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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Still not back on the road, this is just highlights from a local trip. It used to be when I was 'off the road,' I was able to get local work to fill in most days. Not this year. We have been off road since mid-April and last week was the first day I worked all week. And it is maybe the 2nd week where I have worked over two days in one week. Not enough to live on. Headed out in a shuttle van for four hours to Fargo, stopped once at Culvers in Alexandria for a break. Someone has hit the building so the door in the men's restroom no longer closes. I needed to use it, so I used my jacket to tie the door closed. Picked up my first bus at Fargo and drove it an hour plus to Crookston. There I had about an hour wait until I was able to leave with the 2nd bus. That was long enough to cover my half hour off duty break. No time for stops on the way back. This one I am dropping in Elk River at a paint shop. But first I needed to fuel it with CNG in St Michael. It is after hours by the time I get there so it is a 'blind drop.' Here I get back in the shuttle van and ride another hour to White Bear. At White Bear I pick up a 3rd bus and drive it a few miles back to the shop. This one was iffy as I wasn't sure I'd have enough hours until we were close to the pickup. Just enough to get back before my 14 hours were up. The other company seems to be following last years trend, single digits for available loads. Last year it got to double digits in mid November for a couple of days and then back down. We'll need to request an extension to 90 days if we haven't worked before then. We are hoping to get something short, 1-2 nights, once a month just to stay active until next fall. So far that is not working out so well. ... and this looks like another one day work week. Next week we are off a couple of days for 'personal time.' |
