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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 64f1 - New Chev - Box ... to Stockton, CA 11/22/04 - At the lot we see the service guy again ... but yes it is Monday by now ... good thing, as we hadn't stopped to get any wrenches ... dispatch had told us to disconnect the battery to try and reset the alarm and warning lights ... or buy a new battery. He was out trying to start another truck ... we told him what we needed and that we'd be back in an hour after we dropped the rental car. Some good news, this truck was not on 'E' ... was even over 1/4 ... so the gas can wasn't needed, still hate to leave $15 setting somewhere (an amount NOT included in the $59 I said I made the last four days ... so it's really $44 ... $11 a day.) By the time we are back the service guy has disconnected the battery but that did not re-set anything ... one more thing to try ... use the breaks. We had already moved the truck on Saturday but that hadn't helped ... today it worked ... the alarm was off and we could roll ... he grabbed his bag out of my truck and was gone ... I-76 / the turnpike, looked like it was going to cost me about $30+ so I decided to cut north out of Reading, PA ... using a map from Hertz ... opps ... after longer than I should have been on the back roads ... I see a sign for the turnpike ... not good, how could I have gone in a circle? and I can't find any of the cities on the map ... Opps ... I've been going east instead of north and west ... this is a different turnpike, not even close to where I've been looking on the map ... but at least I know where I am ... another 1/2 hour and I'm on I-81 and then I-80. Not hearing what I wanted from dispatch they don't have a paying run home, but I can split a rental car with a couple of other guys ... if I sit in IA for a day ... Not sure what mile post I was at on I-80 but saw a huge amount of black smoke ahead on the Interstate and we were soon at a dead stop .... until the smoke was gone ... before I stopped I could see the flames and the vehicles going by on the shoulder, must have been before the cops got there ... didn't look good when we passed ... and this was on a straight stretch of road for the last five miles ... car is upside down in the ditch ... completely charred ... and I don't see any doors open. Need to run the milage to see if I really come out ahead by by-passing I-76 ... and if I'd come out ahead by by-passing I-80 through OH, IN and IL as well ... not that I can see much for choices on that stretch ... As long as I am going to be stuck in IA in a couple of days, I may as well pace myself ... cut the day short with only 500 miles and stop at Toledo ... Motel 6 ... $29. don't know where the next cheap motel is ... a few for $39 but this saves me $10. The Knights Inn north of the Flying J in Toledo / Perrysburg is now a Crown Inn ... as at least one other that I passed in the last couple of days. Sort of forgot to eat today ... and didn't pack enough for this many days ... finally grabbed a sandwich about four, so I wasn't hungry again when I shut down ... did stop past the Steak -n- Shake for a malt ... to go. 11/23/04 - Took my 10 hours off and then some ... As soon as dispatch was open I called and said I'd pass on the the rental car and just drive my truck 400 miles out of route home ... the cost would be the same, with less hours sitting / wasted for me. NOT what they wanted to hear ... 'we already have a car lined up in YOUR name, etc ..." Finally they said they'd come up with a truck for me to get back to IA with so I backed off ... and preceded to take the next hours a mile at a time ... 55 - 60 mph. Might as well make the milage, not going anywhere anyhow ... supposed to end up in Waterloo, but the Motel 6 there is over $45 so I was going to stay in Rapid City about an hour away at one for $39. One good thing about the breakdown ... that covered my 34 hour re-start time ... Late afternoon dispatch calls and says I can get a paid run out of Omaha ... that's what I get for not pushing it last night .... breaking one of my rules ... always push as far as you can, never know what may happen tomorrow. At 4 PM they still don't have any paperwork on the truck so I tell them to fax it to the Flying J in Des Moines and I'll pick it up there and pick the truck up first thing in the AM. Thought I had been getting about 10 mpg on the last two tanks so I pushed this one to 400 miles ... which ended up being way past 'E' ... past where the other truck had been when I picked it up on 'E.' Did make it though and put in about 44 gallons, which means either I didn't fill the truck the same or I only got about 9 mpg on this tank. I was running close on hours about 40 miles out of Omaha but the Motel 6 at that exit wasn't cheap ... another 40 miles and I'd get one for $37 ... plus $1 tax, that was nice for a change. And it has lots of truck parking ... Council Bluffs, exit 2 ? next to the TA ... lots of food choices, I went for the Buffet at the Golden Corral ... I only had a half hour until they closed the doors, but the give you another 1/2 hour before they start putting the food away. Lots of choices ... the things I picked out were good so I ate until I couldn't. Page 7 - The next leg .... |