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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 54 - New Sterling - Garbage
Truck ... to Phoenix, AZ No runs last week, got in late Sunday and wanted to be home on Friday ... ended up doing a couple of short shuttles ... sort of offsets any extra I made last week. Dispatch was gone too, that didn't help any ... things go a little rougher when the boss is doing dispatch. Friday I am told of a run to Phoenix ... Nice run, usually low airfares home ... 9/7/04 - 8 AM Monday ... dispatch is back, and clue clue ... asking each of the drivers why they are there so she knows what to work on first. I knew someone was going to have to give me a ride the four hours to my truck and lucky for me the guy is there before me ... finally we are ready to go at 9:30. Same driver as I gave a ride to a few months back and I had to do some 'adjustments' to my logbook because of it ... and yes, the trip came up. But being the 'nice' guy I am, I didn't cost him a couple of hours like he did me ... I offered to drive those two hours, ended up being 3-1/2 hours so instead it cost me time and he was going to hit his 14 hours before he got 11 driving in. His was a propane truck with less than a 1/4 of a tank of fuel, but he thought he'd make it to Des Moines ... we didn't, instead we had to scramble to find fuel in Mason City. We stop at the first gas station we see and ask for a propane location, they tell us where to go ... but no propane there, the third place we stop has propane and we put in 105 gallons, most I've ever put in a tank. All that took a little time plus not getting going at 8 AM puts us in Cedar Falls at 2 PM instead of noon ... and my trucks not ready. After about 15 minutes they finally find someone who tells me that but assures me it will be ready so I send the other driver on his way ... to Dallas. He's one of these guys who sleeps in his truck most of the time so no reason to hang with him. As I'm unpacking my truck I get a call from (Dick) another driver who works for another driveaway company ... he's on his way to Tucson and we thought maybe our paths would finally cross. No such luck, even though he was delayed this AM also, I am still five hours out of KC / behind him ... maybe another time. As I'm sitting waiting I finally look at my paperwork ... ouch, they are paying me 18 cents per mile less than last time ... have to, have to watch these guys every trip ... But I'm not able to get a hold of dispatch until late tomorrow afternoon, always busy ... about now I'm ready to leave this truck ... cept I'm four hours from home. A few minutes turns into a couple of hours and at 4 PM I'm finally given my paper work and set to go ... among other things, they had to chain up the tag axle because something was broken. Truck is on 'E' as always ... but this is a nice ride, an '05 Sterling ... a cabover but rides like a pickup. I haven't gone an hour when I make my first 911 call of the trip ... see the dust flying a ways ahead of me. By the time I get there, there is a young gal holding an infant standing next to a car in the ditch ... half a dozen people have already stopped so I just call 911. They already have the call ... Second stop is Kearny, MO ... and my first meal ... five minutes for a sandwich at Arbey's, my meal for the day. Dispatch called to make sure I delivered this truck CLEAN ... so I guess that means not eats, not drinks this trip ... it's really 'company policy' on all trucks. Sailing through KC is not a problem and that is the only 'big city' on this trip besides Albuquee. By Emporia, KS I am ready to stop, not out of hours but it's been a long enough day ... 'adjusted' the log book a little to stay on schedule but that doesn't adjust my need for sleep ... Motel 6 is back down to $34, the summer vacation season is over, thank you. 9/8/04 - I combine my inspection and fuel stop for 15 minutes off duty and am rolling by 7 AM. I'd be paying any tolls so I avoid I-35 and take US 50 instead and will catch US 54 in Pratt. Too bad it's not next week, the KS state fair will be running Sept 10 - 19 in Hutchinson, KS ... I might have had to stop for a few hours ... this fair may still have some farm equipment ... MN had their last farm equipment in 'machinery hill' back in the early 90's. I had hoped to make it to OK for my next fuel stop ... a few miles short I stop in Liberal, KS and get some fuel ... and find out that yes, dispatch did make a $300 mistake in their favor. It will be nice when Flying J gets a truckstop in Liberal ... the closest thing I found was a Shell station with four diesel pumps but now 'hot food' or other perks. I should have only put in enough to get to Hooker but I put in 30 gallons ... which was enough to get me through OK ... and TX ... and into NM where fuel is back up to $1.89 ... instead of $1.77. Could have saved a couple of bucks if I'd have stopped in OK / TX but other than the Love's in Hooker, OK I didn't find another trucks stop before Tucumcari. I had thought I had enough fuel to get to Tucumcari (and MAYBE I would have ...) then hoped I could make it to Logan ... but by the time I got to Nara Visa on the TX/NM border I was on 'E.' ... and I had forgotten about the NM scale ... it was open ... $7.50 for a permit. They held up a sign that said 'PARK' ... so I did, when I walked in, one of them said 'Oh, your the one that stopped for fuel' ... guess they are keeping watch somehow. On my second trip to Phoenix we had only made it to Tucumcari the second night, I had hoped to make it to Gallup but due to shutting down early last night that's not going to happen. By the time I get to Albuquerque I still have an hour available and don't want to have to drive it tomorrow, nor do I want to get up any earlier to do it. Bad news, 40 miles past Albuquerque there isn't a motel ... thought there might be one at one of the casinos, there wasn't at the first two. And the motel at the third looked like big bucks and by now I was only a few miles from Grant where the coupons said I could stay at the Sands Motel for $31. But right at the exit were both a Motel 6 and an Econo Lodge for $29 and a Days Inn for $32 ... all within walking distance of a 4B's. That, and sometimes its hard to get a truck into the downtown motels. The Motel 6 had me park my truck first, in case there wasn't anymore parking spots ... as I was checking in, someone asked about places to eat ... Denny's or 4B's was the answer ... I recommended 4B's in general, although I had never eaten at this one. By the time I got in line at 4B's the same person was ahead of me ... later I saw him leave, the only person that night who didn't stop at the counter to pay. Seconds later the manger leaves the store for a few minutes, later when I pay at the counter there is a single meal ticket laying next to the register, time stamped within minutes of my ticket. All those little bits of info make me wonder if the guy stifted them for the bill ... 9/9/04 - Finally day ... I hope. Wow, two motels in row were able to give me a wake up call ... and for the second day in a row I have been awake 15 minutes before the call. Don't dare use my cell as an alarm I have to make it last three days as there is not a cig lighter in this new truck. After a few morning problems I always 'plan' to start my truck before turning in my motel keys ... most mornings I forget, today I remembered. Good thing. Truck started ... and stopped ... and started ... and stopped ... with a little 'stop' light staying on. Ahhh ... low coolant. Just below the add line ... so I start walking to the closest C-store ... pump lights were on, but it was closed, as were the other stations at the exit. Water! I don't need to add anti-freeze and I can get that from the motel. After pouring in an ice-bucket full of water the truck starts and the light goes off ... and I'm rolling. Half hour down time. Four miles down the road were the truck stops where I fueled and bought the last gallon of anti-freeze. Again I put in over 50 gallons in a 60 gallon tank, but I'm still over 300 miles from Phoenix so I will need to fuel again. By now it's been an hour since I had planned on leaving ... still dark, but each hour drops a flight possibility. It's still dark when I hit the AZ line and the scale is ... closed? Looks good to me, saves me a couple of minutes slow time. Somewhere in the dark I see a car in the distance, usually we try to pull to the other lane to give them plenty of room. But I had a truck coming up behind me in the other lane and the car was dark so I guessed it had been sitting a while, no flashers, lights, anything. Just about up to it I see a guy standing on the shoulder behind his car releaving himself ... then I realize that he has left the drivers door open ... all the way into the right lane. Yep one of those guys who parks on the white line and thinks he's 'out of traffic' ... I blow my horn, the truck next to me gives me some extra room and I miss the door ... this time it helped that I had a right hand drive, I was right there. Now sure what happend behind me, there had been an RV right on my back side before this but he backed off a good 1/2 mile after we passed this car ... he didn't stop, so I'm assuming he missed the door, and the truck. Just as its getting light I see a car in the center median ... looks like a car, but with a very pointed roof ... I grab my cell to call 911 ... NOooo ... I had somehow turned it on and now its just about dead. There are six people plus a truck driver standing around the car, no one seems to be panicking so I keep rolling and figure someone else will call this time. Someone must have, within five minutes I see both a squad and an ambulance ... Now the hard part ... Little America at Flagstaff, AZ ... how many gallons to add? based on the 6 mpg I have been getting I should only need 15 gallons ... I add 18 for insurance ... and leave the truck with an extra 1/4 tank of fuel (3/8 instead of 1/8) ... but after having to stop a second time last trip I didn't want to take chances. Coming down the hill between Flagstaff and Phoenix I see two burnt out vehicles ... the first is a tractor trailer, just sitting on the side of the road with red fence around it ... just about in the same place as the one I saw on my first trip to Phoenix. On that one, only the trailer was burnt and just over the wheels ... on this one both the tractor and trailer I burnt to a shell and the trailer has been tipped on its side ... could blowing a couple of tires roll it? Both trailers seemed to be loaded with skids of cans ... The second vehicle was already on flatbed when I saw it ... a Winnie ... engine fire, with at least the front half of the motorhome burnt. I had looked at an atlas at one of the truck stops so I knew what exit to get off at ... then the drop is about a mile and one left turn. Bad news ... the guy who is supposed to sign for the truck ... finds a chip in the window. We will have to see who pays for that and how much. Good news, he offers me a ride ... more good news the customer is about four miles from the airport. And the customer confirms what dispatch has told me ... we should have dozens of trucks coming this way in the next few months. Good news, its only 10:30 AM local so I have lots of choices ... bad news ... the $150 flights on Midwest are gone ... the cheapest flights are now $230 on AmWest or Northwest. No one was at the Midwest counter so I used the curtesy phone but after a few too many questions the clerk came out from somewhere to help me. The Midwest flight had gone from $150 yesterday to $250 today. "Sorry" I told him, "I can't see a reason to pay $20 more for a flight that I will have to wait an extra six hours for and also have to change planes on." Then he asked if he could sell me the ticket ... "No, I'm going to fly AmWest" ... "That's what I mean, can I sell you ticket for AmWest, so you don't have to wait in line there." ... sure, sounds good to me. Last time I wanted to buy a ticket at this airport their were 50-100 people ahead of me at both AmWest and NW. I have just enough time eat a Pizza before being called to board ... fast flight ... got in almost a half hour early ... and then had to wait on the tarmac for the half hour for a door. At one point the pilot comes on and updates us ... "If you've ever been in the downtown of a major city when the traffic lights aren't working and no-one knows what to do ... that's what it looks like from here today ... hopefully we have a door shortly." |