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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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2024 11 27 IA-OR We did it ... we are finally taking a trip. We did not grab any 1st thing this AM and they did not add anything better. ... we are going to Bend OR ... We just kept crunching the numbers. This trip is less miles but pays better per day than the trip for Medford. Our first pick was one of the first trips gone in the AM. 29 RV's still on the load board going to Frederick CO. I had guessed there would be 25 of the 30 still on the board, I was right/but wrong. After we got our trips I called the CA dispatcher to let them know we are on our way. I usually wait but everything will be closed for the next four days. Then I called the permit company to make sure they are working Friday, they are. So we don't need to find a 2nd company to deal with. We should be able to drive daylight hours and make it to Bend on Monday night. Then deliver on Tuesday AM. The first 200 miles are non-freeway. All US-97, hopefully good road. Then another 300 to Livermore. We won't get there early enough to pickup Tuesday night but should be close. Right now they have 2 buses to move 35 miles each on the load board, hadn't seen those when I talked to him. It's getting dark about 5:30 and hotels are not too bad so our plan as of now is to leave from the holiday meal and head to the hotel. That will save us about an hour and a half driving in the dark and will get us that much further down the road tomorrow. I started tracking the numbers in the AM but then we went to the store and I quit ... 8 AM - 107 8:30 - 86 10 AM - 80 10:15 - 97 11 AM - 87 Load board US - 269 IA - 104/103 MN - 3 WI - 2 2024 11 29 IA-OR 2 RVs to Bend OR spending the night at Lincoln NE After we accepted the trips, we realized what leaving from home Friday AM from home could do to our timetable. So Thanksgiving at family in Farmington we headed to Albert Lea. We got to the hotel about 7 PM and no need to eat, we were still stuffed from the big meal at 3 PM. I was up by 6 AM, BB was already up, but we still did not get going before 7:30. Breakfast was hard boiled eggs, plus BB had oatmeal and I had a yogurt. 10 degrees this AM, it's cold. The coldest it has been this season. We get to the lot at 8:15. The door is still locked so we look for our paperwork in the cabinet. Ahhh ... they just have not opened up this AM yet. The whole crew is there today, plus three. The one backup employee we have not seen for a year was there today, plus they had two extra's helping when they inspected more units. Yes, more units. The shipper is working today and we have two teams of two inspecting them as the RV's come over. Usually there is just one person inspecting. But we never did see any extra on the load board. Nothing with today's date on it. Load board is down to 65. but they are parking RV's in the 2nd lot which usually means there are 150-200 units in the parking lot. When BB gets into her unit, it shows she is low on coolant. She calls the breakdown person and it's OK to move to the inspection area. We do our inspections but don't load up until it is fixed. 1st it takes a while for the guy to show up, then he can not open the coolant reservoir so he leaves, for an hour plus, to get it time to cool down or de-compress. (Cool down? it was only moved a few feet) But an hour later he was able to get it open and added coolant and we are ready to go. But that hour means we are not going to get past Lincoln. We had hoped to get an extra hour down the road as insurance ... Once we are ready to go, we/I call for permits. We don't need an OR permit because we are under 26,000#. We do still need WY and ID. When they ask for my VIN, the can't find it in their computer. It is not a valid number for either 2024 or 2023. My paperwork says it is a 2025 ... I look later, I couldn't look at the time ... and it was built 11/2022. It is two years old, three based on model year. Hope someone is getting a deal on it. BB's low fuel light is on but I have a half a tank of fuel. So she needs to stop before we leave town. We do, and she can't get the fuel cap open. Neither can I. I finally go and get a vise grips and put my glove over the cap so we don't damage it. That does brake it loose. Also, because we are running an hour behind, we are now going to eat at Loves/Hardee's in Ellsworth instead of waiting until Des Moines. At Loves, we drive around the lot a couple of times before an opening where one of us has to back in. A few minutes later and it is just the two of us ... and one armored car. Timing. Next stop is the rest area in Adair, the last few times we have been this way it was closed for construction but it's open today. Then the Loves in Omaha, it's usually quiet here but today all pumps or full or would need to be backed in to. Finally we are able to pull in, but we'll need to both fuel from the same side and then lay the hose down for the 2nd RV. By now we know we can't make it past Lincoln so BB makes a reservation in Lincoln. Final stop is the Quality Inn at Lincoln. Once we check in, I go to the King Kong for a gyro. I think they have been better in the past. Today it seems like each item was slapped on separately, not the same flavor as cooking it together. Good, buy I'll likely go to Arby's next time. Similar sandwich at Arby's for less than half the price. BB thought I was going to walk to get food. No, it's still below freezing, it's after dark ... and my leg is still bothering me. The last few days I have been moving wood in our yard using the two wheel dolly. And the only thing I had think of is that I was using that leg to roll or hold the logs while getting them on the dolly. May have just been enough sideways moving. ... and I have an issue to deal with tomorrow. Usually the RV's are at max for oil level. (There are no dipsticks, just a gauge at startup) This one was only at half when I picked it up, lower at the first fuel and now at min when we stopped for the night. So I will pick something up, not sure what I need yet or how close I can get. We need to call the drop before delivery, we didn't today so we will need to on Monday. BB did look online and we no longer need to print any of this trips permits. Didn't ask which states do still need to be printed. Should be able to make it to Laramie ... maybe. Forecast was for high winds today. Now that has been extended into tomorrow afternoon. We will be there before that. Highway is closed to 'high units under 40,000# which we both are. I am still using paper logs but I check my math by putting all the info into an electronic log. Well the last time I did that a month ago I hadn't logged off. I had left my self in driving status ... for close to a month. Had to change a couple of things to be able to log today without warnings. I can't correct the original because we can only go back 14 days, not 30 days. Load board US - 212 IA - 65/64 MN - 2 WI - 1 2024 11 30 IA-OR 2 RVs to Bend OR spending the night at Laramie WY Not much for breakfast at this location but we know that. I take a yogurt, hard boiled egg and juice. BB just has two eggs because all the oatmeal is flavored. Out and rolling shortly after 7:30. My engine oil has dropped to MIN and I see there is a dealer across the street from the hote. But they don't open for an hour ... 1st stop is the rest area near Kearney. From here I call the breakdown number, no one is working this Saturday even though there are 64 RV's on the load board. I am not to add oil until I get a message on my screen, and I found out what type to add. I can get it anywhere. 2nd stop is at the Loves in North Platte for fuel and break. I had a chicken sub sandwich. Today we managed to fuel, eat and be rolling in 30 minutes. There was one other transporter fueling when we walked out but I'm trying not to take any extra steps right now so I didn't talk to them. Before I pull out, I bring up our trip permits now where we have wi-fi. Not much service at the port of entry. ... OPPS ... BB had looked at her permit's yesterday and seem we had gotten both of them. Because we no longer need to print them I hadn't looked at them ... They sent two copies of BB's permits and neither of mine. And it is now too late to call the permit company by about 15 minutes. If I had looked when we got here, instead of when we are leaving ... 3rd stop is the Walmart in Sidney. BB bought more veggies and I found my oil. Now I have it if/when I need it. I had told BB we'd be stopping at Loves for fuel but it's only been two hours, we'll be fine ... 4th stop is the POE / port of entry. I tell them that I purchased a permit but don't have it ... can they find it and print me a copy? The person I get is helpful, 1st he finds out he can not look it up by plate #, then he tried using BB's permit # to see if mine was close, then he had to scroll through by carrier name, he found it ... and then his co-worker said there would be a $25 finders fee :) ... No charge. And the printed it out. Then told me it was wrong, the wrong type of permit. So I need to make sure next time. BB had wondered because of the wording on it, but the price was right. Got this one ... From here BB makes a hotel reservation before heading out. Gas in WY is $2.50. Road conditions are strong winds and slick spots from here to the next stop. And it is windy, we kicked the cruise off. But not too bad. First the high winds were supposed to be until 2 PM today, then it changed to 5 PM ... and at 5 PM the winds were still as strong ... beyond Laramie so it doesn't effect us, tonight. Really not much to write about for traffic, weather or sights. I had wanted to stop for pizza but changed my mind when my low fuel light came on before we got to Laramie. We had talked about fueling in the AM, but that light changed that. And I don't like leaving the fuel tank on E when it is this cold ... and it saves us a buck if we only fuel twice a day. Final stop is at Loves Laramie. This is the first station that is not full. There is one of our transporters sitting there and another transporter pulls while we are fueling. They hadn't see that the forecast had changed until they got here and saw the 'closed sign.' Food. Hardees. There is a line and they don't look speedy so I get shelf food. As we pull out, the other driver for our carrier pulls out behind us ... I'm guessing he thought if we are going, he will too ... :) But we didn't get on the freeway, we crossed it and headed to our hotel. So he crossed the freeway and came and parked at the truckstop on this side of the freeway. BB just said they have now removed the 'closed to lightweight vehicles' at 7 PM instead of the earlier 5 PM. We check into a cold room. That is how they are here. BB asked if the rooms were warm and the front desk said 'oh yeah ...' Nope. We had the heat on for a while before filling the tube with hot water. That got things warm a little faster. I should have grabbed two roller dogs. There wasn't anything left for hot shelf food and only a few dogs left. So I got a cold chicken salad sandwich on bread, plus a yogurt parfait. Blah ... and I had a few bites of the yogurt before I got to the berries on the bottom. They tasted fermented so I threw that. The ID DOT office was closed until Monday so I had to call and get a permit from a backup company. Last time the guy was good and quick. Not the person this time. They had my phone number, they had my last name ... but they couldn't find my account because last time I had used the name Jim and this time I had said James. ?? To me that is a hint they are not from this country ... but I have had the same thing for take out food. It took almost three times as long to get one permit as it took to get the four prior permits. But I got them, I am legal. ... well, not yet. They said I should have them while we were talking. It is now two hours later and I haven't seen them yet. Load board US - 208 IA - 65/64 MN - 1 WI - 0 Tomorrow we will be half the day on a less traveled route. And we need to stop in Green River which will not let us fuel at the auto pumps and I'm not sure the truck nozzle fits in these units. But as long as the winds stay down, we are still on schedule. ... the trip continues HERE |
