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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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221226 MN-IN 1 tanker to Gary IN (Tuesday) ... spending the night at home My local office is open for a couple of hours this AM to update legal's for next year so am able to get ready in time. (Lots of personal stuff going on that I was procrastinating on this weekend) At the office I see two drivers that I have known for years. One driver was the one who had the issue with the 60 ft bus I test drove last week. He had been trying to leave with it and had issues. So someone came to look at it and I test drove it. Then the same driver tried to leave with it again on Sunday. Same issue. I think they are looking at the wrong problem. This driver had the same issue twice in fewer miles than I drove the bus. I did talk the the head dispatcher and they did not commit that they would have more work for me on Wednesday after we deliver so we will keep our eyes open. Later in the day we pick up our rental car. We'll have that for a week, assuming we come back to MN. I looked at my paperwork and it tells me where to find the keys ?? I was told the shipper would have the truck in the shop over the weekend. IF we had looked at the paperwork before today, we might have been able to leave today ... if the truck is really sitting outside. Load board (Friday) US - 217 IA - 3/0 MN - 7 WI - 10 PTR - 9 IN - 15 Load board (Monday) US - 262 IA - 4/0 MN - 16 WI - 8 PTR - IN - 15 Tomorrow we will pick up early ?? and will get somewhere near Chicago. The trip is 450 miles after we pick up west of Minneapolis. At least the weather should be on the plus side of -0-. 221227 MN-IN 1 tanker to Gary IN 1 flatbed to Columbus OH (Thursday) ... spending the night at Rockford IL No alarm, no rush. We leave the house at 8 AM. Breakfast was the last of our apple crisp ... and ice cream. It's the week between holidays, there isn't a rush hour. We get to the shipper in 45 minutes. 1st stop is the shipper in Plymouth. My truck is outside but I go inside first to let them know I am here. The people I am looking for are not at their desks. So I call in and ask for them. That person just rings there phones (?) I finally decide to ask one of the people working in the shop. I used to know a few of them but none of those people are here today either. They walk me into the office. This building has a strange layout and I had forgotten who I talked to last time. They do know which one I am looking for and can help me. BB and I check out the truck and get things signed. Truck is on 'E' so I head to the station before I am done with my paperwork. 2nd stop is a block away at a Holiday station. I'm not sure how empty 'E' is so I put in 10 gallons, that brings it up over a quarter of a tank. More than I need to high priced fuel. I just need enough to get to Hudson. I call the drop and dispatch and I am ready to go. The first few miles was interesting. This is a Hino, they have some kind of retarder on the engine and the cruise control will not work depending on what setting it is on. Not sure what I did but I finally get the cruise set. By then I was way ahead of BB, I'm guessing I was speeding ... a little ... while I was distracted. Before we get to Hudson, I pass one of our 60 ft buses going about 56 mph. Driven by a female driver I do not know. 3rd stop was the TA in Hudson. Another 30 gallons. The Country Pride restaurant has closed since we were here last. Early on, I see two sets of dual semi tires lying in the ditch. No signs of any accident nearby. Lots of evidence of ditch traffic :) Later on I see what seems to be a crew cutting wood in the ditch. They were, but because of a crash. All I could see today besides the wood was an axle. We had thought we might make more time this AM but we decide that food will be at Black River Falls. Arial maps show Culvers has a big parking lot. 4th stop - Culvers in Black River Falls. I make it into the lot but the lot is full. I had thought there was a rear exit so I could drive straight through. Not with the snow. I have to wait in the drive thru lot until I can get turned around. BB is behind me and someone comes out to there car and starts backing up, right towards BB. She blows her horn, they stop, sort of. We decide to drive a couple of blocks down to Kwik Trip. Road is a little icy, I fish tailed a bit. No one close enough for it to be an issue. This place has a 'cafe,' they allow us to eat our shelf food at their tables. Rib sandwich for me, burger for BB. Both on sale. Somewhere in WI I need to pass someone, I check the mirror and see there is a nice gap. But as always I am watching my mirror as I switch lanes and there is someone there, I missed them. They back off and won't pass until I pass what I was trying to pass. I have a second mirror on each side but I must not have looked at that one. 5th stop is in Poynette at a rest area. From here I do my PM check in call ... and ask about work. This dispatcher does not ask the others, he has trucks in MO going to OH he needs moved. BB and I talk a bit, these are not money making trips but it will keep me out of the trash trucks so we agree to take it. As I sat down in the car to talk to BB so we would be out of the wind ... RIP ... I ripped a huge hole in my pants, just by sitting down in the car ??? And these are my newest pants I have. Maybe I should be carrying a few more pairs. Not sure what we will do in OH after we drop. We still have a rental car that needs to be returned on Monday. Not sure we will find anything that will work with our time table. Most of the short trips in MN have been taken. There is one $$$ close to home, but we are not close to home. We'll keep an eye on it. 6th and final stop is the Sleep Inn in Rockford. I had hoped we would be closer to the drop by sunset but it wasn't to be. We check in and walk next door to eat. Tavern On Clark. I end up with a burger because it costs less than some other things. BB doesn't look at the price, I didn't realize that. Food is good. Beats lunch. When we get back to the room after an hour the temp in the room is still 60 degrees, we ask for a different room. We have now been in our 2nd room for two hours and the temp is all the way up to 67 degrees. And in this room we ran the shower for about a half hour to help get it warmed up enough so we could take our coats off 44 degrees when we walked in the room. Load board US - 288 IA - 2/0 MN - 20 WI - 6 IN - 11 Tomorrow I will likely need to stop for more fuel, and we should still be able to drop by about 10 AM. From there it is about five hours to the next shipper. Dispatch did not send my paperwork yet so I don't know the hours for pickup. Most likely we will pick up Thursday AM and drop Friday AM. Then home. There is one trip <> close to the next drop heading back to MN. Things change.
221228 MN-IN 1 tanker to Gary IN (delivered) 1 flatbed to Columbus OH ... spending the night at Hannibal MO It had finally warmed up by the time we had gone to bed, but I still had a chill all night. For breakfast we both had leftovers. Mine were still good. We pull out at 7:30. BB had frost on the car, I did not have any on the truck. 1st stop was in Hampshire at the TA for fuel. I am now down to less than a quarter of a tank so I need to add enough fuel to get to the drop. 100 miles left to go and I am getting 8.8 mpg. I only add 11 gallons but hope that is enough. When I pull in, I see that all pumps say 'Not working.' I call BB to let her know I will be going to the Loves a mile down the street. As I am waiting for her to pick up, I realize that the note is on the DEF area of the pump, not the pay area. They do have fuel. No one is fueling when I get there so I leave my truck at the pump while I go in to get a receipt. I ask for two. As I am walking away from the fuel desk, I look at the receipt. It is for 103 gallons, I put in 11 gallons. Gotta watch these people. Traffic isn't bad for Chicago, not much stop and go. They always seem to working on some stretch of highway around Chicago. At some point I realize I have not looked at an aerial map. Also never looked at any map on how to get there. Only a quick glance to see where the drop was located. Once we are off the freeway I pull over on an exit to look at the route. By now BB is right behind me and I call her and she looks. I had been correct on how to get there. When we get off on US-20, I realize we have been here before. Once we are on the final street, I see why. The second CNG pump in this area is right across the street from my drop. 2nd stop is the drop in Gary. Someone is standing by the door and signs off. But he does want to look at it before I leave. I go out to clean out the truck and he goes to grab a jacket. In my rush to get cleaned out, I open both doors ... a piece of paperwork goes flying. Luckily it is only a copy of the VIN that had been in the window. Before I can get out of the truck it is gone. After I am done, I go back inside to wait. Not sure if he forgot but once he sees me he comes out almost right away. No issues. I make small talk and find out that this place has one truck a week coming though July. Even though there were 100's of outhouses there, BB wants a real restroom. The closest one is at an Oasis a few miles away. 3rd stop was the New Holland Oasis. It is one that is not being taken down, yet. 4th stop is the Rax in Joliet. Same sandwich as always. This place used to be a favorite of mine. Today it was to go. From here it is a road less traveled. Most of the roads we travel are to and from MN. This is from CGO to STL. I've likely been on it, but only once or twice. 5th stop is a rest area near McLean. Not feeling the best today and wanted some citrus. The closest I got was 3% Lemonade from Dole. Not bad, I don't think I have ever had that brand before. From here I called the shipper. Voicemail. Dispatch had thought we would pick up tomorrow so we will leave it at that. I would have printed out my paperwork last night if I had gotten it. Today when BB had time, she found it. We did get it last night. Not sure of Hotmail's logic. Hotmail sends a message to the junk folder for someone I have emailed many times. But the 'lawsuit' emails I send to junk are still coming through after 50+ junk emails. The shipper closes at 3:30. We can make it by then, but not with enough time to do a proper inspection. 6th stop is for fuel in Hannibal. First to Huck's, their price is way more than listed online. We take a u-turn in their lot and head to Walmart. 7th and final stop is the Quality Inn in Hannibal. $20 cheaper than the Sleep Inn a block away. And from this one, it shares a parking lot with FiddleSticks. That was food tonight. We split a Philly. BB got a potato, I got potato soup. I only ate half. Good, but too full. Load board US - 283 IA - 6/4 MN - 13 WI - 6 IN - 14 The 'perfect trips' that were on the load board yesterday are now gone. Another thing we need to take into account is Monday is <> a holiday for some locations. That means taking a 700 mile trip and spreading it over 3+ days. Car needs to be returned on or before Monday and we also need to get re-fills on our meds. So we must be in town over the weekend. 221229 IA-MN 1 flatbed to Columbus OH (failed) 1 trash truck to Portland OR (staged) ... spending the night at home Rough night for both of us. BB was in bed by 7, I was in bed by 8. For a good part of the night, I was having hot sweats and cold sweats, plus a dream that I couldn't shake no matter how may times I woke up. At some point I did get up and found a 2nd pillow, one to put on top of my head (I had left my stocking cap in the car.) If that didn't work, I was going to put on one of my jackets. But it did work and I finally felt warm and was having on-going dreams. BB said she slept about the same but she sounds a lot worse than I. This place only has ceramic plates so we used coffee cups to take our food back to our room. I was only going to have yogurt but the eggs looked good so I had some of those also. Plus juice. Even though we are both dragging, we manage to get out of the hotel at 7:30. We have already talked about how far we may get today. We do need to get at least 200 miles so that we can make delivery tomorrow. More likely we will get about 350 miles, just past Indy. 1st stop is the shipper. I see the sign for 'shipping' and then I see that the gate is still locked. Then we realize there are not any employee cars anywhere. We drive to all corners of the property to see if maybe the truck was left out for me. It wasn't. First call to dispatch ... Opps. Big opps on their part. And me too. I had posted a couple of posts on Face Book reminding all the new drivers to make sure they check both shipper and drop before heading to the load. I had called yesterday but never heard back. Dispatch had called last week and confirmed the truck was ready and no one said anything about the place being closed for the week. There is someone answering their corporate phone today and all they know is that all plants are on shut down this week. Dispatch makes a few more calls and it sounds like mostly leaves messages. No one calls back. After an hour I start to push back, how long am I supposed to wait? Then they mention their two closest trucks. Kansas City to TX or Cedar Falls to MN. It is decided that if we haven't heard anything back by the time the Cedar Falls truck has been confirmed that I will head to that. So that is what we do. And it is right on the way home if that one is a fail also. 2nd stop is the Flying J in Wayland for the restroom. And some juice. 3rd stop is the rest area near Cedar Rapids for the rest room. I use that time to call. There is a great trip close to my house that I was hoping to get back to do. I know the shipper so I call them. :( They are closed both Friday AND Monday. Looks like a long weekend for us. I have already been to the drop for that trip this week and none of the top people are there so I likely couldn't have dropped the truck even if I had picked it up. 4th stop is the shipper. My contact names looks looks familiar. We used to do business with the company that was in the building 15 years ago. I think it is the same person. But the receptionist had all the paperwork so I didn't need to talk to anyone else. It is a trash truck, but on a Ford chassis. Nice ride. It has a quarter of a tank of fuel so I head out as soon as the paperwork is signed. I will get as far as I can so the tank is as full as it can be without making two stops. We weren't sure how far we were going to get today but once we had picked up, it looked like we could get home tonight before dark. 5th stop was the Kwik Trip in Spring Valley. I had a range of about 14 miles to 'E.' I had had enough range to get to Rochester when I picked up but I have been loosing range no matter what speed I drive. I haven't been driving a commercial vehicle today so I do not need my break after 8 hours. Actually this truck is under 10,000# so legally it is not a CDL but if I am getting paid to drive, I log it as CDL. No good anti-gel here so I will stop again in Inver Grove. 6th stop is the Pilot in Inver Grove. They do have one size of the good anti-gel. But the jug is enough to treat 360 gallons. I have a 40 gallon tank. Wished they had smaller bottles of this stuff. Not thinking ... when I get outside I have to tear the seal off the jug before pouring it. I put the jug under my arm and use the other hand to pop the seal ... all over my jacket. Before I could get it wiped off it had soaked into the jacket. 7th stop is the carriers lot. There are a few miscellaneous trucks including a tanker that was sitting here last week. Only the lead dispatcher is still in the office, but they are, so I can get in and make copies and leave the keys. I haven't eaten today since breakfast so I want to stop at Bub's. But they are closed. BB is wiped so we don't try to stop anywhere else and just head home. Load board US - 248 IA - 5/2 MN- 15 WI - 5 PTR - 4 As of now, we are just going to sit and get well. There really wasn't any good trips that would take four days to get to the drop and half a day home ... for when the rental car is supposed to be returned. Next trip ... next year ?
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