for the next ten minutes ... so it was another junk food meal. Back in the drivers seat it was just about dark ... another day later and it will be getting dark at about 5. A few miles down the road and it starts to rain, another hour down the road we decide we'd better get his luggage inside the truck somehow ... so we stop at a gas station, pull under the canopy and make it fit. We're here, now to find out what the second fax was about ... when I had called about the second fax they said they would fax it to the pickup location and it would be in the truck ... I soon found out why. This 'stop by the shop' was not at the customer, it was a 30-45 minute repair. We lock up the truck and we are on to leg three .... Trip 18c New Peterbuilt - Garbage Truck Waterloo, IA to Appleton, WI |