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REFER TRUCK - ROUND TRIP TO DENVER, CO
BACK TO DENVER
Same trip as I did a few weeks ago, should be
'routine.' Right?
Wednesday - 12/15/10
6 AM dispatch,
first a ride up to the customer with seven in one van. I pack in the back as
I'm one of/am the smallest persons today. Still a tight fit for the two hour
ride. It had been 18 below overnight, not sure what the temp was when we got to
the lot. Boss was there and had our trucks started, never seen that happen
before, didn't take time to ask him why. The other drivers had a full 14 hours
before they dropped tonight and then a flight home so they were in a rush. I
just always am. The guy who was a ½ hour late last week was 10 minutes
late today, would have been later but the shuttle driver called him and he
bypassed one stop.
First I had to shuttle a truck two hours from one
lot to another and then a second one back. Roads aren't great but not too bad.
On the trip up this AM if the van had been a few feet ahead a pickup would have
likely spun us out. He did a nice spin right ahead of us.
At these
temps we add 'anti-gel' when we fuel. No problem on the first truck, but on the
way back with the second trip the station I fuel at is out of anti-gel and the
place I fueled this AM is out of the brand I bought so I grab two of another
brand, one for this truck and one for the next.
½ a day down
and I'm getting in my Denver truck. It's still buried in snow but is 'warm'
from being started this AM. Sometime this AM I get asked if I can change my
trip plans. We have a driver going to Dodge City, KS with no way out (not sure
why the bus / train aren't options). I do the math and it won't add a motel so
I go with it.
I fuel at pickup and again right before I stop for the
night, I'll need to maximize my hours tomorrow and I have time today. The
truckstop I stop at is a mess, they have one lane closed, trying to get rid of
the snow. Drivers are getting stuck in the ruts, lines at every pump. When I
leave I have to go out the entrance, the exit is blocked by the trucks in line
for the fuel pumps.
I end up parking the truck at my house …
again. I don't want to do it too many times or the neighbors will start to
complain. If I come in after dark and leave before daylight I don't think
anyone will care, not too hard in the winter but today I'm off the road by 3
PM.
Thursday - 12/16/10
As soon as I'm rolling I get
stuck in the line at the scale, two lanes every truck being checked. 15 minutes
in line and I'm asked.
"Where are you coming from?"
I respond.
"Where did you pick up the truck?"
I respond.
"You can go." …
the 'Stop' light was still on.
Not sure what that was all about, one truck
ahead of me was questioned for about 5 of the 15 minutes I waited.
Rolling, another ½ hour down the road and it starts to snow, just light
stuff but enough for the wipers … that quit working. This isn't going to
work, one good splash from a truck and I'd be finished. Dispatch isn't open yet
but I get ahold of someone and I head back to one of the few Hino dealers I
know of.
It's going to be "10 AM before we can look at it." I'm told,
three hours down time before I know if they can even fix it. I'm up against the
clock. I'll be up against my 70 hours if I run into Sunday. When I took this
run I was supposed to be able to head out on Weds from the office, then I had
to spend Weds getting the truck and head out on Thursday, then they added 'out
of route' miles.
'Make no plans, but be aware of the possibilities.'
10 AM I'm down asking service if they have a new update but I have to
wait until they give a mechanic my keys … right on time. I had checked the
one fuse that was listed on the panel and it was good, but it ended up to be
two other fuses, took two guys a total of an hour and a half to fix it so not
something I would have just 'happened to' fix. Now I'm right where I was six
hours ago, and rolling.
And it's been snowing those six hours, lots of
cars and a few trucks in the ditch, come to a full stop a few times but most
times going about 10 under the posted. Found out yesterday that the truck would
go 65 mph, that'll gain me a few miles/minutes an hour. This AM I found out
it'll do 70, so once I clear this storm I'll be able to gain some time. Not all
that far behind, yet. Two hours behind last time when I left in an ice storm
… is there a pattern here?
As expected, I clear the storm just
south of the MN/IA border and I set the cruise at 70 mph. My first fuel stop is
at the Love's in Des Moines. I usually stop at Pilots if I have a choice but
the Pilot in Des Moines has always been a waiting line. The Love's has been
mostly empty since the Flying J sign came down.
When I pay for fuel
today, the clerk gives me a form to fill out so that I can start the fuel pumps
without coming in? Really, that is why I USED to love Flying J, didn't have to
come in twice every stop. I've since talked to another driver and he's been
using their card like that for a while, a real time saver. Maybe Pilot/Flying J
will get the message.
I call the customer but I really have no idea
when I'll be to Denver. Last time I was there between 2-4 and I started two
hours later so I say between 4-6. Doesn't work for him but we'll see what
happens tomorrow.
By the time I get to Avoca, IA / I-80 exit 40, it's
dark but I can see that the 'Wings of America' sign is gone and a new Pilot
sign has gone up. Two guys still up in the air. Can't find anything online yet.
My plan had been to do 700+ miles each day, now I'm fighting to get
500. Even by setting the cruise at 75 once I'm in NE I still can't make 500
miles and end up stopping in York with one minute to spare on my 14 hours.
Sometime during the day today I realize that dispatch had not left me a NE
plate so I had to stop at Sapps in Omaha for a trip permit, another thing that
cost me 15 minutes today.
I now carrying two coupon books with me,
Travel Buddy and ATSI. One has a coupon for the Super 8 so that's where I stay
tonight. I used to stay at the '1st Interstate Inn' but that chain has gone and
this motel has changed it is name. I don't have the time or the motivation to
check out motels tonight.
>>>>>>>> TRIP
ADVISOR - Super 8, York, NE
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I picked this
motel based on price, $40 with coupon. Adjacent to the freeway but didn't
notice any freeway noise. Two downsides, first the entrance faces north and the
parking lot was all ice where the sun didn't hit (Mid Dec) and the room did
have a bathroom fan but it sounded like it was going to 'crash and burn' so I
quickly turn it off. Other than that room was the average Super 8 room. Lots of
fast food nearby, plus the Kitchen (former Country Kitchen) a couple blocks
away, but the desk clerk recommended take out ... the 'Chaces R'
* My
ratings for this hotel
o 3 of 5 stars Value
o 3 of 5 stars Rooms
o
4 of 5 stars Location
o 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
o 3 of 5 stars
Service
o 3 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
* Date of stay December
2010
* Visit was for Business
* Traveled with Solo Traveler
*
Member since November 28, 2010
* Would you recommend this hotel to
a friend? Yes
>>>>>>>> TRIP ADVISOR - Chance's
R, York, NE <<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>> One picture
This is the take-out that
was recommended by the front desk at the Super 8.
... so I have no idea
what the restaurant or it's service was like.
I had to choose between a
couple of items, and went with the chicken salad sandwich ... that was all I
wanted, didn't want the noodle salad or fruit. I asked if I could sub for a
soup or salad, I could. Didn't like today's choice of soups so I went with a
dinner salad at an extra cost. (and forgot about the fruit.)
They only
deliver until 9 PM so I was their last one for the day, I had asked that the
person have change for a $20, they did ... as long as I gave them a $4 tip
which was above the $2 already added to the bill for delivery.
Sandwich
was great, salad was too ... by then I was too full for the fruit which I
hadn't really wanted. Before tip, the bill came to $13 (with delivery)
I
did take a picture, but I see I forgot to take the covers off first, sorry.
Friday - 12/17/10
I check out the breakfast at the motel,
the usual. Four kinds of dry cereal, muffins (no rolls/donuts). I grab an apple
for the road. As long as I'm stopped, I fuel at the Sapps two blocks away. One
less stop for the day. I hold off on the speed until daylight, can't tell the
road conditions, then set the cruise at 70+ mph. No reason to do 75, I'm now
making good time.
By 10 AM I'm in Big Springs fueling at the Pilot and
call the driver I'm supposed to meet, yesterdays contact at the drop will be NA
today. He had been told I would not be there 'until after 2 PM,' (good thing he
didn't get my message from yesterday when I said after 4) so he's paced
himself, no way now he can meet me at noon. Noon? Not sure how I was off by six
hours yesterday, I'm usually not off by more than a ½ hour unless
something major happens. So now I have time to kill.
Just in case he
can make up the time, I keep rolling at 70 mph. I'll need all the driving hours
I can get. I do have two non-driving hours before the down time effects my
driving time.
At the Pilot I pick up a new copy of the 'Pocket
Truckstop Guide.' Great help if you don't know the highway/area or when you are
trying to minimize fuel stops. The ones on the Interstate are listed by mile
marker, if you know how many miles you can make on a tank you can check where
the closest fuel stop will be. The non-Interstate fuel stops are listed by
city.
http://www.truckandtravel.com
Until my last trip, I
think I had been called into the CO scale every time I ran this route. No call
in last trip. This time about a mile from the scale I catch up to another truck
and decide not to pass, the less time they are looking at me the less likely
they are to call me in? Maybe. When I get to the scale there are six trucks
ahead of me in line … good, they already have one driver pulled to the
side with a DOT officer out talking to him. But that driver leaves and the DOT
flags the next guy on the scale. NOW I should be safe? Two of the next five get
flagged to go in the scale house and the guy ahead of me gets flagged over by
the DOT. That could/would have been me had I been in a rush. No idea what they
were checking for but it wasn't taking long. Of the six guys ahead of me, only
one made it past.
I'm coming in on over ½ a tank so I don't
stop to fuel again, I'm at the drop at 12:30, lots of time to catch up on my
paperwork, could have done some computer work for a ½ hour until the
computer died but didn't think of it? I finally doze off until my contact shows
up. Right at 2 PM. But he doesn't want this truck and won't switch until he
talks to his bosses who are all in meetings. Finally he makes contact and
doesn't have a choice, now another hour to cross load all his freight.
He'd been off a couple of days ago and his sub double ordered so the shelves
are full with extra's stacked in the isle. I'd guess about three times the
boxes we moved a month ago and last time someone else helped so there was three
people throwing boxes. 4:30 and I can finally roll. I've lost another three
hours. No way I can make it to the next driver tonight. This guy had also had a
drivers meeting yesterday so he had to blow off one remote customer then and
get them today, otherwise he is 'usually' done by 12 noon on Friday's. Just not
the Friday I'm waiting for him.
My contact and I do a quick exchange
of truck info, it will pay off for me shortly.
Good news yesterday.
The other driver was only a few hours behind me so he's already delivered today
and will have a legal 14 hours to run tomorrow. It is to the point now that if
I was heading back solo I could not make and would have an extra night's motel.
This delay has put me in rush hour and it's a while before I get up to
speed. 65 mph will be top end for this truck and as soon as I hit it I get a
red 'Stop Engine' light. I had just done a full inspection and all fluids are
full so I keep rolling … my contact had said I 'might' need to add
coolant, even though it's up to the full line it needs to be up to the cap or
the warning comes on. Had I not been told that I likely would have ended up in
the shop.
WHAT? CHAIN LAW? I pull off at the next exit and call
dispatch. I didn't think we needed to carry chains in CO except west of Denver
(I'm east and heading east), dispatch checks and confirms. Chain law here is
that IF the warning lights are flashing you either must put on chains or turn
back, I can live with that.
I stop at the first truckstop I see,
Tomahawk truck stop, not sure if they are a chain or just a common name. Don't
find a website. I get my coolant and the alarm stops, stays off the rest of the
trip. Could have fueled here but don't, would have saved me a few minutes time,
now I have to pull off again later at a Flying J. Also get some 'anti-gel' for
this truck. Pour some in now and will pour the rest in tomorrow when we park
the truck for the weekend.
One more scale in CO to cross then the KS
scale, this one is right on the line. If the welcome sign is on the state line
then the eaves of the roof are hanging in CO. I clear both scales. But between
them I hit rain, rain and 30 degrees. I back off on the speed. Don't see anyone
in the ditch but not a good mix.
Mapquest has me routed off the
Interstate at Limon, CO but I didn't feel like looking for motels 'off
interstate' so I found that it was only 15 minute more to stay on I-70 for
another 150 miles. I had hoped to get to Colby before my 14 were up but come up
short and have to stop in Goodland using almost all my 14. It's going to be one
long day tomorrow.
Computer shows a Motel 6, but that is closed. The
Super 8 wants $65 for their Corp price and I have a coupon for the Days in at
$45. Days Inn it is.
>>>>>>>> TRIP ADVISOR -
Day's Inn, Goodland, KS <<<<<<<<<<<<<
In this case it was the elevator that didn't work. (OK, most of the
places I stay don't have elevators, so no big deal)
The place and an old
sign out front make this look like an old Holiday Inn, somewhere online it
looked like it also used to be a Howard Johnson's. The Motel 6 a block away is
closed so this is the best deal I found in town. $40 with a coupon, Super 8 was
$70+.
They claimed to have no rooms on the first floor, but only two cars
in the parking lot? Lots of room for truck parking but only two of us tonight.
Room is basic, quiet, clean. Bathroom has a heat lamp something you don't
see much anymore. Small bathroom counter means that the coffee pot is less than
a foot from the sink/water.
Website says 'breakfast,' but I didn't see it
nor was it offered to me either in the AM or PM.
See 'Wonderful House'
restaurant review, for on-site food.
* My ratings for this
hotel
o 3 of 5 stars Value
o 3 of 5 stars Rooms
o 4 of 5 stars
Location
o 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
o 3 of 5 stars Service
o 3 of 5
stars Sleep Quality
* Date of stay December 2010
* Visit was for
Business
* Traveled with Solo Traveler
* Member since November 28, 2010
* Would you recommend this hotel to a friend? Yes
>>>>>>>> TRIP ADVISOR - Wonderful House, Goodland, KS
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Buffet.
Was
staying at the Days Inn and didn't want to leave the property. Only two
customers there when I walked in, they left as I was getting my first plate.
This may be because it was 8pm and they had just changed their close time from
8 to 9.
Each tray had only a little food in it, but the plus side was that
this was their way of keep it fresh. Food wasn't labeled, so I had to ask if
there was any 'fish,' as I am a allergic. The four kinds of chicken I tried
were all good, and their noodles actually had flavor. It seems most places they
are kind of bland.
I wasn't in the mood for a salad, but I didn't see any
types of dressings. Price was under $10.
Saturday - 12/18/10
As (almost) always, rolling after 10 hours. Still dark, another 50
miles of Interstate and then another 130 of two lane. In about two hours the
sun is coming up, at three hours I stop to fuel at the Garden City Travel
Plaza. At the corner if US 50 and US 83 in Garden City, KS. (used my new fuel
stop guide to find this one) The place looks kind of plain from the outside but
inside looks first class.
Finally, three plus hours later I'm picking
up the 2nd driver, he hops in and we are rolling. Two lane highways through the
KS farmland. There are a lot of huge dairy's in west Kansas, plus a lot of huge
feed lots. On US-50 just before Ingalls, KS, there is a huge feed lot called
'Ingalls Feed Yard,' just the way it is laid out on the hillside would have
made a great picture if I hadn't been the one driving.
Somewhere East
of Dodge City I see a huge Agco dealer, I think about stopping to look for toys
but don't then kick myself for not stopping (Then really would have kicked
myself when we'd have run out of hours before we got home.)
I hadn't
planned my route out and the other guy wasn't watching so we may not have taken
the shortest route … I'm thinking we have 'plenty of time' so I'm not too
worried. We finally get to the Interstate and stop at Sapps in Junction City
for fuel. And a burger at A&W. I know I won't be home for supper so I have
to eat something 'fast food' on the road. Still we are in and out in 15
minutes.
Saw my first and only 'gravy machine' at Sapps, but I guess
it's not the only one. Bob Evan's has a whole page dedicated to it …
http://www.bobevans.com/foodservice/products/heatandservegravy.aspx
Toll road, a little blowing snow, hours of talking until mine voice starts to
change from being sore. Next fuel stop is Bethany, MO where I finally give up
driving. My 11 hours are up, the other driver now has <> six hours to get
us home. One more fuel stop in Albert Lea, MN … boy it's cold up here. I
add some more anti-gel. We end up pulling in to our lot 'barely legal.'
It is cold, we have to move our cars out of the way so we have a place
to park the truck we are bringing in. Lot is full again. I see my next truck
sitting there but don't take the time to look at it. I do take time to take a
picture, in the dark, of a seven axel truck sitting there. Flash doesn't work
very good shooting that far. Three pictures and my hand is numb, one cold ride
home … in 34 hours I'll be rolling again. |
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