 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
.. the trip continues from HERE 230418 IN-MN 1 RV to Ramsey MN ... spending the night at Black River Falls WI What a day ... a long day for us. As far as I can remember, everything went OK in the early AM. I had been screaming at kids in my dreams so that had me wondering how my real day was going to go. We pull out at our usual time. At some point before we leave the hotel room, we realize that we have left 3 of our 4 I-passes in our personal car back in IA. It wasn't just our bad one that was left there. So now BB starts to do some serious thinking about driving one of the two units without an I-pass. There are no longer any toll booths in IL. And the rental car adds a stiff fee for processing missed tolls. The first thing we do is re-route so that we do not go on the toll road this AM. It adds a little more time but does cut off some miles. And by going this way we see lots of Amish. There are places where the paved shoulder has a rut from the horse shoes. Like the runs on the mountains from the tire changes. At one point we could see three buggies coming in our direction within the next half mile. Another thing we noticed was that is was washing or at least drying day. Yesterday it had rained or snowed depending on where you were. And in this area, not all Amish are farmers. They are living on modern type house that they likely bought and likely have changed to meet the Amish standards. We also noticed solar panels on what appeared to be Amish dwellings. That one I will have to look into. By the time we get to down, BB needs to stop before we get to the lot. This gas station looks like a medieval castle from the outside. BB went in, I did not. We get to the lot and find our RV. Someone else starts yelling over the fence, he thinks they have changed the access code. It's on his paperwork but he hadn't looked at that before he started yelling. Before we are ready to go, I find that same driver to ask about this division. They were recently bought by our main carrier and still operate kind of their own way. So I wanted to see if there was anything I should know, be aware of. Turns out he had never seem the paperwork that was in my RV and I got a look at his which I had never seen before. It wasn't long before BB headed over to get me going ... and then she got in on the conversation. We spent at least a half hour talking and could have kept going all day and into the night. BB heads out to the airport and I head to the Loves for fuel. This time I know where I am going so I don't miss it like last time. Something has changed with their computers and we can no longer use the rewards card with the company payment card. It took them, two of them, one being the store manager a while to figure out that is what was locking the transaction. Now tonight I see someone on one of the driveaway groups had the same issue today. Leaving Loves I mis-read a sign and ended up in town. When I first stopped to see where I was, all the the stores had multi locations in this area so I still had no idea where I was. I should have headed back to Loves then. Instead I kept going until I saw something that I thought was unique that I could find on a map. It would take 10 minutes longer to keep going than going back where I came from. I texted BB to say I'd be late, but not how late picking her up. On the four lane we get to where we can see there is a truck stalled in the left lane so everyone will have to merge. As usual some people merge right away and others wait until the last seconds. Some of the people who merged right away get tired of getting passed. Today that was a guy with a truck with a couple of large round bales. Unique so I had been watching him for a while. He is just about to where there is a break in the concrete median when he gets into the left lane and tries to make a u-turn. Problem is the person ahead of him decided to do the same thing at the same time. The farmer was there first so he tries to make a u-turn with oncoming traffic coming. He can't make it, so he has to back up ... right into the other truck that was also trying to make a u-turn. He hits the 2nd truck hard enough that I can see it rock when he hits it and when he pulls forward and I can see the damage done. ... and he leaves. Hit and run. 20-20 hindsight I should have pulled over and called 911. 20-20 hindsight I should have started recording when I saw what was going to happen. They were both making illegal U-turns with on-coming traffic, this was not likely to end well. And the guy who was broke down, his front tire was flat and it looked like part of the front end broke in the process. After all this, the issue at Loves, getting lost and traffic delay, BB has been waiting at the airport for about 45 minutes with no idea where I am or why I am late. And the first thing I say to her is ... 'it's been a good day for us.' We're late, but no serious issues. When we get to the entrance of the IN toll road, the booth can't read my I-pass so I have to take a ticket. Then when we get to the end of the toll road later ... it does read my I-pass so I can't pay. No people, all computers so no one to talk to. No idea what I will be billed or when. Oh, the rental car that we had to get for three days ... BB just returned it and their computer billed us for two days. IF we had know we were going to change plans like this, we could have cut off even more time and gotten it returned in one day. At the first rest area / oasis we stop for food. Sbarro's pizza and ziti. From here I call the drop, the sound glad their RV is coming. (more later) (Wednesday AM) Chicago is slow, we loose at least another half hour. Later last night I see two messages that that section of freeway was completely closed both Monday and again Tuesday morning due to accidents. When we were there, BB could see on the GPS map where the accident was ahead of us, and the overhead signs said that the two right lanes were closed but we stayed in them ... and by the time we got to where the accident was, it was gone. Quick stop at the Belvidere Oasis, it has been three plus hours since our last stop. Maybe we were delayed more than a half hour. This time we didn't go for cheapest fuel. I've got an RV and I prefer to fuel with the cars when I have one. The best price for me for that is Loves and Dekorra was in the correct area. Before I ran out and close enough to the drop I should not have to stop again. I may need to stop near the drop and bring it up to delivery level. That's the plan, we can't drain any out so this is the better option. Mauston. Recently when we were heading south we saw the miles long delays heading north. Today we are in that line. Another half hour lost, at least. We want to stay somewhat on plan so we stop at the Double Nickle and eat. The Log Cabin Deli is already closed. Meatloaf is the special of the day so I'm good. Back in the RV and driving down the freeway, I see a turkey flying out of the trees. If I hadn't hit the breaks, I would have hit it right on the windshield. Another hour and we are at our hotel in Black River Falls. It is somewhere on the last leg of the day that we realize that we would not have enough legal hours to get home tonight. Something we had talked about, but never done the hours math on. Turkey HOS :) Load board US - 224 IA - 9/7 MN - 10 IA - 25 rental - 1 230419 IN-MN 1 RV to Ramsey MN (delivered) 1 trash truck to South Sioux City NE ... spending the night at Worthington MN Breakfast is eaten and we are ready to roll at 7:30. It is raining, raining enough that I pull the RV around under their entry to go in and check out. Hadn't thought of doing that for BB and our luggage. Snowing again just a few miles north of us. It rains pretty hard for the first hour, then only light rain the 2nd hour and then mostly dry once we are in MN. MN scale is open so I have to cross it. Some guy ahead of me decided to take the exit instead of crossing the scale and then once off the freeway, each truck gets a light on where to go. The trucks ahead of me had to cross the scale, but I got the bypass ... at the last second, the truck ahead of me sees the bypass light and cuts his tires. Pretty sure he knew that wasn't for him, but no one chanced either of them down as far as I know. It's been over two hours so we stop at the rest area in MN. Then 15 minutes later we are at the rental car place. I drop BB off and wait for her call. They do have a car so I'm gone. We are past the end of rush hour so clear sailing to the drop. Much easier than coming in directly from the south into all the road construction. Today was easy. I need to deliver with 1/4th tank of fuel and that is what I am at, but I stop at the nearby Holiday and put in one more gallon. I don't want the gauge to drop below 1/4th before they check it in. By the time I am backing into a parking spot, BB is there. I need to get my paperwork in order for the drop so BB gets all of our luggage into our rental car. A few blocks away and we are at the drop. It is across the street from the one I dropped about a week ago. They are happy to see me. I give them the paperwork and go and wait in the car. It takes them most of an hour. There is one customer there that I talked to a couple of times. About RV's, about what I do for a living and about scammers. He got a scam call while we were sitting there. This place wrote up a lot of issues but wrote 'none' under driver damage so I am good. I hadn't dealt with this dispatch office or shipper before so I call to make sure I'm doing everything correct. BB didn't come into this shop with me so our next stop is back at the Holiday. I call the trash truck dispatcher and have to leave a message. From there we drove a few miles, three miles, but it takes a half hour because of the road construction. We stop in Anoka to get to-go food from Chik-fil-A. We go inside hopping it is faster. Good food. I got a sandwich today, easier to eat in the car. I usually get nuggets and dip but that can be messy. By now dispatch has called me back and I have a trip heading to NE. There are three and they would like me to do all three but I don't commit this far ahead of time. There had been a rental truck this AM that would have gone great with this trip but it was gone the 2nd time we checked this AM. :( Not this trip is not going to pay nearly as well. An hour and a half later we are at the dispatch office, my paperwork is not in the box yet so I need to call again. Once I do get it and walk back to my car, the car is locked and I notice someone is now parked behind it ... and the person is smiling at me. BB. :) I am trying to get in the wrong car. Hmmm ... both of my carriers had had two lock boxes for truck keys. Now my local carrier is back to one. Things not going well since they lost the last dispatcher? One box is empty so they haven't added a new carrier yet. I do see the carrier that the driver I talked to in Dayton works for, they do have box here. My long haul carrier had a full box, this box has <> 20 keys in it today. I don't look at the 2nd box. Inspection takes about a half hour. BB finds it almost right away. Before we leave we decide to get as far as Worthington. We would have to go all the way to Sioux City to get to cheaper hotels. Paying for both the rental car and a high priced hotel means we are not going to make a lot on this trip. It rains most of the way to Worthington. I have the radio on a local station for a while and they are saying possible snow again this weekend ... BB pulls into the hotel as soon as I am parked. This hotel has drinks and snacks on weeknights. That is what we end up eating for supper. Chips, dips and olives. BB also has carrots and celery. Cheap, but not great. I did get paid for the fuel I had over filled :) and the DEF I thought I was short had also been paid so money issues are all OK. 1st stop - West Lakeland at the MN rest area 2nd / non-stop was in Landfall to pick up a rental car 3rd - Holiday in Ramsey 4th - drop in Ramsey 5th - Holiday in Ramsey 6th - Chic-fil-A in Anoka 7th - Dodge Center office and shipper 8th - Comfort Inn in Worthington Loadboard US - 217 IA - 8/7 MN - 14 WI - 25 The only rental truck close is going to LA, the state. I did call on three trucks in WI going down to STL but they are paying about half of the other trips we are doing so not worth doing for us. Tomorrow we have about two more hours to the drop. Then about three hours to our personal car and another two plus hours back to the rental. We should get the rental dropped off before they close. We had thought we would be using it longer when there was more work on the load board. If the load board stays, we will likely to another MN to IA trip on Friday before heading out again over the weekend. 230420 MN-NE 1 trash truck to South Sioux City NE (delivered) 2 RV's to 1,000 Oaks CA (Friday) ... spending the night at home Breakfast ... for us and others (?) Last night the parking lot was full when we went for a walk, this AM there was a semi parked where many cars had been last night. Either that trucker showed up for a free breakfast this AM after the work crews left ... or the work crews were at the hotel for the free drinks and then left for to their own hotels. Raining. 10 miles down the road a warning light comes on. I call and leave a message with dispatch but they do not start for another hour. Last trip they told me to keep going, and I have had this same issue with 5 of the last 6 trucks so I'm not worried. I do stop again near Hintson when dispatch calls back. I had stopped again a few minutes before this and left a second message. This time they want me to wait where I am before I continue. There is a dealer just a few miles away that would actually save BB and I time if we can drop it there. But no, they can't look at it it seems so I am told to continue to the drop. I do and the person doing the inspection does not even note it on the paperwork. They do note that there is an air leak on the tag axle, which I knew because both times I started it the tires had dropped. Nothing knew on the load board so we are heading back to get our car in Forest City. By Holistein, BB is ready for another break. She takes her break and I check in on the farm situation. I had been calling over the weekend but it has been moving earlier and earlier in the week. A few minutes before this stop, RV dispatch had put out RV's to CA. One at a time so we wouldn't have taken them but it was enough to make me decide to call and see what the farm situation was. And it is still in the future, likely next month. Two hours later we are near Fort Dodge and it is time to eat. Nothing near the four lane so we head into town and find a Culvers. Not the best service, they gave us cups, we hadn't ordered drinks. They gave us our food on a tray, we had ordered it to go. My sandwich did not have mayo but we had mayo left from yesterday at Chik-fil-A so we were good :) From here we decide to take the back roads. Likely 20 turns between there and Forest City. Even down some 'no trucks' streets. Different than the freeway, I just listened to the GPS. WOW ... two RV's to CA. We have not been there for almost six months. BB pauses for a few seconds but then dials. We have never been to this location before as it is close to LA. We get the trips. Even better, this drop does not want us towing so we get a little extra for one of the RV's. We will leave out tomorrow. We get to the office and pick up our car. I talk a few words to another driver who is going to Las Vegas. He likes to take our trips as he has family there but the other trip came up first and we can't change trips once we commit. When BB stops at the rest area she has a voice mail from dispatch. Her RV has been canceled/delayed ... :( She says her heart sank a little because we do not make money moving just one RV that far) ... But, they continue ... there is another RV like I am taking that she can have so we will now get the 'little extra' on both RV's :) All is good. We both stop at a gas station near the rental car place and the posted price is $3.59 but the pump price is $3.19. Not going to complain. No issues dropping the rental car. Two more stops and we are home for the night. We both had thought about staying the night closer to the shipper but we have plenty of time and weather is not an issue this time. There were briefly two trucks from Hood River OR to Chicago on the board. That would have made a nice trip. About 2,000 miles each way with both of us driving each way. ... Yesterday AM, we saw a dead bear near Woodville in the ditch. Load board US - 227 IA - 1/0 MN - 14 WI - 27 Plan is to leave out at our usual time and get as far as Kearny NE, then Dalhart on Saturday, Holbrook on Sunday and near LA on Monday and deliver Tuesday AM. Because of my hours / HOS we won't pick up a bus until Wednesday ... hopefully. .. the trip continues HERE
|
