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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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1 RV to Greer, 1 RV to Myrtle Beach SC We didn't want to leave until Monday so all we could do on Friday was watch the board. We did, but not often. After close of day we do on the math on what is left for Saturday AM. BB had been doing math on other runs and nothing was working but somehow she missed this one or assumed it was too far out of route. 7:58 AM Saturday morning I call in and dispatch picks up right away. Both runs are still available so BB is going to Greer and I am going to Myrtle Beach. I think it adds about 10 miles because we have into town. So are plan is to leave on Monday AM from home. Get to Moline IL the 1st night, Lexington KY the 2nd night and deliver the 1st one around noon the 3rd day. We've done the math on rental cars. They are cheaper near Greer, but if we pick it up there it almost is for sure that we will have it two days. Only one of of the Carlines right now, going to the northeast. But that stuff moves pretty fast so we will have to be watching the board on Tuesday for Wednesday pick up. Otherwise we may just stay on the beach. Wow. I just looked, I dropped my last truck for these guys over a month ago. Time to get back to work. We have three weeks, so depending on what shows up out of IA we may just grab something somewhere else to keep moving. I've looked at the history and the 3 out of the last 4 years the load board stayed in the single digits for the rest of the month out of IA. Load board US - 106 IA - 8 MN - 4 WI -0- 201005 MN-SC 2 Rv's to SC, one to Greer, one to Myrtle Beach ... spending the night at Galesburg IL Awakened by the alarm at 6 AM. Do our usual routine and are out of the at 7:30. A rare non-stop trip to IA. Weigh Scale just north of Albert Lea in I-35 southbound was open today. I think this is the 1st time in 15+ years I have seen it open. It is a paved area with no building or permanent scale. Today there were 7 cops there doing inspections, one of those was standing in the drive area picking out his or someone's next victim. And then there were 2 more cops a mile down the road doing roadside inspections on trucks that I am guessing didn't stop at the scale. Those tickets get a little expensive. When we started with this company we had to show the office our DOT card every trip, show them our logs before leaving on every trip. That person is gone and we haven't been asked for the info anymore so this was the first time we didn't bring any paperwork in with us. And they didn't ask. First they take our temps, a covid thing and then they give us our paperwork. Forgot to ask them for blank logs so had to go back in a few minutes later. They had some this time. RV's were supposed to be in the west lot. They weren't. So we go to the east lot. We are both clicking our clickers and BB finds hers in the inspection area. Mine was between to RV's being inspected so I missed mine the 1st time past, saw it walking back. Turns out the office gave the prior drivers the wrong paperwork, our paperwork, this AM and the drivers didn't realize it until doing their inspections. So they just left the RV's there knowing we would be in shortly. They were heading to MI. Dispatcher was out twice this AM making sure we had our RV's not not someone else's. Small RV's, only took 45 minutes instead of the usual hour. Fuel is cheaper today in Clear Lake so we head out. Sounds like the RV mfg is busy. Sales lots across the country are empty so we will be or can be busy as soon as they get parts. Sounds like 100+ RV's are waiting on just one part. Lots of others are finished to the point of they part they are missing. Always? Almost always, sometimes takes a while to get used to the new RV. 1st I can't find how to adjust the seat, it's on the door. And figure out the radio. Can't figure out the cruise. 1st stop - BB stops at the Pilot, I stop at the Kum and Go and then meet her at the Pilot Subway for lunch. It's getting colder so we ate inside. We were the only ones sitting, a few other people ordered and left while we were there. Crops are being harvested. One place a guy was only combining about 6 rows with a 20 row head. Who knows. Lots of wind. Drove 60 instead of 65 for quite a while this AM before the next stop. IA weigh scale is closed. 2nd stop is for a rest break in Center Point in the Sinclear turned Caseys. In and out. Can still see all the crop and tree damage, and building damage around Cedar Rapids. A lot of the corn that was blown over just died, and has turned black. Going thru Cedar Rapids, one area that looks like they were going to put in a park along the river has been turned into a huge brush pile. 20 feet high and blocks long. Not sure where the it came from because most of the yards look like they did weeks ago. 3rd stop - Iowa 80 / BP for fuel. Usually it is easier to get in and out of. It wasn't. Pilot was empty across the street and fuel was cheaper at Pilot today. As long as we were here we ate at Pizza Hut. Long line of people who had ordered their food but hadn't gotten it at Wendys so we walked over to Pizza Hut and grabbed a pizza off the shelf. Still had to wait for someone to ring us up. Short help. This is a huge truck stop with a Wendy's, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, DQ and Starbucks plus roller food and a buffet in the main building and a Blimpies Sub in the fuel building. They have really spaced out the shelves and tables. Looks like they may have removed at least 1/2 of the shelves. IL scale is open, but we are both about 11,000# and the sign says trucks over 16,000# must weigh. This RV has the radar that slows you down when you get to close to the next car. But it doesn't tell you it is slowing you down. No icon's, no sounds. One time we were coming up to an exit and the cars ahead of me had gotten over one lane and slowed down. It slowed me down to 30 mph before I finally stood on the gas peddle. Grrr 4th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Galesburg. Looks like it used to be a Super 8, but recently redone. Across the street was an old indoor type mall. Looking online it says part of it is going to be a convention center and other parts were sold off for other uses. We have our day planned for tomorrow. We got an extra hour tonight so we should only have 5 hours on BB's drop day. Gives us a little more breathing room. Load board says that as of tonight here is one from NC going to IL and one to WI. To early to put my name on one yet. Load board US - 103 IA - 14 MN - 3 WI - 1 201006 MN-SC 2 Rv's to SC, one to Greer, one to Myrtle Beach ... spending the night at Mount Vernon KY Breakfast - A chocolate Rice Krispy bar and peanut butter crackers. At a Quality Inn. When I checked out, I commented that I had expected the granola bars like the ones sitting behind him. So he tried to offer me another bag with a Rice Krispy bar. I said no and they finally opened the granola bar box and gave me two :) We got rolling shortly after sunrise, 15 minutes or so. Just enough past so that the visor would block the sun. Nothing too memorable. 1st stop is Farmer City at a rest area. Truckers walking up to the building at the same time as us were asking questions about our work. 2nd stop is Crawfordsville at the Pilot for fuel and Subway. We had looked at and talked about going off route to save us about $10 on fuel but decided against it. Off route is extra time and there is no saying that the fuel price online is what we would pay when we got there. A few people still not wearing masks, but most do. At Subway I have switched breads to lessen my calorie intake. Little things. This trip we need to go the south route around Indy. No shortcuts. Right after we get on the beltway we see signs saying car fire ahead. Ended up being a trash semi truck. Something in the box had started on fire and the tractor had gotten unhooked. Lots of fire and police trucks already there, others were coming as we were in the back up. Five lanes down to two to get past. 3rd stop is Henryville at a rest area. Quick in and out. 4th stop is Shelbyville at a Hucks for fuel. This may be BB's last fuel stop. I wasn't going to fuel here, but fuel was cheaper than we had seen so I did. Then getting back on the freeway when leaving ... I hadn't looked when I was coming down the ramp, waited until I was at the merge. A truck was right there so I hit the breaks, he hit the breaks and then blew his horn. I hadn't pulled into his lane, just one of those cases where we both slowed to merge. 5th and final stop. Quality Inn and Pizza Hut. This was built as a Holiday Inn but also signs of it being a more resent Best Western. OPPS. When we went to park I parked within a few inches of one of the rods sticking out of the ground that used to hold the cement parking divider. We parked somewhere else. Pizza Hut next door is the only food at this exit. Motel, food and gas. The only three buildings at this exit. Carryout only. We called ahead. Got pasta instead of pizza. It was filling. It said it served two and it did. Did see a few transporters today. Fire truck, cement mixer, stacks of trucks. Still haven't crossed a weigh scale, the ones today were all closed. Did have one semi come into my lane, so I hit the shoulder ... but my ... assist steers me back into my lane. I am OK with the radar assist IF it lets me know it has slowed me. All the other assists are creating an accident waiting to happen. This RV, being a MB, the radio comes on when you start the RV. At least on this one the volume isn't as loud. Last I checked online there was no way to shut it off. Just read a little more about the mall across the street from the motel where we stayed last night. It had up to four anchors before starting it's down hill slide. Another smaller town mall has bit the dust. Load board US - 153 IA - 17 MN - 11 WI -0- Two CDL trucks going to MI is all that is out of NC at the end of the day. 22 out of GA ... longest run is 402 miles. Doesn't pay for me. 201007 MN-SC 2 Rv's to SC, one to Greer (delivered,) one to Myrtle Beach ... spending the night at Conway SC Breakfast was two cups of yogurt, good stuff. And juice. Headed out right at sunrise. Road construction, lots of it. Hang on to the steering wheel with both hands and hit the brakes when someone comes over on you, don't let go of the steering wheel to honk the horn. Original plan had been to just stop once before dropping off but that would mean two 150 mile legs. We added a 2nd stop. 1st stop was in Pioneer TN at a Pilot for a break. 2nd stop was in Wayneville NC at a Pilot for break and BB did the final fuel she paid for her final fuel. Small Pilot. A semi was broke down on the two lane road leading to the Pilot. Created a mess, it was right in the travel lane, not shoulder to go around him on. 3rds stop was the Spinx gas station in Greer where BB did her final fuel and I bought more fuel. I did the math. I still had a range of 100, wanted to leave 50 miles range and had 250 to go so 200 miles at 20 mpg. Easy math. You would think. I started putting in 20 gallons but realized my mistake at 11 gallons. So now I am leaving more than 50 miles range and the range keeps going up. 4th stop was at the drop about a mile away. BB called the contact and they were at lunch. So we sat there for a while before they started. They signed clear. 5th stop was another stop less than a mile away. Burger King. No indoor or out door seating so we sat by the RV. The 4th and 5th stop combined were an hour and a half so things moved quickly. 6th stop was at Newburry SC at a Loves to use the restroom 7th and final stop was at our motel, Quality Inn, in Conway SC. Did our check in and walked next door to the Cook Out, another burger today. Talked to the person ahead of us who had sat in the drive thru line for 15 minutes without moving so she did the walk up window. We had the average wait for the burgers and when we left there was no line. Not sure what the hold up was just before we got there. This location had indoor seating, some don't. This one added a walk up window by taking out one of the solid windows and putting in a service window. We each got a burger, I also got onion rings and coleslaw. BB helped me eat some of both. Tomorrow it is 15 miles to the airport and then 10 more to the drop. Loadboard US - 174 IA - 18 MN - 16 WI - 1 201008 MN-SC 2 Rv's to SC, one to Greer (delivered,) one to Myrtle Beach (delivered) ... spending the night at Gastonia NC No alarm today. Breakfast was scrambled eggs. (no toast) And a muffin or a breakfast bar. BB took the muffin and scowled at the breakfast bar I took, until she looked at the calories. We finally got going about 10:30 local time. It was about 15 miles to the airport where I dropped BB off to pick up our car. I stopped in front of the arrival area and it took BB a minute or two to collect her stuff. By then security was walking up to the RV. She didn't notice them but I had been watching. There were two standing outside the airport and no one stopped in the loading un-loading area. 1st stop is for my final fuel at the Speedway. My paperwork says there is two stations in this area. A Wilco and a Hess. Sorry, that is two names for the same place. They were bought out by Speedway who sold or partnered with Pilot on the truck stops. Now Speedway has been bought by 7-Eleven. Not change of the signs yet. 2nd stop, two doors down. My drop. I go in the main building first and then to the service area. Within a couple of minutes they find the inspector so I hand over my paperwork and wait. Takes about a half hour today and I get a clear inspection. We had talked about walking the boardwalk or something near the beach. We are about two miles from the beach but it was already 80 degrees at 10 AM when we were heading out. 85 and humid by the time we were ready to walk. Also we had no idea how wide this boardwalk was or how many people would be wearing masks outside. So we headed inland. About an hour in we crossed the freeway. Stopped going south. There was a Pilot on one side of the freeway and a Flyin J on the other side. 3rd stop at the Pilot for Wendys. First we looked to see what Dunkin Donuts had, but it was just the express version, no sandwiches. Then we went to Wendy's, after we got our food we walked past the DQ and I saw that they now have a caramel apple pie blizzard. I got one and they put whipped cream ?? on it. We have new tap credit cards and I am trying to use it that way. I tapped and couldn't tell if it took, waited for my malt and then asked the person. No it hadn't, it wouldn't take the tap, or the chip, or the swipe. Finally I tried to pay with points, it wouldn't take. Finally another person behind the counter got it to work. But by now my over full cup of ice cream was running down the sides of the cup. So I had to eat that first before my sandwich or driving. Cross country. I think we have been this way before. 4th stop was somewhere near Bennettsville. BB saw a trip on the board from near Myrtle Beach going to California. I wanted to know if we wanted to go that far solo and she was looking up different details. Finally we stopped and I called. Someone had already put the order on hold. I can call back in 15 minutes so we back track to a better parking spot and wait. The other driver took it. About a 2,500 mile trip. They don't get much longer than that. Something we should have talked about before we saw something on the load board. We should always call ASAP and put it on hold to talk about it. So we continue on our way. There had also been a truck going to Selina KS that we had been looking at. As long as I was talking to dispatch I asked them about it. They had all the pay numbers but when I asked about the truck the more or less said. 'We don't ask, they want a truck moved, we move it.' Sorry. I don't work that way. I won't blindly take a truck. If they can't tell me what it is, no thanks. If I really want the truck I have gotten the phone number and called the shipper myself. On the truck going to CA, they had listed it as a strait truck, a truck with a box on the back. Not too long after those calls I stop and call the dispatcher that has most of the trucks out of NC and SC. They told me they usually get those orders later in the afternoon. 5th stop was near Rockingham. The Carolina dispatcher started putting loads on the board. The first few were not good enough, three to FL, we don't want to go that way yet. And then their were two to Milwaukee. CDL so we will only take one. I just looked now after 5 PM and the other one is still on the board and so are the FL. So now we back track again today. We had gotten about two miles past where we needed to turn when the orders came in. We took the narrow back roads. Our other choice was to back track 10 miles instead of two. We are heading to Shelby NC. We have picked up a few trucks here, we know the routine. Traffic is backed up a little by the Charlotte airport but mostly slow and go. 6th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Gastonia. We check in and then walk a few blocks to the Cracker Barrel. If there had been something with outside seating we would have done that instead. We didn't look to hard. There was also a Honey Baked that closed shortly after we got here. And a Texas Roadhouse on the way to the Cracker Barrel. I was able to get my paperwork for the next truck printed so we are set for the AM. BB called and got the rental car drop changed. It will still cost us 80 miles but keeps us off the toll roads. Now we have three days to go 800 miles. Shouldn't be having to push it too hard. And now we are watching to see where we go next. CA is most likely out. We would have wanted to leave Monday to go to CA and now we can't until Tuesday. Lots of options once we are back up to 200+ on the load board. Load board US - 225 IA - 35 MN - 8 WI - 1 ... the trip continues HERE |
