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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 220228 CA-CO 1 Bus to Colorado Springs CO (delivered) ... spending the night at Limon CO Breakfast - Two yogurts and a Pop Tart to go. At 7 AM I call the dispatcher who has the Gothenburg trucks. The truck will be OK, not sure until we get there if both of us and our luggage will fit. We leave out at 7:30 (6:30 local.) The temp is 19 degrees. The road ahead of us is open, the road behind us is closed to high profile vehicles ... and is still closed as I write this 12+ hours later. Good thing we pushed and made it through. As we are leaving our hotel we see a bus at the next hotel. That one is heading to our home town. :( :( We would have made $700 more on that trip than this one and worked 8 hours less. I-80 was not bad this AM, not sure why it had been shut down last night. Only a couple of places where it was hard packed and they were only for a few feet. The wind was not bad with a dry road. I-25 is where the wind was a cross wind so I could feel it more but no advisories here either. 1st stop was the Petro in Johnson Corner. It was supposed to be a few exits sooner at a rest area but there was not a blue arrow for the exit so both BB and I missed it. I saw the 'rest area 3 miles' sign and then I saw the rest area to the right after I missed the exit. BB had told me the rest area was AT the exit last night but it wasn't clicking this AM. This was in road constructions so all the signs are not where they should be. From here I call the drop and let them know I could be to the drop around noon, depending on the wait at the truck wash. When I came down the ramp at the exit to the Petro I noticed there was not an entrance ramp. So we both looked to see how to get out of there. At first BB said to go past the 'no freeway access' sign but I decided to follow the highway signs. Back one mile and get on the freeway at the prior entrance. 2nd stop was the Blue Beacon at the TA in Commerce City. I come in what I think is the correct way but I see a traffic jam so I go down the first row of parking to get to the truck wash in the far corner. There is a line at the wash, but before I can pull up to the last truck BB says that is not the end of the line. Nope, there are another dozen trucks blocking parking spots waiting to turn in from the other direction. When I get to the end of the line I make a quick u-turn and park in line. Later I do straighten it out as people are having trouble getting past me. As we wait I do see one truck that tried what I wanted to. He came from the other direction and just pulled into (the middle of the) line. The person who was next got out of his truck and walked over to him, pointed to the other trucks that have been waiting for hours. He moved. Once we were close to the front of the line I did talk to another driver a bit. When he saw the line this AM he thought it would be a quick day (???) I guess the line is some days longer than this. But it sounds like it is taking a lot longer for each truck today than usual. After I had talked to him a bit I asked if he was local. He was. Then I asked about the chain laws. Those laws just changed the first of this year. That explains why I hadn't heard about them before BB read them to me. I started getting light headed so I had a Pop Tart that had been in my bag a few months. Pretty small pieces. The bus dispatcher called while we were in line looking for the paperwork that I am to leave with the shipper. I had left it, not sure what happened to it. So as long as we were talking I said no thanks to heading right back to CA for here. My local dispatcher emailed me to see how soon I am available. At this point I am still saying mid-March. Not sure yet what we will do the first two weeks of March. Before I get in the wash I call the drop back, it will be closer to 3 PM when we get there, not the 12 PM I had told him earlier. Today's wait and wash takes 3-1/2 hours. A one hour wait and wash is about normal. 3rd stop - A little over an hour and we are in Colorado Springs. First I drop BB off at the airport to pick up the rental car Second I put in fuel and DEF at a Maverik about three miles from the drop. It is still before 3 PM so we move the luggage to the rental before heading to the drop. Third stop is the drop. Two people come out and look at the bus. I am number five of six for this order. I forget to take pictures on the bus before I leave. Forth stop is a SmashBurger a few miles away. I order the 'Sin City Burger,' the person knows what it is but they no longer carry it. Then she tells me the 'Classic' is close ... when she hits her little screen it shows up as 'Sin City.' :) That gal spent half the time we were there waiting for our food trying to figure out HOW the computer rang it up that way. She could not duplicate it. As we are waiting for our food we look at the ways out of town. On my phone, the only way out of town was on a toll road. So I was looking at how to avoid toll roads and when I found it and set it. The routing was now cross country completely avoiding Denver. So that is what we took. But I didn't do the math right, it was no longer 3 PM and this route would not get us back on the freeway until after 7 PM. Well into the dark hours. So BB decided we would be stopping in Limon on I-70 for the night. 4th stop - Comfort Inn in Limon From I-70 to I-25 is about 75 miles of nothing. BB couldn't even find a town big enough to have a gas station. Not where I want to be after dark. Load board US - 543 IA - 296 Tomorrow - Not sure. There are still two trash trucks in Gothenburg heading to Dodge Center. I may call in the AM. IF we had wanted to head back to CA, there is a truck in Denver heading back to Sacramento. That would almost be complete paid trip back to get the next bus. IF we both fit in the trash truck, we still need to keep the rental car for two days. We can not drop anywhere in NE. There are lots of rental car places but none that will even give us a price for a one way. Des Moines is the soonest we can drop it and that is two days totaling $350+. But if we can drop in DSM, then we can pick up our car and not have to double back after dropping the trash truck. IF we do not fit, then we will have a 3rd day on the rental car plus another 3-4 hours in time doubling back to get our car. LOG 7:30 - Laramie WY - Comfort Inn - leave 9:15 - Campion CO - Petro - rest break 10:30 - Commerce City CO - Blue Beacon 2:00 - Commerce City CO - leave 3:30 - Colorado Springs CO - Airport - PU rental 3:45 - Colorado Springs CO - Maverik - fuel 4:00 - Colorado Springs CO - drop 4:30 - Colorado Springs CO - SmashBurger 6:00 - Limon CO - Comfort Inn 220301 NE-MN 1 Trash truck to Dodge Center MN ... spending the night at Lincoln NE We sleep in, it is 7:30 (6:30 local) when I wake up. Once I am fully awake I call dispatch about a truck in NE. "Regrettable, I am willing to take one of the Gothenburg trucks." I say. 'What were reasons for not wanting it?' They ask. "I've done my share of trash trucks over the years and am tired of driving them. Also, we are not able to drop a rental car in the state of NE which makes this kind of hard." 'Well, I am sorry. Call me again when you see something you do want.' They say. ??? ... So I say again I DO want wan to the trucks. They still think I am turning it down. ... finally in more words I say again that I DO want one of the trucks and I can pick it up today. '... sorry, I'm not a morning person ... not sure what I was hearing you say.' So we got a truck heading back to MN. Then I look at the computer and see that if we rented a car today, that we could drop it almost anywhere in NE. So things are looking up. Now we have to wait to see if we will both fit in the cab plus our stuff. Breakfast. We could have had nuke sandwiches but we both grab a yogurt. No paperwork from dispatch yet when we want to leave at 8:30 so we head out. As usual I follow my nose as BB is trying to look up the 'correct' directions on the phone. We disagree so I pull over on the shoulder of the entrance ramp. By the time we agree, my paperwork is in my email. I could back up the ramp and go back to the hotel, but I will pay to have them printed instead. The truck is going to a repair shop that specialized in trash trucks ... maybe we will keep the car to follow me. The map was correct when BB looked last night. 75 miles of nothing between the two freeways. No gas stations, no stores, no hotels. There was a town called 'Last Chance' but there was nothing still open. There also was a non-town with a PO and a church. We stop at a new Loves in Brush. I do not remember it even being under construction last time we went this way. $.53 to print my two Bills of Lading. Some places charge $2 a page. In this case it would have been $8. I also try to call the shipping location but it goes right to voice mail. Later as we are driving BB looks up the phone number. It looks like a couple, husband and wife, that are in the logistics business. Kind of like the guy I do the auction trucks for. 2nd stop is Ogallala at the Arby's for food. No double rueben for me today. From here I call the shipper again, this time they answer. And one of my questions they answer is why is it going 500 miles to a repair shop, what should I be watching for. Nope, the repair shop is now a re-seller/rep for this company. :) The truck is good. 3rd stop is the shipper. The Shipping / Receiving door was locked but I did find an open door and found my way into the building. One of the first people I saw was helpful and walked me to the front door and the front office where the person I needed had their desk. On the way I found out that this location only does the 'rear load' trash trucks. I like those, it is the cab over that are the rough rides. There was one large cabover sitting in the ready line but I asked about that and it was not built here. No issue with the truck, we got the paperwork signed and then BB and I started stacking our things in. We had planned on doing that at the fuel station but no one was close by here so we moved everything into the cab here. It all fits and BB will too without riding on the running boards on the back of the truck :) So BB calls to get the rental car dropped. :( No, nope. She can not change the drop location online so she calls and they can not either. All Hertz rental locations in NE are franchised and will not accept one ways at this time. BB had seen that in peoples comments online when she was looking to see which location to drop it at. So we are stuck with the rental and the $150 a day cost for a 2nd day. I have picked up trucks from this customer in IA and they can be pretty empty. One driver ran out of fuel in the six blocks to the fuel pumps. But this one has 1/8 of a tank so I am good. But there isn't cheap fuel anywhere within that 1/8th of a tank so I stop at the Cenex and put in 10 gallons. That will get me to the first Pilot. 4th stop is at the Bosselman's in Grand Island. It is the only one left. Not sure what happened but for a while the whole Bosselman chain was co-branded Pilot. Then all but this location became Pilot's and Bosselman's took over all the company owned repair shops for both Flying J and Pilot. ??? My original plan was to fill here. Then as I was driving I realized that was way too much fuel so I was down planning on only putting in 35 gallons. BB did some math and came up with 40 gallons so that is what I put in. By the time I got to the hotel it looks like I will be leaving an extra 5-10 gallons (at $4 a gallon) in the tank. We'll see. This Bosselman's has a good idea. Lots of room so there are marked spots for the drivers to pull into when they are done fueling. Those spots are far enough ahead that even a semi can get out of the fuel island even if the truck ahead of them is still there. Another plus of this location is that it has four fast food and a sit down diner inside the building and shares their parking lot with an Arby's and a Motel 6. 5th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Lincoln. It is still daylight be we can make it from there to the drop tomorrow. The drop called back after I left a message and said they are open until 4:30. Once in the hotel BB orders food from the Cracker Barrel. Load board US - 507 IA - 282/280 WOW - We will have been on the road for four weeks by the time we get home tomorrow. That is why BB wants a couple of days off ... and then she looks at the weather and wants to leave again. Soon. Tomorrow it should be a non-stop drive to the rental car drop in Des Moines the first leg. Then another 100 miles to pick up our car, then a second 100 miles to the drop, and a third 100 miles and we will be home. We have made pretty good money for being out four weeks and having to take at least a day off each 'round trip' for some reason. Today there are four new trips out of Colorado Springs, 3 going to TX and 1 to CA plus there is a 2nd CO trip to CA. Plus the one to CA that had been there yesterday. Lots of work. Nothing new out of IA today but still lots to do. We do not have a plan yet on when we will leave again. I'm guessing by Monday for sure. LOG 8:30 - Limon CO - Comfort Inn - leave hotel 10:15 - Brush CO - Loves - print paperwork 11:45 - Ogallala NE - Arby's 1:15 - Gothenburg NE - shipper 1:45 - Gothenburg NE - Cenex - fuel 3:45 - Grand Island NE - Bosselman's / Pilot - fuel 5:30 - Lincoln NE - Quality Inn 6:15 - Lincoln NE - Cracker Barrel 220302 NE-MN 1 Trash truck to Dodge Center MN (delivered) ... spending the night home Another breakfast of yogurt and juice. We pull out of Lincoln at 7:30. BB stops in Adair at the rest area, I do not. She is driving 70-75, I am doing 65 mph. 1st stop is in Ankeny at the Chevy dealer where there we return the rental car. I am there a few minutes ahead of her. No issues with the car return. This truck did not like the hills in western IA. I went from expecting to leave an extra 10 gallons to having to add another 10 gallons. BB stops once in Adair at the rest area, I do the first 180 miles non-stop. BB is glad she only has to ride 100 miles in this truck. The truck isn't a bad ride, for me. But the passenger seat is pretty basic. Plus we have all our luggage inside the cab so not much room for her to move around. 2nd stop (for me) is the rental return in Ankeny. I'm there a couple of minutes before her. She's driving faster but stopped at the rest are and then again for final fuel before the return. 3rd stop is to pick up our car in Forest City. I had told someone on Face Book that I would put in a good word for them with the boss for letting everyone know how to get a permit on Saturday. (It's the bosses sister) Then he tells me that they are paying extra on the RV's that have been sitting over one month. :( We will think about it, even when they are paying extra it can still be hard for us to make money on some trips. He also says that there are another 200+ RV's that are not showing on the load boards, and there are still over 300 showing tonight. So that is 500+ waiting for drivers. By the time I get back out, BB has most of our luggage moved to the car. Heading out, by the time I get to the freeway my low fuel light is on. So I will be adding fuel, not leaving it in the tank. 4th stop is the Loves in Albert Lea. The low fuel light came on when I got on the freeway so I decided to add fuel based on Forest City. 10 mpg for 90 miles should be 9 gallon. But I am busy watching the transporter at the next fuel island and I put in 10 gallon. I did finally talk to the transporter. He had a stack of trucks and was dropping two in Sioux Falls before dropping the lead in Superior. It is cold back in MN. It was close to 60 in IA but the temps dropped fast. 5th stop is the drop in Dodge Center. It is not the place I was expecting. Luckily BB looked before she got out of the truck so then I looked before I left the fuel station. Not sure what it was, but just before the drop in Dodge Center there were dozens of stacks of trucks. Semi tractor type, not small ones going to the trash truck company. No idea why. At the drop they did not even come out and look at the truck, they just signed so I took pictures from all four corners. It had been warm today so I hadn't added any anti-gel to this truck. So I went back in to let them know that. BB had seen there is also a trash truck coming to Dodge Center from AL, I asked them about it but they had no idea. They didn't seem to be the sales type people. More just doing the pre-delivery inspections. Still in Dodge Center we stopped at the Kwik Trip for food. Our first since our breakfast of yogurt. Not much to choose from so I had a breakfast pizza. No short trips coming out of Dodge Center today for this carrier. I did not call the other carrier, I only have about two hours left for day, combine those two with what I will get back tomorrow and I can work five hours tomorrow. Good day to take off. Just before 5 PM I called my local garage to see if I could get an oil change tomorrow. They had two cancels for tomorrow so I can. Not sure what else we will get done. 6th and final stop was home. The people living at our house are looking at getting a place of their own ??? Just because? Can't be the price of rent is too high :) It's been nice having someone looking after our place when we are gone but things always change. Load board US - 524 IA - 304/302 We may leave out again as soon as Friday. There are reasons these old orders sit on the load board, 36 are from January and now it is March. There are places we could go and make more money, even when they are paying extra. We will see. LOG 7:30 - Lincoln NE - Quality Inn - leave 10:45 - Ankeny IA - rental car return 1:00 - Forest City IA - pick up personal car 2:00 - Albert Lea MN - Loves - fuel 3:00 - Dodge Center MN - drop 5:00 - home |
