 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
Trip 52 - Peterbuilt - Cement Truck ... to Las Vegas, NV My Seattle truck still isn't ready ... but they finally know the problem, now they just need to find the part. First they say they have three runs, LA, MA or WA ... haven't been to either LA or MA ... told them I didn't care, but my choices would be ... MA, WA then LA ... so they offer me the LA. Within the hour they call back and ask if I would take the WA instead (someone else wanted the LA). Fine, I'll make more on the WA 8/17/04 - An hour before dispatch time they call and ask if I'd be willing to give up the WA for a Las Vegas ... having been checking the air fares for Seattle I said OK. Same dispatch time and this one leaves from town instead of a four hour deadhead. This ones a new Pete ... haven't driven one for a year so I don't know the milage so I opt for the $.45, fuel paid. Opps, I've forgotten my plates for NE and AZ so I have to head back to the office ... it's only a couple miles for the office, but far enough to realize that the speedometer isn't working ... don't really think that these cars would be passing me like I was standing still if this truck was really going 85 plus ... The local Pete dealer can't look at me for another couple of hours ... It's a 2-1/2 day run to NV and this was cutting in to my hours. I didn't have a problem running without a speedometer, but the customer may question all the extra miles showing on the truck. Takes about an hour to go the 10 miles to the dealer, good thing I gave myself plenty time. The dealer gets me in almost right away, but it takes them a couple of try's to find the problem ... they also fix a leaking coolant hose ... Thanks, left leaking it could have cost me problems. 6:30 ... Do I leave or do I stay? If it got too late I was going to spend the night in town and just leave in the AM ...Not supposed to drive these trucks after dark but ... if I don't leave tonight I've wasted a day and will be working Friday instead. All I need to do is knock off four hours tonight ... I'm going ... Not much of interest the first night ... with the cars passing and the intersection lights I can keep a check on my drum turning ... and this is the first truck I've seen with a drum 'meter' in the cab so I can see how many times it's (supposed to be) turning. Somewhere between Des Moines and Omaha I have my hours in and stop for for a motel ... With the tight hours this trip, I can't be too picky trying to find a cheap motel ... AmericInn has truck parking, but there is a Super 8 closer so I stop there first ... Big bucks, so I ask where a cheaper motel was ... they didn't know so I headed toward the AmericaInn and pass a Ma / Pa place on the way ... $35 ... we got a deal. However there isn't anyplace open to get anything to eat ... in these parts even the Country Kitchen isn't 24 hours ... had to settle for a donut cake and a bottle of juice ... gotta watch the dates on those bottles, the first one I grabbed expired in May '04. 8/18/04 - No alarm needed this AM, it will be light long before I can leave ... breakfast, Burger King is open and it's time to roll. NE looks the same as the last few trips ... if I'm going to be paying the fuel, I need to watch the fuel prices closer. Passed a Fuel Mart just outside of York with fuel at $1.81, then at the TA it was $1.84 ... hate to waste time, but took a chance and went back across the interstate to the Sapps and got if for $1.83 ... my other motivation was Sapps had a Subway. Dispatch had been dangling a couple of possible 2nd legs to this trip so I had to stop and call ... cell service is NA here ... somewhere east of Ogalula. Found out that Baskin Robins makes a great malt ... and that the Greyhound used to stop here at this gas station ... yesterday. But today is the first day this town is served by Trailways and Arrow / Black Hills Stageline, if I'd have had more time I'd have asked how things were going. This trip I've spent a little more time listening to the radio ... when I can find a station. A weather report out of Denver caught me by surprise ... 'flash flood warnings' ... doesn't look like any bad weather ahead. My first clue that there had been heavy rains was going through a stretch of highway that had just been re-surfaced ... some of the freshly painted lines were washing away and on one stretch they were gone completely ... then I hear an update from Denver ... the highway department has called out the snow plows to push some of the water off the road. In one spot of the Interstate north of town, two of the three lanes are covered ... when I get to the TA west of Denver some trucks in the back lot are sitting in water up to their axles. Did get a little scare coming into Denver unrelated to the weather ... there's a curve where a ramp comes up from the right ... usually I come in to curves at 5 mph under the posted with these top heavy cement trucks, but I came in a little too fast and it felt like the back of the truck started sliding on the wet pavement ... and there was a car coming up the ramp right next to me. I had to have gotten within inches of that car, but they just held their ground ... they didn't give me an inch ... closest I've come to an accident so far. I need to come up with a list of truckstops to avoid ... the TA in Denver is one, I remembered that as soon as I got in line. Didn't stay long, having been this way before I knew there was another truck stop about a half hour west. But by now it was dark and still raining ... not the way I like to drive through the Rockies ... I was ready to stop NOW but I needed to knock off a few more miles in order to make it to my drop tomorrow. By the time I have driven the few miles to the truckstop I was ready to stop at the first cheap motel ... asked the people at the truckstop where the next one was ... 'East' was the answer ... I was heading west. They did say there was a Super 8 at the next exit eight miles away. There was ... for $70 plus tax, did see another place from the exit it was $52 ... so I tried the other place they both told me about ... $60. Back to the $52 one ... I new I wasn't going to get anything cheaper until I got west Vail a 100 miles away ... that was where I how far I had planned on getting. And again ... no food, I didn't even bother to walk to the C-Store tonight, I just crashed. Just cuz this place was big bucks does not mean it was a high class place even though it did have a restaurant and bar down stairs ... the shag carpeting seemed to have been melted in places, the formerly light colored chairs were well stained, the pillow cases seemed to have a dozen places on them where holes had been sewed shut ... 8/18/04 - Could have gotten 10% of my meals with a paid room, but the place was still closed when I left ... and it was still dark ... and still raining. We have had so little bad weather this year that I don't even carry a jacket anymore ... on days like today I just get wet. Wasn't on the road too long before it got light ... did get to see the Glenwood Canyon in the early morning light ... looks like Glenwood Canyon would have been a cheaper place to stay, maybe not, but it does seem to have a lot of motels ... big ones and Ma / Pa's. It's going to be close on if I can make my drop yet tonight ... paperwork says they close at 5 ... and that looks like when I will get there ... or I could miss it by minutes. Good news ... something I should have known ... NV is on Pacific time, not Mountain ... so I have an extra hour ... I 'should' make it. Doesn't leave any extra time for problems, but if I can get out of Vegas for $$'s less and a day earlier, I will. Otherwise if it doesn't look like I'll make it, I plan on stopping at one of those $21 motel's just inside NV. I get the OK from dispatch to drop Thurs PM instead of Fri AM and get my flight lined up ... now the push is on ... Yesterday I had no problems with scales ... today as I'm exiting CO, I get the message 'bring in permits' ... permits? what permits? ... so I bring in my paperwork ... "You're a transporter?" "Can I see your IFTA sticker?" "Have a nice day ..." I had stopped in Grand Junction for fuel and picked up a breakfast sandwich ... trying not to spill anything in the truck, I was leaning over the plastic box it came in to take a bite when ... Wham ... I hit a bump and my face was in the box, in the sandwich ... then the sandwich was all over the truck. Had to stop at the next exit to clean out the truck before I ground it to bits. Wasn't the first bumps I had hit, the truck / the seat rode fairly well, but if the bump was too big, I'd off the seat I'd go. Seat belts are MANDATORY ... I really think someone could break their neck when they hit the ceiling in one of these things. Hit one stretch where I was off the seat a half dozen times in a row, without enough time between bumps to re-sit myself in the seat. Another disadvantage of these bumps is hitting them going up the mountains ... when your foot bounces off the gas peddle you loose momentum ... which you can't get back until you hit the top. The truck did climb pretty good, unless I lost speed due to bumps ... the truck didn't drop below 45 on the climb. Overall the cruise would set at 65 mph, peddle to the metal could get you 70. I-15 ... road construction ... still. In one of the breaks between road construction I noticed a cloud of dust a 1/4 mile ahead. Didn't look like the kind from a dusty road or field ... and it wasn't ... out here on the flats someone had rolled their car. Front windshield was all crushed, other body damage ... driver was talking to someone out the window and no one seemed to be in the stage of panic ... so I kept going and called 911 even though I saw someone else on their cell. They already had the call, but it never hurts to make sure. All half dozen cars between me and the accident must have stopped. Not a quarter mile down the road, back in road construction we stop again ... and wait for the highway dept to push something off the road. Lumber ... a semi lost a bunch of it ... dozens of 1 x 8 sheets ... he was off at the next exit. Aaaah, didn't see anything back there, but maybe there had been a piece back by the accident ... UT / AZ scale ... they always flag me in ... "AZ plate?" "IFTA?" ... both had been in the window when I crossed ... not gaining any time ... I've made 300 miles on a prior tankful, but that wasn't in the mountains ... this last leg will be 280 ... I do make it ... on 'E' ... so had the customer closed at 5 mountain time I would have made it. But I had an hour so I went down to the next exit past them to the Flying J to put in a couple of gallons. Wrong choice ... I usually can use my Flying J card to get the pump turned on ... nope, says I have to call the cashier ... so I do, give her all my info. Pump doesn't get turned on, so I called again "Who did you talk to?" ... how do I know ... whoever answered the phone ... so I have to give them all the info again ... then they tell me I have to bring in my credit card ... not sure why they couldn't tell me that the first time. Not happy ... by the time I got out of there I had wasted a half hour ... for 4 gallons of fuel. At my drop I have to wait for the service manger to finish a meeting ... and it's delivered. They call a cab which should be there in a few minutes. In pulls a van with 'Speedway" and other things nicely painted all over and I hop in ... "This thing doesn't even say cab on it" I say. "Because it's not a cab, it's a shuttle" ... no problem, until ... "Where are you going?" ... "Airport" ... "Sorry, this is a free shuttle to the track." ... Opps ... he's looking for another driver. Within a few more minutes my cab is there ... same cab company as last time I was in Vegas ... this time they found me. I was right across the street last time and it took them hours ... And last time I was here I didn't have my airline ticket ahead of time and the line for Sun Country / Delta was long ... I waited in line until I realized I'd never make the flight based on the number of people ahead of me ... This time I have four hours ... and the line ... doesn't exist, they have four counters open ... two are waiting for customers. At security they have six lines, three are open ... at screening one of the lines did not process anyone the whole time I was within sight of it ... because there was no one to process ... only when you're early. Now I have three hours ... and no laptop ... it blue screened on me again Monday when I went to use it. May have been a good thing ... water / juice at the airport will run you almost $3 a bottle, so I made sure I had some with me ... and as I'm sitting, eating at the airport I realize my table has water on it ... my water bottle had sprung a leak in my bag ... The price on this ticket was right, the timing wasn't ... $120 plus tax ... but I get home at 2:30 AM ... |