 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
Trip 83 - New Pete - Cement Truck ... to Fontana, CA ( LA ) Didn't waste any time this weekend checking airfare's ... Two airlines had tickets for $150 out of LAX, for $60 more I could have flown out of ONT only 10 miles from our drop. 4/1/05 After doing a couple of local shuttles, I get to move my cement truck from the Pete dealer to the office so I will be ready to roll ... we picked up three Pete's there today (and these are the good trucks). As long as I'm in it, I top off the fuel tank for Sunday morning. 4/3/05 I had planned on an 8 AM dispatch, the other driver wants to get going ... 'at least by 7:30' ... I wonder if the other driver will show on time, with changing to daylight savings time this weekend. Turns out I'm the one running late, clock / alarm didn't get changed. The other driver was there on time ... I was 45 minutes late ... and ready in under 10 minutes. The other guy was there 90 minutes before he was ready, but he did have to fuel ... and write up some damage. A third driver showed up just as we are going to leave, he was supposed to have left yesterday ... plans on running the suggested route through Denver so we won't see him again until the drop. Let him know what flight we were going to be on if it worked out to meet on the other end. Because the last couple of trucks couldn't make 250 miles to Des Moines, the plan was to stop in Albert Lee to top off the tank. We stopped ... but fuel was ... $2.37. My truck had 1,000 miles on at pickup, the other driver's had 200 miles on it ... we decide to chance it and not fill. The third driver stops and does fill. After a couple of more stops we get to Des Moines on one tank ... our trucks are getting 7 mpg on the first tank ... good news. As we are pulling out of the Flying J in Des Moines, we see the third driver again ... he must have stopped at the QT. In Des Moines we pay $2.25 for fuel ... saving $.12 a gallon, it all helps. Also see an Interstate driver in Des Moines, he had passed us earlier and will pass us again in Kansas City ... he ... and everyone has been passing us. Told the other driver before we picked up our trucks ... 52 mph. By making it to Des Moines, also allows us to make it to KC ... and to the 'cheap' fuel. QT has had the cheapest fuel lately and does again tonight ... $2.19 ... which is the lowest we will pay all trip. Never been to this location, have been stopping at the AmBest about 10 miles back ... they had had the lowest price on fuel until about a month ago and this trip I'm watching every penny. We fueled and were ready to roll when someone with a drink in each hand comes walking over ... not unusual in this line of work, people are frequently stopping and asking us questions, but this one caught me by surprise ... "Jim? ... Dick Williams ... " Dick drives for another driveaway company and we have corresponded by email and phone for most of the last two years (??), but we had never met until tonight. Last week I had even called him once I was in route to LA because he had mentioned that his company is moving trucks to CA also ... but he was heading east, and is heading east again tonight. We chat for a few minutes but we are up against the clock ... and I have been rushing the other driver all day and now I'm standing here chatting ... At one of these truck stops or rest area's we saw two tractor's back to back, in tow ... with a minivan on a platform between the two, just another way to adapt. My idea of running is 10-15 minutes for morning inspection and the same for two fuel stops ... 45 minutes 'on duty - not driving' each day ... that's my goal. Today we had 45 minutes down (1-1/2 hrs ...) before we even left the lot this AM, then stopped once for fuel but opted not to fill, then a couple more stops at rest area's ... That's the down side of running with other drivers (later in the trip there will be the up sides.) To make our Wednesday flight we need to make 500 miles a day, want to make 550 if possible, that will give us a little cushion ... and I know where the motels are at 550 miles per day. ... its getting to be a long day, IA scales were closed, MO was open ... and KS was ??? ... I didn't see any sign, I know I was daydreaming ... so I pulled into the scale, as did the three trucks behind me ... scale is closed ... first time I've done that. The Motel 6 in Emporia doesn't have its price lit up, not a good sign ... no sign in the lobby either ... cost us $42 ... $21 each for the room. Had thought I could get every room this trip for under $20 each. See how bad it's gotten ... I'm complaining about a $35 room ... for two. Left at 8 AM this morning ... took 14 (+) hours to get 550 miles ... and now even Burger King is even closed ... back to the C-Store, where I have eaten too many times before, tonight it's an ice cream bar ... supper. 4/4/05 8 AM ... again ... running 14 hours yesterday we didn't gain anything on our start time. By combining a fuel stop with the our morning inspection we start the day with only 15 minutes of 'on duty - not driving.' Good start. More good news ... we have gotten between 7 and 7.5 mpg on our first three tanks so far ... but now we will be on two lane highway for almost 500 of the next 550 miles, this section of the trip always takes a hit on the milage. Like Flying J's because they are (usually) an easy in and out, clean ... but do not like their food. Have only eaten at the buffet a couple of times the rest of the times I stick with the 'safe' meals ... breakfast, a burger. Today we both order the buffet so that we can get in and out in the least amount of time ... and the food was good. When I'm paying for my meal, I get the usual question "How was everything?" 'Good' I replied. "Don't sound so surprised ... " But I was surprised ... the buffet was good ... at a Flying J. In a good day we can make it to Hooker on this tankful, usually we have to stop at Liberal or Meade to add a few gallons, today we don't get close to either ... we've dropped to 6.4 mpg ... then 6.3 ... then 5.8. We were bucking a 40 mph headwind all day. Winter is over, road construction is back but this trip we only have one delay on US 50. Out here on the two lane they have to reduce traffic to a single lane and use traffic lights in the work zones. Other than a few bridges, this road is better than a lot of the interstate system. Just on the north end of Pratt, KS there is a lot with a few combines on it ... more than a few today ... looks like 100+ today, mostly John Deere's, but a few CIH, NH and Cats just for looks. MachineryLink is based out of KC but this must be one of there storage lots. The John Deere dealer just west of here has a few in his lot also ... doubt if they keep too many at their main office in Kansas City. Also in Pratt there used to be a Best Western motel ... no more, it has the Best Western name covered up. The Best Western in Dalton, TX has also just dropped their association. Motels / gas stations, if I could remember them all I would guess that at least one a week on this route changes their brand. Last week it was a Red Roof Inn, this week it's a Howard Johnson ... last week it was a Conoco, this week a Sinclair ... and back again. Kansas isn't the first place I'd think of for cotton, but its the only place so far I have seen a cotton gin ... hay bale sized bales of cotton ... and the waste. Piles of the stuff where the bales used to sit. And the waste of grain where they dumped the grain on the ground last fall, now they are out with front end loaders loading the grain into trucks. Wonder what the loss ratio is on outside storage of grain? Any burning that didn't get done last fall seems to be being done this week, fields, pasture ... not sure the whole reason they do it, but even on I-35 in KS they have highway signs about the burning ... "Do not stop on the roadway." Must be dry, where ever there has been a car fire on the side of the road you there was also a grass fire ... first thought was the car started the grass fire, but could have been the other way around ... About time ... looks like new oil wells are being drilled around Guymon, OK. Guess the high oil prices are good for someone. Fuel in OK doesn't seem to be as cheap anymore ... on this trip we paid less for fuel in MN, IA and MO than here in OK. Have been stopping in either Hooker or Guymon, they are usually about the same price ... today its Hooker so we can grab a Subway, a choice we'll regret latter. Today I see another location we need to watch for fuel, just north of Guymon there is an old truckstop that is now a truck wash, for washing out the cattle trailers. A few months back they reopened the restaurant and the last few weeks they have had a small sign out front for diesel ... today diesel is $.06 less here than anywhere else ... it all adds up. Too bad we couldn't have waited a couple of more hours to eat ... still want to try the restaurant at the cattle auction in Texahoma, somehow it just looks like a place that would have good food, with a lot of repeat customers. Thought maybe I could find some info on-line about the huge feedlots around Delhart, didn't find anything easily, but there are four huge lots within a few miles, Nortex, XIT, Cattleman's, Cargil and those are just the ones right on US 54. Everything's bigger in Texas ... trains are using five engines, in our area we know we have a long wait if they are using two ... First I see one train with 50-100 empty flat cars, a short time later I see another going the other way ... ??? A while later we see the remains of a train wreck, dozen plus coal cars ... some of the cars still sitting (or again sitting) on the track are buckled on top, Image the force it had to take to do that ... see a train again with empty cars, now I'm wondering if they are using these trains to test the tracks before they send loaded trains back through ... ??? The SW should be emptying out soon ... counting cars off and on again today ... 2 - 3 in a row are from MN and / or IA, include WI and it has to be 50% of the cars going north/east on this highway. Isn't a lot of cars on this highway so it's hard to stay focused ... but at one stretch I did count 12 out of 25 that were from MN or IA. Hit the TX/NM scale about 5:30 their time on a Monday and the scale was closed ... that saves the boss $7.50 each, kind of surprised he's been paying for the NM permits ... going the southern route is 'out of route.' Could be because it's cheaper than paying for the NE permits ... we do have a few NE transport plates, but not enough to keep up with all the trucks we've been running. With the scale not open we stopped at Logen to touch base, see how we were on fuel / how long to keep running ... and use the restrooms. Saw some real juice at the C-store so I bought three bottles, after taking a big gulp out of the first one I could read the date ... January ... should have walked back in and returned the other bottles, didn't ... how bad could expired juice be? But down the road I had second thoughts and decided not even finish the one I had open. Detour through Tucumcari just to get a list of cheap motels ... lots of them ... six motels under $20. If I hadn't been running with someone I had planned on also going through Grant, Gallup, etc to add to the list. Now is when stopping at Subway in Hooker starts to look like such a good idea, still have a 1/4 of a tank of fuel when we leave Tucumcari but it quickly drops and there isn't any more fuel until we get to Santa Rosa 50+ miles away. Spent about as much time watching the fuel gauge as watching the road the last 20 miles but we made it. I usually prefer to fuel in the AM and combine it with the morning inspection ... tonight I don't want to take the chance that the truck won't have enough fuel to start in the morning. Tank says it holds 40 usable gallons of fuel, I put in 37, the other guy puts in 38 gallons ... we would (should) have had enough to go another ... 12 miles or so. Need to remember NOT to stop at Hooker for fuel, hadn't been a problem with the trucks getting better milage. Guess the reason the other guy got a little worse milage than me was he had been running the air for a while today ... only got to 83 ... 2/60 (50) air was good enough for me. The other driver is not too picky on motels so we stay at a Budget Motel in Santa Rosa instead of the Motel 6 ... saves us $3 each. Room is fine, second time staying here. We park in the 'general parking' across the street ... parked in the motel lot is 'Corp Express' truck with a 'Driveaway USA' placard in the window ... don't ever see the driver. Eat next door at the Silver Moon ?? Day two, and a new time zone helps in getting to food before every place is closed. Eaten at this place a few times ... food has always been so / so. Not bad, nothing to brag about ... but this time the food was good ... potato soup ... and a patty melt. Now I know what to get next time. Place has a mix of people, and languages ... lots of Spanish, and something that sounded like a Native American language ... catch a local station that seems to be in the same type of language. Don't really know Spanish, but I listen to it enough to know that this wasn't Spanish. 4/5/05 Helps that we made better time yesterday, instead of rolling at 8, we can head out at 6:30, gives us a chance of catching the early flight out of LAX ... and we have time for breakfast. The Country Pride at the TA looks closed, empty, with all tables roped off with "This Section Closed" signs. Finally we saw someone to ask and found out that only the counter is open in the 'overnight' ... which it still is here 5 AM Mountain time. Forgot to pick up a log book at the office last Friday and have been looking at every truckstop this trip for the one I wanted ... finally this AM I no longer have a choice, I need one before we roll, and the TA has the kind I've been looking for ... and then I leave it laying on the counter at the TA ... but can't start my morning log without it, so I don't get far without it. More wind today, milage has now dropped from 7.5 to 5.7 ... by now the truck has over 2,000 miles on it and should be getting 8+ ... not today. Have seen a few of the 'Whiting Bros' truckstop signs but haven't been able to find a whole lot of info on this former truckstop chain ... did find some photo's but not much else for info. Not real happy with my ATT/Cingular cell phone ... ever ... but today going through ABQ I manage to find two towers with enough signal to dial out. At 50 miles per hour that gives me about 4 minutes of talk time per tower, in a major metro area. Didn't find stop for all the cheap fuel this trip, partly because of trying to keep the number of stops down. Both the Casino at exit 108 and at exit 102 had fuel for $.04 less than what we paid at the Loves in Milan. Somewhere along this stretch of highway is a view area which used to have, still does have a bunch of vending booths within reach of the freeway fence. A few months ago the DOT put up a bunch of 'No Vending Any time' signs, which pretty much closed them down. Did see someone out at one of the booths last trip out of a row of a dozen booths. Nothing like a few extra rules to keep entrepreneurs out of business. Must have had a change of rules at the AZ POE (port of entry) ... the first dozen times I went past this way, everyone exited. Now for the last couple of months, some of the trucks get the 'Bypass Scale' sign ... today we do, and we have our AZ plates so we are free to go. Other driver told me later that the truck between us, the one right on my bumper, got the 'Exit to Scale' sign but didn't. Ever notice how the Phillips 66 sign looks like the Route 66 sign? Haven't found any info to know it that was intentional ... As we cross the AZ line the wind seems to die down and our milage goes from 5.8 to 7.3 ... and that's on the up hill climb into Flagstaff. Weather report is still saying wind advisories from Gallup east of up to 40 mph winds. Head winds half the trip have really sucked some extra fuel ... something else to do the math on. Somewhere on this trip I realized it was a good thing that I did not become a farmer ... this whole trip I have been doing the math ... how much am I making, loosing ... because of the wind, overpaying for a ($35) motel ... imagine me as a farmer ... it didn't rain today ... I doing the math on how much less the crop will produce ... Aaaahhh. About 70 miles out of Flagstaff we can see the snow covered mountains to the north of town ... not like home where you can seldom see anything more than a couple of miles away. Dispatch calls wondering if we have been checking our mirrors, to make sure they are still there ... my problem mirror is IN my truck, the other truck never had one at pickup. Someone must have just delivered another one without the mirror, all it takes is a wrench to tighten it down, or a couple of fingers to remove it. Was thinking of fueling in Winslow, but with the milage we had been getting I didn't want to chance it so we pushed on to Flagstaff, to the Little America. Pulling into the lot, some lady in an SUV pulls away from the gas pumps then stops to look for something, right in my path. Don't dare pull ahead of her, figuring that she'll hit the gas before looking where she is going, just like she stopped before she looked where she was. Finally the guy behind me blew his horn at her ... he was still sitting on the street blocking traffic ... This tank full should be our best yet ... sign just outside of Flagstaff says elevation 7,335 feet ... its all down hill from here ... Much cooler today, higher elevation ... still snow on the north side of just about anything around Flagstaff ... and that's when it finally got warm enough to open the windows today. An RV park at Williams look like they are already bumper to bumper with people waiting to get in ... and its only the first week in April. Most places when they take out the railroad tracks the do a good job of cleaning up everything, removing all evidence ... to the point of not being able to tell where the tracks have been ... only the freeway bridges remain. Out here there is a stretch were they removed the rails ... and the bridges ... but not the bridge embankments or supports. No markings or warnings where the bridges used to be ... just a huge drop, 75 feet in one case, concrete supports are still there, just no bridge. Heading out from Flagstaff we got passed by a wide load ... a house. Took up most of two lanes. A while later it was parked on the shoulder with the guys looking at the tires, about two hours later they pass us again. Scary part was when other trucks were trying to pass them ... at one point when they were about a 1/2 mile ahead of us it looked like a truck and the house touched, and then again ... but they kept moving, so I guess not. Just before you get to Kingman, the freeway goes from two lanes to three lanes, I'm watching my mirrors and am going to get over as soon as I can ... and when I do ... HOOOOONK ... out of nowhere there is now a dump truck. Didn't get that close to him, he had plenty of shoulder ... but a good attention getter. Other driver told me later that the guy had come down the last ramp full speed ... which is where the lane started ... never saw him. Stopping at the Value Inn in Kingman again ... another $32 motel. But it's still light out, too early to stop, but our hours are up. As we are climbing out of our trucks, someone walks up and starts asking questions, pay, hours ... not enough for him. Used to be over the road ... plenty of stories, but time for us to check in. Need to be rolling at 5 AM, 3 AM local. Another meal at a Flying J ... soup looked good so I went for the buffet ... which I would soon regret. Not because the food was bad (this time) but because I ate too much ... to much soup, stew, salad. Even had some Italian that looked good, until I founds someone who told me it was made with shrimp and crab. To top it off I had ice cream and apple crisp ... ice cream was 'soft serve' by the time I finished it. The first day and a half the other driver had been pretty quiet. Then last night we got talking, and tonight ... just had to find a subject of interest. 'Spose it's like someone trying to talk sports or hunting / fishing with me ... I'm a pretty quiet guy. By the time we call it a night it we have less than eight hours until its time to roll. 4/5/05 I wake up ... a few minutes later the other driver is up using the bathroom, must be time to get ... so I look at my clock ... 1:30 AM ...I'm still in pain from all the food I ate last night ... now to try and get back to sleep. Now its time to roll ... Lake Havasu, AZ for fuel. Cheaper than CA but is now up to $2.51 a gallon. Not sure how it took me almost two years to figure out how to 'pay at the pump' at the Pilot stations ... No stop at the CA produce check ... keep rolling ... is still dark at the first CA rest area ... Our first day out was the other drivers day to stop every couple of hours, today is my day ... another reason not to eat at buffets on the road. Have checked in with driver #3 a couple of times, and tried to reach driver #4 once but no luck ... today when I talk to #3 he is way behind us, thought he'd be waiting ... he was a couple of hours ahead of us last night, stayed at Prim, NV for $17. Another break at Barstrow ... restroom, checking on each others fuel ... coming into Barstrow we could see the yellow clouds ... smog they call it ... smog all the way to LA. Bad news ... for him. Never told him the train schedule, he thought they 'ran all the time.' Not so, he needs to get to the drop by about 10:30 to make the 11:11 train ... wonder if he spent too long at the Casino last night ... Six trips to LA in the last six months and haven't had to stop at the CA scale north of LA yet ... did see that the north bound scale had a cop sitting in the squad ready for anyone that was thinking of running the scale, surprised we don't see that more often. We get to the drop an hour earlier than we needed to ... driver is still 58 miles out ... not good. Thought we might grab breakfast but neither of us is really hungry. After the cab running so late last week I decided to call now ... give them their 90 minutes to get here. Try calling the cab a couple of times before I realize that the local area code is 909, not 919 ... had to look really close to see that it was a zero ... Customer says this is the last of the 50 trucks ... 50? I thought it was an order of 60 ... looks like the end of a good run. Before I even get to talk to the guy that checks the trucks in, I have to wait for 'gabby' to take a breath so I can ask to have him paged ... some driver waiting on this truck. Soon 'gabby' finds us outside ... lucky us. I soon more away from him to where I can see the exit ramp and watch for driver #3. Oh, somehow driver #4 (who was going to leave on Monday) delivered before us and was walking to the bus stop as we pulled in ??? The check in man at the customer says he had had two more trucks last week with no mirrors ... so he ordered two more, thinking 'what are the chances of any of the last four not having a mirror' ... wrong ... $131 each mirror. Driver #3 finally gets to the drop at 10:45 ... I yell for the other driver to go find the guy who checks us in, while I show the driver where to park ... 10:45 the cab should be here ... 10:50 ... this is going to be cutting it close ... I call the cab ... "You are next, we should have someone there in 20 minutes" '20 minutes? the train will be gone by then ... cancel the cab' ... now what ... I was thinking of going next door to eat at the Three Sisters truckstop, but first I'll call Avis and see if the price of rental car has come down ... but before I can hit the speed dial, a cab pulls in ... YES ... as the other couple is getting out, I'm asking the cabbie if he's available ... he is. One of the people getting out of the cab is blind (hope its not the truck driver) so it takes a few minutes, by now driver #3 is coming across the lot. It's only a 15 minute ride and this guy makes fairly good time ... can't see the train as we cross the tracks. Three times on the train ... three helpful people helping us get our tickets. The train is running a couple of minutes late so driver #3 has time to lite a cigarette but that's it. Slow train ride today ... have to stop twice to wait for trains to pass, but I have no idea of the bus schedule. Hope they don't shut down over the noon hour like the trains or we have gained nothing. Helps to have done this run before, know where to go ... we walk out to the bus area ... about 30 buses start here ... driver #3 lights another cig ... and the first bus is ours ... "works every time" (lighting a cig, without time to finish it). They think the bus is a wild ride ... today is a kiddie ride compared to my first ride. At the airport we get in the 'problem' line ... they tell us we belong in the 'e-ticket' line, but we want to catch an earlier flight ... the first one is via PHX, but is full from PHX to MSP ... but we can get on the flight that goes via LAS, in one hour. Sounds good to me ... an hour to eat, which we haven't done yet today. Once they switch our tickets we still have to to to the e-ticket line ... first time for me ... am able to get my seat changed on the first leg but not the second, it keeps popping up with a messages describing the seat and a button that says "OK" ... no button that says it's not OK. I finally give up as the other driver is waiting and the clock is ticking. I go for pizza again, by the time we are done our gate is empty ... what??? we still have 20 minutes before lift off. There is a line at the counter and soon a 'late line' forming by the door ... on the the plane the stewardess says to 'sit anywhere if your seat is taken' ... I do, but one of the even later arrivals kicks me out, there are three of them traveling together so I move all the way to the rear ... am the only person in the last three rows of the plane. Rough ride to LAS, short but rough ... interesting flight pattern, could tell where we were most of the way ... what a barren bunch of waste land below. Get a good message ... driver #3 will have his son pick us up ... He does, and I am home by 1 AM ... sure beats 7 AM. |