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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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220919 MN-WI Heading to Milwaukee Tuesday Load board (Friday) US - 116 IA - 0 MN - 29 Load board (weekend) US - 112 IA - 0 MN - 24 Load board (Monday) US - 172 IA - 5 MN - 19 WI - 4 220920 MN-WI 1 trash truck to Germantown WI (delivered) 1 trash truck to Chillicothe IL (Wednesday) ... spending the night at Rochester MN 6 AM alarm Rolling by 7 AM (almost) BB had eaten breakfast so we didn't stop for that this AM. We had stopped on Saturday PM for fuel so we were good there. Dispatch wants a receipt for about 380 miles worth of fuel and that is <> a tank of gas for us. Our range shows 440-460 when we fill and we don't run it to 'E' so that is close enough. Sun just coming up so we we have a little of that heading east. Lots of road construction, lower speed zones to keep our speed down at times. 1st stop is the rest area near Black River Falls. 2nd stop is the shipper/shop where I am picking up this truck in Mauston. They didn't want any paperwork from me so I didn't have them sign any of mine. We did a quick inspection and were ready. OK, I guess a half hour is not a really quick inspection but faster than the RV's. This is the same brand and year of truck as the one I drove last week but it is not the same. ALMOST had BB come over to help me find the four-way flashers. On the last truck they were attached to the blinker arm. On this truck they were a little fuse sized button lower on the steering column. When I called dispatch to let them know I was rolling, they said the drop was already calling looking for their truck ... We saw a few transporters, mostly RV's, this AM. There was one mixer that passed me twice and I passed him once. The drums are supposed to be always turning, full or empty. His was not. (And I checked with other drivers who pull from that shipper, nothing has changed) Hope nothing is damaged, for his sake. 3rd stop is for fuel near De Forest at a Kwik Trip. 4th stop is ... wrong. I'm wrong. BB has told me the exit number and I <> know where these stops are so I go by memory. When I get here, I pull off. The exit number does not match so I know either she was wrong (259 vs 295) or I need to look at a map because there is a new location. It is a new location. I have done other CNG trips on this route and this was always my final fuel. Things change. 5th stop is the Kwik Trip in Waukesha. My plan had been to stay on the freeways to make things easier. But this Kwik Trip is not right on the freeway and it 'looks like' only a couple of turns to get to the drop. But I am looking on Google and this is a truck. I do decide to take the city streets but quickly wish I had not. There are 'no truck' signs so I have to turn on to a street I haven't looked at. I eventually stop and peg my location and the drop. No time lost, just going around the other side of a square. 6th stop is the drop. This guy does a complete inspection. Flips every switch, runs every lever. Opens up the rear gate and 100 gallons of water run out. That weight may have helped make for a smoother ride for me :) When he is done, I follow the guy inside so he can make copies. There are two doors going into the building right there. One inside the fenced lot for the trucks and one outside the fenced lot for the drivers cars. My plan was to go back out the door to the cars, but as I was walking towards that door, my peripheral saw a door two my left. I'm looking and my paperwork and quickly turn ... WHAM ... I walk right into a glass window. Floor to ceiling. The door I saw was about 10 feet further away to the outside, and the door I needed to go through to get to the 2nd door was about six feet from where I turned. (people who saw it happen were asking if I was OK) Yes, but no. Eight hours later, my nose still hurts from my glasses and my forehead still hurts but no bruises. As soon as we send in paperwork from their parking lot, I call dispatch. They want to know if I can go to Chillicothe IL. It is less than 400 miles from Dodge Center so we agree. So back to Dodge Center. It will save us a few hours by not going home, and dispatch will send my paperwork down in the shuttle in the AM so I will have originals. Depending on what time the drop closes, we may get that delivered tomorrow. BB has been looking for food. It is now close to 3 PM and I haven't eaten today and she hasn't eaten since before 7 AM. She has seen Jason's Deli between us and the freeway so that is where we head. 7th stop is the Brookfield Mall. An indoor mall, it is down to just JCPenny's and Barns and Nobel as the large stores. Sears and a 3rd anchor have pulled out. Dillards was going to go in but backed out of the deal before opening. The store fronts are over half full, but the place is a ghost town. Over half the food court stores are empty. Charlies is the only 'brand name.' Jason's ... we couldn't see it where it was pegged on the map so we decided to go into the mall thinking the map was wrong. When it didn't show up on the store map either, BB looked closer to her phone. 'PERMANENTLY CLOSED' Opps. That is when we headed to Charlies. Best Charlies I have had in a long time, even told the cook that before we left. 8th stop was the rest area near Poynette. 9th stop was the rest area in Le Cresent on the Mississippi as we cross into MN. 10th stop was the Sleep Inn in Rochester but first we go to a Panera's. The place 'next door' has soups but BB didn't want to deal with 'new' tonight. Panera's is a known. Then to the hotel. We had talked about stopping in La Crosse and didn't decide to keep going until we were in La Crosse. We'd be to Rochester within minutes of dark. But that did mean driving into the sun again. Sometimes it was lined up right with the center of my lane ... Load board US - 178 IA -0- MN - 18 WI - 2 .. the trip continues HERE |
