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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 27b - Used Ford - Beverage
truck from Cincinati, OH to Grand Rapids, MI 12/27/03 - We drop the first truck ... lucky for us it is Saturday as we are having to go through downtown Cinci twice during 'rush hour.' We spotted our next pick-up from the Interstate and did our inspection ... other than a couple of duplicate tail-lights ... so we are on our way. We get 3/4 of a mile down the road and I hear what sounds like something dragging ... the other driver stops and wants me to drive (we are supposed to share this next leg of the trip). I agree to drive, but tell him I will be driving it back to the pickup location ... just in case. I make a large U-turn through a parking lot and find that third gear on this automatic transmission does not work, so I shift up to fifth / drive ... back on the road I hear the load banging which now sounds more like a bearing going than something dragging ... then BANG ... it was like the breaks locked momentarily ... everything in the seat was now on the floor ... looking back I think it down shifted ... hard. Back at the pickup locations, I can't make the turn without backing up and pulling ahead again ... but the forward gears don't work ... until I back up further, then I am able to pull into the driveway. Time to call our emergency dispatch ... due to 'losing' one of our dispatchers, the owner is on call tonight ... I tell the other driver that dispatch has an hour to call back before we 'decide' and leave the truck. The owner calls back in just under an hour ... I relay the situation and he agrees ... leave it ... grab a rental car and head home ... and he even offers to kick in $50 for the car (as we are losing the second leg of our trip.) I remember telling the other driver, we should now be home by 4 PM tomorrow, in about 20 hours ... either he wasn't listening or is not a math wizard, but it only took us 10 hours driving time down in trucks, we should be able to make it back in the same amount of time. With all the added security, its always a little unsettling to pull in to the airport with a large truck ... but the other driver had been here when he picked up cement trucks so he know this airport will not be a problem, the cars are at a remote site. But the remote locations do have there disadvantages ... I can't walk from one counter to the next to ask prices. I go for Avis, they 'generally' are our best bet ... "Sorry, we are out of cars, we've been sending customers to Hertz since yesterday ..." I was not expecting this ... not in a major city ... Hertz has always been big $$$ so I call the other companies 800 numbers first ... "No" ... "no" .... "no" ... I call every company that servers Cinci and our airport, except Hertz ... nothing. I've parked across the street from Avis / Hertz so I walk over to Hertz ... "Yes we have cars .... $236 per day (we usually pay 80 - 120 with the other companies) ... I walk back to the truck to talk to the other driver ... we don't dare leave any truck unattended at the airport ... not a good idea ... the other driver does not like the price and starts asking about the bus ... then want ME to call the boss again and ask for more travel money ... after hearing the price of the car, he agrees to give us $75 each for transportation. ---> (Since I've been home, I've checked the bus ... it would have cost us $181 each, plus a <> $40 cab fare ... and taken about 2 - 1/2 days, depending on which bus you were able to get on <--- When I go back in and rent, a lady behind the counter comments that when she was working two days ago, Budget and Dollar were already sending customers to Hertz ... but had no idea why everyone was out of cars. I get the same guy to rent me the car that I had talked to before and he quickly gets me on my way ... too quickly, once I'm in the car I remember to look at the agreement ... to make sure there is unlimited miles and no drop fee ... all that is correct, but he has me dropping the car in small town about 250 miles from where it should be ... better get this corrected or they will hit me with a 'alternate drop charge' ... it only takes him another half hour to get this corrected ... sure glad I didn't have to wait in line every time I went back to the counter ... We head back and drop my truck and the next thing we are going to do is ... eat. All I've had today was a corn dog about noon at the Flying-J. We pull into an 'Aunt ? somebody's' place and before we get half way to the door the cook comes out and says "We are closing in a few minutes" ??? it's only 9:30 ... so we head down the road a few miles where I'd seen a places ... Bob Evans was our choice tonight ... knowing we'd be in the car for the next 12 hours I ordered something light ... bacon and eggs ... good food, pleasant service ... at least at this location. I drive first getting us as far as Indy ... sometime in the middle of the night ... the other guy take over but thinks he needs the radio on full blast to stay awake ... so much for getting any sleep ... I may have gotten a few minutes out of the next five hours. Somewhere on I-65 we stop at a rest area ... he goes in, I don't ... as I wait I see two squads flying by at 90+ mph ... a few miles up the road <> mm 240 ... there is a semi in center median ... the trailer is split wide open, the contents are spread for 80 feet ... the tractor is no longer connected to the trailer, it is sitting cross-ways in the median ... and everything is on fire. Must have just happened ... only three squads, no fire trucks and only a short backup. The truck was heading the other way so we aren't delayed. I try to rest again and we are soon north of Madison and it's my turn to drive ... next time I don't get any sleep we are stopping, we were not up against the clock, only in a rush ... I drive but am very tired, it's still dark ... once it's light I'll be OK ... when we jump off at for fuel the car starts to act funny ... felt like the transmission was slipping .... which would be fitting for this trip ... but it was only ice, which I probably have been driving on for hours ... |