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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 211111 CA-WI 1 bus to Milwaukee WI ... spending the night at Kearney NE WY road maps were clear this AM but by 7 AM they were closed to high profile vehicles again. Now we are watching the weather in IA, light snow but with the wind it will be hazordus. Called the drop this AM, they did not offer to check me in over the weekend so Monday it will be. Breakfast was eggs and sausage. A Two Rivers back to MN showed up this AM. We haven't grabbed it, yet. Our IA terminal is having their big annual drivers meeting today so likely not much happening on their loadboard until this afternoon. 1st stop is in Pine Bluffs at the rest area. Truck spots are all full so I park behind someone and then have to back out when we are ready to go. Sometime this morning the closer on I-80 in WY was expanded to Rawlins to Cheyenne. Not sure how long that lasted, by 6 PM tonight the closer is back to Laramie to Rawlins. And now the forecast has been expanded for high winds through the weekend. Not sure how long some of those people are going to be sitting there. 2nd stop was for lunch at the Wendy's in Ogallala. WINDY, just walking from the bus to the building. There has been a large vacant lot between Wendy's and Walmart forever. Now they are hauling in dirt and leveling it off. No sign to say why yet. We had talked about shutting down in Gothenburg but pushed another hour plus past. Food is much better next to the Comfort Inn in Kearney. :) 3rd stop was the rest area near Cozad. 4th and final stop was the Comfort Inn in Kearney. Tonight we end up at the burgers and shakes place, but the Italian place has really good food to. Both are too much. I saved part of my burger for breakfast. This place is still doing 'grab and go' bagged breakfast. Water, pastry, something else. The parking lot here is a good sized. This place is adjacent to an event center ... we thought we would walk through the event center to get to food ... but there was an event going on. So, nope. Load board US - 237 IA - 61/59 MN - 10 WI - 11 Tomorrow we will be watching the weather. Snow/blizzard is forecast for MN and it already is snowing in northern NE and looks like it will be heavier snow in northern IA by midnight. We will likely be staying closer to Des Moines tomorrow night, both because it is closer to 350 miles and because of the weather. Hopefully it has moved out by Saturday so we can get our car or an RV. So far no good trips on the loadboard but we will be watching again tomorrow. I messaged another driver tonight about doing the NYC buses. He has heard that drivers are getting stopped because they are going too slow in TX. I know in OK the minimum now is 60 mph so that route won't work. Not sure where in TX they are getting stopped. 211112 CA-WI 1 bus to Milwaukee WI ... spending the night at Ankeny IA Breakfast, in a bag. Besides the water and the muffin, there was also a sandwich to nuke, yogurt and a cup of fruit. So not so bad after all. But I had my leftover burger from last night. Still good. We left an hour later today, we are only going 300 miles and we don't want to get to the next hotel before their 3 PM check in. 1st stop was at the Petro in York. It will be the cheapest fuel on the trip. The plan was to fill up, but then seeing how good of mileage I was getting I was thinking of only adding 55 gallons and then more later if I need it. 53 was all I could get it. The pump didn't give me any warning so I ran some on the ground. Luckily the wind was at my back because the wind blew the overflow for quite a few feet the other direction. When I was putting in my credit card it always asks a lot of questions. Today I had to have my hand braced against the pump to hold my hand in place to hit the correct answers. Just a little windy. When we pulled out of the Petro a wind turbine blade was just passing. When they got to the freeway ramp, one of the pilot car drivers got out and did something to the rear area. My guess is the rear is locked in place on the straight away but needs to be manually 'driving' for sharper curves. Then they stopped again at the bottom of the ramp and the driver did something again. That was the last we saw of them. Shortly down the road we start to see snow. Just wisps of light snow across the freeway. 2nd stop was Chesters/Loves in Shelby IA. We had talked about the Flying J in Avoca but the Maid Rite does not seem to be open on any regular basis and the other choice there is Taco Johns. We were not impressed last time. Chester's was good, a good change of fast food. By the time we were done eating the storm warning was lifted. The two places it was snowing the most was Des Moines and Omaha. Up in the northern part of the state where the warning was didn't show they were getting anything. Weather forecasters, wrong 50% of the time and still get paid. Somewhere today we saw an anhydrous ammonia tank that was missing a set of rear tires. It was sitting in a field with the 'lost tires' over a tank length behind it. 3rd and final stop was the Sleep Inn in Ankeny. We had talked about going another 40 miles to Story City but for the 2nd night in a row, food is where we decide to stay. In Story City the choices are McD's, that is the closest, but not close enough to walk in this wind. There is a new Kwik Trip that would have room for the bus or a Pizza Ranch but not sure if there is parking. The KFS/Taco Bell is closed as is the family restaurant we have eaten at in the past. Here in Ankeny there is a Out Back across the street. Depending where we are in the hotel, we are walking further indoors at the hotel than outdoors to get to Out Back. On FaceBook and before that on message boards there are always some very vocal people who claim that having a tow car in driveaway is the only way to make money. For the last three days I have been counting driveaway units, not just ones that look like driveaway but ones that have proper placards or another way to ID them. Here are the numbers 50 non-tow - 1 toad - on Wednesday 21 non-tow -0- toad on Thursday 26 non-tow and 1 toad on Friday. So over 95% of driveaway this week were non-tow units. I assume at least some of them have found out how to make money without a toad. Wednesday there were a few 'convoy's' of units, yesterday and today they were all solo units. Load board US - 242 IA - 52/49 MN - 9 WI - 10 Tomorrow we plan on picking up our car and then getting to Mauston for the night. We had looked at the option of picking up an RV going the same direction but none have shown up on the load board. Tonight I was looking at final fuel for the bus on Monday, I had thought there was a TA/Petro next to the wash but there is not. There also isn't a wash. That one closed five months ago. Glad I looked, just because it was there last time ... Their new location is another seven miles down the road. Not a big deal but good to know. We will likely stay somewhere near there on Sunday night. NO restrictions on I-80 in WY right now. There had been all day and the forecast is for high winds (at least) through Monday. Lots of local auction trips that show up and are gone right away. None today that we could tie into this trip, maybe Monday ... or we will just head home for a day. We do not plan on leaving on a road trip before Thanksgiving but do plan on doing local. 211113 CA-WI 1 bus to Milwaukee WI ... spending the night at Mauston WI Breakfast was leftovers, again. More than enough. Short day ahead so we left an hour later. 1st (kinda) stop was in Forest City to pick up our car. I let BB off at the car and got turned around. She got the car moving and I left, I never really stopped other than for changing gears. 2nd stop was at the Kwik Trip in Stewartville for food. I didn't remember there was a Taco Bell there, or maybe it is new. It was busy so we just grabbed a sandwich off the shelf and ate in the car. I was getting low on DEF so I added some here. Next time I likely will not be buying anything out of route. 3rd and final stop was at the Quality Inn in Mauston. Food was from the nearby deli, they close at 5 PM on the weekends so we had to eat early. Good food as always. Chicken salad sandwich and mushroom wild rice soup. We originally were going to stop in Tomah but (was it the food again?) We also talked about going further but by lunch the weather warnings in WI had been dropped. Now there should just be snow starting after we shut down and stopping before we leave. We now have about three hours to get there. Very low key day. I still have a half a tank of fuel to get the last 200 miles, we have gone 550 miles on the top half. Load board US - 229 IA - 49/46 MN - 8 WI - 10 I decided to count two more transporters to make it an even 100 for the trip. The first one was towing, the 2nd one was not. (there was only one more transporter today) 211114 CA-WI 1 bus to Milwaukee WI ... spending the night at Oak Creek WI We looked at our reservation for last nights hotel and we do not need to check out until 12 noon. So no rush. Breakfast was scrambled eggs that were cooked like quiche and then cut, not scrambled loose. Sausage was not 'hot,' yogurt was good. There was more snow on the ground and on the cars last night than there was when we got up. Still light snow in the air but not collecting on the ground. Lots of computer time with these short days. We haven't acclimated to the change of seasons yet. 1st stop was an hour down the road at the Culver's at De Forest for lunch. Masks required. We haven't seen that sign in a while. Coming around the corner from I-90 to I-94 in Madison I took the corner a little too wide and rode the shoulder for a few bus lengths. Other than that the trip was pretty ho-hum. 2nd and final stop was the Comfort Inn in Oak Creek just south of MLW near the airport. Huge parking lot and just a dozen or two cars. A couple of hours later I call the place two doors down to order food. We both get Philly's. 20 minutes later we drive down and pick them up. There is a 'Pub' in house but it is temporarily closed like a lot of hotel food. Food was great but too much of it. We should have gotten one and split it. I saved half of mine for tomorrow. Likely for lunch, too much left for breakfast. Tomorrow I plan on leaving the hotel at 7:30, fuel, wash and drop. We are about 10 miles from the wash and then 20 miles back to the drop. Then we decide if we are going home or grabbing the next truck. 211115 CA-WI 1 bus to Milwaukee WI (delivered) ... spending the night at home Up at 6:30, rolling by 7:30. BB stayed in the hotel for now so only one of us had to be getting ready. Breakfast, eggs, sausage and yogurt. After we had gotten our breakfast and were walking down the hall, we met a mom with four kids all under six. They were heading to get their breakfast and were all still in their jammies. When was leaving less than a half hour later, they were ahead of me walking to the door, all dressed and ready to go. That was me then, now it takes just me a half hour to eat and get ready to go ... On the end of the hotel where I parted, there were room for <> 40 cars. When we got there, no one was there, when I left, there was one other straight truck parked in one corner. Lots of room. 1st stop is the Pilot in Franksville for fuel and DEF. Four fuel islands are empty so I know I have time to swing around and come in backwards. I managed to park so that neither the DEF or the fuel hose will reach. I fuel first, 90 gallons so the gauge was close to accurate showing 1/4 this AM. Company is paying the final fuel on this trip so I could have run down a little lower but that station had the cheapest fuel and 1/4 isn't bad without the prior tailwind the last two days. By the time I was done, trucks had parked crossways enough that I could not drive out. The other islands all had 1 or 2 trucks waiting for them but they don't know how to make a row. When I walked in to get my receipt, I saw that no was as at the closest pump because of how the trucks were parked no one knew could get to it and the one driver who could was NA. Next stop was across the street at the truck wash. As I got closer I could see 2-3 trucks in line, and then that there were three truck bays but only one had a line. Must be short of help. But when I finally turned in, I could see the signs and the trucks were all in line for the washout bay. Where they are washing in the inside of the trailer instead of the outside. Some locations have a line just for that as it usually only takes a fraction of the time to do that wash. So today I was able to drive right into an empty bay. All three were open, there was just no line. As soon as I was parked I followed the lead person inside to pay. I paid and then waited less than two minutes for them to finish rinsing and I was done. Someone else was driving in as I was driving out but still no line. New trucks were now waiting for the washout bay and there was still a line. They will not use the washout bay for washing the outside of trucks, I am not sure if they will let washout trucks use the other bays if they are empty or not. Not today when I got there anyway. I-94 west - I-43 south - I-41 north. I ended up getting on the wrong exit but luckily it was one of those long bypasses that allows traffic back on at the other end so no time was lost. Just me. It was about 20 miles from the wash to the drop and even at the tail end of rush hour we were doing close to the posted going right through down town MLW. If you know when to look, you can see Lake Michigan from the top of the bridge between the buildings. I had looked a the exit numbers for today so I knew where to exit. From there it was easy. 2nd stop was the drop in MLW. When I got there I pulled to the west side where we used to park them, next to the crashed buses. Today there was one with half the front window missing and one with the whole front window missing. But I was on the wrong side so I had to park on the east side. At first I thought my contact meant that I was to park in FRONT of door 17 or 19. But once I swung in I could see that there actually was enough room to park between door 17 and 19, if you were exactly straight and exactly centered. By the time I was done parking someone had walked out and was waiting for me to open the door. Here, today anyway, they just walked around once and walked inside to the back once and were ready to go inside and sign. They had seen me pull it, this location was not tracking me. I asked and they have a total of a dozen coming over the next two weeks (that's what they think) I do not plan on getting back out there until after Thanksgiving so if they are delivered as planned I will not get a second one, this year. More coming next year. In and out in 15 minutes. There is one pickup in Hill City MN but we pass for now and it is gone before the next update. No trips that work for us coming out of the area of WI. We are heading home. 3rd stop is the rest area near Johnson City. I answer some messages while BB uses the restroom. BB has been also answering my messages and answering the phone and putting it on speaker. Busy morning in my non-work life. 4th stop is Tomah for lunch. We have delivered so we get a treat. :) We each get a treat and split a sandwich. It is close to 30 degrees so my leftovers from last night will still be good when we get home. Opps. 5th stop is in Black River Falls at the Flying J for fuel with less than a 20 mile range. We had forgotten to fill in Tomah so we have an extra stop. And my perks card did not give me my discount today. 6th and final stop is home. I quickly unpack so BB can do laundry and I am gone doing family things. First one, then another and it is about 8:30 before I have a chance to sit down and look at the computer or my paperwork. We had sent in the paperwork from the drop and I was paid within the hour. Cpm has gone up. We would have set a new daily income record if we hadn't had to stay out an extra three days because of the weekends. Good money. Less than two weeks on the road and we have met our goal for the month. Load board US - 215 IA - 57/55 MN - 8 WI - 8 Change of plans, we now DO plan taking a road trip over the weekend we are just not sure where yet. We will be back before Thanksgiving so likely NC/SC if there is work. And we are still talking about the after Thanksgiving trip. Last year BB said no more I-80 in the winter, now we are deciding when winter starts. The roads are not bad yet but the winds have been terrible this year anywhere west except the SW and there haven't been any trips that take that route. But it sure would be nice to get another trip back to MLW ... |
