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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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210910 MN One of the long haul dispatchers called again today to see if I could help them out. I can't. They didn't mention that they had a 100 mile run in MN that was on the load board for a few minutes. Now IA has another trip to Huntley and now two trips to Gardner KS. Load board US - 223 IA - 131/129 MN - 17 WI - 6 210914 IA-IL 1 RV to Huntley IL ... spending the night at Rockford IL I didn't decide until late last night which run we were going to take. There had been two RV's going to Gardner/KC but we still do not trust the rental car situation. So we would only do one of those, and if we are only going to do one. The Gardner and the Huntley are almost the same paid miles but it is 140 miles shorter to get back from Huntley ... so 2-1/2 less hours for the same pay. There also was a Dodge Center to Rockford but that would have paid about $150 less. It would have taken less hours both ways, but not enough less to not have to stay in Rockford overnight. I call in at 8 AM, dispatch calls me someone else's name (I guess it has been a while since I drove.) No one else had taken the run so it is mine. We should be there in 2-3 hours. We were a little closer to ready to leave today than last week so we got going a few minutes earlier. I did take time to go out and pick up boxes that got left out in the rain last night. It was dumping too hard for too long by the time I remembered them last night. Checked the rain gauge too, two inches overnight. 1st stop is the IA Welcome Center in Northwood, we can't make it that last half hour without a restroom break. 2nd stop was the shipper. Picked up my paperwork and then grabbed some breakfast. It is driver appreciation week so free food every day. After I eat my ham and eggs I go inspect my RV. Boss comes past and asks if we are staying for the firing up of the racing bike at noon today. Hadn't planned on it, it is going to slow us down if we do. But we do hear them firing it up and adjusting it a few feet from us while we are inspecting. When we are done inspecting we go back in for lunch :) They were just tearing down breakfast when we were in the first time. Goulash for lunch. And another cookie and juice. This time we each also grabbed a t-shirt, gloves and a cap. They also had a nice mesh vest with the company logo but it was blue. I would have grabbed another one if it had been fluorescent. I don't have any company logo items except caps. Lots of caps. While we were eating the boss came past the car and wanted us to let him know if he was showing up 'live' on FB when the fired up the motorcycle. So BB logged in and watched, he was live, but he never looked our direct to see that we were giving him the thumbs up. Loud, very loud. 200+ mph. It is owned by one of the drivers. He used to drive it himself but now that he is older, he has a driver for it. https://www.facebook.com/kobernusztopfuelharley/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luHiVJ4Wufk Shortly before the noon 'fire up,' there wasn't anyone else there (so almost felt guilty leaving with all the hype they had given these people) But by noon there were a couple of dozen people there to watch and the boss put it live on FB. Eating and watching delayed us an hour. 3rd stop was for fuel at the Pilot in Clear Lake. BB had put in too much fuel last week so I put in less ... and I had less at pickup. ... Opps. When I pull out I see that I have an range of 100 miles past my drop. Money wasted. But about halfway to our next stop I re-did the mileage and found I was going to actually be coming in on 'E' if I didn't pick up some range. 4th stop - Independence IA at Walmart. I had gotten a personal car that I needed to return so I did that as soon as we stopped. Then quickly used the rest room. While I was talking on the phone I kind of laughed and thought it was good to explain why I was laughing. Someone was taking their travel trailer through the drive through at McDonalds and they had to swing wind so they did not hit the overhead 'Clearance XX feet' sign. I wasn't sitting where I could see what happened when they actually got to the XX clearance they were warned about. 5th stop - Stockton McDonalds. McDouble for each ... no fries. So not everything is exactly the same as last week. While we were waiting for the motorcycle to fire up, I had called a new dispatch location on two trips in the area. They didn't know what the trips were paying ... and they would call me back. That was five hours ago and they didn't call back. So as of now we don't have a plan for when we drop tomorrow. If they still don't know after five hours how much they pay, do I trust what they do tell me? 6th and final stop is the Sleep Inn in Rockford again. We check in and then take our walk. We've been using rewards points all summer and at this rate we still have enough points to stay another 45 nights for free. Not quite that many nights if we stay in Duluth on the water front. Load board US - 205 IA - 107/103 MN - 10 WI - 8 210915 IA-IL 1 RV to Huntley IL (delivered) 1 pickup to Shakopee (Thursday) ... spending the night at Duluth MN Up before the alarm, by a few minutes. Breakfast at 7:30. Yogurt looked better than eggs and sausage this AM. Checked out at 8 AM and then called the 'new' dispatcher to ask the same question I asked yesterday. And I got the same answer, he would need to find out. While I was on the phone, he found out the ones I wanted were gone, from WI to MN. But he did tell me there were more than what was showing online so I told him I would call him back later. 1st stop was in Huntley for fuel. I came in on fumes, even a little less than I would like. As soon as I start the pump, I look at my phone to see what that dispatcher had emailed me ... Opps !!! Glancing down was enough so that I put in more fuel than I needed, the extra comes out of my pocket. So I could have just as well put in more fuel originally and not run it down to fumes. :( But I still spent less on fuel than BB did on this same exact trip two weeks ago. 2nd stop is a couple of blocks away. The drop. I bring my paperwork in to the office and go back out to take my stuff out of the RV. Someone comes by and asks where the paperwork is ... they leave and never come back. After a while I go into the office to see what is going on and that was it. They had 'inspected' it when they were out. My paper work is signed and I am ready to go. 3rd stop is the Oasis in Belvidere. BB uses the restroom and I call local dispatch. After thanking me for 18 years of service, they ask when I can work. I tell them where I am ... they had a semi in MLW yesterday. 'Opps' I say, but I'm glad I missed it. 4th stop is a Kwik Trip in Wisconsin Dells for fuel. Fuel is $.15 more than last week, more in line with the other stations around. While there I noticed the car on the other side of the pump was just using the spot for a parking spot. A pull through spot so they don't need to back out of the real parking spots. And while stopped, I call 'new' dispatcher and ask for a Hill City trip. There was also a Park Rapids and a few Theif River Falls trips. By now I have talked to this dispatcher to understand what is going on. He seems to be a hybrid. At some locations, everything goes on the load board. At others, nothing goes on the load board. Here some does, some doesn't. And some is driveaway and other trips get hauled. 5th stop was in Mauston for a sandwich at the Log Cabin. We looked at all of the salads and soups and asked about them, but we ended up getting just the sandwiches. ... and another opps. I had eaten there before so I really didn't look at the menu ... and forgot to have them leave off the spicy sauce. I was able to eat it but it really ruins a good sandwich. I had decided I would give him a couple of hours before calling him back. And we had decided to head to Duluth even if the trip fell through :) About 15 minutes before I was going to call him, he called me. But it would still be most of another hour before I get the BL. 6th stop is Bloomer at a Kwik Trip for the restroom And a few miles later there was a rest area. I couldn't remember if the rest area's were just south of Rice Lake or just south of Wausau and BB wasn't willing to wait. 7th stop was in Minong. In front of the 'temporarily closed' restaurant that the name had been removed from. I had finally gotten the BL and could call the pick up location. He didn't answer but called back before I was off the lot. 8th and final stop was the Comfort Inn in Duluth. Lake front. A little more pricy than last night, but the one in town was the same price. $250 was the cash price but we were using rewards points. It was still early so we went for a walk on the board walk and out to the light house. Then we called to order food from Grandma's across the street. Sorry, no take out and the deck is closed. Inside seating only. :( That is one of the big pluses for staying here. By now we wanted Grandma's food so we called another location and they were doing takeout. So we ordered from them ... but they didn't have what BB wanted so she had to switch her order. They did have what I wanted. The food was to be ready by the time we could get there. 15 minutes to go 5 miles through Duluth. I don't think I have every been up by the Miller Hill Mall before. I don't know what it used to have but now the only anchor is Penny's. And between Penny's and Grandma's is the last remaining Bridgemans Ice Cream shop. But we didn't stop today. Maybe next summer on our trip through. Lots of good views of the lake and the city from up on the hill. After I was done eating I had to get my BL's (Bills of Lading) printed out. I had forgotten my jump drive so I had to log on to the hotel computer. When I did, I clicked for the computer NOT to remember me. But after I printed my stuff and logged out, I started the first letter of my account name and it filled in the rest ... Not sure how long it will hold on it it as I tried other letters and no names came up. It is an old account that I now mainly use for printing at hotels. I had started a new account for that but the domain dropped my account for lack of use. This account I have had for 10 years and rarely use it so I don't think it is going anywhere. Load board US - 202 IA - 71/67 MN - 15 WI - 10 We will have about 1-1/2 hours to get to the pickup location and then another 200 miles to the drop. Pickup and drop are both within a mile of Hwy 169. Easy trip. There are another six of these trips going to Shakopee on the load board and my guess is that is about half of the trips from MN to Shakopee. There is also a place in IA that he deals with that might work for us. We'll see how this one goes, we might do these instead of the RV trips that are a little longer. 210916 MN-MN 1 pickup to Shakopee (delivered) ... spending the night at home No alarm to get up ... later BB is in the shower and the alarm starts going off. She sets the alarm on her phone so I try to shut it off, I hit all the buttons but nothing worked so as I was throwing it under the pillow ... I realized it wasn't her phone. The alarm clock in the room was going off from the prior guest. We go down for breakfast, I grab some eggs and sausage. I eat a little of it and then decide to finish off my left overs from last night. Too chilly last night to eat on the deck and this AM the sun isn't shining to warm things up until later in the AM. So other than a few looks out the window, we didn't spend much time looking and enjoying our view. We pull out at 8 AM. Easy trip until the last mile. I had thought the shipper was north of town, BB said south of town. She was right. 1st stop - Shipper in Hill City. I call my contact. He gives me directions of which building to go to for someone to sign me out. The do sign, but just point in a couple of different directions of rows of trucks. They have no idea which one I am taking and don't care. I just have to find the right VIN. I also have a truck number but a lot of the trucks are not marked. The 1st two things we are looking for is a Ford 550 and with a flat bed. This place has lots of brands and sizes so out of the rows of trucks there are only a couple that are Ford 550's. That made the search much easier. BUT my truck was blocked in by other trucks so I had to move two to get out. They had left about three feet between the front and sides of the trucks so not much wiggle room, but enough. One of the trucks I moved was almost on 'E' and had a low tire and check engine light on. MINE was almost full and no warning lights, just dirty. Because this was my first time here, first time with this dispatcher and having to move trucks the inspection took 45 minutes. But overall an easy pickup. 2nd stop was the rest area just north of Milaca. We had planned on stopping in Milaca but we hadn't know of the rest area. But BB didn't stop, she still stopped in Milaca at the Kwik Trip. She was down to a range of 15 miles when she stopped. I made a couple of quick calls at the rest area and used the restroom. And when I went past Milaca, BB pulled in behind me :) Just south of Milaca we drove past some 'Auction today' signs. The same person that did our family auction a few years ago. But we don't have a lot of time to spare so we didn't plan on stopping. Being in MN a lot of the roads and sights are familiar. Hopefully we can do more of these. Clear sailing. 3rd stop is the drop in Shakopee at an auction house. Easy drop. They scan the VIN and ask the mileage and what the shippers account number is. No inspection, they just point the general direction and tell me to park in an open spot. As soon as I get to the car, we scan the info and send it to dispatch and payroll. Within a half hour I am paid. And the pay is good. We will likely do this gain ... and I am doing the math on the how. Within a few miles of the drop I was watching a truck pull up to the road from my right. He stopped, and then pulled into traffic. At first he turned onto the shoulder but within a truck length he pulled into traffic. That wasn't the problem, at the same time a truck from my left pulled across into traffic, at first I thought there was an acceleration lane as there was no where else to go. Nope, both trucks pulled into the travel lanes and the traffic all had to hit their breaks and some had to swerve to avoid them. BB tried to get a picture of the truck from the left but it didn't turn out. 4th stop - Burnsville at the Smash Burger. Good food but too much 5th stop - Local dispatch - it is driver appreciation week and they wanted to see us all this week so I stopped in. They had put one sheet on the wall for each driver. Dave O = 22 years Jim B = 18 years Val B = 16 years Gary O = 14 years Dick Q = 14 years Ernie W = 13 years Kirby N = 13 years That is as far as I looked and as far as I know the drivers. Dave and Ernie are 80+, Val is 70+, the others and I are now in our 60's. Old timers in more ways than one. When I talked to the dispatcher, they reminded me that next week is the end of the month for the buses. Soooo I guess I may be working 'local' instead of doing local for the long haul carrier. 6th and final stop was home. We wanted to get home before our grand daughter got there, she is using our car for the weekend. Load board US - 199 IA - 65/59 MN - 12 WI - 9 Off the next four days so we won't be looking for serious work until later on Monday.  |
