 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
2024 07 28 MN spending the night at home Got in late (for us) on Friday night. Well after 10 PM, long day. Sat AM we were up before 7 AM and rolling again by 9 AM. We headed to the funeral that we had deadheaded home for. We were at the visitation, funeral and lunch until about 1:30. Then off we went again. We needed to get down to pick up our car from the shipper in Forest City IA. If we had done that Friday night we would have been on the country roads in the dark with lots of deer roaming around. And it would have taken us an hour plus, so we would have gotten home between 11:30 and midnight. And still would have had to be up about 7 AM. Two plus hours to the shipper. Non-stop (I think.) We fire up the car. There are 50+ RV's to be flat bedded out plus another 10-20 to be driven out. Hopefully that is the start of them dumping them out for their year end. BB stopped on the way back at Loves in Albert Lea where fuel is cheap. Avis now shows on the receipt and the app what the fuel level is and it is to be returned at the same level it was picked up at. We aren't talking looking at the fuel gauge, it now shows how many gallons are in the fuel tank at all times. So the days of knowing how many miles you can go and have the gauge still on fuel are gone. So BB stopped again at the Holiday by the airport to top it off. I knew I would have extra time so I stopped at the cemetery and took a few pictures. After I picked up BB, neither of us had looked at the way out of the airport. Ramps are closed, one of the streets is one way the wrong way down the street. We finally got on east 494, or tried to. We ended up on MN-62. A quick stop at Zuppa's. It is still hot in there so BB made a comment about it. Their AC is out and they can't get the part for two weeks. There is a portable AC unit but you pretty much need to stand in front of it to feel anything. Another long day, tonight we were home before dark. Load board US - 152 IA - 1/0 MN - 1 WI - 0 2024 07 31 DOT spending the night at home Monday AM my blood pressure was still down so I called the clinic, one of the Dr's that I've had in the past there is available on Wednesday so I made an appointment. Tuesday was just a relax day, did less that usual. BP stayed down. Tuesday night I didn't sleep well at all. Got up during the night because I had just be laying there and as I walked I remembered that I had been dreaming. But I never had the feeling of drifting off or waking all night, but I could remember dreams so I had slept. I was still so tired in the AM that BB went for a walk without me and I did not get up until I needed to get ready to go to the clinic. My BP is up but still very good. I get to the clinic and my BP is too high ... the 1st time. But when I get called in they have me doing things and then ... 'lay your arm here so I can get your BP.' I usually take a few good deep breaths before starting. Later when the Dr took it. I was sitting there and he was asking off topic questions and then left the room for a minute or two before coming back and testing again. Then it was down where it has been during the day for the last few days. Other than that, I passed the hearing. Still passed the eye sight and the rest of the touch your toes things. But the Dr did ask about one number that I had NO idea what he was talking about. I even had him write it down. And he want's me to have that number before next year. It has to do with how hard my heart is pumping. From there I went to the DMV, first time stopping locally. Before I have always gone to the state locations. Then to my local office. They have found issues a few times but today we are good. When I get home I call my heart doctor. Actually just the office because they change Dr's more often than I show up. Last time I was there was 2017. So seven years ago, and I think that was because of an issue, not a routine check up. Used to go once a year for decades until my original Dr retired. Things changed, they didn't call me, I didn't call them. I also had to set up an appointment for my regular Dr to keep getting my meds renewed. That's not a lifetime OK on those anymore either. ... and IA was putting trips on the load board today. A dozen at a time instead of 1-2 at a time. Nothing we wanted yet. Dispatch even called today. They had a couple of CDL units not on the load board they wanted moved ... to the east coast. They know BB has her CDL even though it never was entered in the system. But it's the east coast and BB does not want to do CDL. (Or even work a lot of the time.) I said no. We'll keep watching the load board for the perfect times. We have three weeks until we have to be back for something. The State Fair, one of my Dr's appointments, something else. So we don't need to be in a rush. I don't think I mentioned it in the prior right ups. Last week we started working about Tuesday at noon and were back home from OKC on Friday night. We met our monthly income goal in three and a half days. Good thing is that is about all we worked all month. Tonight was the second time in three months where the IA load board has been in double digits since April. Three months. A little different than 2021-2022 when the there would be 100-300 on the load board every night to choose from. Load board Wednesday US - 201 IA - 17/16 MN - 5 WI - 1 Load board Tuesday US - 222 IA - 12/11 Load board Monday US - 127 IA - 1/0 MN - 1 WI - 0 2024 08 01 MN Within the first half hour, the load board dropped from 16 to 3 with no new ones being added. They did add three more in the AM, but they all looked like they were from yesterday ... from no-show drivers. Up to 11 AM, it looked like maybe those RV's they added yesterday were 'month end' and we'd be waiting until the end of August for more trips. But a little after 11, they put out seven more, three sets that would work for us but it is Thursday and we are optimistic. Closer to 3 PM they put out a few more one each to CA, UT and FL plus others. I think 11, 3 and 4 seem to be when they have been putting RV's out lately. We keep watching. Sometime around four they did put a few more out. I saw two, BB saw three, I'm guessing there were more. Two of these three were going to the same place, but the first one was gone by the time the second one was on the load board. BB knows it was two because the first one was no-tow and the second one was towable. Load board US - 220 IA - 9/7 MN - 5 WI - 4 2024 08 02 MN spending the night at home Up early watching the load board. Today there were not any no-show trips put back on the load board. Later in the AM there was one fix-it that was added. We were beginning to think that the shipper was not working on Friday's. RV dispatch did call again this AM to see if we would do two RV's to IN, we said no. Unusual for them to ever call us and now they have called two days in a row ... needing one of us to do a drug test maybe? 11 AM had seemed to be when they would add the first new ones. That came and went. Shortly after noon, the head dispatcher at my local company calls and asks if I will be near MI on Monday or Tuesday. I tell them not as of now. When I mention that to BB, she says, finally, that we are not going anywhere. Her BP has been really low the last few days and until it comes up she isn't ready. Also today she is not feeling well, for that or other reasons. Just after that, IA starts pulling trips on the load board, not anything we wanted but it was work. Being we were not going anywhere I headed out to the garden and stopped clicking re-fresh. They did add trips twice more to the load board, we likely would have grabbed something to do over the weekend if we were still wanting to work. Maybe not. There was nothing that was that good and my plan was to take two of the no-so-good trips Saturday once we were sure there was not any good trips. By the end of the day there were -0- on the load board. The last two were a pair, going to Wixom MI but BB checked and there were no rental cars close. Something to MI would have worked and then grabbed the truck for the other carrier on the way back. So Monday we will hit refresh again, we still have three weeks to work before having to be back. Load board US - 181 IA - 0 MN - 3 WI - 2 2024 08 05 MN (still) spending the night at home We were up at our usual time this AM. No early AM walk as it is raining and will be all day. Just before I get in the shower, local dispatch calls me. I miss picking up and have to call them back. When they answer, they say 'hi' and my name so I know they either have caller ID or me memorized. Before they could tell me anything, I ask that they put me down as NA for the next week. I usually wait until we have a trip to do that but they are calling, and called last week also so I might as well save them time. While I am in the shower, I get another call. I look when I get out and it is from the same dispatcher. Before I can call them back, they are calling a third time. This time they started talking first. They want to know if 'we' can pick up two local trucks today. Hmmm, I tell them we had just talked and I said I was NA. It was like they did not remember talking to me today. ??? The 11 AM dump did not happen. That is what I call it when RV dispatch puts their trips on at different times of the day. The last few weeks it seems the first trips were put on the load board somewhere near 11 AM. Friday there had been a trip that was removed at the end of the day. Dispatch used to do that on Friday's so no one would call over the weekend. So we were half thinking we would see it back on the load board this AM. I hit the refresh button every few seconds for the first 10 minutes and never saw it. Finally at 1:30 RV dispatch puts four trips out. All going in different directions. Then again about 3:30 they put out a few more. One pair to MD but nothing else we could have run together. There was a hot one coming back to MN but the $ on that one wouldn't have paid. And neither of us need to work yet to keep active in their system. So not much for work excitement today. But BB is researching how to be able to eat healthier on the road. And at what cost. We would have had to have left today to make it to CA by Friday so IF there is work tomorrow we will be doing a Monday drop if the trip is to CA. Or we could go anywhere west, but no trips so far. Load board - weekend US - 178 IA - 1/0 MN - 3 WI - 1 Load board - Monday US - 146 IA- 1 MN - 4 WI - 0 |
