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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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.. the trip continues from HERE 2024 06 20 MO-MN 1 box refer truck to Independence KS (delivered) 1 box truck to Brandon MN (failed) ... spending the night at Kansas City MO Up before the alarm. At check in last night they said breakfast was at 7 AM. But by 6 AM we could see people leaving the hotel with plates of food. We stuck with our plan and did not eat breakfast here. Today we were out the door at 6:45 and ready to roll at 7 AM. Luckily the pickup next to us pulled out as soon as BB moved the car from in front of my truck so I had a clear shot out. But, because I was facing the wrong way ... I would have had to either back across the parking lot with the backup alarm beeping, or drive across the curb. I chose the curb. Rough bump but I was only going a couple of miles an hour. I thought I had put enough fuel in yesterday based on the last truck and the fact that this truck already had a few more miles on it. But I still had to stop and add more. 1st stop was Pete's in Fredonia with truck islands. Same place as I stopped with the last truck so I knew how many miles I had to go. This time I did guess right and brought it in right with 1/4. That is where I wanted it. Likely could have left it closer to 'E' but I don't like doing that for them or the next guy. 2nd stop was the drop. Front office didn't want to sign for the truck and sent me to where they drop off the chassis. They didn't seem to know what to do with it. Even when the guy was walking to the truck with me. But then he looks at what the shipper had done with the truck, he knew all about that. So he did know ... 3rd stop was a couple blocks down the street at another Pete's for gas for our car and some Subway for us. It is only 9 AM and Subway is open but they do not do breakfasts. Sounds like they were only doing 1-2 a day, not worth it to stock breakfast items. Had a little mix up last night. My trip later today got dispatched before the trip I just did so I had to make a few calls to both dispatchers before that got corrected. Somewhere before we stop again, local dispatch calls and <> asks where I am. But they don't ask a direct question and I don't give a direct answer. What they have is a truck in Saint Louis ... Sorry, we are busy today and when I am not busy, I will be in MN, not Saint Louis. 4th stop for the day was the Loves in Ottawa. Same as last trip, we were going to take a different route until BB realizes there are no 'known' places to stop for the rest room. This route doesn't add any extra time so via Love's is how we go. 5th stop is the shipper. No one in the office when I get there, then someone comes to help ... we talk ... all is good. At some point the person says that I must be going home, based on my accent. I told them I have family buried in the cemetery in the town I was dropping, so yes, close to home. They bring the truck around and hand me the keys. Then we do what we always do. An inspection. No marker lights on the box, only one back up light and no back up alarm. First I call our main dispatcher (I should have called safety instead) to get their input knowing that my dispatcher from this load doesn't deal with these issues. Then I call my dispatcher who asks 'Are you OK to run with it that way?' By now the answer is no. Now I go back in and talk to someone in the office who has a mechanic come out to talk to me and look at the truck. THEN the first person comes back out and walks up to me, puts out his had to introduce himself. "I'm ____ and I own this company. If there are any fines, those fines will all come to me." I'm thinking he was expecting me to say OK and I'd be on my way. ... but my company says if there is a bulb, it has to be working ... I didn't talk to the boss again. An hour plus later the mechanic comes back and says they have a new issue. The anti theft system has locked them out and they will need to call a lock smith. So I give them a 2nd set of keys ... they had come apart after they had handed them to me. They thought maybe the keys I had would work but another hour later and still no progress. It was getting close to when I had to be rolling to make delivery tomorrow and it would be tomorrow before they could start looking at the original problem. I was not interested in getting a hotel ... and staying with the truck. So now I need to call dispatch and have them take me off the trip and take their money back out of my account. While talking on the phone, this person also comments on m accent. He is from OK but he has picked up words that I have said that are 'Minnesotan.' Then I call local dispatch back in MN. Plan had been to call them after I picked up this truck to get work lined up for this weekend and or next week. Instead I am seeing if the Saint Louis truck is still available. It is not. But it was a tanker going back to MN so it would have paid good and we could have dropped on Saturday if need. Timing ... By now it is going on 3 PM and we have not eaten lunch. I mention Stroud's but BB is hungry now and there is a Waffle House much closer. So five miles down the road ... 6th stop is Waffle House. Two eggs and bacon for both of us. We are the only ones when we walk in but four other groups come and go while we are there. Finally by 4 PM we decide to get a hotel. 7th and final stop is the Comfort Inn across the street from the Waffle House and across the freeway from the Worlds of Fun. Same person at the counter as last time that kept me waiting for my paperwork for an hour while she told stories. She was wound again today but today I did not have a reason to stay and listen. Nothing that works has shown up on the load board. There is one out of Independence KS going to WI, it would have worked yesterday before I accepted this failed trip. Also while we were eating there were RV out of IA. Four RV's and the longest one stayed on the load board for six minutes. That is why it doesn't look like there is any work. It flies off the load board. Load board US - 77 IA - 1/-0- MN - 1 WI - 8 We will be up by 7 AM watching the load board. By 11 AM we will check out and head home. 7-8 hours home and maybe off for another weekend. Let's see ... we could run in Grandma's marathon this weekend ... or go to Back to the 50's at the state fair grounds. Or a strawberry festival near our hours, or a cheese curd festival a few miles into Wisconsin. 2024 06 21 MO-MN 1 box truck to Brandon MN (failed) ... spending the night at home We were up in time to watch the load board at 7 AM. No action and BB hadn't slept well last night. So far her random insomnia has not been an issue on driving days. The only trip that would work right now would have been deadheading to Janesville WI but we would have had to have gotten going first thing this AM to make the shippers close time. On that one we could have either delivered it on Saturday or parked it in the driveway until Monday. There is another truck like the two I moved yesterday heading to Appleton WI. But we would have had to have picked it up yesterday to make Friday delivery. If we were to have taken it today it would be a Monday delivery so 3 plus days for a 700 mile trip. That does not pay and I was still hoping to get weekend work. Once it was 8 AM, I called local dispatch and got 'Thor.' Pleasant guy so far, but it was early in the AM. My carriers phones were down and all calls were being forwarded to his number. He has no connection to the carrier. Local carrier does have two people going to Crookston on Saturday and they will call me if another bus is added (there wasn't.) Other than that all trips are over my <> 500 mile limit so no work yet for Monday and I never do get a call back later in the day. Instead of waiting until 11 AM checkout we are out of the hotel before 9 AM. 1st stop is in Eagleville at Loves for fuel. First pump did not work so I hope that is not an issue. I put my credit card in and it said wait ... for a few minutes. So I pulled the credit card out. Then the message changed to 'remove card.' That message would not clear so I moved to a different pump. 2nd stop was the Culver's in Des Moines/Ankeny for to-go food. 3rd stop was the rest area near Owatonna. Lots of water in the fields and forecast for more. 4th stop is the Honey Baked Ham store in Burnsville. Today we only saw one RV on the load board all day and it was gone within seconds. Likely there was more but we were not both hitting refresh all day as we had no plans to work before next week. 5th stop is home. Home for the weekend. Not going to Duluth as it is Grandma's Marathon, BB has no interest in going to Back To the 50's so it will either be the Cheese Curd festival or one of the Strawberry festivals. Load board US - 76 IA - 1/-0- MN - 2 WI - 3
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