 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
210920 MN Over the weekend, our plans changed so that we would be available to work on Monday. Too late to call for work. I had thought about emailing one of the dispatchers to see if they were working on the weekend but decided against it. 1st on Sunday all of the Dodge Center orders were removed, then by 8 AM Monday the auction house orders were removed. So I decided to call local dispatch and see what they had. Nothing. So I started working around the house. Sometime later in the morning some auction house orders ended up on the load board. Too late for us to do for today. Then Dodge Center orders were added to the load board. Even one IA to IL trip was on the load board for a short while. At the end of the day today there were still four trips from MN shippers that were about 300 miles or less. Nice one day trips, we will see how many are still there tomorrow afternoon when I feel safe grabbing one. Load board US - 124 IA - 32 MN - 15 WI - 5 There is even one in IN coming back to MN ... but not for us, this time. 210921 MN-MN 1 pickup to Shakopee (Wednesday) ... spending the night at home I could have called at 7 AM for the load I was looking at but didn't. I waited until almost 8:30. Dispatch said they had just checked and there were still three trips/trucks going that way. A few minutes later dispatch calls back and says they are all gone. At that point I wasn't ready to commit to anything else but I did get on that dispatchers email list. At 11 AM the next update was emailed and different trucks but the same trip were on the list. Finally at noon BB calls to tell me about the list (I was busy and hadn't seen it.) So I call dispatch back again and tell them I am interested. Three hours later dispatch calls back and says I have the trip. Dealing with this dispatch takes a while ... I had thought about getting up near the pickup yet tonight, but after talking it over with BB, there is no real point. It should be less than a 10 hour day and we would just be burning rewards points if we stay in a hotel. Plan for tomorrow will be to head out by 8 AM or before. Load board US - 137 IA - 39 MN - 15 WI - 7 Not sure if we will try another one on Thursday or not. Or if there will be another one there. No calls from local dispatch, they know I am in town so if they need someone they will call. 210922 MN-MN 1 pickup to Shakopee (delivered) ... spending the night at home No alarm needed, we were both up about 6 AM. Ready to roll without eating breakfast at 7 AM. Last night when we looked online there were three routes suggested, 169, 65 and 35. I choice I-35 as that would get us out of the cities the fastest. And at some point that route got us on all three highway. When we looked last night all three routes were listed as three hours and one minute. I think there was about five miles difference between the shortest and the longest. 1st stop was Cambridge for fuel and restroom. Often fuel in Cambridge is the cheapest I can find but today it had been cheaper in Oakdale and would be cheaper along northern 169. 2nd stop was Mora for breakfast at Hardee's. We each got a sandwich to go. As long as we were stopped I replied to our local company who is questioning my logs. They have stricter rules than the legal rules and we were both missing part of the picture when we started emailing back and forth. They hadn't seen that the day in question was not driven for them so their rules did not apply. I didn't realize that I needed to write in text stating I was on break, simply showing I was off duty was not enough. I still do not know if that is the law or the company requirement. But I do know that for a similar situation it was the law. And in this case it was just sloppy entering on my part. 3rd stop was the pickup near Hill City. We were there last week so I knew the general rules. I knew where to look for people and the truck. But there was no truck. I asked around, then called the number on my paperwork. We talked a few times before they called back and said that truck was put back into service. I should have called my dispatcher right away to make sure he didn't give away the other truck sitting here but I waited until the customer said my truck wasn't there. When I did call dispatch I was able to get the other truck but it took a few more phone calls and another hour before I got that OK. I also got the OK to change numbers on my BL so I didn't have to go somewhere and print a BL and then come back. Today coming and going from the customer I got a much better look at the road. It appears to be a one lane road that was re-enforced with mats so the trucks wouldn't be digging ruts. Not sure how they keep track of the trucks so they are not meeting on the road. I thought they were using the 'one-way' system but not based on what I saw today. BB took a rest break near Milaca at the rest area where I did last trip. Just south of Milaca is a town called Pease. 242 people now. I working on a distant branch of the family tree right now that includes a few dozen people buried in the one cemetery in that town. Somewhere down the road I remembered that BB had put my plate on for me as I had forgotten my tools ... and she had not left me any tools to take the plate back off ... 4th stop was the drop in Shakopee. When I told them I needed signatures they kept my paperwork until I came back. I parked my truck next to two others from the same company. I was able to get my plate off with a quarter I found in the dash of the truck :) Before I started walking toward the gate, BB calls. She is waiting for the train to pass, she is about two blocks away so I see the same train, going slowly. BB gets the paperwork sent in before we leave the lot, a few miles down the road I am paid already. A few dollars less than last time but not a big deal. I should start keeping track of mpg on these trucks so I know if I ever had to add fuel. I didn't have to add any on this truck either. Got paid for it, didn't have to add any. That makes things pay a little better. This dispatcher is down to one trip left of these kind of trucks for the whole country. Thief River Falls to Shakopee. It could be done in one long day but we pass. There were also trips under 300 miles from Dodge Center, Forest City and somewhere in WI. I decided to call the local company. They have two for tomorrow, we'll be at the office at 10 AM. First trip with the 'new' dispatcher. Not sure how many months she has been there but I haven't met her or done any work for her. So I told her she would have to talk to the other dispatchers to see how to pay me :) as I provide my own shuttle drivers. Load board US - 130 IA - 50/47 MN - 11 WI - 9 Not likely taking any long trips in October either and by the time we can there likely will be snow. Next week BB has a couple of appointments on Thursday and I have one on Friday. Then we each have more later in the month ... |
