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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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190209 - VA-CA Lots of signs around the motel reminding the 'skiers to be quiet.' Not sure if all the younger people there today were from a ski group, but there was a lot of young ones at breakfast. Food was OK, I just had an egg patty and sausage patty. No one blocked me in, but the motel lot did fill up overnight. Three tolls this AM. $6.50 each. Much easier when I have someone to hand me the correct change :) Inconsiderate people. 1st fuel stop. As I am coming down the highway, I see a pump that no one is at, but someone has pulled ahead. I pull in behind them. I fuel, go in and get my receipt, go back in a second time and use the bathroom and he hasn't moved. 2nd fuel stop did not involve me but ... when we got to the small station, I could see that there was a stack of semi-tractors in the first lane with no one around. The place is so congested that I had to wait to get to a line, then had to wait for the guy ahead of me. I fueled, pulled ahead and fueled. Went inside to use the restroom and as I am waiting in line to pay for an item, the person ahead of me is buying misc food items and has to go back to get more stuff so the cashier is just standing waiting. Turns out that is the guy with the stack ... I pour in my anti-gel, do my log and head out. As we leave, he is just picking up the hose to START fueling. By now trucks are backed up out to the main highway. Back to the 1st fuel stop, as I was walking out the cashier asked if I wanted a gift bag. I said "What I'd really like is the guy ahead of me to move." I did end up taking a gift bag. The card in it said Happy Holidays. Various little things in it. ... oh, yeah. When I pulled in I had to turn to get in the fuel lane and kind of forgot that the front of my truck overhangs about three feet past my front bumper, no harm done but I did get closer to the next semi that I wanted. Lots of time up and down hills with the flashers on. We eat again in Chillicothe, a few days ago it was at the Moe's in Pilot. Today it was Bob Evans. We parked at a nearby shopping center where there was lots of room. Bob Evans, food was good ... not sure what the story behind it was, but I heard one of the wait staff say to another "stay away from my tables." ??? Though Dayton and we stop again for fuel in Eaton. This Pilot has about 10 pumps, but is someone is waiting for a pump, the back of their semi is blocking one lane of traffic on a two lane road. Which means the trucks leaving have to take turns with the trucks coming in on the one open lane. And in the lot, every time someone wants to park everyone else has to come to a stop (and a lot of them don't know how to back.) One place earlier today, a cop passed me at the posted. Then got a little ways ahead to the next truck and hung beside him, then behind him ... and finally took off again. I'm guessing that driver was nervous for a while. Going past INDY, there is a motel that used to be a Holiday Inn with a water park. Then it was Paradise Park or something ... now I can see threw the remains of the building. Companies come, and companies go. Changes. We had planned on stopping at Danville tonight, but I called the motel and there is no longer any food at that exit. The Big Boy that was there last time has closed (not surprised.) SEVEN motels at the exit and no food for miles. We had thought of stopping and buying a cold sandwich to take to the motel. Then we decided to just stop in Crawfordsville for the night. Cracker Barrel within walking distance and McD's and Subway across the street. We likely would have been here a few days ago but they were full (?) on a Tuesday night. Lots of room tonight, the place is being re-done so trucks and containers sitting in the lot. We did walk to Craker Barrel. It was further than I thought. Best Western is the closer motel, we had to walk thru their parking lot to get to Craker Barrel. No wait to get seated. The no longer have meatloaf on the main menu but it was the special tonight. I decided to stick with my French Dip and potato soup. BB had a chicken salad. All was well until the waitress forgot I wanted more water. Not sure if that flustered her, but when she came back she dropped the glass, so broken glass and water all over the floor. Back at the motel we look at which route to take from IA to CA. We had talked about still going the southern route. It ads about six hours and would cost another $200 in gas. But it looks like we will slide between the storms at Donners Pass. We also looked at my hours. As a driver, we can't go over 70 hours in 8 days. So now I will be having to work shorter days to stay under the 70 based on how many hours I drove that day a week and a day ago. We need to go Donners Pass to make delivery Friday. We'll see then if we get work heading back east. Right now there are five non-CDL trucks from CA heading east over 2,500 miles plus some CDL units. And there seems to have been some for the last week plus so hopefully a few more days ... IA put more RV's out Saturday, that is unusual. That got it up over 60 the first time this year. Still nothing we would have taken if we had headed home instead of taking this truck. 190210 - VA-CA Ring ... ring ... ring ... ring 5:30 eastern and the room phone is ringing. I finally get in answered and there is just the sound you hear when the phone isn't working, no dial tone, no silence. I try to call the front desk but all I get is 'Ring ... you are being transferred to the operator ... Ring ... you are being transferred to the operator ... Ring ... you are being transferred to the operator ...' I just went in a circle. So I went back to bed. Five minutes later the phone rings again, same sound. But this time when I called the front desk I got a real person. They claimed they didn't have a wake up call set for anyone. ... later when I checked out I mentioned the problem to the person who had just came on duty. They said they had had that problem in the past but thought they had gotten it fixed ))) I guess not ((( As long as we were awake, BB got up, I tried to get back to sleep but didn't. Breakfast was the 'good eggs.' The ones that look like they have yokes and whites. I also had sausage and juice. No yogurt, trying to cut back again. I thought we'd get going earlier but it still wasn't light, and we were slow. Got going at 7:30 local, but 36 miles down the road we were back in central time. Also 36 miles down the road we could see the lights of a highway patrol but because of the lay of the land we couldn't tell which side of the road he was on. He wasn't, he was blocking the road ... everyone must exit, no marked detour. Because of the detour I was able to go past the motel we had planned on staying at last night, if they had had food. I said there were seven motels, there had been. The former Holiday Inn, that became an budget motel is now closed. But a new motel is just about complete so it will be back up to seven shortly. And no food. ??? Because I had my personal navigator with, I wasn't lost. We were through town and back on the freeway at the next exit. Our first stop was at the Pilot in Bloomington. Two lanes were closed and staff was cleaning up a fuel spill on another lane. I pulled in behind another transporter. A New Way trash truck, no placards, no plate. I met the guy in the doorway but didn't know it was him or I would have asked him who he was running for. Again, someone in the next lane was sitting there when I got there, the guy ahead of me fueled, I fueled, I used the restroom and got my receipts and he was just starting to fuel. Whoever was behind him was there when I got there. Before we get to Moline it starts, stops and starts snowing again. Do have to cross the scale at Moline, the one near Champain was closed. Stopped at Monanta Joe's in Moline. It is where we walk to eat when we are staying at the Quality Inn in Moline. We know they have a small lot so we park at the Quality. Walk past the gas station, across the street, past McDonalds and the La Quinta motel. Joe's in closed. One travel site has their info wrong. Almost fell on the ice getting there but caught myself. So McD's it was. Back on the road the plows are out and it has mostly stopped snowing but still lots of it on the road. At one place we counted seven cars in the ditch within a half mile. Two were upside down. Overall between Davenport and Des Moines there were well over two dozen. Stopped again for fuel at Pilot near Brooklyn but they only had half their pumps open and lines at all of them. There is a TA at the next exit but those aren't my favorite. So I push it to a Love's 30 miles away. Somewhere in that decision, using the restroom didn't come up :( Made it to the Love's with the low fuel light on. Not getting as good of mileage today running at 65 mph but we need to make it to CA before the weekend. A little over an hour and we are at a motel in West Des Moines. Sleep Inn. We are in early, we can't go any further we need to pick up a trailer tomorrow at 7 am. BB didn't care for the Fire Grill last time so we thought we'd try the Cabo Sol, we walk there but they are not open, more bad info from a travel site. The Fire Grill is also closed on Sunday's. So we walked to Quiznos. Walking in the streets on snowy roads in our dark jackets. We decided to get our food to go so we wouldn't be walking back in the dark. I got my usual Honey mustard chicken ... plus soup ... plus a cookie. :) BB has been watching the weather. Donners pass has been closed to trucks since yesterday. About 5 pm Sunday they started letting cars go through and at some point later they will let the trucks go. I can't call my drop until after 10 am local and by that time we hope to be past Omaha. So we can't take the southern route from here. We may end up taking it at Salt Lake City if needed. If we go south at Salt Lake we will get to delivery sometime afternoon on Friday instead of first thing Friday AM. If we go south and get hung up for any reason ... we are there over the weekend. Not a bad place to be hung up but Feb was going to be the month we work hard and make money. 190211 - VA-CA Wow. Slept in. No early AM phone calls. For breakfast they had the usual, but their yogurt was the smaller containers so I had some eggs besides. They also had hot oatmeal, which is unusual. Plan was to be leaving at 6:45. Took us a little longer to get going in the AM so I was thinking we were going to be late to our pickup. Won't have done us any good to get going any earlier. We got to the pickup and we still had to wait for them to unlock the gate. One other truck was ahead of us so it took us a few minutes longer. But that gave me a chance to watch the guy hook up the other one. When he got to mine, he had it all connected by the time I could get to the back of my truck. The guy did say that all the trucks from the east would be stopping here to pickup a chipper ... and they would stay hooked until the both died. I should have asked him how many ... I will if I get back here. The total time at the pickup was about a half hour including waits to unlock and the other driver to hook. So not bad. Did quickly ask the other driver where he was going, same place. But he is going down to I-40 and across. We head west, but soon the weather reports get updated and it is highly unlikely that we will be able to cross at Donners Pass. So we could have gone the southern route also. We weren't sure how long this AM was going to take so we make the first stop less than 120 miles down the road at Avoca. The Flying J there for fuel. It shuts me off at less than full. Not sure why but I didn't restart it. Had just barely enough to get to the next fuel stop. Looks like the Maid Rite is closing. Sign on the service area is gone, another sign said closed, but there was still someone in the back. Where we used to stay in Lincoln at the Quality Inn is now the Motel 6. Six story building with a restaurant. Not sure the restaurant is still open, I think it was the first time we were there, but closed on later visits. Somewhere along here it started to rain. So most of the day was rain and below freezing temps. When we stopped for food in York an the Iron Skillet the parking lot was icy. The roads didn't seem to get icy but the trees were all shiny and the truck took on a lot of ice. Had to run the defrost on high part of the time to keep the ice off the windows. Food at the Iron Skillet was ok. Same crew as we have seen there in the past. Not a whole lot there I liked to day but full as always and I never got the the soup. Didn't try the salads either, they looked like they had been put out at breakfast and not touched since. In and out in an hour. Next stop was the Pilot in Elm Creek. We try to avoid this place with cars because it is so small and crowded. Today ... no one. Spent some time here and knocked the ice off and cleared the mirrors. Plan was to stop in Ogallala to either eat or for the night depending on my hours. We were ahead of time so it would be to stop to eat, but after a buffet for lunch neither of us was hungry. So we decided to stop at the rest area ... it was closed. So we decided to push past the two hour mark and go direct to Sidney. Somewhere after Ogallala I saw a truck almost along side of me. Someone would catch up to us and he'd pull behind me. Then back out until the next car caught up to us, then back in behind me. Once he finally did pass, I realized that we were both maxed at 65 mph and at some point I had slowed enough for him to catch up and then I was back up to 65. Once we got past the Denver split, things changed. We had been running 65 most of the day, even in the rain. Past the split I lost power, well not really. But there is enough change in elevation that I averaged 50 mph instead of 65. So I was under 50 mph quite a bit. I just looked and the change in elevation is 1,000 feet in less than 100 miles. And this truck does not want to downshift. Others I kick the cruise off because they are always downshifting. And it doesn't make any difference if the cruise is on or I am standing on it. It is like the buses, it must be computer governed how fast it will excel. Lots of time with the flashers on. Better get used to it. When we get to Sidney we go to the IHOP Express. I had never seen one before and didn't realize this was one until we were walking up to the building. It is order at the counter from a limited menu. Then they bring the food to you. Unlike most places this style, they use real glasses, plates and silverware. Food was good, service was quick. (older reviews were nasty) Bought more anti-gel as we walked out. Then fueled before crossing the street to the motel. Did see another truck like mine with a chipper in the lot but BB wouldn't let me go talk to them. She was ready for the motel. Nothing new out of CA today so what is there will likely be gone by Friday. Nothing good out of IA so glad we didn't rush back. I will be close on my hours because I didn't do a re-start. No long days. Tomorrow I can only work 8 hours. That is short for this kind of work. Friday will be a short day also be we need to be delivered by the time I run out of hours. Did call the drop at noon but never heard back. Will try again tomorrow, if still no response I will call dispatch on Weds. 190212 - VA-CA Good breakfast this AM, choice of ham or sausage. I often say, don't ask questions you don't want to hear the answer to. Seems to be true in motels also. The only places that ask are the good ones :) Rolling at 7:30 central, 6:30 local. This place has paved truck parking, six of us didn't use it, we parked across the car spots instead. One U-haul used the spots. 1st stop is the POE. First time pulling a trailer so not sure how it would go. No issues, they just needed the same info as with the RV's. What company, plate number. I weighted in at 25,400# including the trailer so this thing is still non-CDL. No question on how long it was, but we had stepped it out this AM. Under 40 ft. High wind warnings but not any restrictions on high profile units. Not sure why. We wouldn't have been running in RV's. Gusts up to 60 mph. Bucking the wind so bad that one place I couldn't get the truck over 45 mph going down hill. 4-way flashers on a good part of the day again. Before the POE we passed a bread truck in transit. He came through the POE but didn't stop (?) Then we saw him at the next gas station, passed him after we stopped for fuel and saw him again at our last fuel stop. Other than him, not much for transporters. Signs also said blowing snow. We did eventually find some. Lots of it. Snow fences don't do much good once the drifts are higher than the fences. 2nd stop was in Laramie at the Pilot for fuel. I'm getting $.05 rewards instead of $.01 at the Love's and the price of fuel is the same. Noticed the lot was a little rough when I pulled in. After I fueled I went to pull ahead and couldn't move. Had to back up, I was stuck up against a rut and this truck has NO umf. 3rd stop is the Country Pride at the TA in Rawlins. We noticed the hot food was not out in the buffet area. We had time today so we thought we would wait ... until the waiter said it's gone. Plates were still sitting there, so it must have just happened. Heard a few others asking about it also. One less reason to stop here. Salad bar is still nice but not in the mood today. 4th stop was the Flying J in Rock Springs. Low DEF light came on as I pulled in. I thought I'd make the whole trip on one fill of DEF, now it looks like three fills. MPG was WAY down, and now we are looking at running 300 miles extra as the weather forecast keeps getting worse for Donners Pass. Two miles down the road we are at the Clarion for the night. In house Mexican food is supper. It's only been nine hours today but I don't have enough hours to make it to Evansville which is the next motel town. Even with the cruise set at 65 mph we only averaged 58. I'm surprised it was that high. BB got a call looking for drivers for RV's. Then must be able to see that I am on a run. Back up to 60+ RV's on the board but nothing good. CA did put another pair of trucks on the board ... going to Long Island. We'll pass. Left another message for my drop. Finally got a call back, shouldn't be any issues. Still up in the air as to what we will do after we drop. I may not even have enough hours to get to the next truck and the following day is Saturday so not sure where that leaves us. 1st choice is two non-CDL trucks heading east. 2nd choice is a bus 3rd choice is IA puts something good on the board. IF we left as soon as I drop, we'd be in an RV Monday before I could be in a bus Monday. 4th choice ... we stay here in CA ;) 190213 - VA-CA These time jumps are wearing on us, as we head west we are up before the alarm goes off. After I did the write-up last night, BB had some 'fun.' We were in early so she washed some clothes. Not sure the whole story, but it sounds like they had to almost take either the washer or dryer apart so she could get our clothes out. Now we have clean clothes for another week. Breakfast, the usual, plus made to order omelettes. It was my day for yogurt so I didn't have one, BB did. Pulled out of the lot about 7 local. Four way flashers on quite a bit of the time. Blowing snow, snowing. Drifts coming into the lanes. We spent a lot of time last night deciding where to stop today, finally ended up with a list of cheap fuel and a general idea. 1st stop was 100 miles down the road, over two hours. Pilot in Evanston. The fuel was a penny or two cheaper than the Flying J. Forecast was for snow heading into Salt Lake City. That was actually the better/best part of the day. Just a little snow and clear sailing. The computer programs all wanted us to cut south before SLC, but due to the weather we went from I-80 right to I-15 in SLC. 2nd stop was at Springville for lunch, we had planned on eating at the Love's, McD's or Chesters. But when we pulled up the ramp there was a Cracker Barrel so those plans got changed. No issues today. I had the chick pot pie, may have been the first one I've had that wasn't a Swansons. While we were stopped, I called to order my permit. Seems no one cares that I am pulling a trailer/chipper. Somewhere down the road today, there was a truck trying to pass me. He was gaining and if I backed off, I can't gain speed until I go downhill so I didn't slow up. After a bit I noticed that the 1st car behind him was now straddling the center line. The truck got past me and then the car past him. Shortly after there was a car coming down the ramp and the truck hit the breaks. I suspected and it was soon confirmed that the truck wasn't breaking for the incoming car, but the car that was upset that he was stuck behind us. So that car would hit his breaks, the semi would move to the left lane, the car would speed up, the truck would pull back, the car would hit his breaks. Not sure what finally ended it. Oh, we did head south. We did not go to Donners Pass. A few days ago there was a 10% chance of snow Thursday. Now the pass may be closed thru Saturday. Also saw online that the area from Rock Springs to Rawlins that we can through yesterday afternoon will be closed east bound for about 20 hours. (Because of the snow.) 3rd stop was Scipio at a Flying J. When I got out to fuel I saw the pump wasn't working, so I looked at all of the pumps and none were working. BB was going to use the restroom but at this station the diesel pumps are across the street from the station and it was blowing 40-60 mph and sleeting. With these pumps not working I drove over to the gas part of the station and they had two diesel pumps there. They weren't working either so I went indoors. It was dark. No power. BB did use the flashlight on my phone to use the restroom but after that they wanted everyone out. It was so windy I had to hold my cap on walking across the lot ... I even forgot to take a picture of the DQ for TripAdvisor. :) Luckily I was not down to 'E,' so we found the freeway and headed out. 20 miles down the road there was an Exxon with diesel pumps. But they wanted me to leave my credit card before they would turn the pump on. Nope. So I paid for 10 gallons and they turned the pump on, pumps were very slow. When I was done, I had to go back in for a receipt with the gallons on it for tax records. This is why I try to stick with the major stations. This station was in Fillmore. Because I didn't fill with the high priced fuel, we stopped again in Beaver at a Flying J. They have a whole bunch of pumps that say 'no semi's,' must be for RV'ers? Got a good fill, cleaned the mirrors and rolling. I think up to this point today, I had spent more time under 45 mph than at the 65. The wind, anything that looked like an incline would slow us down. At some points it seemed like just the 'draft' from the passing trucks was enough to gain a mph or two. If the truck wouldn't have been downshifting at near 30 mph, it acted like it had a plugged fuel filter. But I've driving Hino's and they run like this. We also talked about it and this truck is rated at 26,000#. We weighted in at 25,400 so it IS almost loaded to the max, and it's empty. I wouldn't be surprised if I have gone a full hour sometimes with my four way flashers on before the truck would get back up to speed. After Beaver it must have been mostly down hill, it ran most of the time at 65 mph. Other than when we hit a few head winds. Because of running so slow all day we were in danger of not making it to Mesquite tonight. But we made good time from Beaver to St George. And then we were in and out of St George in a few minutes. No waiting for fuel and any of the stations we stopped at today. Unusual. As soon as we get back on the freeway in St George, there is the UT/AZ scale. The lights are flashing, so all trucks must exit/weight. First I get one sign, then a second. 'Return to the freeway.' But I need a permit. So I park and go to the office. It's locked, no one inside. Not sure why the lights were still flashing. We get to Mesquite with a half hour to spare. We'll need that time somewhere. Best Western is about the only name brand hotel in town, mostly casino's. Steep price, four times one of the casino's but from the reviews of both places, the Best Western is worth it. Ate next door at Peggy Sue's diner. Really good food. BB had a BLT and slaw. I had a chicken salad sandwich and potato salad. All good. Iowa is up over 80 RV's on the board, they are finally starting to put out south/southwest RV's. Other places have been adding more units coming out of CA. At one point today there were two non-CDL units going to MI. But we can't speak for anything until tomorrow. So the MI's are gone. Then they put out a bunch of CDL one's going to IA. Now we need to decide if we wait for a bus or grab one truck going right to IA. We are still watching the weather. Donners Pass is still supposed to be closed on Saturday. If we head to IA, with a truck or with a rental car we will need to wait until the pass opens. I see that snoqualmie pass on I-90 up by Seattle is closed 'indefinitely.' For as slow as we are going, we are still going. Things could be worse, a lot worse. ... the trip continues HERE |
