 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
Load board (Monday 9/26) US - 189 IA - 35/34 MN - 15 WI - 3 Load board (Wednesday 9/28) US - 235 IA - 31 MN - 23 WI - 2 Load board (Thursday 9/29) US - 231 IA - 14/12 MN - 20 WI - 3 Load board (Friday 9/30) US - 207 IA - 10 MN - 16 WI - 2 Load board (Weekend) US - 203 IA - 7/6 MN - 12 WI - 2 221003 MN-WI 1 trash truck to Ringle WI (Tuesday) ... spending the night at home We had not planned on committing to anything today ... until after we've had a good nights sleep. But by mid-day we started talking about work. Local dispatch had called and I told them I was NA this month so now are plan is to work for the long haul company. Nothing ideal on the load board. There was one pair of RV's going to a place we have gone before. But we did the math and we would net less than our minimum. We don't want to work that bad. There are trips where we could make in one day what we would have made in four days on that trip. So we finally decide that we will wait until 4:30 and see what is on the load board at that time. There are lots of trips in IN going to FL but no way to get out of FL. There are also three RV's in IN coming back to MN but that would take extra logistics because we would have to get back to IA to pick up our car. By 4:30 we decide to do this MN to WI trip. We had talked about doing a trip to Omaha because we would be closer to the RV's in IA at delivery. But by doing the WI trip we could make it home for the night if we don't find work for Wednesday. Load Board US - 235 IA - 9 MN - 9 WI - 2 Hmmm ... usually we are paid on truck miles. Today I downloaded a new truck mileage app on my notepad. My app routes me 30 miles longer than I will be paid. At 5 mpg that is another $20-25 in fuel out of my net. Plan is to get to the shipper by 9 AM, drivers for my local company should be there and gone 8 AM. 'My route' takes me through Omro and then the freeway up to my drop. Should be about six hours with stops, making it 3-4 PM when we drop. Then three hours back to home, about 7 PM. The computer routes us back past home if we are going to IA but not back to Dodge Center. 221004 MN-WI 1 trash truck to Ringle WI (delivered) ... spending the night at home Alarm at 6 AM, rolling at 7:15. We actually left home early. Not much for traffic so we made good time. 1st stop - Dodge Center at the dispatcher's office. He is gone yesterday and still today. His back up didn't get my paperwork done last night as we could still see it on the load board. Finally at 8 AM it was done, so plenty of time before we got there. Today when we got to the office there were three dogs in the fence behind the mail box and three more in the house looking out the bay window. All barking. Next stop was still in Dodge Center, this time for fuel at Kwik Trip. BB had the honors this time as I was finally on the phone with the clinic. ... last night I realized I was running out of one of my meds and shouldn't have been. I usually have extra bottles of that one. Then I finally read the directions on the bottle. Because of our insurance, we are supposed to only get 90 supply at a time. But because the directions were different than what I was told to take, I will run out (weeks early) 1st their answering machine wouldn't put us in the que because the line was too long. The 2nd time it was supposed to be a 15 minute wait on hold but it was closer to 30. But now I am talking to someone that I thought understood the issue, and I thought all was taken care of. Another stop, still in town. The shipper. When we pull in, I see the shuttle van from my other company so I make myself scarce. They should have been gone an hour ago but a driver is having issues. After I find my truck, a 2nd shuttle shows up with more drivers. No wonder they were calling looking for me yesterday. This driver knows me but as far as I know never sees me. Later I talk to the firs shuttle driver who doesn't know me and doesn't ask. He says this truck had had an issue so the driver pulled it up closer to the office and now it won't start again. They should have gotten there at 7:30 and we left at almost 10 AM and they were still there. Only issue we had today was when BB was checking my break lights she couldn't tell if they were working. After a while we finally realized that because the air pressure was still low (?) the break lights wouldn't go off even after the parking break would release. Once I was at full air pressure it was no longer an issue. 2nd stop was for lunch at Hardee's in Oakdale at the Loves. I call the drop but no answer. I still have not looked, really looked at a map of the drop. We do while we are eating. I just look at the exit and drop. East of the freeway on WI-29 and north on Q, then first building on first street to the left. I'm good. Finally when I get to the far side of Arkdale I see a sign that says "Coloma 19 miles." It finally clicks. We are going north on I-39 at Coloma, not north on I-41 in Oshkosh. So we have an even shorter day today. Even when I looked at lunch for the exit number I didn't focus on which freeway it was off of ... I know last night it did not make sense when BB said it was only two hours home from the drop but that's what the computer said. Now it makes sense :) Earlier today a weigh scale was open but the sign said "Truck bypass Weigh Scale." Now this after noon I get the arrow to exit the freeway AND the 2nd arrow that has me cross the scale. This scale weighs the trucks one set at a time, not the whole truck at once. So I got to watch the truck ahead of me and then he gets the message 'Park and come inside.' I pull on the scale with my front axle and it weighs at 17,000# and I get the 'return to freeway' green light. They don't care how much my other axles weigh which is fine with me. 3rd stop of the day is the drop, right were it should be. I park along the drive and find someone, and they find the correct someone. 15 minutes of inspecting and they signed off. Sort of, I had to catch them to sign one place they missed and then I see after we sent in the paperwork that they didn't fill it out completely. Opps. As I'm showing the inspector something that kept bumping the window, I notice a bracket has broken. I've had the same issue on other trucks and never looked to see the why of why it was knocking on the window. Still no good RV trips. But there are even more trash trucks ... and finally some rental returns. We call the rental dispatcher and line one up for tomorrow. We hope. He never got back to us. Another driver lined up five to get done by Friday but I haven't done the math other than to know we can get one picked up tomorrow. Once we are rolling and talking, we realize that we should be able to get one a day done so I will call in the AM to set up to more if they are still available. Not ready to commit to the fourth one yet. Way out of my comfort range. These will not pay as good as the trash trucks but are a lot better ride. ... back to my med's. I had a message to call the nurse when I stopped at noon so I did get through after being on hold most of my lunch. "I heard you need something clarified about your prescription." Huh? I thought the last person I was talking to understood the issue. So we have to go over it all again. ... Still later we get a call from the pharmacy ... they are OUT of drugs and will I be out before Friday? OUT? This is a common drug that a high percent of the elder population takes. (I'm good) So now we need to be in town on Friday, right in the middle of this stretch of workable days. HEY ... HAY actually. We saw a lot of hay fields cut down. All I remember of growing up on the farm was cutting hay in June and July and if we were lucky on a few fields we would get a few bales of hay in August, or September. This is October. Amish, I know where the farms are and watch the homes and fields. This summer I noticed two new (?) farms next to the freeway near Glennwood. Both are below freeway level so easy to see. One place the farmer was coming down the road with his grain seeder and a team of horses. On the other place they have now laid cement blocks for a new out building. BB had made a couple of extra spots besides the ones I did and now needs another one. 4th stop is the Kwik Trip in Abbotsford. Interesting spot for me. We used to stop next door for years when we were moving pizza trucks. We picked them up a few miles from here and if we had enough fuel, we would wait until we got to the Shell next door to fuel. It was the closest truckstop. What makes it interesting is that where this Kwik Trip sits now, there used to be a huge, fancy truckstop that closed before I started running this route. That building sat empty for 12+ years, they knock it down and put in a Kwik Trip and it thrives. Lots of changes along this route since we ran it 6+ years ago. 5th stop is the Arby's for food. Doors are locked, no sign, but the drive thru is open. They do still have the cheese steak sandwich ... but no peppers. :( So we go for the rueben. We had a big sandwich at noon, all are big at Hardee's unless you go with the kids meal. So now split a sandwich. No cookies, no malt, no fries. Car says it is time for an oil change so we had talked about doing that before we put any more miles on it. Then BB looks online and the mfg says we should be good for 10,000 miles between changes. Shop sticker says 3,000 miles and that is what we have been doing since we got the car. I sure it doesn't hurt. 6th stop is the Shell at the TA in Hudson for fuel. Cheaper here than anywhere and we are down to a range of 50 again. Load board US - 237 IA - 7 MN - 13 WI - 3 No word from the dispatcher. Alarm is set for 6 AM. We plan on heading out without knowing. If we do not get a rental truck, we can adjust and go to Dodge Center again. That gives us an hour and a half after we leave home before we need to know. Going this route adds less than 15 minutes but does add a few more miles. Either way we should have work.
|
