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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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210724 IA-IN 1 RV heading to Burns Harbor IN 1 trash truck to Minnesota City MN (2nd leg) ... spending the night at home BB set her alarm so she would remember to call at 8 AM when dispatch opened. She gets to call when we are not both picking up loads :) She called ... then her phone went dark so she could not select the extension number. But by the time I had found my phone and dialed, her phone had come back. But it was too late. The trip she wanted was gone. It was the only one that taken at 8 AM. So we are not going to Lincoln NE. Plan B. I check to make sure things are covered on the home front and then BB calls back and gets a trip to Burns Harbor IN. We had talked about this one but opted not to stay out as long. When we still had a choice. Once BB gets her trip, then I call on mine. Wow. I woke someone up. I thought all dispatchers worked Saturday AM. At some point they asked me what time it was, I said 8 AM. It was, here. But they are on Eastern time so it was 9 AM there. Then after the dispatcher replied a few things that didn't make sense to me, they asked if they could call me back. I wasn't sure if I had the load, if I would get the load or if I ever wanted a load from that dispatcher. Hopefully I know by Monday. A little over an hour later the dispatcher called back. And apologize, they had had to do a late night road trip and didn't get home until 2 AM. Yes, normally they do answer the phone day or night, it's just that I had woken them up. ... and they thought that I wanted to pickup a 'Springfield' truck today. Those trucks need to be staged by the shipper so I would have needed to call Friday. If that is what I wanted now, it would go on Monday's list and be available Tuesday. But none of that involved me, which is why I had no idea what they were talking about on the 1st phone call. Load board US - 109 IA - 12 MN - 5 WI - 8 Plan is to head out Sunday AM. Pick up in Forest City and get close to Chicago. We would have to leave out tonight to get past Chicago on Sunday. We should deliver BB's RV before noon Monday and then it is less than 100 miles to my pick up. I have been there before, years ago. We used to do a lot of their trucks going to the northeast for my local company, but the only one I ever did was to GA. First I was just supposed to move that one off the shippers lot of another driver. Or was that just a ploy to get me on the truck? My trip is about seven hours, so if I pick up by noon we should be pretty close to the drop by Monday night. Then from the drop it is another 100 miles home. Then about our bed time we need to pick up our grand daughter at the airport. After that we do not have anything planned for a few weeks. But we still plan on staying very local. 210725 IA-IN 1 RV heading to Burns Harbor IN 1 trash truck to Minnesota City MN (2nd leg) ... spending the night at IL-Ottawa IL The alarm rang ... and five minutes later it rang again. We didn't get up early, we went for a walk, we ate breakfast. And then we left home. 1st stop was Northwood IA for the rest area. 2nd stop was the shipper in Forest City. On the final walk around BB noticed something on her RV. We call the weekend phone number and send them a picture. Then I take a closer 'feel' of it. It is out of reach from standing on the ground, but if I open the back door I can reach around to the side and feel it. After some time and gently feeling it, I realize that is is likely tape or some covering that did not get removed, it is not damage. We send another picture and get the OK to go. Somewhere in there I forgot to tell BB that once we sent another picture, we were OK to go. She was still waiting for a call back. She did finally get one after we were driving. I had made the phone calls even though it was her RV. 3rd stop was the Pilot in Clear Lake for fuel and food. We both filled as it is the cheapest fuel we will find. Long like at Subway but we waited. When we were about half way to the counter one of the staff walked somewhere with a sheet of paper and then came back. As we were leaving, there were people reading that sign on the back of a chair. "Subway is not serving anymore customers at this time." By the looks of the sign, they have used it before. Not sure what was going on, they had tree people behind the counter. We did see on other signs that they are not open on Monday or Tuesday and limited hours the rest of the week. They also had signs saying what they were out of. And one of the reasons they may be out of things is the crew was putting twice as much of some items on as other locations do. We ate in the car. As we are sitting there we hear a crash. One of the cars closest to us has tried to drive over a curb they didn't see. After backing off of it they park a little ways away and look under their car to see how much damage they did. 4th stop is the Flying J in Evansdale/Waterloo for the restroom. I returned a phone call from another driver from earlier today. Short call, it doesn't take BB long to get back. 5th stop is the Pilot in Walcott. Plan had been to stop at the I-80 truckstop across the street as it has lots of eating options. But BB will save $.09 by fueling at Pilot. Actually she decided she wanted Arby's. Again, way to much food. This time I had the chicken salad sandwich. Not sure how much chicken is supposed to be on it but this seemed to be more than usual. BB is leading today, I am following in the car. She's good to go another two hours so she heads out while I am still eating. This sandwich was too messy to try and eat while I drive. I never do catch up to her while she is moving. 6th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Ottawa. We usually stay at the Comfort Inn across the freeway but tonight we are using points and the Comfort wants 20,000 points and the Quality wants 8,000. At that rate we could stay five nights at the Q vs two nights at the C. Parking lot is empty, Three cars maybe? Before us. We haven't seen anything wrong with the place yet. Tomorrow I need to log leaving the hotel. We should have about two hours to BB's drop, then I go off duty. Then less than two hours on duty getting to my pick up. So with the time change I am hoping to pick up by 2 PM. They close at 4 PM so we have a little wiggle room. Then we head back through Chicago during rush hour. Should be a fun day. At that time of day we will be lucky to get back to WI by 6 PM. That would still get us to my drop by noon on Tuesday. 210726 IN-MN 1 RV heading to Burns Harbor IN (delivered) 1 trash truck to Minnesota City MN ... spending the night at De Forest WI Breakfast was fridge items, nothing hot. This AM there were a dozen or so cars so not quite as slow as it looked last night. BB had been up before the alarm went off so we were ready to go before 7:30. 1st stop - Pilot in Burns Harbor. Google said it should take 90 min, I said 120. It took 105 min today so not bad for just about 90 miles heading through the south burbs of Chicago in the AM rush hour. Next driveway down the street on the right and we are at BB's drop. 2nd stop - RV dealer in Burns Harbor. This time we were in and out in less than a half hour. So we left early, got here quicker and less time at the drop. We are now two hours ahead of schedule. While they inspect, I make some calls and get put on hold. Nothing accomplished. Left a couple of messages including one at my next pick up. 90 miles of non-freeway across Indiana. 3rd stop is McD's in Winamac. Before we go in, I call the shipper again. Just come to the shipping office ... (but they hadn't called back to tell me that. We take a half hour to eat in the car. All the staff at this location and a couple of customers were wearing masks ... 4th stop was my pickup in Winamac. I'd been here 10 years ago but nothing looks even close to what I remember. Someone started helping me right away but the whole thing took about 45 minutes to do paperwork and the inspection. I supposed that isn't too bad for a place and truck I haven't dealt with before. There are two easy ways to get to the freeway, but Google says there is a shorter way and BB will lead. We didn't see any 'no trucks' signs but I don't think any trucks will use this route ... twice. Roads are straight and mostly flat but they are narrow with no center line so we didn't drive 55 mph for very much of the trip. Not likely to take that route again if we remember. When we get to the freeway there is a Loves and a TA. But we had said we would each be stopping at Pilot/Flying J Just as I am pulling off I see a pickup with a boat and trailer on the on coming traffic. The trailer break is smoking. Not sure if they get hot enough to start fires or not. 5th stop is in Hebron at Pilot/Flying J. First I turn into the Flying J, but I end up at the auto pumps, so I pull back out on the street and see that the fuel islands at Pilot are empty so I cross the street. BB stops at the Flying J. We hadn't planned on seeing each other again until WI. I wasn't sure if I would need fuel, I had a half a tank at pickup, but when I started my mpg was .4. It went up fast but had only gotten to 6 mpg my the time I got to the Pilot. If it had made it to 8 mpg I wouldn't have stopped. There isn't a good place to stop once we are into Chicago on the toll road so I needed enough fuel to get past. I am barely back on the freeway when I move over a lane because there is a car on the shoulder. As I am just past it, I realize it is the same kind of car as ours. It could be ours. So I stop on the shoulder and check emails and texts. Nothing from BB so I pull back on the road. Then I get a phone call from BB so I pull back off the road. Now she had seen me on the side of the road and thought something was wrong so she has pulled off. Both of us are fine so we can keep going. As long as I am stopped I look at the route. It has been a while since I went through Chicago. 80-294-290-90. BB just follows Google talking to her and it takes her a different route as it is three minutes shorter. Right now. Just a usual day for traffic going around Chicago. Truck speed limit is 60 mph, I forgot about that. Cars are 70 mph. BB stops at the Belvidere Oasis so she is behind me when we got to the IL-WI state line. 6th stop is at the welcome center near Beloit. BB pulls in behind me. It is 4 PM, I had guessed 6 PM so we are staying two hours ahead of schedule. She is tired and hungry. So we decide to stop in an hour for the night. We pick DeForrest as it is the cheapest, rewards point wise, in the area. And they have truck parking and food close. We have never stopped there before now. At the rest area I was going to call about a trip from MN to ND but it was gone. It had been there a couple of days and would have been 'interesting' to try to work out with someone needing to be in town tomorrow night to pick up a person at the airport. Now that is out of the equation. At this point I tell BB that I should only need another 10 gallons based on the top half of the fuel tank. Wrong. By the time we are still 20 miles from the hotel the low fuel light is on. I am going to need another 20 gallons and I am going to add 2 gallons at a convenience store next door just to get to a truck stop. The gauge dropped fast. The hotel has the back parking lot roped off, from one of three entrances. Others are parked back there so I do also. Lots of room. 7th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in De Forrest. We drive across the freeway to a Culvers and go through the drive through. Load board US - 100 IA - 14 MN - 2 WI - 7 Now we have no work lined up for Wednesday. I may call tomorrow AM to my local company. Tomorrow. I have about 2-1/2 hours to the drop. I will stop twice for fuel in the first 10 miles and then do the rest non-stop. There is a Kwik Trip a block from the drop so I will add fuel is the low fuel light is on or about to come on. 210727 IN-MN 1 trash truck to Minnesota City MN (delivered) ... spending the night at home Breakfast - Someone standing behind the tables dishes up eggs and sausage and gets our items out of the fridge. But we are allowed to get our own liquids. I have decided to get fuel before I leave town. The fuel gauge is not laying on the while line but I have seven miles to go. So I drive across the street to the Exxon and put in two gallons. 2nd stop is at Loves in Dekorra for fuel. My plan last night was that I needed 20 gallons more fuel to get to the drop. I had put two gallons already this AM, but I do the 'quick math' in my head and decide that I need 20 gallons, plus another five gallons so I don't have bring the truck into town on empty. So I put in 25 gallons, plus a half because I missed the even 25. That brings the gauge up to 5/8ths. Opps, I should never do 'quick math' in my head when I am at the fuel pump. I should have re-run the miles and done the mileage. Grrrrr. BB does another stop at Le Cresent at the MN welcome center. I drive straight through. Hit some rain, saw some bright lightning for a while. But overall an uneventful trip. :( :( I get to the drop with over a quarter of tank of fuel. I've wasted the 'fuel on board.' I will be leaving most of it with the delivery. My original math was correct. About $20 fuel left in the truck that I didn't need to. 3rd stop was the drop. I went to the service desk, they were the ones that came out and looked at it. Walked around it once and signed off. Less than 15 minutes. While BB sent in my paperwork, I called my local dispatcher for work. I had also called from Loves this AM and left a message. Nothing yet. 4th stop is in Lake City at the Burger King. Doors are locked, inside dining and counter is closed. Sign on the drive thru says the are (also) closed for breakfast. Short staffed. Today I had a chicken sandwich for $1. I didn't realize they still had any $ items. Just north of town is a park, we stop to use the restroom as we couldn't at BK. My phone rings, this call I pull to the side of the road for. It is the dispatcher for the CA buses. He is looking for drivers, he has 80 buses coming out this week. They must have got parts in they usually do about half that many. And we won't be back out there for another few months. A little later we hear a 'crack' but we don't see a rock chip. But we do see little white things bouncing on the highway. Light hail. 5th and final stop was back at home ... Load board US - 120 IA - 17 MN - 8 WI - 6 |
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