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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 23 - New Crane - Garbage Truck Used International - Box Waterloo, IA to Pontiac, MI -- and -- Chicago, IL to Saint Cloud, MN 11/24/03 - Because of the weather forecast we had to wait until this AM to call dispatch ... one of the local weather persons had been forecasting up to 16 inches this weekend ... we got about 5. I start calling at 8:15 ... they said they'd get right back to me ... at 10:30 I call again ... finally get someone to tell me to come in at noon. Half way to the office I get a call, "Hold off, we can't find the third driver" ... so back home I went ... this is getting to be a long day, can't start or plan anything, I could have to leave at any time. Finally I get another call, "The third driver is in the hospital with his son ... and we've found another driver, but he can't get to the office until 4 PM." So I get there a little before 4 and the other driver finally shows up at 5 ... but has to stop past home before we leave, finally at 6 PM we head out ... nine hours after we originally were going to leave. This could have been a nice run ... plenty of time to drive and sleep, but no longer the case, and the third driver is known to run long hours, not something I plan on doing. I need to start looking at my paperwork, I understood I was supposed to do the driving so I 'assumed' I was getting paid (more) for it ... not the case, I drove for four hours and got the same flat amount as the other two drivers ... oh well, in most cases I would rather drive than ride anyway. The truck is full of fuel so that is one less thing to slow us down ... it's enough to get us all the way to our pickup location ... they have us using a refer truck as a shuttle truck. This stretch is uneventful, I've been this route before ... the only drawback is for the driver sitting in the middle, not a lot of leg room. Our trucks are all lined up waiting for us ... and I finally understand ... dispatch had been telling me that these trucks are on 'Crane' chassis, and I was expecting a chassis used for a boom type crane ... but after looking at the manual I finally understood ... there is a manufacture of trucks called Crane Carrier Company. By now it is ten o'clock at night ... and it's always fun doing those inspections in the dark ... does get a little easier once you find the keys and the light switch. Lights all work ... not sure about any body damage ... time to roll. Of the two drivers, one is on his first driveaway trip, the other is one of the 'old' full-timers ... he's been with the company about three years, and always talking of finding a 'paying job.' They decide that I'm this trips 'leader' ... so I lead. More good news, the trucks have enough fuel to get to the truck-stop, not always the case at this customer ... and one driver almost has a full tank, luck of the draw. About a half hour down the highway we stop at the Flying-J ... but some bad news, the diesel nozzle's don't fit in these trucks. The nozzle and the hole are the same size, so we have to hold the nozzle against the tank and try not to drip too much fuel ... and it's cold, 20 degrees or so, a long time to hold onto a frozen nozzle. I asked if the others wanted to stop now or in an hour ... not giving them the option of driving all night, I've been awake since before 5 AM ... they opt for driving another hour which will put us in Iowa City. Tonight's choice was the Econo Lodge over the Motel 6 ... because their sign said 'truck parking.' More bad news, they don't have any roll-away beds so someone is going to be sleeping on the floor ... I suppose we should have checked the Motel 6 for that option. The new guy is first to volunteer to sleep on the floor, so he gets it ... by the time these guys figure out their logbooks its after 1 AM. Ouch ... we have a 5:30 wake up call ... we are down to four and a half hours of sleep and a long day ahead of us. 11/25/03 - When we hadn't gotten to bed until 1, I had suggested we change the wake up call but was over ruled. Wouldn't have done any good ... driver three has a 'permanent' 5:30 wake up call from his girl friend ... Aarrggg. So we are up and walk next door to Perkins for an early breakfast ... awful slow service for being the only customers in the place. Finally we are on our way, ;) after re-setting our clocks to 'eastern time,' our eight hours off are up and we are on our way. I had really hoped to spend the night in IL, but after a 6 PM start last night it didn't happen. The new driver had wanted to stop for coffee an hour so I said the IL rest area should be an hour and a half, so we agreed to stop there ... I was wrong, the 'welcome area' was posted no trucks and no clue as to when we'd get to another ... I had hoped we could get 200 miles out of every tank of fuel so we'd only have to fuel three times ... but I knew the driver was wanting coffee so we stopped and fueled ... one way or another we'd be stopping again ... this stop was at an IL at a off-brand location ... this time I looked for the pump with a smaller nozzle, I found it ... covered with plastic / out of order ... so another 20 minutes freezing my hand off trying not to spill toooo much. Depending on the stretch of road these trucks were anywhere from 'not to bad' to 'as bad as a chassis.' Somewhere along this stretch we pass Ritchie Bros Auctioneers ... I've passed it before, but this time the lot was full ... millions of dollars worth of equipment, must have been an auction before Thanksgiving ... we hit Chicago before noon so it wasn't a problem ... I-80 westbound was backed up, but isn't it always? A couple of runs back I managed to make it all the way through IN without fueling ... only to pay more in OH. Today fuel was $1.39 in IN so we stopped ... again before we needed it. This was supposed to be less than a 10 hour run and we had knocked off one hour last night ... but I could see we weren't going to make it during regular business hours ... time to call ahead. A parts person would be there until 7 ... "should" be plenty of time ... another reason I wanted to get into IL last night, I wanted to have two hours done yesterday. Somewhere along this stretch I notice that I'm no longer leading ... I've lost them, and within seconds they call ... they have stopped at a rest area. I quickly pull of to wait for them ... but it's one of those 'off only' exits and by the time I get back to the freeway they are ahead of me at a truck-stop ... waiting for more money on their 'Comcheck' ... another half hour of my life wasted, waiting on someone else ... waiting on Comcheck. We had to stop one more time ... because we didn't get our 200 miles out of each tank ... we each put in 10 gallons for the last leg. By now it was dark, just in time to hit the two lane ... about 40 miles of it. One close call ... I was looking for I-75 before we caught highway 24 ... lucky I was in the wrong lane when we saw US-24 so I had a chance to realize it was MI-24 I was looking for. Finally we are just outside Pontiac, MI ... and I can't find the drop ... the buildings aren't marked ... "You led us 600 miles, and now we get lost within a bock of the drop???" (Thanks guys) ... I finally had to call the drop ... he had seen us go by ... how lost can you get on a dead end street that is only three blocks long? We park the trucks and the guys signs off as "dark at delivery, unable to inspect" ... we had dispatch check on transportation as we were 40+ miles from the closest airport ... if we had gotten in early, we may have tried to use the trucks to pick up the rental car, but by the time we get here the guy is leaving in 15 minutes so we have to resort to a cab ... we were told there were four ... driver three calls the first two ... "we're sorry this number is no longer in service" ... so the customer tries the first of the other two ... "$80" ... Ouch, but what choice do we have? If we had used the trucks it would have taken an extra two hours ... times three three drivers ... AND ... you never know until you've been there, how close you can get with a truck ... It was about 40 miles to the airport ... at $1.80 per miles ... I thought the driver was awful quiet ... later one of the other drivers said they thought he would never shut up ... and we were talking about the same driver ... it's all a matter of perspective. Up until now things had not looked too bad ... we had made the drop before 7 pm, we had about a four hour drive to Chicago ... which would allow our eight hours off before a 7 am pickup. Actually all I knew was that the trucks would be ready Wednesday ... they didn't tell us what time. We had to wait about a half hour for the cab, and it was close to an hour ride ... this was cutting into my sleep time, and after last night I needed some. And now we were behind a very confused customer at the Avis counter ... waiting ... making me wish I was a "Preferred customer" ... just show them your licence and they hand you the keys. Yesterday before leaving the boss had reserved us a car ... a good idea during a holiday week, but I never asked him what it was ... it was a compact ... we upgraded to the Alaro ... still not very big, but it was only for four hours ... it was in my name so I had the keys ... so I drove. Major Opps ... did a quick look at a map to see what highway to take out of town and was off ... usually on the Interstate signs they list the miles to the next town, the miles to the next major town and maybe another in-between ... almost immediately I noticed that Lansing, MI was not listed ... but it was a couple of hours away so I thought it would be on the signs soon. As time went I kept watching the signs, no Lansing ... finally an hour later the mileage sign is down to a single town ... Port Huron ... Why isn't it listing Lansing ... or Chicago ... then I looked very closely at the next I- sign ... EAST. This is something I had never done before, I usually have a very good sense of direction, anywhere, everywhere ... and not what I needed tonight, we had just lost another two hours of sleep ... make that "I" just lost two hours of sleep ... not sure why the others never questioned me ... or why I didn't realize the exit numbers were going the wrong direction ... couldn't have anything to do with having been up for 18 hours after only a few hours of sleep ??? Now one of the guys wants to stop and eat ... he hasn't eaten since breakfast and wants to sit and eat. Fine, what's another hour? Good food, I had a patty melt the other two went for breakfast ... a couple of interesting characters ... one was a customer, sitting alone at his table with a cup of coffee ... and a nine inch stack of crossword puzzle books and a couple dozen multi colored pens / pencils on his table. The other was our waitress ... said she drove an hour to work, so she could work in a big city ... not sure where she was from, but her idea of a big city was a town of under 4,000 people. 11/26/03 - By now its closing in on midnight and I'm still driving ... After a couple hours I have to stop ... I need to move around a little to keep the blood circulating, to keep awake. After another hour I have to stop again ... this time I just shut off the car and go to sleep, sitting up ... one driver asked where we were the other never stirred. I think I fell right asleep, then woke up an hour later ... I knew I wouldn't go right back to sleep so started the car and headed out, this time neither driver stirred. My plan was to get to Chicago, sign for the trucks and sleep ... if the other drivers wanted to leave at that time, they could. Due to my two hour detour, we were low on gas before getting back to IL ... but I topped it off good in hopes of not having to stop again. Running at night like this I never use the cruise ... if my speed keeps dropping, its a good indicator of how sleepy I am ... and I spent most of the night driving under the limit. Neither of these guys offered to drive all night (and only one apologies later for not offering) ... it would have been nice if they had ... or would it? The new guy had tried to sleep on the floor the night before and hadn't gotten much sleep ... and slept the whole way from Flint to Port Huron to Chicago. The other guy is referred to as "whiplash" for his driving abilities ... did I really want either of these guys driving? Finally we were at our next pickup ... 2:30? 3:30? I really don't remember ... one thing I do remember is handing the map from dispatch, first to one guy "can't see without my glasses" then the other ... no response ... not sure what the problem was, but he seemed to have no clue as to what he was even looking for on the map ... be interesting to see what happens on his first solo run ??? Finally I ask him to hand it back to me ... I pull over and stop on the freeway and try to read the map (I'm another one who can no longer see well ... and its dark ... and I'm very tired) ... we are at our exit. When I try to pull back into the lane I have to wait for a truck ... who thinks he's getting off at our exit ... and then isn't ... he did that at the last exit too ... guess I'm not the only one lost tonight. The customer is only a few blocks from the Interstate and we miss it the first time and have to turn around. Only one guy working the overnight and he is ... clue-less ... didn't know we were coming or anything about our trucks. We find one right away, its parked in front of the building ... the other numbers we give him have been removed from his computer. "This could be a while, I need to get some sleep," gave my paperwork to another driver and went back to the car ... between the other drivers crawling in and trying to sleep and the customer coming out to update us, I didn't get any sleep in the next four hours. Finally about 6 AM the guys says all trucks are found, ready and we can sign for them. I wasn't about to give up the rental car until we knew we had the trucks ... now that we had the trucks we had to loose the car ... another hour spent. We thought we'd cab it, but the customer was sure we could get in with the truck so we decided to try it. We were able to get in and out of O'Hare with a box truck ... had to go through the rental lot with the truck, it's all one-way. Didn't notice until later they charged a $9 fuel charge ... for what??? I still need to call on that one. Three guys in a truck and we still miss our street on the way back ... didn't help that the streets to the left are named different than those to the right of the street. Finally we are on our way ... 7 AM ... and I have now had 5-1/2 hours of sleep out of the last 50 ... and I'm ready to roll ... ready to hit Chicago in the rush hour. Oh, one very bright spot on this leg of the trip ... a tank full of fuel ... one that will get us all the way to our drop (for two of us.) Today is the day before Thanksgiving, that may be why rush hour wasn't bad, I have to believe it is worse than this on most days. I notice the new driver pulling out to pass and then back in ... then tries to pass again, so I let him ... we are now at the last IL toll booth ... he's in front and pulls over once we are through ... I guessed something had to be up as we had agreed to stop only five miles up the road to call dispatch. Something was up ... he had blown a belt ... we soon realized it was not vital, it was for the air conditioner, and was loose because a bracket was broken. Once we realized the belt wasn't going to be staying on we decided we had better get off the Interstate and headed to the rest area where we found someone with a knife to cut the belt. We updated dispatch and they said they'd have a vehicle waiting at our drop. We now had the new guy in the lead in case he had any more problems ... he was also the only one without a phone. We stop again for lunch ... Mickey D's in Wisconsin Dells ... it's not your average D's. Finally on our final leg ... not really, one driver is using more fuel than the rest and will have to stop for fuel before we drop ... we stop again to call dispatch ... another half hour 'wasted' ... they went over the drop info and I even wrote it down (something I should have remembered later). All this stopping is putting us in Minneapolis rush hour ... that adds another hour or two to our trip ... stop and no go ... the third driver has been to this drop before and decides to take over at the MN/WI line ... his idea of leading is going first ... whether anyone can follow doesn't seem to concern him. He lost the other two of us once and the new guy flagged for me to lead him ... before long we catch up to the other guy again. We stay close the next few miles ... then when traffic starts to break up I'm a half dozen cars back ... I pull in the left lane to gain a couple of cars ... but don't get back over quick enough. Soon I can't see them anymore ... I keep thinking the left lane is going to take off ... by the time it does the other guys are long gone, as are many other trucks that have passed me in the right lane. Oh well, the other drive said he would stop on the exit and wait for us ... it's now been dark for a couple of hours ... I know what exit I used to get off at for this town, but no trucks on the exit so I keep going ... seven miles down the road he calls ... "we are at exit 171, where are you?" "Exit 178, so I should be there in about seven minutes." ... until I see the next mile marker ... 179 ... I am already seven miles past the exit ... another five to the next exit and then back. When I exit I can see them on the other exit ramp ... where were they a half hour ago? ... seems they stopped at another rest area ... without bothering to tell or wait for me ... great team work. Finally we are back within a couple of cars of each other ... for the last ten miles ... and we are there. I had thought this was a blind drop ... it is Thanksgiving eve after all ... but a crew was still there so we had them sign and ... Now to find the car dispatch left us ... they had told both me and the new guy ... and we remember something about a Legion so we look in the parking lot of the one next door ... we walk all the way around the business, I down one side the other two down the other ... no car ... time to call dispatch ... which true to form doesn't answer the "emergency" phone ... somehow the older driver knows the bosses home number and reaches the bosses wife who tracks down the guy who dropped the car ... "across the street" ... (seems I wrote that down ... to bad I didn't look at what I wrote, buy why would I? I remembered what I wrote ... ha.) FINALLY, FINALLY our last leg home ... I let someone else drive ... and it starts to snow ... just what we need to make good time ... But I will be home BEFORE Thanksgiving ... barely. |