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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 47 - New Isuzu - Refer ... to Las Vegas Already last Friday, dispatch had called to see if I was interested in the Los Vegas run … any run west is a good run … and flights are 'usually' cheap … $98 when I checked this AM … and I'm picking it up here in town, means I should be on the road before noon. 7/13/04 - I'm in the office by 8 AM and the two drivers giving me a ride to the customer are there a few minutes later … still, by the time they get their paperwork, get fuel and drop me off … its after 10 … and then the VIN's don't match. The customer had to come back out and show me where to 'other' VIN was on the truck. Also, dispatch had given us some paperwork to go with the truck … seems we are supposed to train their drivers on the use of the truck and help them move the goodies from their old truck to the new … sounds like fun. No decision on fuel on this one, we don't have the option of paying for it … should do fairly good, a little Isuzi with a refer box. My first thought was to fly out of Vegas at 11 PM on the cheapest flight (gets in at 3 AM) … decided getting one of the $170 flights would be the better option, getting in at a more acceptable 9 - 11 PM. But now that I'm getting going before noon, I have a good shot at catching a 9 AM flight. This is the same style truck that my co-worker was running with last week when the fuel gauge dropped on him so fast … I've gone 230 miles when I hit I-80 in Des Moines and the gauge is still on ¼ … 10 miles later it's below 'E' … better to find that out here than in the middle of nowhere. Another 200+ miles and another fuel stop … Fuel Mart www.fuelmart.com … didn't realize they were another truck stop chain …. The tank was full this AM so this is my two stops for the day … don't want to be getting up in the middle of the night on Thursday AM, so I want to knock off at least 700 miles the first two days. I may have saved a couple of bucks by stopping in NE, but I push to get into CO and stay at the only motel at the exit, a Budget Host, right next door to the Flying J. $41, but what are my choices? Next door I find this is no average Flying J … must be a franchise, not up the their usual standards … small and not too clean. Ate there too, food was good but slow, only one waitress and a dozen plus tables … and she wasn't always keeping up. When I left the restaurant and walked back to the motel, I did see a sign saying there was another motel in town for $30 … also saw an 'in-transit' cement truck that wasn't there when I checked in. 7/14/04 - Something woke me up around 4 AM, so looked out the window to see what it might have been … didn't see anything … also didn't see the cement truck … someone is doing some creative logging … in at 11, out before 4 ? Logged off at 10 PM, so 8 AM is my dispatch time … I combine my inspection and fuel stop into one 15 minute break if I can only make two fuel stops like yesterday, I can gain another ½ hour. Stop at the Rest Area / Travel Info at the exit, but it's 'closed for cleaning' … looking for my coupon books so I know where to spend the night, am trying to keep Thursday's miles to under 200. Watched my time fairly close, I knew I was coming up on a scale in a few miles … no problem, but better safe than sorry, don't want to give them any reason to start digging. Am running late enough so that Denver shouldn't be a problem … it isn't … I do know this time to stop in Denver for fuel, last time I ended up running way down trying to find fuel. Should have waited though … a few miles out of Denver, fuel was a few cents less. I was supposed to call my drop with a ETA, but because of another question I had, dispatch made the call for me … great news … the drop will give me a ride to the airport if I'm in by 8 AM … shouldn't be a problem, I was aiming for 7. I may have been able to get by with fewer fuel stops, but with a tank this size, 30 gallon … I'm not taking any chances, stopping in major towns if I'm even down to a ½ a tank … making it four fuel stops today. Another beautiful trip through the Colorado Rockies … ?? Canyon was a busy place, rafts backed up to hit the rapids …something I'd still like to do some day (not sure why, as I'm not that fond of water) … plus a few kiackers … Beaver, UT is 200 miles from my drop … but after picking up my third coupon book, I find a coupon for the Travel Lodge in Cedar City where I've stayed before … $31 … I do keep my eyes open for any sign of a cheaper motel … seeing none, I push on to 760 miles and make it to Cedar City. Bad news … no rooms, says there aren't any rooms at the other end of town either … have to go into the old part of town. First stop is the Best Western which was advertising 'free breakfast' … full (and rooms start at ($89) … pass another Best Western and find a 'Super 7" with truck parking … $38 … from the lobby, I now see more motels but decide to stay, I've already wasted close to an hour. I ask about good food, they send me a block down the street … 'Cedar Creek' … awful quite, but they serve up a great French Dip. Did check out the room before going to eat … it's my routine, make sure the rooms OK … it was clean, came with shampoo, a fridge and a microwave … I didn't ask for a wake up call and the time on the TV is wrong so I will have to rely on my cell … if it doesn't go dead. 7/15/04 - I wake up early and again around 5 AM … I look at my cell … and look at it again … and again … and it's now late. My alarm didn't go off … my alarm was correct, but my clock was off by 12 hours … Find fuel and am on the road … not flagged in at AZ port of entry this time … and the NV inspection station is closed … looks like I'll be getting to the drop in plenty of time. Having time to kill, I decide to go past my exit to the next one and a Flying J, so that I could wash the windows … I see my drop as I sail past, and am back to the drop by about 7. They are waiting for me and come running across the lot to tell me where to park. The first thing they look at is how the box is mounted … wrong again … there is a place marked on this and a lot of chassis that says 'Do not mount box beyond this point … the manufacture is mounting it about 4 inches past … and these guys say that puts another 2,000# on the front axel and is wearing out the front ends … (it also makes it a lot harder to pull the dip sticks on these cab over's) Bad news … they're busy and offer to call me a cab … $$$ from my pocket … that and the plane tickets went up to $200 yesterday … After waiting 45 minutes I call the cab back … 'no one was there' … WRONG, I had been standing out side the whole time and watched every vehicle come and go from that lot … After another 30 minutes I call back … 'bad address' was their excuse this time … after putting me on hold for 10 minutes they said someone would be right there … and finally they were. Once on the highway … stopped traffic … more delay. When I walk into the airport I find out that Sun Country uses Delta as their ticket agent … BUT, you can not buy tickets at the gate … ouch, I call and get their 800 number and put on hold for 10 minutes, by this time I was told 'too late' … I would only have 15 minutes to (wait in line and) get my ticket and clear security. Thank you cabbie … that delay will cost me another four hours … by today everyone's price is at $200 so at least it isn't costing me extra $$$ too … Have brought my laptop with a couple of times before but never had time to use it … today I am … I started writing this at the airport in Las Vegas and am finishing it in Phoenix … Need to pay closer attention to the bigger picture, as I'm sitting waiting for my plane … someone comes over and does last call for one leaving from a different gate … will they let you on an earlier flight if there is room? Now when I get to Phoenix there is a flight closed, but still at the gate heading home. If I had made it on the earlier flight … I'd have still gotten home early afternoon Waaa … they just announced they over booked the flight … $200 travel voucher to delay … but my wife (and ride) has to get up so I'm going to pass …. Also had some excitement earlier, some lady wondered off and left her baggage … these people got a little nervous even though they know who it was and even paged the person twice … she did come back before security was called … That didn't last five minutes … we are now going to switch to a bigger plane … switch gates … and be delayed an hour. It's going to be 15 hours from my drop until I land … and a direct flight is about 3 hours. I'll have to think about bringing this laptop … it's going to cost me $10 or so for another set of tools … either that or I need to get a separate bag. |