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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2 RV's to Bakersfield CA (both delivered) ... the trip continues from HERE 20181126 - CA-TX 1 bus to Brownsville TX ... spending the night at Santa Nella CA :) :) :) Both of us slept very lightly last night. Not sure if it was that we had rested all day or what. Not as many people for breakfast, today they had hash instead of spicy eggs so no yogurt for me again today. Got going just as the sun was coming up. Two people decided to park along the driveway ... on opposite sides of the street. Glad I wasn't driving anything bigger. Once we got on the highway, the sun was right in our mirror's and right in our faces. Somewhere on the few miles of 2-lane, someone driving into the sun drifted off the road, across the shoulder and into the gravel ... and kicked up a couple of rocks. I heard them hit but couldn't see where when I checked later. Our 1st stop ... nope, our first stop had been at the Flying J in Barstow right next to the motel. BB had put in $10 of fuel. So our 2nd stop was in Tehachapi. BB again put in $10 so now I have came in under our fuel budget more than she did. Pretty easy run this AM, I've done this road a few times but from the other direction lately. With company 1 I've done it many times in the winter when they won't let us go over Donners pass. Doing the cloverleaf from CA-58 to CA-99 I notice some homeless tarps, then the ladder. There must be some sort of tunnel they are making use of. Fueled at the Cheveron. I had pulled too far ahead so that BB could fuel, then I had to back up. Usually I start my pump first, this time she did and I was locked out. Pump wouldn't let me use either credit card. I had to put in an even $60 so I went in and paid cash. By now it was so foggy I could hardly read the street signs until I was under them. While we were fueling I decided to call the drop to see where to go when we got there. They told me a location other than what was on our paperwork. But because it was so foggy I couldn't see what they described so I called again. Still couldn't see it and drove around the block and then found it. It was so foggy I couldn't see the name on the building from the street. A few minutes after we got there, two more RV's pulled in. The company put four inspectors on them and the other three were done before I, but even I was done in just over an hour. They found out where the rock had hit. It put a chip in the windshield. Back when we were fueling BB called the rental car place and they would pick us up so that is one less thing to deal with. They got there in about 10 minutes from the time we called them. Actually they use Lyft. Interesting, opinionated guy. Nice guy though. Rental car place had the car ready, they just handed BB the paperwork and we were on our way. First stop was food. Carl Jr's was the last fast food before farm land so that is where we ate, or got food to go. In a few miles we were on I-5. Three hours later we stop at a rest area near Firefaugh, then another hour to Livermore. We get there a few minutes before three ... dispatcher had said to call at three. We wait and then call, he says call back in 15 (don't wait until 5 pm, like he often asks) BB calls the rental car place and they still do not take after hour drops but tell us a place that does. We have dropped there once before. Not sure why we did the reservation with no after hours, or why we didn't use the rental car place that is across the block from the RV place. I call the dispatcher back and he says ... Brownsville, TX. Some place I have not been ... yet. When we looked at ways out of Brownsville we found out why ... because it is three days home for us it will not be the big gain we usually get from the 2nd leg. We do our walk around the mall and then at 4:30 we go and see if he is there yet, he is not. We head back closer to five and he has just pulled in the gate. He backs up far enough to trip the gate so we can enter and then meets us where he does the paperwork. Our bus will need the plastic wrap on the front. We do the pre-trip, then ask when we someone will do the wrap. All he knows is he called someone and they will come ... they finally do. They ask if this is the bus that is leaving. I say yes. They do the wrap and get back on their cart ... they never say they are done or goodbye. After they are driving away I yell 'Thanks.' Then they say 'drive safe.' By now it is after dark, but we had decided that BB would follow me to drop the rental car. We had fueled the car earlier and she was OK following the bus for six miles and we had done the route before. I turned too early but I could enter the mall a different route. BB got to the door just as they were locking up, so she had to fill out paperwork and drop the keys in the night box, they did not re-open the door. Finally ... but we still have enough time to get to Santa Nella where the motels are cheaper. That was the big reason we didn't want to stay in town and drop the rental in the morning. The Quality Inn was $180, other motel was over $300. I think Santa Nella was about $80. Traffic was slow and we lost about a half hour, but these tires are rated at 75 mph and the bus is governed at 70, per the paperwork. It is going to TX. Once we got past the usual delays we had no issues. We got to Santa Nella with 15 minutes to spare. And my spot was still open. Took four times to back in this time. Last time in the rain I did it in one. A driver we had met while picking up our bus was just walking to the motel too ... And then we saw her at Carl Jrs ... Carl Jrs twice today ... because that was what was closest, not because it was so good. But it was good tonight. Plan to deliver on Friday, home Sunday night ... maybe. 20181127 - CA-TX 1 bus to Brownsville TX ... spending the night at Goodyear AZ Long day ... the next two should be shorter. Will post more later. BB slept good, I, not so much. We were down for breakfast when it opened at 6:30. The usual fare, except no apple juice. No one crowded my parking spot last night so I had plenty of room to back around and get a good swing to get out of there. CLUNK. I didn't drag the bottom of the bus going in last night but I sure hit bottom this morning coming out. The other driver had not left yet. First stop of the day was in Avenal at a rest area. When I googled it to see how to spell it, it came up that there had been an earthquake there at 5 this morning. We missed it by four hours. I've never felt one before. Next stop was at the Petro / Iron Skillet in Lebec. A little early for lunch but we didn't want to stop any closer to LA. We got there about 10 minutes before they started tearing down the breakfast and putting up the lunch. We picked the Iron Skillet over fast food because we only want to take a half hour off. We ended up taking an hour. First they put out the serving spoons, then the food, then put the next food out then put the spoons out. There is a pretty long gap between when you can get food. Interesting to watch how they do it ... one might have thought this was the first time they had ever done this. After Lebec it was hills and LA traffic. It was about 2-1/2 hours to our next stop. It was at the first rest area east of LA in Redlands. Another 2-1/2 hours after that and we were at a rest area in Ehrenberg. Then I fueled in Buckeye while BB picked up Subway. 15 more miles and we were at our motel in Goodyear. This Quality Inn has a huge paved truck parking area. It also has a Black Bear next door that we had talked about going to but it is late so we decided to eat Subway in our room. Work put out two trucks in TX going back to CA. Not sure we'd make any money if we just took one. They are bigger than BB wants to drive. IA is back up to 70 after a off day yesterday. Half dozen to CA. We will likely head home before heading back out. May stop in South Padre first. 20181128 - CA-TX 1 bus to Brownsville TX ... spending the night at Van Horn TX We got down to the breakfast when they opened. The doors were open but the sausage wasn’t ready until we were leaving. I had biscauts and gravy instead. When I went to check out I asked them to remove the safe charge. For everything I said they had a reply. It didn’t seem that ‘the customer is always right’ was part of their thinking. They did take the charge off. We can’t take a left to get back to the freeway so we need to go right, then go through a Home Depot parking lot to get turned around. Shouldn’t have been in such a hurry to get going in the morning. We didn’t go far before hitting rush hour traffic. I gradually moved to the left. I like to take I-17, but today the overhead signs said it would take an extra half hour to go that route. Finally the signs say to take the next exit, major delay. I don’t and the freeway becomes empty. I finally move all the way into the HOV lane. Should have done this an hour ago, but it hadn’t been moving much faster than I for most of the trip. I sail past the sitting traffic and where the accident had been. It cleared was we approached. We stayed in the HOV lane until other traffic started catching up to me. We keep going to Tucson. We stop at a TTT truckstop. An older truckstop that doesn’t seem to sell much fuel, the truck wash closed in the last couple of years. But the restaurant and parking lot are well used. There is a Pilot across the street, that is where we fuel and store our RV’s when we drop in Tucson. Saw a new Pilot Express just south a couple of miles from the Pilot. Not sure what makes it an ‘Express.’ Also saw one that looked like it was co-branded Pilot and Flying J back in CA. Not sure if I mentioned this back on Tuesday but after we came down the hill into LA there were fire trucks on the side of the road hosing down the breaks on a trailer. Been there, done that. Port of Entry is open at New Mexico, but no one was in the booth checking on people so we sailed on through. A few more miles and we stopped at a Pilot in Lordsburg. Arbey’s. A few long parking spots in the car area so we had parked there. Next stop isn’t until Anthony, TX at a rest area. Past all the cow farms on the last miles of NM. Today we are driving about 140 miles between stops. We want to make 600 miles again today. We hit Phoenix during rush hour, now we are hitting El Paso at rush hour. We get a brief view of the border fence. Earlier today we had seen a few border agents, sitting, walking, driving. For some reason the trucks in El Paso stayed in the 2nd to the left lane. I didn’t know the reason but I stayed there too. It was now getting dark and we want to make it another 100 miles. Somewhere down the road I see signs for a ‘truck inspection station,’ I finally decide not to call myself a truck and got out of that lane. I soon realized this was a border check point, not a scale. The agent asked if I was alone, then if she (my wife,) was a US citizen, then if I was a US citizen. Most places we don’t even get asked that but we usually aren’t out after dark. We get to the Quality Inn in Van Horn for the night. We check in and then walk down the street to McDonalds. I got a McRib and BB had a burger and fries. As we walked back we walk past a gas station that might also double as a bus stop. There seemed to be people just hanging around including one lady sitting at a table inside with about 20 of the cloth grocery style bags. We plan on leaving in about 10 hours. 20181129 - CA-TX 1 bus to Brownsville TX ... spending the night at Odessa TX We were down for breakfast when it opened. Usual stuff, this time including bacon. There are signs saying trucks, trailers must park in the truck lot. Someone didn’t and they are blocking the route for others of us who didn’t. I need to drive through the truck parking lot to exit. Lot isn’t too bad, no large craters. Last time we looked last night we were at 7/16 of a tank of fuel. This AM it is on –0-. The fuel should still be there, this is something I really don’t like about these fuel gauges. There is a truckstop a couple of miles down the road but by then the gauge had started to come up. It was only at 1/8 but it was moving in the right direction. Driving in to the sun was a challenge but traffic is light so we get past that issue. Then with less than an hour on the road I notice smoke coming from my left rear tire area. By the time I got stopped and figured out my camera I was still able to get a video of the last of the smoke. Lucky for me, the bus company opens at 5 AM west coast time. I talk to tech support but without any warning lights on they tell me to continue. I go another 10 miles and pull off at the exit. When I walk back I can see it is still smoking, but not enough I could see it while driving. This time I see where oil or grease is on the wheelwell, the wheel seal seems to be leaking. I call tech support again and am told to head to Odessa, about 120 miles away and not in route. By this time I was about 200 miles into Texas where towns are few and truck shops are fewer. From where I was on the exit ramp, I headed north on a two lane road. I drove about 45 mph only pulling off once to let people past. There were no shoulders on this road and surprisingly slow traffic. No place to pull off when I got to the I-20 ramp so I pulled on the freeway and stopped as soon I as I was on the freeway. All looks good. A couple of miles later there was a ‘picnic area,’ a rest are with no outhouse. It would have been safer to stop there but I didn’t know it was coming up. 20 minutes later we get to a Loves Truckstop. I added enough fuel to get to Odessa. I don’t want to leave too much fuel in the bus if I have to leave the bus. Another 20 minutes later there is a rest area. We stop there. I have been driving only 50 mph on the Interstate where the speed limit is 80. It helps to be a big orange bus. Almost everyone is getting over in the passing lane a half a mile before they got to me. We get to the 1st truck center but they only worked on leased trucks. Five miles down the road and we are at the correct shop. The can get us in in a couple of hours. A few minutes later I hear the same service person tell someone on the phone that they could not help them until tomorrow. We got there just in time. That is where we are now. Waiting for them to look at it. It seems to have delayed us enough that we aren’t likely to make delivery tomorrow, but we will cross that bridge later. Then I get a message that we are having issues on the home farm again … and I’m 1,000 miles away. We sat there from noon to 5 pm eating only junk food. Finally someone comes to tell us that we are here for the night. They need to get the part from Dallas or Huston or somewhere. They offer and we accept a ride to the motel. NO food in the area to walk to and we call three pizza places before someone says they will delivery. It will be about 45 minutes. Two and a half hours later we finally get our pizza. As soon as I heard it would be tomorrow I called dispatch, they said get a room. Closest one was $130 tonight ... over twice what it will be this weekend and this is one of the cheapest. Paperwork says we can only delivery M-F, but IF we get going I will call and see if they can take it over the weekend. IF they can then we need to see which place we will go for a bus wash. We would have had to leave tonight by 6 PM to have any chance of making Friday delivery. Tomorrow, if we can get going by noon, we have a chance to get there before they close at noon on Saturday. But that would mean we couldn't deliver until about 1 PM on a Saturday. We'll see when the time comes. Not sure how this all pays. with the RV's they pull us off the RV within an hour of the breakdown. So far, just in my mind, I am trying to show how people make money doing driveaway. Today while we were waiting I tried putting that into a spreadsheet. The first numbers I came up with blank ... BB had to show me that it was blank because the net was -0-. It shows we should not be making any money, but we are. And making enough to put a little money away. 20181130 - CA-TX 1 bus to Brownsville TX ... spending the night at Odessa TX I drove a whole six miles today, and only because we wanted to be closer to food. We actually slept in, woke up about 7:30. Had breakfast as soon as we were ready. Cheese omelets, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy. Not many people down this AM, noticed one guy who loaded up for breakfast and then grabbed a few 'to go' things. I had to find the gal in charge and tell her that I thought the apple juice was bad, she tasted it and said no. May the OJ I had was bad and didn't mix with the apple juice. I was hopeful that the part would come in at 8 or 10. I made the first call at 9 am and then again at 10. At some point I had understood they were working on it. Finally when I talked to someone else that said the part should be in at noon ... at another dealership. Once they have confirmed they have it, a parts running will go and get it. But they were sure enough that they set 2 PM as to when a driver would pick us up. Lunch was the leftover pizza we did not eat last night. We spent a lot of time today looking at 'what if's.' At one point I called dispatch to ask about a load, someone else was looking at it so that person had first dibs on it. They didn't seem to understand why I would have questions about it if I wasn't going to get it. One basic question was, when can I call to get a trip for Monday? I left it at that. Called back later when it was still on the board and was told it was gone. It is still on the board overnight so I will call again in the AM. 2 PM we are waiting by the door. Someone pulls up and I go out to get in the cab ... and realize it is just someone stopping to use the bathroom, it was not our ride. Our ride shows up a few minutes later, no idea on the truck, but it is the same driver as last night. Nice pleasant guy, filled us in on tid bits of local info. At 4 PM I go and ask for an update. NOW someone is at the other dealer picking up the part, but someone will stay past 6 pm if needed to get us out of here. The other thing is that this place will want to be paid before I can leave so I try to find out what I will need to know. Finally I realize by watching the work they are doing that they should be done before 6 pm, and by that time I had talked to the shipper and had his personal phone number. He had been gone earlier today and had given me someone else to talk to for that time. So all started to look good. Dealer gave me both the bad seal and a spare, they had ordered two just in case they wrecked one. I got a bill with an amount, then a PO from the shipper, signed the papers and we were free to go. It was now 5:30, we had gotten here yesterday at noon. By the time I was for sure we would get going it was too late to call the drop so it will be Monday before delivery. Also left a message with bus dispatch that I was moving, but once I have gotten the paperwork he isn't involved with what happens. Motel prices are cheaper than last night and will be half of last night by Monday. Someone at the dealer said that not too long ago when motel prices had gone up, the Motel 6 was $600 a night. Sounds high but we also saw that in Omaha during a college game. We go to a different motel, one that has food next to it. It is only about 2 miles from the one we stayed at last night. So I had a half hour working on paperwork/pre-trip inspection. 15 minutes to drive 6 miles and then 15 minutes for my post trip. We could have put on a few miles tonight but we have no reason to. Visibility was limited because of the high winds, I'd be driving down a two lane road in the dark for 100 plus miles for ??? We can make the 600 remaining miles tomorrow, I will take Sunday off. Then Monday we will be just a few miles from the wash and an hour from the drop. No reason to get down the road. The plan had been to delivery Friday and spend some time on South Padre Island. Now we will deliver three days later and the cost of getting home is about $800 without a vacation. So we are looking at taking any truck we can to get out of TX and not be paying for a rental car. IF there was work in IA, our best bet would be to head there and get two more RV's for CA. But we can't speak for anything until 24 hours before we pickup, so we are looking at sure things. The one I called on was about two hours from my drop and going to OR. We wouldn't have made as much with just me driving but still more than our minimum, even if we had to rental car it home from the coast. Other options were trucks going to AL or WI. None were good options but they would offset some of the return costs. In the past we have either been one or two days from home when we drop. Bloomington was an hour from home. So this trip isn't quite the money maker but I had never been to Brownsville and wanted to go ... and now this happened and we aren't making enough to take time off AND we want to get one more run in before the holidays. I will be doing only local work for about three weeks and that will be slow. Our meal was Schlotzsky's. There is only one left in MN and we don't get there very often. I usually get a half a sandwich and soup but it didn't look like I could get the half a sandwich for the one I wanted. And by the time BB had asked about a few sandwiches ... I forgot. ((( BEEP ))) (((BEEP))) (((BEEP))) Had just shut off the light and the fire alarm went off so we put on enough clothes to go out the door and out side. By the time we went past the front desk the clerk was on the phone and within a minute the alarm went off. This clerk was not Mr Personality so I didn't wait around to find out what happened. The rest of the night was un-eventful. 20181201 - CA-TX 1 bus to Brownsville TX ... spending the night at San Antonio TX After getting to bed at 8:30 last night I slept until 3:30 which is normal, but I was out again when the alarm went off at 5:30. Down for breakfast at 6:30. Not sure where my mind was this AM but I forgot to eat my yogurt until I was ready to pick up the container to throw it away. Omelette and bacon this AM. We also forgot to carry down our first bags on the way down to breakfast. The bus doors don't lock so we have to take everything out of the bus every night which means making two trips. After breakfast I took the extra bags down while BB got ready. The trip from TX to OR was still on the board this AM so I called dispatch. About 5 minutes before I could call I realized I didn't know how to call them on the weekend. I always go through the operator during the week. And yes that was an issue. It took me about 10 minutes to find the right way to do it. By the time someone answered and put me on hold, BB told me the run was gone so I hung up. 15 minutes wasted. 15 minutes drive and we were down to Flying J. One lane was wide open so I pulled in backwards so I could get DEF. Last time I fueled I got splashed good because of the way the tanks on these things are set up. This time I was able to stop it without a splash, but I wasn't sure it was full. So I squeezed again and splash, but just a small one. And it only took 2 gallons of DEF. I had just glanced at a map and saw that we could take the beltway around town and catch a US highway down to I-10. Other than that I just remember seeing a slight jog to the left before getting on the freeway. So we jog to the left and within a few miles BB is wondering where we are. Another case of the route we wanted going strait but the highway number we were following turned. Can't always see that when you are zoomed out. We are now heading west when we should be going south and then east. We take the first cross road. It is about as wide as our dead-end street and the speed limit on it is 75 mph. Luckily there wasn't much traffic so I ran the middle of the road. I did see flashing lights coming and I should have stopped right there at a crossroad where the road was wider. What was coming was an oversized load. I stopped as close to the edge as I dared and he flew by a good three feet over the yellow line. Also met a semi and cars. Finally back on the freeway. Somewhere when we first left this AM my mirror got out of wack, I was able to pull into a picnic area with a curb and BB was able to re-set it. But it didn't stay. I had to re-set it on the ramp to the freeway. It looks like our little detour added about 15 miles. Not too major. We stopped a few miles down the freeway at a rest area near Bakersfield. TX, not CA, we didn't get that lost. Another two plus hours down the road we stop for lunch. As I come down the ramp I remember the town. It was from here I called dispatch to let them know I had lost the rear stake gates off the truck I was moving ... going through road construction. And no, there was no reason to go back and look for them at the time. The would have been flattened by the time I realized they were gone and I was not going to run out into freeway traffic to get a couple of pieces of metal. That was a couple of years ago. Today as I get in line to fuel, another truck that is straddling two lines cuts me off. Almost right away we notice one truck with no one around. We don't have too long of a wait and we are fueling, about that time someone from the truck that hasn't moved comes out, with 'break in' tools. They have locked their keys in the their truck. We fuel, park and go in to eat. P J Fresh at Pilot. Meatloaf is good, veggie's not so much. When we leave, we see two people trying to get into the truck that has the keys locked in it. So I walk back and tell the guy waiting behind her what's up. "What!? You've got to be kidding me ... I've been waiting ... " There was also a bunch of (*&)(*#$# mixed in with those comments. This is a busy place, when we pulled out the trucks were sitting in the left turn lane waiting because the line went all the way around the building to the pumps. After yesterdays repairs I am a little gun shy. I have had the mirrors looking at the rear tires instead of the road most of the day. Two hours would put us in San Antonio so we have a stop planned just past. Things seem to be going well until we hit road construction. That's when I notice smoke coming from the back again. But it seems more like the later issue Thursday than the seal issue. But there are concrete barriers on both sides so now where to go. As we start moving again the smoke seems to disappear. I keep watching the tires but nothing. After almost 3 hours we stop just south of San Antonio at a Pilot. I walk back to look at the tires. Bad news, now the right side is leaking worse than the left side had been. Also the lug nuts were so hot I couldn't touch them. I called the bus company and they said to get a service truck out and fill the reservoir and deliver as is. Service truck was busy so I drove back towards San Antonio to a Flying J. They could look at it so BB and I went to Dennys to eat and wait. A few minutes later I get a call from the shop. They won't work on it, they won't fill the reservoir or replace the seal. The breaks have been ruined because of the heat or the oil and it is not safe to drive. We get our Denny's to go. I do drive it less than a mile to the Comfort Inn. We are here until Monday. Monday I will drive it to a shop somewhere that can work on it. We will know then if we stay or leave it. So hopefully the company is picking up the four nights motels so far. We were supposed to have spent yesterday afternoon and this AM on the beach in South Padre Island. Luckily the guys at the shop were honest about it. And they only charged me $20 for taking the tires off and re-mounting them. The chances of doing a 2nd trip this month just went way down. This is easy money but boring, and we are next to nothing. No sidewalk but we will walk somewhere to get lunch tomorrow and then likely order in in the evening. Two RV's to Greer, SC look like the best trips right now out of IA. Nothing to California. But that will all change by the time we are back. All this kind of zaps a person so we may not want to go anywhere. I guess it's a good thing we didn't get the Oregon trip. We won't know anything until after the shops opens at 6 AM and the bus company opens at 5 AM ... west coast time. We wait. 20181202 - CA-TX 1 bus to Brownsville TX ... spending the night at San Antonio TX Still here. No alarms or anything else exciting last night. Breakfast was the usual. BB washed a load of clothes this AM, even if we leave the bus and head home tomorrow we will have been out over two weeks when we get home. At noon we were going to walk down to the Iron Skillet, Subway or something. But it didn't look so good once we got out to the road. To go west where that food was would mean we either walk down under the bridge in the weeds where snakes and / or vagrants hang out. And we weren't sure we could get across the river. Or #2, we could walk in the travel lanes of the frontage road, no shoulder at all, speed limit is 70 mph. Or #3, we could walk on the freeway where there was a shoulder, but more traffic and not sure if it legal here (it's not in most places. So we went back to Denny's where we did not have to cross any roads and the grass in the shoulders was all mowed short. We both ate half of what we ordered so we'd have left overs for tonight. I had the meatloaf and BB had a club. P J Fresh and Cracker Barrel both have better meat loaf, but the only thing I really like is the philly and I had one last night. Other than that we have sat around all day on the computer. It's getting to be a long trip and we may just end up going home after we are done here. We shouldn't as we will be off for three weeks over the holidays. Hopefully we know something early tomorrow AM. ... the trip continues HERE |
