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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 67b - Used Peterbuilt - Garbage
Truck ... to Boise, ID 12/22/04 - This is a low budget trip, am picking up my second truck in the same lot as I dropped my first, no down time, no cab ride ... lets roll. Only problem is, I have never gotten an answer on if someone will be working tomorrow so that I can drop the truck, a lot of people get both Thurs and Fri off this year for Christmas and I'd much rather fly home now out of Phoenix than get stuck in Boise for the weekend. I've gotten no answer from the customer in the last two days and the dispatcher I'd been talking to is gone for the holidays and didn't leave any notes ... but within the hour dispatch gets a hold of the customer and I'm free to go, so I sign for the truck and ... wow ... over a half a tank of fuel, this should get me back to Flagstaff. Fifth trip into Phoenix, first one out ... on the ground ... all that downhill coast is now an uphill climb. Oooooh NO !!! I'm almost two hours out of Phoenix when I realize I have left my winter jacket and cap in the other truck ... as it is I am going to be pushing 6 Thursday when I make my delivery ... add another 3-4 hours to the trip and not only wouldn't I have enough hours but I'm not sure the customer would be willing to meet me at that time ... there goes $50+, about the cost of the fuel they gave me. That was the end of the good road for now ... now its US 89 for the next ??? miles / 6-8 hours ... two lanes ... I looked for a jacket at the truck stop, nothing I wanted to spend money on ... but as I drive and think ... it's cold back home ... -0- or less ... Boise won't be warm either ... and if I break down in the mountains ??? I stop at the first Wal-Mart I see ... should have stopped to eat also, its getting close to sundown and I haven't done that yet today ... First thing I see when I walk in the door are some lined flannel shirts ... on sale for $11, right next to a ski mask for under $2 ... doesn't take me long to shop. Not that chilly here yet, last town on the AZ side of the border. But the sun will be going down within the hour ... As a rule, bridges don't bother me ... but the one crossing over Glen Canyon ... can't see the river below ... can see the dam close by, but can't see the bottom of that either ... this I could have just as well passed over in the dark ... what you don't see can't hurt you ??? Gooood news ... AZ scale is closed ... saves me $62 ... is a bummer not running on our AZ plates, and I will still have to put out some money for my ID permit. Was hoping this was one of those 9-5 locations, one of my reasons for stopping to buy a jacket before I got here, better chance they'd be closed ... Every few miles there is a wide spot in the road where the natives have booths selling goods, not much open this time of the year, during the week anyhow. By now it is dark ... on a two lane road ... with a right hand drive ... and curves, hills, and yes mountains. Luckily most places have the white line on the right shoulder, would have been nice if there were a few more miles of guard rails. I wanted to get off of this road ASAP, but my little map only showed two highways before I-70. The first would take me dozens of miles out of the way and back south to Saint George, the second is the one I have my eye on heading to Cedar City ... it has a Travelodge I like to stay ... BUT. But there are signs regarding the highway to Cedar City ... 'Not recommended for semi-trucks' ... ??? ... and this highway I'm on now is? How bad is the one to Cedar City? Guess I won't know ... I'll follow my computer routing which will end me on the Interstate just south of Beaver. Had never stayed in Beaver, the only motel coupons had been for places 3-4 miles into town, but there is a Motel 6 right at the exit with a truckers rate and, truck parking. As usual, by now most of the eat places are closed so I have to settle for Arby's ... cold walk, already glad I stopped and got a heavy shirt and cap ... as I'm ready to pay, I notice their sign just as the cashier asks 'Are you a truck driver?' ... (do I looking like one tonight?) ... At this Arby's show them your CDL and get 20% off your meal. 12/23/04 - Ran too late last night, not getting a very early start ... NOW I'm really glad I stopped and got warmer clothes yesterday, it is snowing and blowing. Driving is slow ... radio says only those with '4-wheel driver or chains' should venture out. But I plug on ... by the time it starts getting light the snow is ending. But some bad news, the windshield washer was something I didn't check and it doesn't work ... this will be a pain all day, even after it stops snowing the roads will be wet most of the day. Thought I'd make it on less than two tanks of fuel so I don't fill this AM, which means I don't really know what kind fuel milage I'm getting. Stop at a Flying J just south of Salt Lake City ... unlike most of the country, UT seems to have a Flying J at almost every exit in places. Water buckets at the J were frozen solid so I had to throw snow on the windshield to try and clear it off ... more bad news, the wipers are bad too, so I have to use paper towel to wipe off the widows where the wipers miss. Salt Lake City ... not much for a slow down ... long town, south to north, or series of towns ... I just leave the cruise set at 55 and plug on through. Mid-day so not major slow downs ... also the Thursday before Saturday Christmas, so this is a holiday for a lot of people. Ahhhh ... the sign I've been dreading ... 'Scale 2 Miles' ... lucky for me there is an exit before the scale where I stop and get my windows so I can see out of them, nothing like dirty windows to tell the scale house your truck is a safety hazard. Going through the scale there isn't any trucks ahead of me to watch for hints and once past the scale I don't get a green arrow, don't get a red one either but I'm not taking any chances ... today. When I go inside, no one there ... it's one of those that only man's one direction, if you get flagged in the opposite direction you have to walk the tunnel under the freeway. This one isn't quite that bad, they do have a room where you can talk via speaker to the scale house ... "If you didn't get a red arrow, you are good to go." 'Thank you.' That was the UT exit scale, knew I'd be hitting the ID scale soon, been this way once before running with someone else, know last time we got our ID permits at a truck stop before we got to ID ... didn't remember it being a Flying J, but it was ... well marked with highways "Idaho Permits." Getting the permit was fairly painless ... look at a chart to tell them which type of vehicle it was and pay them $30. And spent more time cleaning my windshield so someone could see my permit ... didn't help ... I got flagged in. "What do you want to see first?" I asked them. 'Idaho permit.' I showed it to them and they said thanks and that they couldn't see it when I went past, it is supposed to be stuck to the window, I had just thrown it in the dash and it was partially hidden from view ... my mistake. Another mistake ... guessed wrong on the fuel, could have / should have filled the tank again so now I'm having to make an extra stop for fuel ... and wash my windows. Still doing OK on time, had given my self plenty of time and am going to be using it all. Did finally get a hold of my drop sometime today, up to now I had just been leaving messages ... he'd be able to meet me at 6 PM in Boise, but would rather not meet at the airport as originally planned ... fine with me, there is a Motel 6 within a mile of the airport. He's still 15 minutes away when I arrive, by the time I check in and clean out the truck the wait is short. Eat ... something I haven't done today, the closest thing is called the Kopper Kitchen ... great food. This place was half way to the airport, if I do decide to walk instead of spending $5 for a cab, I can stop here for breakfast ... 12/24/04 - Christmas Eve ... My phone starts beeping ... I can't figure it out ... it's not a call ... is the battery going dead? No, it's the alarm ... I had set it for 7:30 ... just in case ... good thing I did. Hate to miss my flight ... would be big bucks. Once I picked this truck up two days ago, we purchased a ticket on-line. I had done the checking and knew if I didn't get a cheap flight out of here I could drive to Denver, SLC, ect ... or drive the 20 hours home. Turns out the cost of flights kept going down for the Friday flights. If I wanted to leave when I got in Thursday night I had the choice of a $500 flight or a $1,200 flight ... Fridays flight cost me under $200, plus the motel. Asked at the front desk at the Motel 6 how cold it was ... "It's cold out there ... 24 degree's." '60 degree's warmer than at home ... but can I have the number for a cab, just in case.' (The windchill at home this AM was -35.) The walk seemed warm ... and short, about a mile. Did stop at a convince store for a bottle of water and juice so I wouldn't have to pay the high airport prices. Boise is one of the few airports you can walk up to the gate ... had been to this airport back on trip 8 so I new the general layout of the airport. Our first flight was delayed, so my layover in Denver was short ... and home late Christmas Eve ... haybales 14 high |