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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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NOTES - NEED TO BE WRITEN UP For flights after 6 PM - 4/1/05 - LAX
For flights after 10 PM - 4/1/05 - LAS
Trip 82 - New Pete - Cement Truck ... to Fontana, CA ( LA ) Took the weekend off, plus Monday ... Like these four day LA runs, but they only allow one trip a week. Spent WAY too much time trying to find a cheap way home on this trip ... a couple of the drivers just said 'no,' they weren't going to run until the airfares came back down. Others of us need too/should work. On Friday I had moved some trucks from this this company and talked to the people there, so I knew we should have more trucks coming Mon/Tues and decided to hold out for one of them ... If I could leave Monday night I could still make a cheap flight out of Las Vegas on Thursday night ... even made my car reservation over the weekend ... just in case. 3/28/05 Away from my cell for part of the day so I don't find out for sure until about 4 PM that the trucks will be picked up tonight, up until then it was only a 'should be.' By the time I get to the office, my truck and two others are sitting there ... three others are still in route back to the office. Everyone else has opted to leave tomorrow AM. Not sure what they are going to do about airfares home, but that's not my problem. As soon as I get done doing my inspection and get the truck started, I call for my plane ticket. Done! Checking the fuids on some of these trucks can be a real pain, the dip stickes are 3+ feet long and have to wind around corners ... the wire ones are a problem, its the flat ones ... this one ... must have take me all of 10 minutes to get the tranny stick back in ... a couple of weeks ago I actually had to bend the tube the stick goes in, to get the dip stick back in. These trucks are supposed to be full of fuel, this one says its not ... boss happens to stop by (waiting for the other drivers to show up) and asks if every thing is OK, and if the truck was full ... no. Turned out it was closer than I thought, parked it didn't look / show full ... once I moved the truck it showed full so I checked the tank again ... full, or awful close. My goal on these trucks has been to run them 50-55 mph and do 550-600 miles a day ... I just need to knock off 150 miles to do that. Almost ... doesn't seem worth it to run for three hours and get an extra motel ... should do the actual math sometime. Real goal is to run 250 - 350 miles tonight ... 350 would get me to a $29 motel in MO. By the time I'm actually rolling its almost 6 PM, rush hour is almost over ... I've been up for 12 hours and midnight looks like it will be closing in fast. May run to 1 AM if I have too, problem is, some of these cheap motels put out the 'No Vacancy' sign when they want to go to bed. Like these repeat runs, get a chance to do things better each trip, but no variety ... have seen this stretch of road ??? at least once a month for the last two years ... every week so far this year. Not much new on this trip ... and its soon dark. Bad news early on ... this truck is sucking the fuel. Am not going to be getting to Des Moines on the first tank ... and ouch, fuel at Boondocks is $2.28 (fuel in Des Moines is $2.16). No-o-o-o-ooo ... the ABS break light just came on. On a Sterling it could mean fire ... I quickly pull over and stop. Good news ... all I can smell is Iowa. No smell of burning brakes. Good news ... everything is cold to the touch. Still, I better call dispatch ... told them I was going to keep running the truck to the shop. "Better call Peterbuilts 800 service number first." Dispatch has been getting a little gun-shy with all the problems we've been having ... so I call ... they say to 'run it to the shop, as long as nothing gets hot.' I stop and check after a few more miles ... still cool. Beep, beep, BEEP, BEEP ... the back up alarm is on, and it is deafening ... luckily by now I am less than five miles from the shop. The shop had said to bring the truck in at seven tomorrow AM, but when I see how close the motel is to the shop I decide to drop it off tonight so I can sleep in. Find the service area, yes they can take it in tonight and by the time we are done with the paperwork I realise they are closing ... now. The only two people left in the building besides me are the shop foreman and the parts supervisior ... but good news for me, the shop is on a dead end street ... which went right past the motel ... I got a free ride to the motel. Motel 6 ... $39 ... $10 more than I was planning on for tonights motel (due to a breakdown, should be billing the boss). Clerk says the food at the Pilot next door is good ... I don't agree. Can't remember the last meal I had that was so ... so blah. No taste ... not bad, just no taste ... the bread, the meat. Lemonade was good. And now it was going on 1 AM. 3/29/05 Don't know the reason, but I did not sleep well last night ... 7 AM ... call the shop, they are pulling the truck in as we speed ... I knew he wasn't lying ... I could hear the backup alarm in the background. 8 AM ... call dispatch with an update. They want to know if the other drivers are at the same motel as I ... they're not. Guess two of the drivers with the now famous garbage trucks are at another Motel 6 ... waiting for the Serling dealer to open. NOTES ... (POSTED UNTIL WRITE UP IS DOWN) I'd been told these trucks wouldn't be ready until 'later in the day' by both the customer and dispatch. Been spending way too much time at this customer, we are now on a first name basis and at times I seem to know more what is going on than dispatch does. With a morning free I end up somewhere out of cell phone range so I'm not able to get my messages and dispatch is seldom easy to get a hold of by phone and today is no exception. They have said the trucks won't be ready until 4 PM so I plan my day accordingly … wasn't sure I'd be back in town by the time they were ready, so I didn't offer to pick them up at the customer. I don't get to our office until 5 PM and only 3 of the 6 trucks were there yet … mine's there but not full of fuel. Boss stops on his way past and asks a couple of questions, including if the truck is full of fuel … and says they will pay for topping off the tank. I had thought that six drivers would be leaving yet tonight, guess not, looks like I'm running solo. One other driver does stop by, but neither his truck or paperwork is there, and dispatch is closed until 8 AM tomorrow so he's not going anywhere. I haven't had time to check the weather so I stay with the southern route … dispatch had tried to get me to leave on Tuesday morning, but I said that I needed to leave tonight. Do not want to fly this weekend, spring break is here and airline ticket prices are UP. I can tell right off that the mileage on this truck is bad. Had called Dick (of KC) earlier tonight, thought maybe our paths would cross … not this trip. Just across the line into IA and the ABS light comes on … time to call dispatch. Good things it's not 10 PM, dispatch still picks up … then call the Peterbuilt dealer in DSM. They say it should be OK to run, so I drive on … then something starts to beep … make that … ((( BEEP ))) … sounds like the back up alarm, but right in the cab … deafening … but I drive on. Am supposed to drop the truck in the AM, but I don't like to get up that early and the dealer is close to a Motel 6, so I pull in their lot tonight. Place looks almost empty … walk in the front door, its not locked yet … the parts man helps me find the shop foreman who tells me where to park the truck. Back in the shop I realize that they are closing … now … the fact that there weren't any mechanic's around and someone was shutting off the lights sort of gave it away. Parts man offers to give me a ride … hardly out of his way, shop is on a dead end street, Motel 6 is on the main highway … the minus is that this is not a cheap Motel 6, good thing its not summer … its at the same exit as the DSM amusement park … $$$. It's now midnight or so … still legal as I didn't start until 5 PM. Only food is at the Pilot / Grandma Max's next door (an old Buzzelmens location?) … was expecting good food … got blah. Monday Day off / can't get messages / 6 trucks ? / Not ready until 4 PM / Don't PU until 5 / truck not full of fuel / Take southern route / No one else leaving 2night / mlg bad / ABS light > BEEP / Pete's closing / free ride to m / Call Dick / m6 is big $$ / Pilot food > blah ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Just one of those nights where I didn't sleep well … sort of hyper, like too much caffeine, except I didn't have any. By 7 AM I'm calling the shop, they are just pulling the truck in … yeah right. Really, this time I knew they were not pulling my leg … I could hear the back up alarm. Forgot to tell them about the alarm, but they seemed to have figured out that it was a problem all by themselves. Call dispatch with an update … they asked if I was in the same motel as the other three trucks that broke down in DSM last night … I wasn't, they were at the other Motel 6 about 5 miles west. Seems dispatch had forgot to shut off their cell phone when I had called and the other drivers had called about midnight … all needing to go to the shop … they had the now famous Sterlings PHX trucks. I get to the shop and they haven't figured out the problem yet … the 'stop engine' light was just a loose wire but they can't figure out the backup alarm. A couple hours later they say they've fixed it and that it was a loose wiring harness (some time tonight I will find out they were wrong.) With lots of time on my hands I call dispatch, and find out that none of the other five cement trucks have left … never do here why … after I get back from this trip I will pick up one of three that ended up in the local Peterbuilt shop, not sure about the other two. I also have time to call one of the other drivers … had something specific I asked him, but no longer remember what it was. Still waiting on my truck, now I'm waiting to see who gets charged with the warranty ??? not sure why I can't leave before they know that … its warranty. Finally on the road again, I'm not two miles down the road when I hear my first (BEEP) … but enough of this sitting around, I'm going to keep rolling. Ouch, ended up paying twelve cents more than I could have if I'd have known the prices of fuel… but unless someone is running ahead of you, how do you know … these prices are changing by the hour. The next few hours are un-eventful, a BEEP now and then, nothing major. Then somewhere on US 50 still east of Newton, KS it becomes a steady (((BEEP))) … make it STOP …. PLEASE !!! That loud of a noise does something to the mind after a while. Need to stop in Newton for fuel, today I need a fuel receipt without the time on it so I'm willing to pay a couple more bucks at the AmBest for fuel. I pull in and start to fuel, someone comes by and asks if I need anything … 'no' I don't … heading in to pay, I realize that this is a 'full service' station … ah, that's why the guy wanted to help me. Inside I pay, then ask the price of their motel (which I have forgotten the exact price) … in the $35-$40 range, not cheap … AND I by some earplugs, their last pair, hopefully they will make the rest of this trip bearable. I call dispatch with an 'after hours' update, they have the name of another driver who also had a 'BEEPING' problem … he calls me back and we go over what controls what on the mixer trying to get the noise to stop. We try everything he knows … and the 'BEEP' goes on. I finally let him off the phone and try the controls myself, somehow the BEEP finally stops. Dispatch wasn't too happy with me playing with the controls, sounds like somebody managed to do a 'no-no' and wreck something, guess I've worked on enough different kinds of equipment that these controls seemed pretty straight forward. Not sure what those guys fixed at the shop this AM, or if they just had to put something down to get paid for their warranty work. The problem is that there is an air leak allowing the equipment to drop out of position, now I know. DSM to Liberal, KS was 600 miles even, enough for one day … last time we stayed in Liberal, the guys wanted to stay at the Days Inn for $40 -$50 a room, and I had wanted to stay across the street at the Westword HO … I wasn't in the lead on that part of the trip and the motel had looked closed up … sign was gone, only a few ABF trucks remained. Tonight I stop where I want to stop, so I give the place a try … $32 for a single room … when asked, they gave me a CDL price of $22 … It's worth asking … always ask. And the place is now a '1st Inn' suppose the price will be going up … by next week they have their new sign up. Sure would be nice to pick up trucks out west and take advantage of these winds … instead I had a 50 mph head wind, and it dropped me down to 4 mpg … ain't going to make much money if this keeps up. Tuesday Not much sleep / call shop @ 7A / trk in shop / 3 IA trucks in shop / non of the other 5 trucks leaving / @ shop > watching TV / call Bob S / who to pay for warranty / wrong fuel stops 12 cents dif / One beep in DSM > US 50 BEEP all the time > buy ear plugs > call disp > call driver / play with controls > beeper off / DSM 2 Liberal = 600 miles even / Westward HO is now 1st INN > $32 vs $22 with CDL / 50 mph = 4 mpg (winds??) ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** I had run late last night, hadn't started until late because of my breakdown so I had been legal … hadn't wanted a wake up call, but did set my cell phone alarm for late 'just in case.' I hear my phone and wonder who is calling me at this hour, its still dark … then I realize it's my alarm not a call, and at first I think the cell's not working right, I'm confused … until … I look out the window, its light outside … it really IS 9 AM. I have never been in a room where the shades were so thick that it stayed this dark in the room, but this is where truckers stay and sometimes have to sleep during the day. My notes say 'fuel in Guymon' … but that was weeks ago … no idea what I had in mind. The scale at the TX / NM line is open today, I go in to get my permit … some guy comes in, they need to see his NM permit. And he says 'didn't have time to get my permit out to show you, scale came up on me a little fast this time.' One of the other employee's in the scale house must have only heard the word 'FAST' … and he went on a two minute rant about speeding across the scale and the fines they have given to drivers and on and on … I think the driver started to say something once, and then thought the better of it. The guy who was waiting on me was just smiling … am guessing this isn't the first time the other employee has gone on a rant, over nothing. More notes that I can't remember the meaning behind … 'learning how to pass' … 'XIT.' There are always nut's passing, and I always pay special attention to the XIT cattle yards every time I pass … Last time in Holbrook, AZ we stayed at the Motel 6 … it was a couple of dollars cheaper than the Days Inn for three drivers, and those guys won't stay anywhere less. But running solo … I check into a $19 motel … Sierra something. I'd stay there again … On Monday before I had left on this trip, I was out at my folks and my Dad got talking about one of this early trips and paying $4 for a motel in Holbrook ( in the late 40's) wonder if this was the same motel. He stayed in Holbrook on his trip west and again on his way back east, price was right. There is a restaurant right next door but it was a couple of minutes until closing … hate doing that, walking in minutes before they close and expect good food and good service. Instead I walked down to the Denny's a couple of blocks away. This late at night I hate to order a big meal, decided to go for a breakfast instead … one of their new ones. Not sure of the name but it comes with two kinds of meat on the side, plus three kinds of meat in the omelet. I passed on any second kind of meat, should have passed on the sausage in the omelet also … too much grease for me. Used to eat sausage every week or two, but that was years ago. Tonight I do set my alarm … Wednesday dark in room > 9 AM alarm / fuel in Guymon / NM scale > driver 'speeding' / $17 motel in Tucumcari / Snow / AZ scale > get bypass / cattle in trailer court / learning how to pass / XIT / $19 motel in Holbrook ? / Restruant closing > eat at Denny's / Dad's $4 motel in the '50's 6 AM … by taking only a couple of breaks yesterday, I kept it a short day … am finally running early today. The Pilot at mm 36 in NM still looks a mess … fueled at the Little America in Flagstaff … did finally make 9 mpg, down hill from Flagstaff … Terry Schivow dies … there was a three mile backup south of Barstow … CA scales were closed, haven't crossed them yet in five trips … the days and trips are starting to run together. Make my drop by 3 PM, they guy who does the inspections likes to leave by 4. Been to the ONT airport from this customer before … this trip I was not paying close enough attention, didn't realize we were in a turn lane until it was too late. This guy is not taking the shortest way … what is this going to cost? We end up on the freeway … rush hour, stop and go … traffic on the road we were on was going just fine. Been here before but don't know the area yet … the cabbie takes the airport exit and then heads back east, towards my customer … way out of the way. OK, maybe only a couple of miles, but I have to pay for those couple of miles. Sure didn't tip as much as usual, shouldn't have tipped at all, but I didn't want to wait for the change. I was ready if he had asked me where his tip was … "Here's your tip … take the shortest route next time." This is the second time it's been cheaper to fly out of LAS than LAX, even with rental car and fuel … and extra hours. Do hear I made the right choice by taking the southern route again this trip … there was an avalanche in CO yesterday … closed one of the highways. Not the Interstate, but it snowed and I'm still glad I went south. This time I check my VIN on my rental car before I leave the lot, don't trust these guys after last time … there was a guy throwing the Wall Street Journal in some of the cars so I asked for a copy … amazing what I will read if the price is right … and … I … take the shortest way back to the freeway. Slow going this time of the day for the first hour, then things start rolling. Didn't realize how far this was up to Los Vegas … last time I / we did this, I drove for the first hour, then someone else drove the rest of the way. After spending three / four days driving 50 mph, it sure feels like you are flying going 80 mph. Tonight I have plenty of time before the red-eye flights leave … and am always looking ahead for my next flight, I want to know which motel it is that the drivers are staying at for $19 … I take a chance they were talking about the 'Gold Strike' … I stop there to eat and check on the motel prices. The buffet price is cheap, a sign at the door lists some food … not much, but the list can't be everything … WRONG. The HAD listed just about everything on the main menu. The salad bar was letus and not much more, the meat was breaded chicken and ham, and a few kinds of cake … oh, and they did have a few kinds of fish (which I can't eat.) Did find enough to eat … but … But … after I got my seconds, I opened my bun to butter it … it had brown 'area's' in it … at first I thought it was the kind of bread where they roll two kinds of bread together. No, it didn't look like that, the brown area's didn't have the same texture … so I went and got another bun … same thing. When a waiter finally walked I showed it to him … but he was a waiter not a cook so he said he'd ask someone about the buns … and that was the last I seen of him. Did see someone come out from the kitchen and look at a couple of buns and then go back to the kitchen, leaving the buns for the customers. Hadn't taken a bite out of this bun, but had eaten one with my first plateful … sort of remember just cutting a hole and shoving the butter in … opps … hope that mistake doesn't cause me to loose my lunch later tonight. Had been someone who looked like a manager walking around there earlier, I could have given her an ear full now … found the front desk for the motel, there was a line and I didn't feel like waiting … guess I'll have to call on the price of their rooms. Repeat trips have their advantages … From past trips, I know that there isn't a gas station close the LAS airport so I stop the last exit before. On most cars it takes a long time for the fuel gauge to start dropping, on this one it had started dropping right away. My first thought is that the last customer was working the system, but then I became concerned that the gauge would start dropping before I got the five miles to the airport … the gauge dropped, but not below the 'E.' I've done my homework and know how much my rental car should be, but when I get the bill at LAS … it's wrong, too high. The guy in the lot can't change it so he tells, me to go inside … I do, and they tell me that I need glasses … Not really, they tell me the bill is correct and I realize that I was reading it wrong … do hope I get around to getting the glasses before it really costs me … What are the drinking laws in NV? A couple of the guys on the Avis shuttle bus are drinking their beer's. These shuttles run every couple of minutes so they usually don't like to wait … but one of the drinking buddies got on the bus and made sure we waited for the rest of his group, by that time the next bus was there … they didn't get to the airport any sooner, and the rest of us got there later. My notes say 'the wait' and the 'full flight' … so I guess I waited, and the flight home was full … … so the longer I wait to post these trip logs, the shorter the write-up should be … Thursday 6 AM / Fuel in Flagstaff / Winslow ? / 9 mpg / Pilot at m 36 in NM a mess / tow ? / Little Am is in/out / 3 PM drop / Terri dies / 3 mile backup (where?) Drop / Cab takes long way to ONT / ck on flights / 2 PHX / 80 mph / Gold Strike = bad food = buns / CA scale closed / 45 mph down hill / Avis bill > need glasses / the wait / full flight / ABS light / snow = avalanche in CO / beer in Avis bus |