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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 61 - New Peterbuilt - Cement
Truck ... to Fort Pierce, FL Had a week plus a couple of days off, when I called in the first thing I ask is what the fuel surcharge is (the last I heard it was holding at $.10 regardless of the fuel price). Good news ??? The surcharge is again based on the price of fuel ... plus ... the expected milage of the truck ... plus ... the total miles of the trip. The surcharge they quote sounds about right so I take the first run they offer, real close to one I've done before ... got to got to start doing the math before I take these jobs. Now that I'm home I look at my web pages and see I only made $71 a day on the last one of these runs ... 10/27/04 - 8 AM dispatch ... will be running with three other drivers, this will be the second day for one of the drivers ... his first real trip and the other driver has about a month with the company. Dispatch has finally changed the MPH on the computer program they use, setting it at 55 instead of 65, making it a little more realistic. Bad news though ... what I thought was a three day run is now rated as a four day run ... I hoped to be home Friday night (as did the other drivers). Dispatch also stresses the fact of running 55 will give us better milage ... Great, but good enough to pay for that extra night motel? and will the customer take the trucks on Saturday? Yes we will be running together ... most of the way ... the drops are in Fort Pierce, Cocoa Beach and Bonita Springs. When I took the run dispatch said the plan was for two of us to run together all the way and get a rental car back to Orlando where the flights are cheaper ... and I still have a ticket from missing a flight last run. Getting rolling takes a little longer with first time runners ... it's 9 AM by the time we pull out of the fuel station. Trucks are not full of fuel again, but this time I could only put in $15 ... better than the $45 last trip. I get the lead position ... let the other drivers know we'll be stopping every 150 miles with no breaks between if we are going to make this trip in three days. By the time we make our first fuel stop in Black River Falls we learned a couple of things ... 1) my fuel gauge does not work, it is permanently on full ... 2) one of the trucks only does 55 ... the other two will do 62 with the cruise, 65 on the floor. And ... 3) making less than 4 mph. Because dispatch changed the MPH on the routing program, we are now routed through Chicago and Indy ... with the old settings we were routed around Chicago down I-39 through Bloomington-Normal ... we agree to run based on the settings ... its not too hard to convince drivers to by-pass Chicago. Not much new on this route ... 3rd FL trip in a month ... starting to memorize where the fuel stops are and aren't ... need to take a copy of my EXIT 101 with me ... its only been 120 miles the first few stops but the milage should start getting better as we get closer to 1,000 miles on these trucks ... mine only had 21 miles on it when I got it ... 15 when it was picked up at the customer. As we near our 11 hours we are running low on fuel and I have to stop the convoy to find out how low ... we are good for a few more miles and we find a truckstop at the next exit ... when we are done fueling it looks like we have about another hour to go ... but by the time we are done looking at maps and discussing where we might stay we are up against our 14 hours and will have to stop in Effingham ... once we get there I realize this is where I've stopped before ... Econo Lodge ... we as for a room with two beds and a roll-a-way but they don't have one so they offer us a double for $35 and a single for $30 ... not a bad price and we are out of hours. Instead of splitting the total three ways we opt for each of us to take a single room for one of the three nights. Next door at the Days Inn there is a family restaurant with some great food ... mine was French Dip, the other two ordered dinners ... we agree to 'keep it legal' and be ready to roll in 10 hours. I try calling Sun Country to make use of my unused ticket but the person I got to talk to was not of any help so I will have to purchase it outright ...and deal with the old ticket later when I have more time ... 10/28/04 - We stop for fuel in <> $150 miles ... the milage is getting better ... at Miron. The Bonita Springs drivers has sounded nervous about delivering on Friday ... saying 'They are only open M-F from 4 AM to 2 AM' ... "Did you say 2 AM?" I ask him " ... or 2 PM?" It was 2 AM so he had lots of time to get to his delivery, but decided to run on his own anyhow to make better time. I stick with the other driver as we are still planning on getting the rental car together and I don't trust his truck, not only is it running stop it doesn't sound healthy. Front the lead dog to the tail ... one driver takes off and is out of sight and I will now follow the slow driver and let him set the pace, much easier than trying to lead and still going maximum speed. In a few miles we are on I-24 and I find out how well his truck isn't running ... he can get the truck up to 60 MPH but on the hills he drops to 45 MPH or less ... I had suggested the next stop of a Flying J in TN, which he bypassed and stopped at the next exit at a Pilot ... one of those where you have to wait in line to 'prepay' your fuel and then wait in line again to sign for your fuel ... and where they charge you an extra 3 cents for using a credit card ... so this little stop ended up taking at least a half hour ... looks like another 14 hour day in the making. About half way to our next fuel stop I see one of our trucks in my rear view ... my first thought is that a fourth driver had left later in the day yesterday and has caught up to us ... but its the driver who had left us in the dust earlier. He hangs in behind us and decides to run with us for the rest of the day. The miles flew by with a minor slow down for rush hour in Chattanoga ... Until we hit Atlanta ... I had mentioned to the other drivers about taking the bypass around Atlanta and Macon, GA ... traffic in the lanes heading to the bypass was backing up and we were in the either / or lane ... suddenly the lead driver jumps over a lane and heads into downtown Atlanta under the sign 'No through trucks to downtown Atlanta.' At first I thought he knew another exit and we'd be getting off soon ... not so ... we spent the next half an hour plus in stop and go traffic in downtown Atlanta ... all the time expecting to see the flashing lights in my rearview ... (in our town the rumor is that the cops will throw the truck drivers in jail and have their trucks towed on these kinds of routes ... and the only trucks you see are the ones stopped, by the cops). We do make it through Atlanta and head on to Macon ... we do make it to Macon in just under 11-1/4 hours so we call it legal at 11 hours, but again have racked up almost 14 hours ... again. By the end of Wednesday I had had enough news and talk radio and leave it off for the rest of the trip ... three days without news ... kind of peaceful sometimes ... We stay at the Scottish Inn as I know it has truck parking and with a price of $24 ... room not as clean as ... well the other drivers said it well "We just have to remember this is work, we are not on vacation" ... any money spent is money gone from the bottom line. Earlier today dispatch had called to say there were no rental cars in FL and offered no other options ... tonight I finally get the chance to tell the other driver and that I'd be making some calls to find a car when he says he was planning on taking the bus ...Nice to know this now ... now what? Back at my room I start calling Greyhound for my drop location, I can't afford to to pay $60+ for a car even if I can find one. Looking closer at my paperwork I finally realize that I am the one going to Ft Pierce not the other driver ... two new things to think about. Turns out the cost is the same for me $30 for a car if we split it, $30 for the Greyhound. However I once I realized we would have to spend Friday night in FL, I had wanted to stay on / by the beach for a few hours ... now that wasn't going to happen ... 'but this is work, not vacation.' 10/29/04 - Early AM ... we are heading out a little earlier than we should this AM ... and it's still going to be cutting it awful close ... We fuel before we head out so that it will be one less time stop. Slow driver in the lead again ... until he blows past an open scale ... this time we don't follow ... we scaled and never caught up. The slow guy pulled off for fuel and didn't let us know ... we parted ways. We / I had planned on splitting up when we hit the GA/FL border ... we were at exit 2 so when I'm done fueling I roll ... alone again / finally. Have enough fuel to get to the FL tollway and will need to stop once more to cover the last 25-30 miles ... don't dare risk it with no fuel gauge. Am doing much better on fuel, am up to 5 MPG on this last tank full ... On the ramp to the tollway I can see the tip of a bumper of a car that looks like its sitting right on its nose in the trees along the ramp ... cops are already there, but this is the only accident we'll see this trip. Not much else notable ... $12.50 in tolls for the 112 miles ... not even a slow down around Orlando. Then a few miles on a two lane state highway to get East to I-95 ... looks like it may be a four lane some day. My delivery map doesn't show I-95 or any exit numbers so I decide it best to call the company who gives me better / closer directions ... almost missed the exit, but I saw this hunk of metal in the ditch and was able to see that it was my exit sign ... from here things go from bad to worse. Not for me, for the residence, this route takes me past three trailer courts ... the first two are disasters, the third looks mostly untouched or already rebuilt. The roofs of that third trailer court were at road / ground level which is probably what saved them. (Looked for photo's on the web of the mobile home parks, but couldn't find any yet.) At the other two courts there were some homes where only the frames were left ... upside down ... also ... along the highways were piles of garbage, blocks long, 10 ft high ... even some gas stations were totaled, not just the buildings but also the pumps are gone ... By now I am on the roads I can see on the map, but still miss my turn ... cuz the sign is gone. So a block later I have to turn around in a vacant Shell station. I'm here ... an hour early and 30 miles before I should be. They do a quick inspection ... AND ... I find someone who will give me a ride on their a way home ... turns out what I thought was a couple mile ride is really close to an hour by the time we find the depot ... it has moved a couple of times recently I'm told. It used to be downtown until the downtown became to rough of an area ... so they moved it, along with the police station (where I come from, they move police stations INTO troubled area's to reduce response time). The guy who gave me a ride said his house lost its shingles from their roof in the storm and the family spent the next 15 hours carrying buckets of water out of the house, by the time it was over there was water coming in everywhere, including the electrical outlets, but they managed to keep the water level on the floor to under an inch. Said he still hasn't gotten any insurance money to rebuild ... his house still has a tarp for a roof. We did finally find the depot ... like most other things in this area it is now unmarked ... the Greyhound depot is now in the Pilot truck stop. After using my last 10% discount coupon to get my price down to $25 ... and now to wait ... and wait ... another hour delay before we are ready to roll. As soon as the bus is rolling someone behind me starts talking ... loud. First he is talking about $2,000 puppies then religion, then the weight of an atom, to his 'visions' and back ... for a while I thought he was a self ordained preacher ...always talking so loud that I can't doze off or even think my own thoughts. But after a break in conversation because the person he was talking to had to take a cell call ... he started again ... "... my sister has power of attorney over me ..." That put the last two hours in perspective. I had called the other driver in hopes of meeting him in Orlando to share a motel ... earlier he had said 'I've slept in the Orlando depot before ...' but now his plan was to catch the 10 bus from Cocoa Beach instead of the 1 hour ride ??? so it looks like I am on my own ... about a half hour out of Orlando I get a call and he is already at the airport ... seems he thought he might be able to catch the last flight out of Orlando but couldn't so now he want to get a motel ... I can catch the city bus right across from the Greyhound depot, but I have no idea how often the buses run ... or what kind of section of town I am in .. and it's long after dark ... Did ask the cab the cost of a ride to the airport ... '$35' ... when I say no thanks he asks how much I'm willing to pay ... "Not even close to that ... and I've got until noon tomorrow to get there." The bus cost me $2.50, and took under an hour with one bus change at the downtown depot. At the airport I found the other driver in the bar where he said he'd be ... talking to a gal, so I waited in the distance until he saw me. By the time I got there, she had already offered to give us a ride to our motel as soon as her sister arrives. Orlando is different from a lot of airports nowadays ... most of the restaurants and stores ... and a hotel are BEFORE you get to security. I'm only sitting there a few minutes when the other driver says he's going to sit at the bar so he "... isn't imposing on our conversation." ??? This gal is very confused and objects but the driver goes to sit at the bar. I try to call the closest Econo Lodge but my cell wouldn't work so I have to go and use the pay phone ... I am basing my calls on my coupon magazine, but the Econo Lodge is 'almost full' so they will not honor any coupons ... the new price is $49. ?? For $49 we have a coupon for the Clairon, but they are also 'almost full' so their price is now $75 ... ouch. With a call to the Days Inn I find that they are not full so they will honor their coupon ... of $49. Because I know where it is, I decide on the Econo Lodge ... As we move from the bar to the arrival area the other drivers comments he is thinking about staying for another drink ... seems he was more interested in the bartender than the gal we have been talking to ... that was why he was anxious to leave the table as soon as I got there ... By now the other two have had three drinks and she doesn't want to driver and is hoping that her sister hasn't been drinking on the flight .... or 'I will have to drive.' After a few wrong turns we finally we find ... her car. By now it's looking like we might have been better off taking a cab, bus or shuttle. We did better at finding the motel ... it is right off the expressway ... if it had been out of their way I would have had more objection to accepting the ride. We get dropped at the door and tell them many thanks ... At the motel counter they ask if we have reservations ... "No, but we called and you said you still room." ... with that I was told to wait and talk to the other clerk. Sounds like they are just about full. We did get a room, upstairs, smoking, was all they have left. The other was disappointed, no remote for the TV so he didn't turn it on ... just fine with me ... its almost midnight. 10/30/04 - Five AM ... I'm back in the five hour sleep mode ... for the next three and a half hours I drift in and out before I get up for the day. I thought the Clairon next door had a restaurant, it does, but it doesn't open until 4 PM. That leaves our only choice as Mc Donalds ... we opt for getting to the airport earlier and eating there. But by now it is past the breakfast hour, not that we found any place that served breakfast. We ended up back at the same bar, this time to eat ... by the time we are done we are down to less than two hours until departure, hope there's not a line for security ... There's not a line but there is a wait ... a long enough wait so that when we get to security they ask us "Where are the four of you going?" ... no we don't know each other ... 'We didn't know each other when we got in line, we've just been standing in line that long.' By now we are down to 1/2 hour until boarding ... where did the day go? But it's enough time for me to finish my paperwork. About a half hour from home the pilot comes on the PA and says that we are going to be put in a holding pattern for a few minutes, because Pres Bush is at our airport. A few minutes later the pilot is back on saying that we have been cleared for landing ... It was a very clouded day and I was in an isle seat so it wasn't until we were a couple of minutes from the ground that I could see the ground ... and it was farm land ... something didn't look right ... then I saw an I-90 highway sign ... I told the gal next to me ... "this isn't good, we are either in Rochester or Sioux Falls." But as soon as the tires hit the ground the stewardess is on the PA 'Welcoming us to Minneapolis.' Without thinking I say loudly "Look outside ... we are not in Minneapolis, we are in Rochester." (By now we could see the name on the airport) I was in the middle of the plane and half the people ahead of me turned around and looked at me ... and then looked outside. I'm not usually not that loud and after the fact wondered if I had done could be called 'disturbing the piece?' Finally the pilot comes on the PA and says ... 'No, we are not in Minneapolis, we are in Rochester and need to re-fuel, but should be back in the air in a 1/2 hour." At first they said no one was to get off, but they did let about a dozen people off ... must have been Rochester residents ... As we sat there some one though out that the way politics are going in MN ... 'Kerry or someone else will land in Rochester before we get back in the air.' ... someone else said this little inconvenience was going to cause them to ... 'vote for Nader instead of Bush.' Finally we are back in the air and when we land the stewardess stresses that they are sure that we are in Minneapolis this time ... The plan had been for me to give the driver from Bonita Beach / Fort Lauderdale a ride back to the office but he was able to land before the delays so he found another ride ... It wasn't just the stewardesses who didn't know what was going on ... the screens at the airport still said we were on time ... as we sat on the ground in Rochester. So instead of getting back late Friday night it is now Saturday evening ... Trip stats 4 days / cleared $80 per day $.36 per mile after fuel 1,600 miles paid Expenses - $300 total / 3 nights motel, $30 bus fare, $180 airfare |