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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 2024 03 27 IA-NE 1 box truck to Omaha NE (delivered) 1 refer truck to Brooklyn Park MN ... spending the night at Independence KS Up with the alarm. At 7 AM I call dispatch on the east coast. I ask them to hold an order for we while I call the drop. The drop opens at 7 AM so it is a quick call. Yes, they are open Good Friday (and this Saturday.) So I call dispatch back and book the trip. There were other options but the logistics for this looked the best. Breakfast was yogurt. It was not a restful night for me so I decided to go with something light. ... when I checked out, I told the person at the front desk that there had been stuff in the trash can in our room when we checked it ... 'no problem' was their answer. Not sure English was there 1st (or 2nd) language. Front desk also said it was -3 degrees this AM. I think they meant Celsius. I knew I was running low on DEF last night and would have stopped at the SA in Davenport if we had been staying at that hotel. But we were not so I did not. Not wanting to have a warning light come on, I decided to put in two gallons right here at the Pilot. Saw my first transporter there in the parking lot. A small trash truck being moved by us. Saw a lot of transporters again today. We are on the move. I wanted to run my fuel down to 1/8 and re-fill from there. By the time it got that low, I was up to 6.5 mpg so I filled based on that. I fueled at a Pilot in Brooklyn IA. And from there I called the drop. Got to play tag with a couple of trucks on both ends of the state. My truck would hold at 65 mph and theirs would do 75 mph going down hill but only 55 mph going up hill. Neither of us inched passed the other, we went zoom. This truck ... never did get used to it. If I was not in the center of the lane, it would be beeping at me and shutting the radio off and changing my dash screen. ... and the radar. It would slow me down before it would show that the truck ahead of me was on the radar. When another truck/car was on my radar, it would show how fast they were going which was nice. But it had it's 'safe area' and it would slow me down if anyone was in it. Someone passes me at 70 mph and pulls in front of me ... it slows me down. With some units, once I turn on my signal to pass ... the truck will speed up to the cruise setting, even if I am still behind a slower truck. On this one, I signal, change lanes, and it would wait another five seconds before speeding back up to cruise speed. So I was using my footfeet a lot of the time my cruise was on. As I go passed the rest area in Adair, BB is just backing out of her parking spot. She catches up to me close enough to see the truck number and then follows me from there. When I first left the Pilot back in Brooklyn, my mpg went down to 6.4 so I was thinking I was going to need more fuel. Then it bounced between 6.4 and 6.5 for an hour plus before going up. It finally got up to 6.8 mpg. I had not looked at a map of my drop last night so I pulled over at the last rest area. I wrote down what I saw on the map but had a good idea of where I was going ... I thought. I take the 1st exit once we are in NE, it doesn't look right. I was expecting this exit to be a mile or more from the state line. And the cross street I was going to turn on has a different name. Opps ... I must have gotten off too soon. (That cross street also had a 'no trucks' sign) But instead of turning around, I figure I will just keep going until I see a cross street that I was going to be on. Problem was, I thought I was east of where I needed to be and I was actually already too far west. Did see a couple more of those 'no truck' signs, too late. I finally stopped at looked at a map again. I had gotten off at the correct exit. The cross street that said 'no trucks' was the correct street, it just has a different name for a few feet and I had not zoomed in far enough to see it. I had lost BB, she didn't want to follow me when I was lost. She went right to the drop. I burnt off some of that extra fuel. Not sure how, but I left an extra 1/8 of a tank of fuel for the drop. So I was getting way of the 6.5 mpg that it was showing. I did find my way back to a street that I knew and found the drop. Check in only took a couple of minutes. My drop was less than a mile from US-75 in Omaha. And my next pick up is right on US-75 ... 300 miles south. First stop with the rental car is the Chic-fil-A in Bellevue. We went through the drive thru ... I handed him my credit card, he hand me my food and away I go ... opps. I need that credit card back :) Next stop is at the Casey's in Auburn. We have stopped here before, not too many other places to stop. Then the TA on I-35 in Lebo for the restroom. And finally the Arby's in Independence for food and then the Comfort Inn for the night. Almost twice the price as the others but it is what we are used to. By now there is a truck from here going to Duluth MN. But I am already committed and we don't want to leave our car here. BB could drive the Duluth one. Load board US - 270 IA - 4 MN - 8 WI - 4 2024 03 28 KS-MN 1 refer truck to Brooklyn Park MN ... spending the night at Story City IA This AM I am finally able to get the front desk to print my Bill of Lading. It was the first thing that actually printed for them so they were surprised. I thought I could make a 2nd copy myself and their business center but couldn't. Good thing I had two copies, the shipper wanted one. Breakfast is real eggs and a choice of turkey or pork sausage, tater tots. They also had sausage on a stick wrapped in blueberry pancakes in the fridge. Plus the usual. BB is still hurting this AM, so we will go our separate ways and she will stop as needed. We head out at our usual, 7:30. The shipper is only a couple of blocks away. When we get there ... then we remember. 8 AM - 4 PM. So we have time to find my truck and do some basic checking before the office opens. Today my paperwork is inside, but we do have a box outside. I need to leave a copy of my paperwork for them plus sign and leave a copy of theirs for them. No issues with inspection. We are ready to roll at 8:30. I have over an 1/8th of a tank of fuel so we will head down the road to a station that truck islands. There I will put in enough to get to a major truckstop. The road the hotel is on heads east to US-169. There are no signs that says that road, US-160, ends but when it gets to US-169 ... you either get on 169 or you keep going strait ... on a gravel road. 2nd stop is at Pete's in Cherryvale for five gallons of fuel. 3rd stop is at Loves in Chanute for more fuel at a better price. I was going to put in 60 gallons but only 40 gallons would fit. It is an 80 gallon tank and I was at 1/4 so that <> means that about 20 gallons is not usable. I wouldn't have needed to stop yet but BB wanted to stop for gas and the restroom. From there we went our own ways. While we were there, local dispatch called about next week. BB and I talked quickly and decided next week was too far away. At this point we didn't know if her pain would be getting worse or better. BB headed up to Ottawa to the Loves and I stayed on US-169 to Kansas City. Up to now, BB had been doing OK, hurting but OK. When she came back out of the Loves in Ottawa she just plopped herself into the car like she always does ... Ouch. From then on the pain was only getting worse. I wasn't sure where exactly US-169 joined I-35 but I did recognize some of the landmarks when I got to the freeway. Right at the KS/MO state line there had been an old building right on the railroad that was slowly getting worse. Brick building but the windows were gone, etc. Today the whole building was gone. Can't see as much from this direction so I'll try to get a better look next time. I-35 is finally re-done just west of downtown. I haven't been on it since it was done, almost done. They are still working on it but it is open. Another area where it says to be in one lane to start with but then changes it as you go. Speed limit is posted as 45 mph. Posted, I'm guessing one of the pickups ahead of me was doing 80 by the time they got in the 3rd lane. This truck does have most of the radar things that the last one did put it is different. The first truck I came up behind, I was within a truck length when it hit the breaks, hard. The other truck would have slowed me gently a quarter mile back. Did spend a lot of time with my foot on the footfeet. No way to change the radar setting. The northbound scale north of KC is gone now. It is just truck parking. I stop at the rest area and text BB that I will be stopping soon for lunch. She mis-reads it and thinks I am way ahead of her and am already done with lunch. 4th stop for me is at the Shell/Wendy's in Cameron for food. I didn't know what was at the Loves and because I texted BB before I got there, I wanted it to be some place I wanted to eat. BB never stopped ... sailed right passed while I was eating. When she got to her next stop, then she realized what I had texted and was now a half hour plus ahead of me. We both stopped at the Osceola rest area but at different times. 6th stop was at the Ankeny rest area. We had agreed on this stop before we parted ways. We talk on the phone. BB is in deep pain and needs to get off the road ASAP. If we make it another 30 miles, we will have done 400 miles today and have 200 more to go tomorrow. BB is saying every time she gets in/out of the car it is getting worse. I have to pick up some of her stuff out of the car as she can't bend to get it. Once we are in the room, I call and order food from the Mexican place in town. The KFC/Taco Bell and a family restaurant have all been torn down to put in a local grocery store. Now the gas station next to it has closed also. Food is more than enough. I had asked if I could get beans instead of rice, I got both. I also ended up with two chicken and one beef enchilada instead of 1 cheese, 1 chicken and 1 beef. More than either of us could eat. I also got a mango pop. BB feels better after taking some pain meds and laying down. Hopefully good enough to get the rest of the way home. Looking at our emails. We see that I got paid for my truck from last week (?) Usually we get paid within the hour. And it is wrong, so I need to call them on it. Load board US - 284 IA - 12 MN - 5 WI - 4 200 miles to the drop. I will likely need to fuel again before dropping. 2024 03 29 KS-MN 1 refer truck to Brooklyn Park MN (delivered) ... spending the night at home ?? Morning ?? My BP has been way down all week. Not sure the why on that, it usually is only this low when I have been home a couple of days. Breakfast. BB eats leftovers, I go down for yogurt ... then see meat. This place has link sausage, little winnies, ham sausage and bacon. I took some to go with my yogurt. No eggs for me today. No juice either, it was empty. Room full of people and no one bothered to tell the help. I did, but didn't wait. I had forgot to do my log last night and BB had had to wake me up this AM so we were running a little late. Not late, late. We got out of the room on time. Only one other truck in the lot, and less than a dozen cars. Better than the Super 8. They had no trucks and six cars. I have about 3/8ths of a tank of fuel. Plan is to run it down so I am not leaving as much as the last two times. I had hoped I would get to Owatonna. That is the only place BB checked the fuel prices. BB and I part ways. We won't see each other again until the drop. She plans on stopping in Ellsworth at the Loves for fuel. She is feeling a little better this AM after a good nights sleep but still very careful on any movement. My check engine light comes on for a bit right after Clear Lake so I will not try to make it to Owatonna. I was surprised to see ice on the lake by Big Marie State Park. Weather had been nice when we left, we thought maybe all the snow would be gone by the time we got back. It wasn't. 1st stop was Albert Lea. First I pull into the Loves but there are lines. So I go across the street to the TA where there are only two trucks for six lanes. But that was enough to throw me. It seemed like I was getting 10 mpg on this tankful, so I was going to take the mileage from Clear Lake to Brooklyn Park and divide by 9 mph to be safe. But I was confused and did Albert Lea to Brooklyn Park. I didn't realize that until the gauge started dropping. So, 2nd stop is the Holiday in Lakeville to add the fuel I forgot to add in Albert Lea. While I am there, local dispatch calls. They are looking for drivers for next week. This time it was the owner that called. I had said yesterday I was NA to the dispatcher, I guess that wasn't good enough. We want to work. But with BB the way she is right now we don't want to commit to any trips yet. 3rd stop is the drop. I hadn't really looked at a map, I know <> where it is. And I can see trucks before I get to the turn. Fuel light is not on when I get there. Here, they guy at the desk signs for the truck without even looking out the window. I'm free to go. As we are sitting in the car in the lot, another transporter brings a truck in. Most times I would have talked to them but BB wants to be home and off her feet ASAP. Last night we had noticed that I had not gotten paid for one item on a trip. So I called, the company is 'updating' and some of the items are being paid, but not displaying on our stub. So they sent what they see. And the customer for this trip wants all fuel receipts. Not sure they why, but they do get to see how much they are over paying the drivers for fuel. This truck I made a little more than the last truck. Not sure why. This was a bigger truck. 4th stop is Sweet Taste of Italy. Great food. Today, to go. I do let local dispatch know I, just me, is available if they need me on Mon-Tues. Maybe both of us by Weds. BB wants to work right away. I'd rather she didn't push it. IF I am not working, I'd like for us to just drive around so she can see if she really is better, good enough to be on the road. She still is moving the wrong way once in a while and it is painful. Load board US - 263 IA - 13 MN - 2 WI - 3 Easter. No work Sat or Sun for sure. 2024 03 30 MN Load board US - 274 IA - 24 MN - 12 WI - 3 2024 04 01 MN ... spending the night at home I waited ... but the call never came. Local dispatch thought they were going to get a lot of trucks over the weekend. But if they did, not were in the mile range that I would do. Finally by noon BB and I were done with what we had to do on our time home so I called local dispatch. Last week they had had one that could be done this week but even that must have been taken. So we are free to find other work ... if there was some. Earlier in the day I had stopped in the office to drop off paperwork and they were all in a meeting so I got in and out quickly. They did have a few trucks in the lot, so there is work. Just not short trips. Just like the long haul carrier. Almost everything they have is 1,000+ miles. There were a few RV's on the board today, some from the weekend some from today. There are still a pair going to TX that could work. Not sure if we will wait for something better? That doesn't always work out so good. There was a storm moving into IA today so we really didn't want to commit yet today. Not driveway. But saw a hit and run today. We were leaving a restaurant, we had gotten in our car and I was <> watching the person next to us to see if they were going to back out first. They got their hand on the shifter first so I sat. I could see another car backing from behind us I thought, but couldn't tell where exactly it was. And I'm not sure if that was the car that could hit. I must have glanced away for a second, then I see the car next to us is going to hit a car behind us. I blow my horn. The car next to me pulls ahead, sits a second, then backs out and heads the opposite direction. When I back out, I do not see the car that was hit so I figured THEY were the ones who had taken off. But then I saw them on the far side of the parking lot looking at their damage. The car that hit them was gone ... By the time I saw the car that was hit we were on the street and I hadn't thought of getting the plane or description of either car. Wasn't thinking one of them would run. BB seems to be better, we were in and out of the car a dozen times today and no issues. Just a sore back this time I guess. Load board US - 225 IA - 11/7 MN - 9 WI - 2 No plan for work. Watch the load board and hit re-fresh tomorrow.
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