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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Over the next three months we were off the road because of the 2020 virus. I did write ups on 21 days, they are combined into the next these three. 200321 VI R US Off the road until ... As we were getting close to done with my last run, I was still planning for the local company through the end of the month. But the more I thought about it, the less like a good idea it sounded. Stay six feet away from people ... try doing that in a five hour ride in a shuttle van. And usually some of those people have just come in off a plane the night before. We talked about BB driving me to Crookston or local runs but so far that doesn't sound like a good idea. Part of the reason that Crookston won't work is that we usually can't get our buses until 2 PM. Which gives someone just enough time to get back before dark, in a car. And no one to follow me back if there is an issue. So Tuesday I sent an email to the local company that I will be NA through the end of the month. Didn't hear anything back from them. I always used to, but that has changed over the last few months. Finally on Friday, yesterday, we get an email from that company saying "If at anytime you want to stop accepting trips and stay home, please do not hesitate to do so." An hour later, our other company has a conference call and as part of that the say more or less the same thing. So we aren't in any danger of loosing either of our jobs. And hearing the news out of CA, we looked up where we pick up in CA. Their notice to their employee's stated they they were closing on Mar 17, the day after I dropped my bus in IA. So even if we did get out to CA, we'd be coming back in a car. Locally there have been few RV's on the board and last night there were -0-. There are two trucks out of Dodge Center going less than 300 miles. One of the driver concerns is that the company won't accept the load once it gets there. Or the state will not let them come in, saying it is not 'essential.' Not sure what is going on with the local company. No word that the bus company has closed, yet. Both companies, their offices, plan on staying open. The company in GA sounds like they are 75% work at home now. We are 'in' for now, we have enough food for 2-3 weeks. Only issue is the young folk that are still working and not taking it seriously. Too many seem to be treating it like a vacation. Not working, so lets hang out with friends. 200323 VI R US Wasn't expecting to post again so soon but received news this PM that the mfg we drive for in IA is shutting down for two (+) weeks due do the virus ... and changes in business (as in maybe no one is open to accept the units?) Also got accepted into the FaceBook group today so I can see that some people are still driving. Also talked to a neighbor who's Dad drives for my local company and he is still driving. I'm expecting to hear that customers of our local company are closing down but that didn't come today. One of the drivers on FB said he was stuck in CA and now all businesses are supposed to be closed so no trucks moving out. But anyone that really wants to work should be able to get a job driving or in a warehouse short term. I'm guessing those area's will slow down too soon. So nothing on the board out of IA. 62 loads nationwide. Not bad for some locations having all but closed down. BB did get a call that she needs to get her licence renewed and DOT done. Not going to happen right now. 200325 VI R US Guess I will be posting more often than planned. My way of keeping record of how things were. In MN we received the 'Stay At Home' order. Haven't heard yet if the two main customers for the my local company are effected or not. One builds city buses, the other builds garbage trucks. The other interesting news of the day was were are still getting updates from Co #2 that we haven't driven for in a couple of years. They sent out an email stating that you may stay home if you need to, but they are paying up to a 50% premium on some trips. No word on increased pay from the two I still work for. Surprising, three on the load board out of IA. Total loadboard is at 69 which is not bad with both IA and MN at almost zero. So there is work if people can get to it. ... on the news yesterday it showed that one IA scale was giving drivers boxed lunches for a few hours over the noon hour. Also hearing that drivers are having to stand outside and eat as we can't dine in, and we can't eat in new units. 200327 VI R US Another day for phone meetings. I remember why I never enjoyed them, but we now we have nothing else to do. Last week there were 1,500 people on the company meeting call, again today there were about 1,400. All locations are still open, people are calling every receiver before their truck gets loaded to make sure the other end will still be open. The only issue our company is having is with over sized loads, some states require a police escort and those are in short supply. And drivers are in short supply, they spent some time talking about the amount of freight they are giving up because they don't have the trucks. Closer to home the 'stay at home' order starts tomorrow. Not sure what that does and doesn't include. We were out for a little bit and there wasn't much traffic on the highways. About the same as a Sunday afternoon. We then stopped to pick up meds. I had my 1st phone doctor appointment, they were not taking any in office appointments. I need to get my blood pressure down so they are putting me on another medication. I have a few months before I have to go back in for my next DOT. BB has to pass hers DOT before I do. And she also has to pass her state renewal. But they are all closed for a few weeks. It will stay interesting. 13 loads on the IA RV load board on Thursday, back down to zero for the weekend. 200330 VI R US Another week, another phone meeting with the company we move the RV's for. Nothing really new, not as much is happening as the first few days when everyone was shutting down. It was mentioned that 'two of the bus companies' were trying to get exemptions so they could go back to business as usual. Not sure how that is going to work as most places are JIT, just in time. Meaning that everyone one their suppliers would have to go back to work also. Not sure if there are statewide restrictions where the RV's are built, but there are a couple of locations that plan on being back to work next Monday if things don't change. More states are closing their borders which makes it harder for those who don't have a semi and a trailer, those don't seem to have an issue. One guy on the call has his wife follow him around the country. Not sure how that is going to work, the exemption letter we are to carry is for moving what we are driving, not personal cars. I've talked to a guy at my local company who's wife does the same thing. Says it pays, but not the way I do the math. If/when it comes to that for us, we'll look at it again. The main motel chain we stay at was having a 'buy two, get one free' promo. That will end before we get back on the road, very likely they will start something new as I'm not sure who is staying at motels right now. Here at home, we are going to try to limit our travel to one trip a week to the grocery store. Period. No other travel. We haven't decided if we will take advantage of the 'senior shopping' from 7-8 AM yet. 200401 VI R US We have now been off the road for over two weeks ... and is this only the beginning? Did get a call from road dispatch today, they usually don't call unless they are having issues getting a load move. I didn't see the missed call until a while later so I did not call them back. They were looking for help to move a truck out of 'Finley, MN.' There isn't a Finley MN, there is one in ND and WI. But I am NA for now. I hadn't seen anything on the loadboard so not sure what it was. And they way they are set up there isn't a way they are going to take us all off the active board. Also I got an email last night about my passport and I was supposed to open a PDF. Nope, instead I called them this AM and yes, they had sent me something so I need to print it out and send it in. Seems there was a error in the system with passports being reported lost all the way back to a year ago and it just got fixed now. So maybe I will have a passport again some day. It doesn't look good, they are now saying this virus may peak in a couple of weeks. So we could be looking at June before we are back on the road. IA load board was back at -0-. MN had a few, three left at the close of day. HOME LIFE - We did our one trip to the store today. Didn't make it for seniors time but shortly after. Likely not any more crowded than usual. Still no paper products and lots of 'no hording' signs. We didn't see a limit on eggs but when we got to check out they only let us keep one of the two. Two is normal for us when we are on the road. Next time we'll get one, thirty pack, if they still have them. They did today. Sneeze guards are in place at the check outs. And the area is marked on the floor to keep people apart ... and I did see someone wiping down carts. Other than that it was business as usual. Lots of trucks on the road and still a lot of cars but only two at the gas station instead of 20. Doesn't help that gas is under $2 when you are supposed to 'stay at home.' 200403 VI R US Yesterday I got a phone call from one of the drivers who I used to work with that has switched to another company. He is still running and is on his way to SFO and then flying home. One of his last flights had three other people besides him and the crew so he feels relatively. He wife doesn't see it the same way so he will be sleeping on the couch when he gets home. His biggest issue is food, places that only have drive thru's open don't want people walking up to the window ... for safety reasons. Today in the AM we had our weekly phone meeting with our long haul company. Call ran an hour and a half and that has been every week. Plus they are having meetings with each division, with customers and with the government. One interesting note was they had moved one of the rockets for a space shuttle ... and they needed 15 escorts on one leg of the trip. That still is about the only thing holding up drivers. The company is expecting the virus to peak in mid-April and have thing back to a new normal by the end of the month. (I'm guessing they are optomistic) Nevada has stopped issuing the basic trip permits we are now just free to run the state. I'm guessing you still need any over sized permits as before. Sounds like some place in TX you are required to ware a mask 'anytime you are not in your house.' It hasn't been clarified if that includes your car/truck ... before this is over the drivers are going to have to carry a book to know all the local regulations. Two left out of IA on the load board, both non-towable. It seemed the loads that were put out were moving pretty fast. There is another one coming out of SC back to MN when we aren't there. |
