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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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220329 MN-IL 1 trash truck heading to Lake Elmo (staged) 1 straight truck heading to IL ... spending the night at Janesville WI 12 hour day today ... more later At 8 AM the paperwork was ready for me to go to IN, by 10 AM I was changed to go to IL. At noon, dispatch wanted me to go to Rock Island IL with a bus on Thursday. By 4 PM I got an email that they wanted me to head back to Elk Grove Village with another trash truck. So far I have committed to nothing. Load board US - 579 IA - 377/375 (the rest is written days later) We arrive at the shipper and my paperwork is not in the box so I have to ask our contact. At first they seem perturbed, but when I mentioned who sent it their demeanor changed. All was good. Yes, they had gotten it, but couldn't find it. So they re-printed it. I found the truck right away but it had a warning light on. A manifold gauge was laying on zero and the light was on. So I called dispatch who calls the company. They send someone over who plugs in their computer to see what the issue is. No warning codes so they call their boss. As the boss is on the way over the mechanic realized the build date of the truck. They will not touch it. So I ask if they want to bring the key to the office or if they want me to. They want me to so I do ... When I had the keys back to the person in the office they ask why. At that point I should have said nothing and let things go through there proper channels. But I mentioned some of the things I had heard ... Also my dispatch did not want me to do anything with this truck. As soon as I move it, it is ours to deal with. I had not put it in gear yet so I sit and head to sit and wait. But before I can get to the car someone yells after me. The mechanics will not work on the truck, but that does not mean it is not going anywhere ... everyone (else) assumes it is a computer issue not a mechanical issue so I am good to go. Dispatch is on board so I am heading out after all. This all took two plus hours on a trip that is already not paying enough to cover last nights hotel. Also during my delay, dispatch has decided that I am now going back to Chicago instead of Indiana. It is a good thing I did not commit to a second leg for the other company before I was in my truck. No issues from here. 2nd stop was the office lot in Lake Elmo. Here I grab my other paperwork and we head back to Dodge Center. 3rd stop was the Chik-fil-A in Woodbury. It is only 11 AM so it is not too busy yet. 4th stop is back at the shipper in Dodge Center to pick up our next truck. Looking through my paperwork I realize that I do not have a 'routing guide' for my CNG stops. So I call dispatch, this is not a CNG truck they tell me. So they call the shipper ... the shipper, who by now should no me, tells dispatch that 'the driver must be in the wrong truck.' My dispatcher does not take that lightly and says the shipper needs to check further ... but they also have me send pictures :) of the VIN, etc. Opps, shipper mistake. Six months ago this truck was changed from a diesel to a CNG (?) and the main paperwork was never changed, but they did find a copy of the work order. That all took most of an hour. 5th stop is Kasson at the Kwik Trip to get scaled. 1,000's of pounds under again on the CNG. Not sure why they are not more focused on which trucks need to be weighed and which do not. 6th stop is Rochester at a Kwik Trip for fuel. 7th stop is West Salem at a Kwik Trip for fuel. 8th stop is in DeForest at a Kwik Trip for fuel. Credit card denied so I use our backup card. 9th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Janesville for the night. We get parked and check in, then we are told that I must park on the street. BB has already picked up food from Arby's. It has been another 12 hour day and we have not eaten yet. (below was written as that day) yesterdays forecast 8 AM - pick up at Dodge Center (YES) 12 noon - pick up at Lake Elmo (NO - picked up in Dodge Center at 2 PM) 5 PM - shut down at Rockford (NO - shut down in Janesville at 7:30 PM, 60 miles short of Rockford) tomorrows forecast 10 AM drop in Chicago 6 PM shut down at home or Rochester MN
220330 MN-IL 1 trash truck heading to Elk Grove Village IL 1 trash truck heading to Carol Stream IL ... spending the night at Rochester MN We are both up early, eat a light breakfast and are ready to go. Every minute we can cut leaves more time for our next leg of the trip, and for things to go wrong. For coming in to town during 'rush hour,' traffic was very light. I had looked at the map and written down our turns but I was expecting a bigger road. I almost passed on taking our first turn once we were off the freeway, but I could see it was a through road so we took it. At first it was a winding road past the sewage treatment plant, then it became an industrial street. 1st stop - CNG station in Des Plains at a cement plant. Two trucks using two pumps so I had to wait. When we were leaving I noticed the 'authorized cars only' road no longer existed. The sign was still there but not the road. Good thing we didn't try to take that road. The road was a couple of blocks long from the oasis to this street. I had written down the streets but BB starting turning before I wanted to so I did also. Then I realized that her way was about one block different than what I had written down. 2nd stop was the drop - I parked in the middle of the lot and I met the person I needed to sign off in the doorway. Quick sign off and we were gone. We were just getting back on the freeway when dispatch called, BB had the directions going so we had to shut that off so I could talk. They want me to pick up my truck that I left at the shop last week. We are about two miles from having to turn off the freeway again. I balk at the idea, I tell dispatch that right now we can make it home tonight. If we do this trip it will be another nights motel. At first they say it is only 40 miles ... 40 miles paid, correct, but on city streets and with inspections and travel both ways it will take about three hours. ... but dispatch doesn't want me to head home ... so that was kind of a mute point. This is what I had planned on doing last time and I wouldn't have gotten lost. Taking the trip backwards first, then doing it with a truck. 3rd stop was the shop. I go in and say I am looking for 'Carol,' without a word they had me my paperwork. They do not want to sign anything so I'm free to go. Not sure why, but I was feeling a little light headed so I went to the car, sat and ate a brownie before doing my pre-trip. Pre-trip was quick, I had thought I had left the truck with a half a tank of fuel and now it is at 3/8ths. I thought I had taken a picture, but I looked now and I had not. This time I make all the correct turns. Good thing as it is raining hard and hard to see at some points. That missing (??) 1/8th of a tank of fuel has come back to haunt. I need to drop this truck with 1/4 of a tank of fuel and it is now closer to 1/8th. As I am passing the first gas station off the freeway I notice it has diesel, I should have stopped there. I had looked online before we left the shop to see that there was fuel but I had picked a different station. We got to that station, no diesel. BB looks online and finds a Shell station about a mile away. Each island has one pump and the islands run from the street to the building. Luckily there are very few cars and I am able to get to the outside pump. When I get out to fuel I remember that the fuel tank is on the other side of the truck. So I need to get turned around. The lot is so small that I am having to back up at each corner. As I am trying to maneuver around the lot, BB calls to tell me how to exit. I am not trying to exit, I am still trying to fuel. It takes a few more backwards and forwards to get near the pump the 2nd time. After fueling I was still having turning issues trying to get onto the street, wide turning radius. From here I find the way easily. 4th stop is the drop, I know where to park and where to find someone to sign. Different person, but it was the first person I saw. Before I had my copies someone was moving the truck so I did not get drop pictures. 5th stop is a McCallisters just down the road in Bloomingdale. At some point today my next trip got changed from a trash truck to CGO to being a cement mixer to IN. I had wanted to do this next trash truck because it was a new Freightliner cabover. New, as in Freightliner didn't have a cabover before this one, at least not recently. But the mixer is hotter so I agree ... later dispatch tells me I can have one of the trash trucks, on Monday. Sorry, Monday I will be NA. Clear sailing, limited stops. 6th stop is at the Kwik Trip in DeForest, BB thinks she has stopped there every day for a week now. Cheapest fuel around. When we stop, I see that dispatch now has a truck heading back to MN. So I call to see if it was back from this trip, or back from the next trip. From the next trip, good, because we are hours past that shipper now. And we were not planning on heading home, on the next trip we are. But now we are looking at cutting it close for our Saturday drop of the rental car. Dispatch has kept us busy for two weeks, busier than anytime in the last six years since I have started with the other companies. Shortly before 5 PM we get a call from the newest dispatcher, he seems surprised that we will not be picking up our next truck tonight and not picking up the one heading home until Friday. From the first mention of this trip, dispatch has said it was OK to drop in the lot (... and it will be delivered by someone else on Monday) 7th stop is the welcome center in MN in Le Center. 8th stop is in Rochester at Five West for food. The parking lot is packed and they are not using the outside seating, Not sure where those people will be parking. Next door is the Sleep Inn for the night. yesterdays forecast 10 AM drop in Chicago (YES) 6 PM shut down at home or Rochester MN (YES, Rochester MN) tomorrows forecast 8 AM pick up Dodge Center MN 5 PM hotel Merrilleville IN Load board US - 563 IA - 365/357 BB is watching the weather next week and we may not head west due to the weather. Lots of other directions to go. Lots to think about in the next few days. If we pick up tomorrow at 8 AM without an issue, we should be able to be at/near our drop by 5 PM. But we have not seen or talked about our paperwork so we do not know what hours the drop will accept delivery. We are assuming that we will be dropping in the AM and heading 100 miles to our next pickup from there. IF, IF we make it home it will be one long day. We have no idea what our second truck is, only that it is. LOG
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