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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2023 11 18 MN ... spending the night at home A mixed week. We had wanted to be home for Saturday and there had been no work last weekend so we deadheaded 1,000+ miles home. ... only to find out one of our house guests was sit and now we had been exposed. So we <> sat the week out at home. There were a few things that could have worked but we have been on the road before when some bug hits us and we have to drag ourselves to get to the drop. Finally on Saturday AM, I called dispatch to check on a trip. No one took it so if it is still there on Monday we will grab it and likely just do and out and back. The other thing about sitting home is that the calendar fills up. Now BB has plans for Wednesday so we don't likely have time to do a 2nd leg this week. Our closest shipper for our main carrier has had very few trips lately. On FB, drivers of other carriers are saying they are now getting trips from there and they had not before ... and a few weeks ago we had gotten a company email not to contact one of the dispatchers phone numbers. Still don't know if that means that dispatcher is gone or there were other reasons with the phone. And our main shipper, the RV's, is still running slow. We are hoping to grab something next week and then get out of town on Friday. As of now, it is one of those rare times when we have close to a month with no appointments or family plans. Load board - Monday US - 127 IA - 2 MN -0- WI - 3 Load board - Tuesday US - 160 IA - 6 MN -0- WI - 5 Load board - Wednesday US - 155 IA - 17 MN - 1 WI - 2 Load board - Thursday US - 147 IA - 13 MN - 1 WI - 1 Load board - Friday US - 152 IA - 18 MN - 3 WI - 4 Load board - Weekend US - 156 IA - 17 MN - 4 WI - 4 2023 11 20 MN-IA ?1 box truck to Davenport IA (delivered) ... spending the night at Cedar Rapids IA Up without the alarm. At 7 AM I call the east coast dispatchers and get the local trip. We could have been ready, but it takes us about an hour to get out of the house. Directions are to call the shipper but they aren't picking up so we head out without contact. When I get to the shipper, the sales people are in a meeting, the service people are not to be found ... by then the sales meeting is over ... but they have no idea what I am talking about. Finally they have enough info to contact the sales person who isn't in. A few minutes later they hand me the keys and I am free to go. There is only one box truck on the lot so it was easy to find. As we do the walk around we see the 'diesel only' fuel tank, but I can't find the DEF tank. Finally we look at the label under the hood and it says 'gasoline.' ??? We then find the gas tank. When I start the truck, I see that the fuel tank is full. That is very unusual. Usually trucks picked up at dealers are on E or close. All checks good so I am off, BB and I won't see each other until the drop. I looked at Google maps and it says the road is closed near Floyd in IA so that is a good excuse not to go past the scale on that route. Instead I head back to St Paul and then down to Rochester. Fuel usage on the truck when I pick it up is 10+ mpg, by the time I stopped for fuel it was at 9.5 mpg and by the drop it is down to 9.2 mpg. Not much for excitement on this trip, I saw two eagles feasting on a carcass. BB got to see one of them a little closer, she almost had to hit the breaks not to hit it as it lifted off. BB also saw three deer crossing ahead of her. By the time I got to Waterloo, I was down to 1/4 tank of fuel so I stopped at Flying J and put in enough fuel to make it to the drop based on current mileage. And then put in another half gallon. I'm glad I did as the fuel I put in only raised the range to what I wanted ... with no extra. Coming into the drop the gauge was where I wanted it, but the range was short. So I changed the screen :) Quick check in ... I found out more about the truck. The diesel tank is a re-fueling tank for equipment. And the truck came from here. Seems this location had put the liftgate on, sent the truck to Minneapolis where the customer decided they wanted a different style gate so I brought the truck back. BB isn't there to pick me up yet so I have time to make a couple of phone calls. I call on a trip from IL to MN ... or WI. Nope. That customer doesn't pay enough, we'll likely never move one. Then I call the RV dispatcher ... they will be open on Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving so they are not letting us call in for trips early. There are three trucks coming into IA on the rental board, but none going out. The trips in IL could be done but don't pay enough. The only trip in WI is heading to Minot ND and we only have one day. And the two RV's in IA going to WI would also be cutting it short. ... and now there is one trash truck but again, not enough time to get done tomorrow. There would be on that one if we were home, but we are hours from home. We had thought we would make it to Cedar Falls but a few miles before Cedar Rapids we decide to be off the road before dark. So we stop at the Comfort Inn in Cedar Rapids. First we stop at the Pepper Jax for food to go. Load board US - 187 IA - 21 MN - 8 WI - 2 If no work shows up in-route heading home, we'll be home early. Watching the load board until we get work. 2023 11 21 MN-IA ?1 box truck to Davenport IA (delivered) ... spending the night at home Nowhere to go, no rush to get there. We finally went down to get breakfast at 8 AM. Only diet yogurt so I had eggs and sausage. We pulled out about 9 AM. It had rained overnight but still no frost. But the temps did drop as we drove north today. 1st stop was at a cemetery in Waterloo. There are a few thousand flat markers there so every time we had stopped before we just drove in and out. The office was always closed. Today was a weekday so we were in luck. A few minutes there and a short walk and we were on the road again. The next place I knew the name but on the exact place so we stopped at one before we got to the 'correct' one. Then when we got to the one I have listed, I am able to stand in the center and see all the makers. This place only has 100 or so put right markers and the one I am looking for is unique. After a few minutes of standing there I realize I am still at the wrong cemetery. There are a series of cemeteries in the area all name 'St Paul's Lutheran.' I've spent enough time today, time to keep moving. Not sure what happened but BB is in pain today. She thinks it was just sitting wrong yesterday while driving but it is painful getting in and out of the car so we will limit the times we do that the rest of the day. 3rd stop was at the Kwik Star at New Hampton. It is our rest area on US-63. 4th stop is Culvers in Rochester. We waited until Rochester so we would have lots of choices but BB does not want to have to get out of the car and want's fast food fast. 5th stop was the Pilot in Inver Grove Heights. Fuel was 30 cents cheaper in IA but I didn't need a full tank yet then. Now I had been day dreaming and didn't see the low fuel light come on. Second time in a couple of days that I have put in 11 gallons in our '10 gallon' tank. ... and home. Nothing on the load board that would have worked for today and getting home today. And now BB isn't up to driving so it doesn't make much difference. IA has started putting RV's out but we can't call until tomorrow. There was one Rental in MN that we could have done, if we were in MN. Load board US - 236 IA - 27 MN - 9 WI - 6 As of right now we are still waiting for the 'perfect trip,' so we are not committing to anything that will interfere with that. IF that trip does not show up Wednesday we will just wait until Friday ... or Saturday. By Saturday noon we will likely take something to be moving the rest of the weekend.
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