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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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210126`IA-UT 2 RV's to Draper UT (delivered !) ... spending the night in Laramie WY 4th night in a row in WY. Last night as we were looking at our paperwork for the day, we finally realized that one of the RV's had been delivered to the wrong address. And we would need to deal with that first thing this AM. Before we headed down for breakfast, we called dispatch to find out what to do. The best option was to drive the 200 miles back to Draper, pick up the RV from the wrong location and drop it 2 miles down the same street at the correct direction. The drive took three hours each way and another hour to move the RV and get a second inspection. It took 8 hours to correct a mistake. But no long term damage done. In a total of 12 hours, we are 200 miles from where we started this AM. But that is 200 miles in the correct direction. Today. We start with another made to order omelette. We end up pulling out of the parking lot as the same time as yesterday. So we got to the Flying J for fuel about the same time as yesterday. But because today we are driving faster, we got to Draper a half hour earlier. BB had called ahead and to let them know we were coming back for the RV. So today we had a name and knew from yesterday which door to go in. When we walk in, we see the same person that we had seen yesterday who thanked us for bringing them the RV's. He didn't say when he realized that the one RV wasn't theirs. They don't / can't sell that model. They had parked the RV out back and had to go retrieve it for us. And it was the same as we had left it. Dirty and with all the paperwork in it. Two miles down the steet. Here we had to call to be let in the gate. Once they let us in, we head to the waiting area. Inside a building where not everyone is wearing a mask. We sit, we walk outside, we go back inside, then back out. Finally we see the guy with the paperwork and go back in. Signed clear. We are free to go. We noticed today that the window washer wouldn't work. So once we were delivered, we stop at the gas station to get washer fluid. That was all it needed. While we were there, we noticed there was a Jimmy Johns inside so we got food there. This time we didn't make any wrong turns, but also didn't notice any signs that we had missed. The area is poorly marked. Next stop is the rest area at Evanston. Then the rest area east of Rock Springs ... about 150 miles between stops. Speed limit varies between 75 and 80 mph. Road are clear and dry all the way to Laramie. Something in the weather report helped us decide to keep going to Laramie. It was going to be last light when we got there. We filled up with fuel in Evanston this AM. From there it was 200 miles to Draper and back, then 300 miles to Laramie. My range is 530 when I fill. Evan at 80 mph I don't loose much range. But we don't gain any either. Once the fuel gauge is laying flat on zero we decide it is time to stop for fuel at the next station ... in the middle of WY. The range still says we have plenty of range to get to Laramie but we don't trust it. 20 miles before Laramie there is a station in the middle of nowhere. Gas is $3.15 a gallon. But when you are on 'E,' price isn't really an option. The 1st pump I pull up to isn't working. Then I notice that most of the diesel pumps have cars or trailers parked under them so most likely most of them are not working either. I put in $6 and left, no receipt. I would have had to go inside. Next stop is the Exxon in Laramie where gas is $2.16. I filled it. BB went inside to get 'off the shelf' Papa John's pizza. The best they had was a Works and a Sausage. Our final stop is the Comfort Inn in Laramie. We've been here many times before. We get a room that is cold. 56 degrees and it doesn't start to warm. So I call the front desk. Wait 15 minutes and call back. So we ate and finally decided if we switched rooms we would just be starting the same thing over. Then we filled the jacuzzi with hot water and ran the shower on hot. That seemed to do more than the heater. After a couple of hours I finally took my jacket off. We've had this problem here before. By the middle of the night it will be hot in this room. From here it is less than 600 miles to Omaha and about 700 to Des Moines. We may still be able to get the car returned on time, Thursday about noon. Load board US - 202 WI - 93 MN - 1 WI - 2 During the phone calls to dispatch we found out that in Feb, things are going to get busy. (So that means the load board will be over 100 for a while.) ... also that they may be starting to pay extra for the oldest trips on the load board. 210127`IA-UT 2 RV's to Draper UT (delivered) ... spending the night in Laramie WY Breakfast was a stapled bag. Plus I filled two cups from the machine, one was OJ and the other was apple ... apple colored water. All good stuff, but I ate my old fashioned donut from yesterday plus one bar from this day. I added more washer fluid but that didn't help. Still it doesn't work. So it's going to be a long day if the roads are wet. We decided to wait until sun up to head out. The first 50 miles between Laramie and Cheyenne should be the worst we see today. And the first half of that was the worst. Mostly blowing snow, but a clear day so no new snow. 1st stop is the rest area near Sidney. Men's restroom is closed, being 'disinfected.' 2nd stop is in North Platte at the Loves McDonalds for lunch and to wash the windows. Another McDonalds that has the McRib, but it is not listed on their menu. 3rd stop is at the TA / Shell in Alda for fuel ... and to wash the windows. Gas was next door at the Sinclair was $.02 cheaper but we have gift cards for Shell. 4th stop was at the QT for the restroom ... and to wash the windows. So far we have been doing about 150 miles between stops, two hours. We are trying to make it home on time so we are going to push it past sunset tonight. 5th stop is less than an hour down the road at the Loves McDonalds in Shelby. Neither of us got the same food we had gotten at lunch. We usually try to switch off where we eat, but there isn't much for fast food in this part of IA and even less choice of hotels. After leaving Cheyenne, the roads were dry and we were able to drive the posted. I did keep track of the transporters we saw all day. The 1st half the day we saw 34 towed travel trailers. 13 transporters, all kinds 5 semis in the ditch Early afternoon we saw 17 towed travel trailers 12 transporters 2 semis in the ditch Evening ... I counted, and forgot. But roughly 15 towed and 10 transporters. A much slower day than coming back from Denver when I was not counting. Drivers who tow say that is the only way to make money. But from my count today there were only two of the 35 transporters towing. We also saw a few trucks still in the ditch, I think that number was seven. The trucks we saw in the morning were all up right and jackknifed. The ones we saw in the PM were on their sides. In addition we saw a few places where there were piles of 'junk.' Left overs from a crash. One place there was an engine on one end and rear door parts at the other end of the crash, most everything between had been cleared. Some places the ditches looked 'well used' since the last snow fall. Noticeably more snow around Lincoln. 6th and final stop is the Sleep Inn in Waukee. It is new. I didn't even know it was there or know that that was where we were going until we got to the exit. New 'burb. There is a HyVee next door and just down the road from Fleet Farm but not many small shops yet. Load board US - 214 IA - 92 MN -0- WI - 3 The older orders on the load board that we have been watching are disappearing but new runs are being added. So who knows what will be there when we call in Monday for more work. One thing is for sure is that there will be work. 210128`IA-UT 2 RV's to Draper UT (delivered) ... spending the night at home Breakfast a nuked sandwich and yogurt, plus juice. At 7 AM we are heading out the door. Roads are clear. 1st stop is at the Kwik Star (Trip) for fuel. Pilot is now $.10 more than all the other stations in town. 2nd stop was the lot / office to pick up our van and drop off paperwork. Temp had been as low as -1 this AM, a little warmer by the time we started the van. The van starts right away but one door is the frozen shut. As soon as we move our luggage we head to the airport. 3rd stop is the airport to drop off the car. Actually BB drives the rental car and stops for fuel before returning it. No one is there at the desk so it's a drop and go. We made it back with almost an hour to spare with no adjustments to our agreement. Then we stop for food before heading home. Load board US - 229 IA - 89 MN - 1 WI -0- It's been a long month, we worked/were gone for 22 of the first 26 days. So we likely won't work tomorrow. Then it is the weekend and then we have appointments on Monday AM. Nothing planned for the weekend, just relax. 210201 FRIDAY Load board US - 228 IA - 88 MN - 2 WI - 9 Weekend Load board US - 247 IA - 98 MN - 1 WI - 9 Today we each had an appointment in the AM. But anything we would have wanted would have been on a tight schedule and some of those were gone early. So we sit. On Saturday, dispatch had put a bunch of new trips on the load board after the close of day. So our guess was that those were just the start of a huge dump of new stuff. Nope. By the end of the day Monday, they had added about six new ones and no where exciting. ... and now the $10 a day rental cars are gone. They were still there over the weekend when we were checking. We should have just booked a couple of them and canceled them if they had not worked. There are still some that are cheap coming out of the north west, but it makes a huge difference on where we decide to go. And right now the long runs are four day runs, if we call in tomorrow we need to leave on Wednesday making the trip a five day run. An extra night motel. So now we have a dilemma. Take something that is there for sure, or hope there is still something there on Wednesday. Monday load board US - 239 IA - 98 MN -0- WI - 10 The best run right now are two no tows to Sandy OR. Or the same thing to Seattle WA., Boise ID, The two longest runs are to Medford OR and Anderson CA. The two towns are only 150 miles apart, but the shortest way to one is via I-80 and other other via I-90. And they are not no tow so the price isn't quite as good. 210203 Winter storm warnings! For Iowa through Thursday night. So we didn't call in for any work going anywhere. We may call in Thursday AM to leave out on Friday (sometime.) We did watch the load board, very, very little was getting taken off the board. Likely between 5 and 10 were taken off. So between 45 and 50 new ones were added. I had thought that we would have taken something Tuesday, and if we had we most likely would be delivering by Friday and heading back for more. This is what happens when we get home. Something seems to happen, in this case the weather, and we don't get running again. So we aren't just off our appointment day. We have now been off for a week, since we delivered. Also, I got a call from my local company wondering when I will work again. We could have done local the last couple of days be we were watching the weather and the board. The other thing that played into all of this is the $10 a day cars are gone from the west coast. And the best paying runs are gone. So together we are looking at $400 or more less pay for the same trip as if we had left last week. And it's not just the storm in IA. Forecast is for storms in MT from Thursday thru Sunday in Montana. TUESDAY Load board US - 259 IA - 103 MN - 1 WI - 5 Today Load board US - 311 IA - 141 MN - 3 WI - 1 Right now, it looks like our best run is back to CA. Right down I-80 again. There is one Gilroy and one Davis. Neither are no-tows, so those better paying runs are gone. These two locations are about two hours apart, we think we have done both in one day before. If we left Friday, we'd delivery on Tuesday. And there are still three OR trips left that could run together. The fourth one is Bend and it is on the way to no where. No where you want to go with an RV. We've done the road in a car. No fun in the dark. The other two we checked were Boise and Seattle. They would work if there wasn't anything else. But we keep going back to the places where we can get a 2nd leg. Getting paid both directions pays twice as good as getting paid one direction. And I just did the math and that is true on these runs. Even from the OR to WA trip, prices of rental cars went up another $100 overnight. |
