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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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201215`CA-PA 1 Bus, heading to Johnsonburg PA (delivered) ... spending the night at Maumee OH Alarm goes off at 5 AM local, 4 AM our time. It is the last day this week we should have to get up early. Breakfast, BB eats her leftovers and after I go down to get breakfast, I eat last nights left over banana bread. This hotel had one choice of breakfast bar and 10 oz bottles of water. That was there I idea of breakfast. I even went back twice to make sure everything was out. It was. It is still dark when we pulled out. Then an hour down the road to the first stop. 1st I drop BB off at the rental car agent. It was next to a dead end street, but with light traffic I was able to pull into their drive and back out onto the dead end street. Helps to have a short bus. The 1st stop is at the bus wash in Girard. If the line was short I would wash here, if it was long, I would go 10 miles down the road to the next one. There is one semi tractor in line when I get there. But there is a truck parked in the center of the road before I get to their driveway. Once I get close to the truck it starts to move. At about 4 miles per hour. It drives down the rest of the street, and into the wash drive. It didn't look right, usually trucks that old and in that rough of shape do not get washed. I have enough time to text BB to tell her where I will be and they are done washing the semi-tractor. The semi pulls into the bay but I am in no rush to move, there is no one behind me and it will 15 minute to wash the semi. But they motion for me to pull in behind the semi. Are they going to wash both of us at the same time? Nope, the semi drives through. I ask later, and the driver 'didn't have any money.' ??? I think he made a wrong turn and it was easier to go through the wash than turn around on the street. When the boss comes out to talk to me, he asks if I am with (a competitor.) I say no, but the buses all get washed the same way, they go to the same customers. Then he asks if I wanted it billed to our account. It crossed my mind to bill it to the (a competitor) but I don't think they would see the humor in that. BB still has not caught up to me, so I pull across the street to Mr Fuel. I can see there is plenty of room to park. By the time I am parked, BB is calling asking where I am. She is parked at Pilot next to the wash building. So I drive over there and we unload all of our luggage. All of this has taken a half hour, instead of three hours. We are ahead of schedule. Two hours to the drop via freeway and side roads. I didn't write down how far on side roads or what towns I would go through. I am 7 miles from the drop when I see the first sign for my delivery town. Lots of 25-35 speed limits on this highway. 2nd stop - I get to the drop and my fuel gauge has dropped from F to 31/32. It could/should be at 3/4 or I am leaving too much fuel. I call my contact and he meets me in the lot, he has to shake hands both when we meet and when we part. It may be the first time I have shaken hands in nine months. I'm guessing he had some health problems as he only walked a few feet at a time and sat ASAP. They do have a 2nd bus coming, it is / was ready but then they ID'ed a window issue and put it on hold. I'm sure the bus dispatcher would love to have me back to deliver the next one. The guy who signs asks about my windows, sometime in the past someone when coming through NM had their windows shot out. Because we run all the camera's all the time, they were able to ID who done it. Later BB looks at how someone else would get out of there. Bus? Hours to Pittsburg and fly back to CA. Flying back ... the cheaper flights take a day or more and have 10 hour layovers at up to four airports. The direct flight is $900 and there is a 'limo air' that would cost $34,000. Our way is easier. Heading back the way we came is the fastest way to food. We didn't think about the Subway that was right across the street from the drop. Lots of hills. And Amish. But the Amish places we see are on city sized lots mixed in with the other houses. We only saw one Amish farm. We take the same route back as far as Brockway and then head west to Brookville. 3rd stop - Brookville at the Arbey's. We order inside and use the restroom. When we leave, BB realizes they gave her the wrong sandwich. She does not want to go back so she eats it. 4th stop - Girard. Across the freeway from the wash where we were this AM. Gas is $1.87 at the BP. While we are there BB faxes in my paperwork so I can get paid. Onto the toll road. We decide we should get as far as Maumee earlier so that is what we do. It isn't dark yet but it has been a long day and no big towns before it will be dark. 5th and final stop is Maumee. 1st at Schlotzsky's Austin Eatery (Formerly schlotzsky's Bakery and Cafe.) They are now going to be serving alcohol ... once people can eat inside again. This time it is my order that is messed up. I order potato soup and get chili. Sandwich and cookie were still good. Then to the Comfort Inn for the night. We have just over 600 miles back to Forest City. Then another 30 back to drop the car. So we may get the car dropped off and only charged for two days. BB got a phone call today from dispatch, they still have lots of runs. Customers really want the RV's sitting on the lot and are willing to take Saturday and (?) Sunday deliveries. ))) sorry, we have other plans ((( I've looked at today's date the last four years there were -0- three years and 8 the 4th year. It is supposed to be slow. We are done working for our long haul company for the year. Any other work will be for my local company and BB will shuttle/chase. For the long haul / RV company, I have driven 48,000 paid miles this year. And we did not work at all in April, May or September. I did over 90% of those miles in either an RV or a bus. And over 90% of my income will be from my long haul company. By comparison, last year 3/5 of my income came from my long haul carrier. Biggest difference is this year I am not running local buses and riding in the shuttle because of Covid. Covid. We had a company phone meeting today with the long haul company and they said that one of their dispatchers just died from Covid. A couple of days ago someone posted on FaceBook that the owner of the other company they work for had just died from Covid. Deaths in MN are back down from there high, but are still triple what they had been this spring. Load board US - 313 IA - 125 MN - 5 WI - 6 My local company said we will be getting hit hard with the MN trucks that the long haul company also moves. Haven't seen the increase on the long haul board yet. 201216`CA-PA 1 Bus, heading to Johnsonburg PA (delivered) ... spending the night at Cedar Rapids IA No alarm, we are not up at 4 AM. BB had left overs, I went down and got their to-go bag and yogurt. When I saw there was a bottle of water in the to-go, I got one for BB also. We start the trip with a 24 or 36 pack of water but we have run out for this trip. Again, when we get up it is raining, but the time we get going it is snowing. We see various things in the ditch including two travel trailers. They look like a collapsed box once they roll over. At times traffic was moving at the posted, other places it was down to 45 mph for long periods. I did not use the cruise until after our 2nd stop this AM. Might have used it sooner but when these new radar's malfunction you can't use the cruise until the car has been restarted. 1st stop is in Howe IN at a rest area. The snow finally let up in eastern IN and we were no longer using the wipers by the time we got to our 2nd stop. 2nd stop is in Lake Station at a TA / BP for fuel. We had planned on stopping at the Pilot next door but fuel there had gone from $1.87 to $2.29 since it was updated online. I get sidetracked and forget to ask for a receipt so before we leave the lot I have to go inside and wait in line to get one. Chicago traffic, always fun. This time I was able to get behind a truck that was going closer to the speed limit and I just stayed there. People don't seem to ride my bumper as close if I am behind a big truck. One place a semi was signaling to get into my lane so I backed off, a 2nd semi behind him (and me) also wanted to get in my lane and when I backed off, almost hit the rear panel of our car. After that the 2nd semi stayed way back for a while. Also going through Chicago we saw a semi in the on coming traffic doing about 5 miles an hour in the center lane, that was causing a few miles of back up for them. We didn't have any traffic issues after the snow stopped in mid-IN. 3rd stop was for a late lunch. Late so I could get my Rax in Joliet. Drive thru. Good as always, the Big Deluxe Rax. I've been told that was the first thing I asked for when I came out of surgery almost 40 years ago. 4th stop was in La Salle at a Flying J for the rest room. 5th stop was just a few miles down the road in Geneseo at a Culvers :) All I had ever seen from the freeway was two gas station / truck stops. A few more blocks off the freeway are fast food and a hotel. Didn't know, now I do. Culvers was for frozen custard, not more food. 6th stop was the Welcome Center in Davenport. 7th and final stop was at the Comfort Inn in Cedar Rapids. It is dark and we aren't going to get the car back in two days unless we run till close to midnight and that is not going to happen. Here we see something we haven't seen much of, a mostly full parking lot. BB had gotten the last king room but that has happened even when there are only five cars in the lot. Oh, this place has free beer at 5 PM, maybe that is why people stay here? We aren't hungry after a late lunch and an even later snack, but we need to eat something before we go to bed. So BB orders online at Panera. It didn't go through the first time and if didn't the 2nd time I was going to have to call it in. Panera was about a half mile down the road but we were not walking tonight. Food was OK and what we ordered. But no butter for the extra bread they give. Load board US - 342 IA - 134 MN - 7 WI - 8 On the IA load board, the shortest 5 orders are all no tows and are all under 500 miles. Easy one day trips that we would make money on ... if we were not heading home. One is to Duluth, that has been out there since yesterday ... but we are heading home. The longest 24 trips out of IA are all over 1,500 miles. Most are pairs or could be run together with another location close. It is supposed to be dead the month after their quarter end. That is why it works for me to work local those months. Most of another day to get home, then home for a four day weekend before heading out again before Christmas. 201217`CA-PA 1 Bus, heading to Johnsonburg PA (delivered) ... spending the night at home Awake before the 6 AM alarm today. Breakfast was the very basics, yogurt, fresh fruit, muffins, pastry and juice. Frost on the windows but it came off with wiper fluid. 1st stop was in Clear Lake for fuel for the rental car. I went over a 100 miles twice before it started dropping off of 'F' and it wasn't on 'F' when we got it. Fuel prices had gone up from what was showing on line. The KFC / Taco Bell in town is now closed. Someone was taking all the signs off the building today. Sign in the window said this location closed. The DQ in the same area closed last year and is now a Kwik Star / Kwik Trip. 2nd stop was in Forest City to pick up our car. While there I drop off some paperwork in the office. The terminal manger sees me and asks what we are doing ... 'We have been on the road for the last six weeks and we have commitments for the next two weeks. Sorry." And I told him we watch the load board closely so we know how busy they are. He still gave us two grab-bags with water and candy. 3rd stop was dropping the car in Mason City 4th stop was back at Clear Lake, this time at the Culver's for food. And ice cream. We are on the road again ... before I remember that I now need to call my clinic ahead of time, not just stop in. So once I am done eating we stop 5th stop was at the rest area near Owatonna to make calls. I get my appointment and I call on our van. The van is ready. 6th stop is at the clinic. Only one person ahead of me but the wait is 20 minutes. Good news, for the first time every I do not need to come back to the clinic for two months. Pre-Covid, it used to be one month max. 7th stop was the bank. After 10 minutes in line we left, three lines and no one had moved. 8th stop was to pick up the van, $200+ but no more noise. Home again, safe at last. Money was good. Load board US - 383 IA - 144 MN - 17 WI - 8 201221 MN Originally I had let the local dispatch know that I would be available for my local company starting today. Then we were still having issues on the farm so I changed it so I was not available today but would be the rest of the month. Today I called in and said I could do metro Tues and Weds and leave Thurs. The only thing they came up with was a St Cloud to WI. It 'should' be ready Tuesday PM. St Cloud isn't exactly 'metro' but I said OK as we usually know in the AM if there are issues. But the truck still has to be ready. And I told them 'no' on the WI half of the run. That would be an additional 8 hour trip. Dispatch didn't give any hints on runs over the weekend. Sunday I drove through the lot and there was one 60 ft bus going to Baltimore. If my local company is getting hit with Dodge Center runs, my other company should be too. And the other company had 2 left at the end of the day. Hate to leave the local company high and dry, but if they don't have work ... The long haul company still has 3 to CA, 6 to OR, 9 to WA, a pair to Reno and a pair to Vegas both sets no tow so good money, and 4 to AS US - 319 IA - 99 MN - 3 WI - 4 |
