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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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210301 NC-IN 2 RV's to Selma SC (delivered) 1 tree truck to Kokomo IN ... spending the night at Beckley WV Alarm goes off, BB is up first to use the restroom as usual. Me next ... drip ... drip ... drip. I hear something dripping from the ceiling. BB had noticed the floor was wet but hadn't heard the drips. The light fixture seems to be full of water and is dripping. I use the bathroom without a light. Then BB turns the light on. Now both bulbs in the fixture have burnt out. I am surprised it didn't blow a circuit breaker somewhere. I call down to the front desk and they didn't seem surprised, just wanted to know if we wanted a different room to get ready in. No urgency like wanting to contact the people above us. We stayed in that room and got ready in the (mostly) dark. Including showering. When I come out of the shower, BB is saying for me to call right away. It isn't 8 AM (local) yet but one dispatcher is adding runs. And they have added a Kokomo. I call, and get it. (Then I had to look up the Beach Boys song) Breakfast was an omelet plus yogurt and juice. At 8:45 local we pull out. We are just a couple of miles from the rental car place and the car is for 9 AM. I drop BB and head to the gas station to put in dealer fuel, someone pays so that the RV's do not come in on fumes. When I get to the drop everyone is in a meeting so plenty of time to go get BB's RV. Three travel trailers come in after BB before someone starts doing the inspection. Then two inspectors come out. Not sure if one was being trained or they just work as a team. The only damage on either was my chipped windshield. When I call in my damage, I talk to the terminal manager. He askes us 'to hurry back, they have 1 or 2 more for us to move.' :) I would have talked to some of the other drivers at the drop if it hadn't been raining. One couple in particular. Young, 20 somethings. Living the dream. An hour plus from there to the next pickup. We've been here before but are coming in a different way until the last block. We find my truck and do the inspection. Then I call the drop and ask if we can break the seals on the doors so we have somewhere to put our luggage. We can. If not, then BB would have to sit in the middle next to me and we stack everything on the passenger side. One other driver is getting ready to pull out and I walk over to say hi after I see they work for the same company as I. They are heading to NJ. Short 2-3 conversation. We fuel a couple of blocks away. I mis-key so I have to go inside to get the pump turned on. Most computers at the pump are more forgiving. While I am fueling BB walks to Arby's for food, then I eat in the car with here. It's been a long time since I have had the basic roast beef. I didn't have ask for any sauce. Less than a half hour down the road and we drop the rental car. Small lot so I wait for someone to pull out, I didn't get the chance to look but there was someone beside me that almost hit the person pulling out. Once I was in the lot there was no where to go, then someone came out and moved BB's car. That gave me an opening to turn around. There lot is made for compact cars, not trucks. Rolling. From here I know the way as for as Indy. Yikes. I look down and I am getting 3 mpg. At this rate my fuel pay and my trip pay won't cover the fuel. But a few hours later it was up to 5.2 mpg and BB looked and it should be closer to 7.3 mpg. 500 of the 600 miles of this trip are the same as we came. So not much is going to be new. When we get to where the two freeways join near Mt Arey, there is a box truck in the ditch. Looks like they changed their mind on which freeway they wanted to be on and tried to cut thru the grass. But by that time the grade for the bridge was too steep and the tire tracks show that it was 'dog tailing' quite a bit until they got too close to the bridge to keep going. A tow truck was there when we went past, but hadn't started hooking up yet. 1st stop heading back was the Loves in Lambsburg for fuel. I pick the wrong lane and we wait. Didn't need more fuel yet but it is as cheap as it gets. Not too long after we are back on the road we get to a scale 'OPEN.' But as we are signaling to turn, it goes to 'CLOSED.' The lane was full and we get the by pass. One toll booth today. I have the I-Pass in the window, I watch for the message. When it shows $$$ (amount) I start to go. Then I see it say 'STOP.' opps. If it had read the I-Pass, the light would have turned green (I wasn't watching that and) it would have said 'ACCEPTED.' Final stop is at the Quality Inn in Beckley. We order from the in house restaurant. Good food. I have a Philly and BB had a Philly. I had onion rings and BB had a salad. Load board US - 407 IA - 171 MN -0- WI - 15 IN is up to 59 trips. Often it is real close to -0-. The trip going to Prescott is still there, but I think we are going to go with the RV to Garfield MN. Someone did text me about a trip from OH heading to TX, will to pay extra. But I haven't heard of any extra that is enough to make me want to / willing to take a trip that we haven't already looked at. As of now, we should deliver this truck Weds AM and then pickup the RV around noon. We should deliver the RV by Friday AM at the latest. Then head back to IA and down to NC to do this all over again. 210302 NC-IN 1 tree truck to Kokomo IN ... spending the night at Kokomo IN Didn't get the greatest sleep, but the alarm still went off at 6 AM local (5 AM Central.) At some point I realize that I can't call in for my next run until 8 AM so we have an extra half hour this AM. Nuke breakfast burrito, yogurt and juice are the food. For the run I am on, I called in early so I thought I would try the same. "I am on vacation, please call central dispatch." OK that was good to know. We are out of the room and have the truck packed and inspected by 8 AM. I call corp dispatch and get my run. Someone is moving the RV's from the shipper to our company lot in Elk Hart. Makes no difference to me, but for those coming in by plane, bus or train it makes it easier. Next toll booth I am ready. It doesn't read so I hand it out the window to the toll taker and they have to walk back and wave it for it to read. Next and final toll booth, I have the I-Pass out the window in hopes that it would read it. Nope. So again the toll taker has to come out of their booth. This guy says that if I 'jump the curb' so that the I-Pass out the window is closer to the center of the lane, it will read it. But I think I will just be paying cash when I am driving tree trucks from now on. 1st stop was Nitro at the Pilot for fuel. Very small place. Only one line of trucks for all pumps. No place to park behind those fueling. Today everyone is in and out. Doesn't take long. But as I was sitting in line, the semi in front of me starts backing up. I lay on the horn. He keeps coming, I keep blowing ... never thinking of backing up. Froze ??? He stopped, I did back up. No issue. Next stop ... the road. About five miles from Nitro we exit the freeway onto US-35, the four lane / two lane highway. Five miles down that road we come to a stop. BB looks for info on the computer. '1 lane closed.' Makes sense. They are almost done making the two lane into a four lane. We see cars coming, some times bigger groups than others. We 1st stop, I pull to the shoulder, we are just before a cross road and I want to be able to turn if needed. But then we move, slowly, but for only four minutes. So we sat for a half hour to only move four minutes??? Now we are timing it. We are still on the four lane but the only people in the left lane now are the ones going to the next crossroad to make a U-turn. We wait another half hour but have noticed that only cars are coming and most are turning on the cross street. BB looks up the road conditions again. CLOSED. It only takes us a couple of minutes to decide to take a different route. It is an extra hour so that is why we didn't take it earlier. As I get in the turn lane to make a U-turn, the guy in the left lane past the cross street gets out and starts motioning / yelling at me. I point that I am turning. He doesn't pay any attention. I didn't realize that he had started backing down the highway. Sorry sir. I'm going forward on the road, you are going backwards. I have the right of way. And I am not even in the same lane. ??? Earlier one or the semi's was going to take the cross street but a truck coming from the cross street stopped him. Stopped him completely blocking the other two lanes of the four lane ??? Not good, but no issue. We make our U-turn as others are still coming to the end of the line. They still haven't closed the highway to the road closure. One person didn't have enough patience, or sense. They tried to take a U-turn in the grass median with a small box truck. Never a good idea as you don't know how solid or soft the ground is. But this persons issue was the grade. The two lanes are fairly close together with a deep ditch between. When we went past, their front bumper and back bumper were in the dirt and the tires were 'almost' hanging there. Not sure how they got that far in there. This AM we left a half hour late so I could make a call. Then we have sat on the road for another hour, and now we are taking a route that will cost another hour. We won't make it to Kokomo before the rental car place closes. BB has to change the reservation to tomorrow AM. 2nd stop is Catlettsburg for food at the Flying J. Shelf food, but it is time to eat. We get chicken sticks. 3rd stop was at a rest area at Georgetown KY. 4th stop was Greensburg at a Petro for fuel. I do the math and I put in what I 'should need' to get to the drop. 5th and final stop. First it is at McCallisters for food. BB tried twice to order on line and we got there right when we expected. But the order didn't go through so we knew we would have to wait in line and order food. And we did. We were in line and waiting for about 15 minutes. Of course no line once we had ordered. Then to the motel. Lots of place to park a truck, no one else is here. So once I am parked BB reserves a room. Then ... before we get out of the truck two people walk over to the truck from the Baymont next door. One of them who will sign for the truck tomorrow. He won't be back to the hotel until 9 AM. That works. We pick up the car at 8:30. Then he says how bad the hotel we are staying at is. But we already have reservations. Load board US - 393 IA - 175 MN -0- WI - 23 Sometime this morning, NC adds to non-CDL trips to Effingham. More money than one CDL, but no way of knowing it was going to happen. We lost 2-1/2 hours today but should be on time again tomorrow. 210303 IN-MN 1 tree truck to Kokomo IN (delivered) 1 RV to Garfield MN ... spending the night at Mauston WI Late alarm, 7 AM local (8 central) We aren't picking up the car until 8:30. We have an early AM text. We are grandparents again :) Breakfast, grab bag. Pop Tarts, cookies and water. BB didn't have any. I had Pop Tarts and my own juice. When we left to get the rental car, I noticed a pickup with no markings sitting by their tree trucks with someone in it. After dropping BB off at the car, I got back and parked behind that same pickup. It wasn't the guy who said he would sign last night, but it was the guy who was going to sign today. He'd been sitting there waiting while we got the car. Quick sign, no issues. Now that we have the car we pack up our stuff at the hotel and head ... to get food. McD's for BB. I get a juice. About an hour and a half to our next pickup. We stop a mile or so before to put four gallons of gas in the car and to use the restroom. That last mile and we are here to pickup. This is one of the few locations where our company actually owns property. Having never been here before, we go in the front door. Someone asks if they can help and they direct us to the drivers box outside. It's locked. Back inside we find someone who works with our division. They give us the box code and a few pointers. We find our paperwork and then our RV. We do our quick inspection, load our luggage and BB heads to the airport. I go in and ask a couple of more questions. When I come out there is another couple there picking up two RV's. Last week they picked them up direct from the shipper, after the delivered they flew back and are taking two more from here. I did hear the taxi driver say 'see you next week.' The two they are taking today are going to TX. BB had given me verbal directions to get to the airport. A couple of times I was thinking of taking a U-turn because I had gone miles instead of blocks. But once I got to the US highway I knew were I was and where I was going. I have been to this airport a number of times over the last dozen years. I pick up BB and we are off. The RV's come with a 1/4 tank of fuel and we are to leave them with a 1/4 of fuel. The only other thing of note is that the driver, me, is deducted $35 because someone else drove the RV from the shipper to this lot. That is about the same as I get pad for doing local work for my other company. So it's fair. We drive for an hour and a half before we stop for fuel and food. 1st stop (with the RV) is the TA in Lake Station for Popeye's. I put in 66 gallons of fuel, IF I get 10 mpg, that will get me to the drop with the same fuel as I got. When I started today, I was getting 3 mpg. After I fuel, we park and get Popeye's and eat on a table outside. From here I call the drop. They want to know which RV I am brining so they must have more on order. They are open until 4 PM so we should be able to drop tomorrow. We had debated which way to go thru or around Chicago. The cheaper fuel would have been going around Chicago, but that adds another 50 miles. I have done it a number of times depending on the weather, time of day and road constructions. I had thought we would be OK on all three, but we found some road construction. Maybe it is because I am sitting so high up, but this RV seems wider than a bus. 2nd stop is an oasis near Belvidere. We found a place to park, but when we came out the travel lane behind us was stopped and drivers were out of their trucks with no place to go. Not sure what happened. We could get out and did. 3rd and final stop is the Quality Inn in Mauston. We can't tell from the areal photo's if they have truck parking so we don't make a reservation until I am in their parking lot and have talked to them. If they hadn't had parking we would have gone across the street to the Best Western. They have lots of room, we have stayed there before and they have an in house restaurant. Once we are in, we order from the Oriental place next door. When we go to pick it up, something is out of my routine and I end up leaving my credit card with them. They have to chase us once we are out the door to give it back to us. Breakfast tomorrow is yogurt and a muffin. We know this so BB saves half her food for the AM. Yogurt sounds good to me so I ate all my food tonight. Load board US - 411 IA - 180 MN -0- WI - 22 We spent plenty of time going over the timing of our day tomorrow. We should drop early afternoon and be home for the night. Looking at the load board, we MAY call in first thing tomorrow and do almost the same trip again next week. There are trips heading to CA that we'd love to take but ... And we may change our minds by tomorrow AM. It looks like we will make roughly the same per day doing this three legged trip as we do on the CA trips. But on these shorter legs, we are moving up to five units in the time we move two longer ones. I still like the longer ones but I like a change also. 210304 IN-MN 1 tree truck to Garfield MN (delivered) 2 RV's to Greer SC (tomorrow) ... spending the night at home We've been on the east coast so we decided we could get up before 6 AM today. 5:30. Breakfast for me was yogurt, two of them. BB had the other half of her meal from last night. I should have. I don't need to be eating that much. We have pretty much decided on leaving again Friday for the Carolina's. But we have hit the road at 7 AM and can't call in to dispatch until 8 AM. At first BB thinks we should wait until our 1st stop to call. That will be close to 9 AM. Then she starts looking at cars, rental cars, in the Carolina's. There are not any. And she doesn't want to head that way without a known way out. Finally she finds there are cars, airport to airport. Just not location to location. So if we don't find any cars by Monday, we will have to do some extra backtracking but it will work. So BB calls in about 10 after 8. One of our RV's is gone. We are still doing the same trip, but we will be making $150 less doing it. 1st stop today was Menomonie at the rest area. The fuel tank has already dropped below the 1/4 that I need to deliver it with. Now I am trying to calculate how much more I need to add. It says the average is 6 mpg but it seems to be running most of the time at around 9-10 mpg. In MN I need to cross the scale, most others are getting the by pass. I pull on, then the sign changes to 'Drive slowly.' I think I am clear. Then it changes to 'STOP,' so I hit the breaks kind of hard. I'm stopped. A few seconds later I am cleared to return to the freeway. Next 'stop' is to drop BB off near our house so she can drive chase car for the day. 2nd stop is for fuel at the Pilot in St Cloud. We have guessed I should need 22 gallons. As I am turning on the street to the station, the low fuel light comes on. IF I am getting 10 mpg, I should need 22 gallons. What I decided to do was to fuel an hour before my drop, then there is another station 10 miles from my drop. By then I will know how much I am over / under. Half way to the next fuel stop I am back under the 1/4 tank of fuel that I need to leave in the RV. 3rd stop is at the Pilot in Alexandria. The pump takes my card and all my info, but it doesn't see that I have taken the nozzle so I can't start fueling. I have to go inside and they start it from there. I add another 5 gallons. By now BB has caught up to me so we move all of our stuff to our car and I head to the drop. 3rd stop. The RV dealer in Garfield. Only two people working today and no customers. One of them comes out and drives the RV into the building and then says it will take 'an hour or two' to inspect the unit. They say to wait in the office ... I ask if I can wait in my car. When they said it would be an hour or two, I ask if I can leave and come back. They ask where I am going to go (?) ... 'I just like to drive around, my family was from near here.' They take down my number so they can call me when they are done. 4th stop - We didn't just drive, we went back to Alex and got food at Culvers. Then came back and ate in our car. I am half done eating when they come out side, they are done inspecting. But they are missing one item of paperwork. Opps ... I still had it, I hadn't looked at it to see it was theirs. The person wasn't much for talking, but I asked them 'When I called, you asked WHICH RV I had. Does that mean you have more coming?' "We have 18 there are supposed to be here by the end of March (2 weeks.) So now we only have 17 more coming." Then we talked for a few minutes. He grew up west of Princeton, my family was from east of Princeton. There used to be a custom RV company in Zimmerman MN that made million dollar RV's. This place is the 2nd largest dealer of this brand in the US. They usually have about 100 new and used RV's on their lot. They are down to about a dozen. Most of the 18 RV's coming are already sold, mine isn't. Then the conversation ended abruptly. I took the que and left. One thing we didn't talk about was family. One of Mom's double cousins is buried in his town of 350 people. And he shares the last name of one of Dad's double cousins. One the way out of town we drive past the cemetery where Mom's cousin in buried. Down a dirt, and today, very muddy road. There are also two other cemeteries near town with family buried in them. 5th stop - Rest area near Monticello 6th stop - Zupa's for food. 7th and final stop. HOME ... for about 20 hours before we are back on the road. Load board US - 417 IA - 173 MN - 2 WI - 25 Lots of options. Even some of the long CA runs we like are still there from yesterday. But it doesn't do us any good to look back. Now we are looking at the options of getting out of NC. There are 13 trucks going various places. Earlier today there had been two pickups going to Syracuse. Now there is only one. Indiana is at 34 trips, 3 of them to WI. And Marion WI has a truck that would come right past and deliver near our house. Plus a 2nd one going to ND. I think they are shop type trucks. I'd like to drive one. Right now there are about 20 of them on the load board, some going to CA. Not sure what is going on, but the trips from this location come in batches and then we don't see any again for a month or two or three. Plan is to leave about about noon tomorrow. We didn't come through IA so now we will have two cars sitting at the lot. |
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