 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
.. the trip continues from HERE 2024 08 26 IA-NE 2 shop trucks to Lincoln NE (1 delivered) spending the night at Sioux City IA Up by 6 AM, ready to roll at 7:30. At 7:29 I start calling, BB was going to start calling also but I got through on the first call. Then put on hold. But I did get the trips, the two we wanted. The mileage is wrong for a reason, but that is what the pay is based off of. So we hit the jackpot once again. :) And these trips are with a logistics company I have dealt with before so I know to call them as soon as I get the paperwork and they will make the rest of the calls. NO notes on the paperwork that that is how it is to be done. This hotel does not have an office area but the front desk is very willing to print out my paperwork. Three front desk people this AM even though our bills were under our door overnight. There is a bus load of tour people here from last night. 23 of the rooms and likely two in most rooms. So the breakfast food was going fast when we were down there. Only yogurt for me today. Thought I slept well last night but stomach was not being nice to me this AM and my BP higher than it has been in over a year. It was about an hour from the time we called until we pulled out of the hotel. We had to get paperwork printed, make phone calls, pack. It took almost 10 minutes just with dispatch to get the two trips lined up. First I was on hold while he gave away one of the OKC trips and then it seemed to take forever as help did each step of the computer work as I was on the line. Shipper was easy to find. My contact has a desk near the front desk so that didn't take long. But today was her first day and I was her first truck to sign out. So everything took a little longer as someone else walked her through each step. When they asked which truck I was picking up, I told them which one I was picking ... today. And that I would be picking another one up tomorrow. They wanted me to sign out both of them today so I had to go back out to the car to get the paperwork for the second truck. Their idea, not mine. There were less than a dozen trucks in the done line and I had a FOB with a clicker so finding it was easy. We did our inspection, all was good. But the truck had two fuel tanks right next to each other. Hmmm. Sometimes the 2nd one is for running a generator, sometimes it's a duel tank. And I didn't want to be filing the generator tank so I asked. This shipper always puts the duel fuel tanks on one side and if the second tank is for a generator it goes on the other side of the truck. Good to know. I have almost a quarter of a tank of fuel so I can make it to Sioux City where fuel is cheaper. I send a message to the logistics company but forgot to include the ETA time so I had to do that later. 2nd stop was the Loves in Sioux City for fuel. I was going to fuel with the trucks but there was a line for each island. So I fueled with the cars and had to leave my card inside. But I hadn't parked close enough so I had to move my truck and by then the pump had shut off. So back to the office. I have the drop address but had not done a street view of it as we left shortly after getting the paperwork. I had looked at an aerial view so I knew where I was going. I'm watching the building numbers and I go past the address. I turn around it some ones drive and go past the address again, this time I turn around in a gas station. There is a road where the building should be. Ahhhh ... I am dropping at the rail road and their buildings are over the bridge and between the tracks. I found it. They were all on break but got up to sign me out. By the time I am taking my things out of the truck, BB pulls up. I still have to take my pictures. But forgot the one of the dash. A block from the drop is a Ruza, that is today's lunch for me. They mess up my order so I get their special lemonade for the price of a soda. Yesterday we got two free drinks because they didn't feel like charging for cups if you ordered food (?) 5th stop was the Loves in Omaha for car fuel. As I'm fueling someone pulls up along side and hits me up for money. 'Out of gas and my wife is PG and we need to keep moving.' He rolls the electric window down so I can see her in the back seat. For a second I was almost ready to walk over, then I remembered I had just seem them talking to someone else in the lot. Then I saw the gal ... 'Go inside, maybe they can help ...' After we were driving away I thought that the person in the back seat looked more like someone being 'trafficked' than anything. Plan was to get back to Sioux City for the night and do the same thing over tomorrow. But ... Shortly after I left the shipper this AM, I remembered that I had put the paperwork and a set of keys in my 2nd truck ... but did not remember locking it. It's a small rural town and someone would really have to be going through the trucks to find the keys but ... Back to current ... BB started looking at the weather. Major storm coming in, it looks like it will hit the shipper but not Sioux City. And we start doing the math. IF we stay in Sioux City and get the truck in the AM, we will be shutting down tonight at 4:30. If we get to the shipper and stay in hotel there, we might be able to make it home tomorrow and have one less hotel. And if we pick up the truck, we should be south of the storm and get home two hours earlier tomorrow. 6th stop was a rest area just before Sioux City, we have decided to go for it. Today has been another 100+ degree day, now it is finally back below 100. 7th stop was the shipper. Truck was not locked. All else was good. Employee's are still leaving work. This inspection only takes 15 minutes. Not so good news is this truck is closer to 'E' than the last one. Range looks good, gauge does not. 8th stop is the Cenex in Hospar for fuel. Tried the first pump twice before moving to a 2nd pump. I put in enough to get to Sioux City so I will need to fuel again in the AM. Final stop is the same Comfort Inn we were in last night. Earlier today BB read me the reviews of the Quality Inn next door to explain why we were not staying there. It is 7 PM when we pull in. Almost full lot and I have a truck. First I tried pulling in to a spot but stuck out too far. So once another pickup pulling a trailer moved I was able to back into another spot. The second spot was not as wide but I was still between the lines. As long as they are not as wide as I ... if they can get out of their truck/car, I should be able to get back into mine. I walked across the street to Burger King for a chicken sandwich tonight. Load board US - 210 IA - 6/1 WI - 15 Tomorrow I need to fuel before leaving town. Then three hours to the drop so we should be dropped by 11 AM. Then 6-7 hours home so we should be able to pick up our car and drop the rental and still be home by dark. The same storm we are hoping to be south of is purple and pink coming across SD and the rain ahead of it is already supposed to be dumping at home hours ahead of the purple storm. 2024 08 27 IA-NE 2 shop trucks to Lincoln NE (2 delivered) 2 trucks to ? MN (Thursday) spending the night at home BB did not get her walk in this AM, we were trying to get going on time and getting home tonight. Before I texted my customer this AM, they had already texted me wanting to know my ETA. Today, we are not running together so I leave before BB. 1st stop is the Loves in Sioux City for truck fuel. No line at the truck islands today so I fuel there instead. I put in three more gallons than yesterday, trying to leave more fuel than yesterday. When BB left the hotel, she did not have her GPS on and got lost. Turned the correct way out of the parking lot but missed the next turn. But she realized it almost right away. Same route as yesterday but today I did not have to make two u-turns to find the drop. Found someone right away to sign off. ... they are hoping this truck is better than the one three months ago. Rear end, transmission, something else major. Customer says it should be under warranty. IH says no. The guy also said that the customer had spent $11,000 to get his truck to past the DOT inspection ... and the truck has not been used since (??) Because BB got lost, she was a couple of minutes late getting there, but only a couple. Today we have fuel and it's too early to eat so we head out. 3rd stop is in Sheldon at the Loves for fuel and so BB could get her food out to eat. Still too early for me to eat. 4th stop is Maid-Rite in Ankeny. I had planned on going to another fast food place when I got off the freeway but then I seen a sign for Maid-Rite. And by luck I found it. It is loose meat instead of a formed patty, but they do sell those also. Not sure where I had my first one but they used to have them at a Flying J here in IA until it was replaced by a Wendy's. Looking online, they were the first to use a car-hop and at one time had as many as 138 stores. There are now 31 stores. This one looks only a few years old so not sure how many are opening or closing each year. Poor choice of food to eat while driving. And it took 20 minutes. I should have just gotten shelf food when we stopped for fuel and waited until now to eat it. BB does not want to work any more this week/month, so I call the local dispatcher who is overjoyed that I called. He has two trucks to move on Thursday. Down side for me is their shuttle leaves at 6 AM. But it is work and then I will feel less guilty if I can only spend a week next month for their quarter end. At first we had planned on going to the fair on Thursday but the weather is supposed to be so much nicer on Friday that BB is willing to put up with the extra crowds on Friday. Mind was somewhere else today. I forgot, we both forgot that our road to Forest City is closed. So instead of coming in south of town we added a few miles and came in north of town. 5th stop is the shipper to pick up our car. The lot is still not full and no word on when or if the shipper will be dumping RV's for quarter end. I think I will call the boss tomorrow and see if he has more info than the dispatcher did. We move all of our stuff from one car to the other and we head out. A few miles down the road, BB calls me. She wants some of her food so she can eat while she drives. We decide to stop at Albert Lea where she needs to get fuel. 6th stop is the airport to drop the rental car. Before I get into town, one of my kids has messaged me about damage at our house. Wanting to know if there is any. Hadn't heard, hadn't thought of it. But I have time, so I stop at the cemetery by the airport and they have a lot of trees down and a lot of branches down. BB later tells me that winds in this area were up to 90 mph last night. The find also made a mess out of the state fair. First time every (?) that it opened late. Two hours so they could do cleanup before people can on the property. No damage at home. About the same number and size of branches after any wind storm. But forgot to look to see how much rain we got. The wind did tilt my huge sunflower plant that I had just taken a picture of last week. Load board US - 272 IA - 16/9 MN - 1 WI - 14 |
