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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2 RV's to Reno NV ... spending the night in Albert Lea The weather was nice so we did spend the day with a few family members, very few and out doors. 70+ degrees and sunny. Mid afternoon meal so that was the only meal of the day. From there we were just over an hour from the hotel. One quick stop at the rest area near Northfield. We are spending the night in Albert Lea at the Comfort Inn. One, so we don't need to get up so early to get a full day in. Two, because we only need to record the hours driving to our trip from where we spent the night. Load board - weekend US - 526 IA - 253 MN - 17 WI - 7 Nothing out of Reno, nothing leaving CA. Nothing anywhere west coming back to the midwest. So if there are no buses, it will be a rental car home. Lots of work in the midwest, but I also have non-driveaway work that will keep me busy a few days over the next month. 210405 IA-NV 2 RV's to Reno NV ... spending the night in Grand Island NE We were told last night that if there were 15 guests overnight, that there would be a hot breakfast. There was a hot breakfast. Eggs and sausage or sausage, plus yogurt and juice. One sausage is the typical pork link sausage. The other is more like a mixture of pork and bacon in the form of a patty. This is the only place I remember than has it. It's good. We get out of the hotel on time, but there is roadwork on the road from the freeway to Forest City. We have to wait for the pilot car and it is a 2-3 mile escort and we just missed the tail end of the prior one so we wait a bit. The up side is there was no one else in the office waiting for paperwork when we got there. I counted a dozen drivers plus us picking up RV's today. Plus two semi's getting ready to load. Mine has been sitting there long enough that it is wrapped, to keep the rocks from the sanding trucks from doing so much damage. This one doesn't looked wrapped too well, so I use my tape to re-tape where it is the worst. There are clips on the wrap that are supposed to attach to the RV. None of the ones by the windshield are hooked. I am able to get those hooked. There are also hooks on the bottom of the grill area. Those I can not get hooked, the wrap is six inches too short. It looks like the used the wrap from the wrong size RV and just used some tape to keep it attached. While I am doing my inspection I get a call from the office. Seems one of the hour logs I dropped off last Friday, I forgot to sign. I'm still here so I sign their copy and my copy. Tonight I have BB re-send it. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but I could get fined and it would go on my commercial driving record. Too many offenses and no one will hire me. 1st stop with the RV is the Pilot in Clear Lake for fuel. 2nd stop is at the QT (Quick Trip) for their Burger King. We each get a Whopper Jr and eat outside by our RV's. When we got off the freeway, I noticed the Bononza we used to eat at had a full parking lot. When we left Burger King, I noticed that most of the signage was gone. When I look online tonight I find that they closed Feb 8. So not sure why the parking lot was full. The high today here in Iowa is 84 as it was yesterday. We notice a few places earlier today that had burned since we were in the area on Friday. One area along I-35 was a half mile long and ?? deep. 3rd stop is the rest area near Adair. Now that we are on an East/West road, we are catching enough wind that the cruise control is kicking off. And it won't reset unless we restart the RV's. 4th stop is the QT in Adair for fuel. 5th stop is the Arby's in York. This location still has potato cakes. The one closest to where I live no longer carries them. So I had one just in case it will be my last one. From here I remember to call the bus dispatcher. He just said to call him on Thursday (the day we delivery.) 6th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Grand Island. Good thing we stopped for food earlier. The Arby's that used to be next door is closed. Their in house restaurant is closed. Another building next to the hotel looks like it used to be a fast food building. Now the closest food is at a truckstop two miles away. We saw two buses today. The first one was in Des Moines and said DART. That is what Des Moines calls there buses but it was not the correct logo. And I thought it said Delaware .... Dallas calls their buses DART, which would be way out of route. Delawere does use the name but again the logo is wrong. Maybe a new logo? Later we saw a short bus but didn't get a good look at the logo. I need a video camera I can run for a few minutes at a time. Load board US - 527 IA - 525 MN - 10 WI - 6 22 RV's from IA to CA right now. The load board is staying above 200, but the lot is not full anymore. The remaining RV's in the shippers parking lot will now fit in our lot. But I still think that the shipper can keep up this pace as long as they do not run out of parts ... again. 210406 IA-NV 2 RV's to Reno NV ... spending the night in Rawlins WY Breakfast. Hot scrambled eggs and sausage. Juice was 'fresh' in a pitcher. The former Pilot truck stop in Elm Creek is now a One9 station. This is the 2nd station in the last month that is no longer a Pilot, no Pilot points. When we past that station, I could see the backs of 4 or 5 RV's in their parking lot. 1st stop was the rest area near Cozad. Sometime this morning we first pass one transport RV, then three others pass us. 2nd stop was for fuel in Ogallala. Those three RV's that passed us are now fueling and we have to wait for them. I tried to get into the narrow lane next to the building but didn't fit. So I waited until BB was done fueling. It looked like with one of the other RV's, the lady just sat in her RV and waited until one of the other drivers was done fueling and they fueled her. So she sat blocking the pump while I waited in line. 3rd stop was Sidney for food at the Taco Johns in the Loves. We ate outside. Temps are back down in the 30's or 40's, no more 80's for now. 4th stop is the Port of Entry before Cheyenne for our permits. We did see the three RV's again after Cheyenne. The couple was on the side of the road and we passed the other one. They were doing 55 mph and we were doing about 60. Lots of wind, but no restrictions. Just hold on with both hands. 5th stop is Laramie for fuel at the Sinclair this time. We have been stopping at the Exxon across the street but it is easier to take a left into a place crossing one lane of traffic than taking a left out of a place crossing two lanes of traffic. Same price today for fuel. Fuel here was one cent more than it would have been at Pilot but Pilot is small and I have a long RV. It was worth the thirty cents. It was windy most of yesterday. Today we had a gentle tail wind for the first hour or so. Was able to use the cruise. After that, I think the longest I had cruise was about the first 10 minutes after re-starting the RV. One time it only lasted as long as my finger was on the button, but that was yesterday. BB had cruise the whole last hour, but I lost mine when someone passed me. We did have a lot of travel trailers pass us today. Not all of them were properly placarded. Didn't see any buses heading east. A few stacks of trucks and one single was all I noticed heading east. We did see one bus heading west, it was at the POE when we were there. 6th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Rawlins. It is 4:30 our time. This would have been a good day to drive more so we aren't up so early Thursday. But the weather had looked bad so we made a reservation from Laramie. Should have thought quicker when we got here. I parked near the dumpster ... and then walked the area between me and the dumpster and picked up a couple of screws that could have gotten into my tire. Should have parked somewhere else, BB did. Once checked in, we call over to Penny's Diner next to the Baymont Inn to order food. There is a Chinese place in the area, but it didn't have what BB wanted. Everything else is 'fast food.' I ended up with a philly and BB had a salad. Load board US - 550 IA - 271 MN - 9 WI - 5 My mpg started out at the lot at .7 and had gotten up to 8.3 yesterday before dropping back to 8.1. Today with the tail wind it got up to 9 before the wind switched to a headwind later in the morning. Now it has dropped back to 8.5 mpg. Most times I am not watching the range too close but when I had filled yesterday in near Omaha my range was 20 miles short of the border. Then I was even with the border, then with the headwind last night I was 20 short of the border again. This AM I was up to 30 miles past the border again before the wind changed. Plan is to get going early tomorrow. Or normal time in the central time zone. That at least will give us the option of running long tomorrow without running in the dark. It is already 540 miles to Elko and will be 640 to Winnemucca. That will be 10+ of driving and we can only do 11 for DOT. 210407 IA-NV 2 RV's to Reno NV ... spending the night in Rawlins WY Breakfast ... big burrito. I picked bacon but it was so spicy that I never tasted it, didn't find any pieces big enough to chew on either. Also had yogurt and canned juice. I was able to get a partial look at the big dig today but then a truck was in the way. The digger is back in amongst the piles so there is a short window to see it. 1st stop was the Loves in Green River. We used to stop in Rock Springs but the Flying J is too small/too busy and the Shell isn't the nicest. Not bad, just not new. Today we saw an oversized load. It was sitting at the entrance from a truck parking area. It was taking up the entrance ramp, the shoulder and the right lane. They looked like they were sitting there thinking ... we got this far, now what. They were not too far from single lane, two way traffic, through road construction and no major side roads that I noticed in that area. Had a semi cut me off today and it was just one of those days. I let him know. The semi had a 53' trailer and a 32' trailer. He had his signal on when he came up beside me so I was watching him closely. Then when the pup was about at my drivers door he came over on me. I hit the breaks, checked my mirror ... I had an opening ... and I got over in the left lane, passed him and tooted my horn at him. After that he stayed way back for a few miles. Then sometime in the next hour, he passes us going down hill. This time he gave me 60 feet before he pulled in front of me. Same to the next car. Then we passed him going up the next hill and we never saw him again. Because of how he responded, I don't think he remembered he was pulling two trailers. But even if he hadn't had the 2nd trailer, he still was not far enough ahead of me the first time. 2nd stop is Evanston at the Flying J for Subway. I used rewards points. I had about $50 of points that I wanted to move to a new card but Flying J hasn't followed through so I will just spend them ASAP and start over. From here we also call for are NV permits. After we cross the UT scale, we catch up to two school buses in transit that had passed us before. This time it looked like the 1st driver was really struggling. 55 mph, 65 mph. Before they were going 70 mph. I tried to pass but then they would speed up. Luckily for me they pulled off at a rest area a few miles down the road. 3rd stop is Lake Point for more and final ? fuel at the Flying J. When I leave Flying J I am still short of range for the NV/CA border by 20 miles. But the next 100 miles are close to or on the salt flats and I am soon up to a range of 40 miles past the border. So I shouldn't have to add any more fuel. 4th stop is at the rest area near Wendover. From here BB tries to make a reservation but they error out so we will just wait until we get to the hotel. We had gotten going earlier this AM on the chance we wanted to push on to Winnemucca but not today. 5th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Eko. BB makes a reservation from the parking lot. We walk in and they have two rooms for us. Then BB looks online and sees a third reservation. I check and the only one that was confirmed to us was the one from the parking lot. Luckily the person at the desk said they would cancel the other two, once they knew that a 3d party was not involved. We checked later and they had been canceled. Something else to watch for. As soon as we are checked in we walk to the Pizza Barn next door and order. It will be 20 minutes so we walk the strip mall to get a walk in. We have eaten here before. Good food. I get a mini pizza and BB gets a ??? Something like a pizza wrap? Enough food for two. Ring ... my phone rings. It is the bus dispatcher. Calling ME. And a day early. After we are done talking he calls again to confirm something we missed. He needs drivers. He even asked if BB could drive :) Not sure what or from where, but I am likely coming right back to my home state. It sounds like the company is picking up a 2nd bus shipper in CA and he needs help. Great news. As BB and I walked the parking lot earlier we were trying to decide where to stash the RV depending on if we were heading home or heading to CA. That question has been answered. First time I have known the day before. Load board US - 576 IA - 296 MN - 7 WI - 10 Just saw on FB that one of the drivers I talk to got a call from Hertz today that they had to cancel his car as they didn't have enough cars. He tried the person that a lot of drivers swear by that can always help them out. No cars. I have posted that before. If there are no cars, no one can get you a car. So for now he is stuck in Orlando. With this many trips on the load board I don't even look too close at them. There is stuff going everywhere, from just about everywhere (Except from CA, if you can't drive a bus) Two hour time difference here. We will leave out before 7 AM local, get to the drop around noon, then four hours to the Livermore area. 210408 IA-NV 2 RV's to Reno NV (delivered) ... spending the night in Vacaville CA Tomorrow 1 Bus to Farmington MN We were both up before the 5 AM alarm. BB had leftovers and I went down for breakfast before they were supposed to open. No yogurt but I did get OJ and a burrito. We leave the hotel at 8 AM, 6 AM local. Sun is just coming up. 1st stop is the new Loves in Winnemucca for a rest break. 2nd stop is in Fernley for fuel at the Flying J for me. BB still has plenty of fuel, I add another $10. My low fuel light came on before we stopped. My mileage has been going up and my range is going down. My low fuel light comes on again before we exit the freeway, we still have another six miles to go. We have been this way once before and today I did not look at a map so I am following my nose. And it got me there. This route we go past a school that has a 15 mph zone when flashing. And surprisingly everyone does. Not surprising today as there were two motorcycle cops at the crossing. 3rd stop. We 'final fuel' at a Chevron before heading to the drop. 4th stop. Today we are directed to a new place to park. I wasn't sure after we parked so I went and asked. It was the right place. As soon as we have the RV's emptied, BB walks to the car rental place a mile away. We wanted to get the RV's inspected ASAP so we could head to CA. Today, they had the RV's inspected by the time BB got to the rental place. So I had to wait for the time it took to do the paperwork and drive back. Then BB noticed she had the wrong copies. This shipper is very picky, they want the original. The drop had taken the original so I had to hunt it down. Found it, but it all took time. 5th stop was the In-n-Out Burger. Place was packed when we got there, close to empty by the time we got our food. Dispatch had said they would call in the AM, they didn't. But did call wondering where I was later. The place I was to pick up at closes at 4:15 and I wouldn't get there until after 5:30. So they will call back later. 6th stop is the rest area near Gold Run for a restroom break. Dispatch does call back an hour later, I can pick up tomorrow after 10:30 AM near the SFO airport. And I am going to Farmington MN. ... so, we do not need to get any further than we are. But we also don't want to head back to one of our main stops. No back tracking. 7th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Vacaville for the night. Food is from the Beach Hut. We have eaten at one elsewhere and it was good, this one is too. It is about a mile from the hotel so we drive it. BB has her walk in for the day and I want my hot food hot. As I am writing this, we don't know the shipper or the drop names. But the shipper is likely Temsa, a Turkish bus company. Their parking lot is against one of the Tesla plants. The timing looks like we will deliver on Tuesday in MN. Load board US - 587 IA - 287 MN - 17 WI - 15 Finally at 8:30 local (10:30 my time) I get a call that the fax has been sent to my hotel. When I go down to get it, I have to tell them what it is and show them an ID that I am the one to get it. I finally pointed out on the BL where it has my full name, listed the same as on my drivers license before they finally handed it to me. Good thing my name was on it. My name is not on the ones I get from my local company. And yes, we are picking up where we thought and delivering where we thought. Doing the math, I have enough hours to run nine hours a day through Monday. If I drive over nine hours any day it just comes out of how long I can work Monday. Nine hours is usually how long it takes us to get 500 miles a day. I assume this trip will be the same. ... the trip continues HERE |
