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NEW SERLING TANKER TO QC
All the
delays on the last run really messed me up, I had planned on delivering on
Wednesday, traveling on Thursday and being on my next trip on Friday. Instead I
deliver on Friday so Saturday is my hours re-set day. Dispatch wants to send me
out on Monday but I push for the weekend and they come up with this trip to
Canada. I end up taking it in a 30 second phone call as soon as my flight hits
the ground on Friday night, everything else I will find out when I pick up my
paperwork on Sunday.
It doesn't take too long to realize that I gave
myself too many days to make delivery but by then it is Saturday and it's
either pay extra to change or leave later. I opt for trying to get a 2nd leg
once I've delivered.
Sunday - 5/22/11
I want to give
myself as much time as I can on Sunday but don't need to leave early. 9 AM just
sounds like a good time to head out. I get my paperwork and my truck.
Everything checks good, it's a 2009 with less than a hundred thousand miles.
No issues, no scales. Truck seems to be getting good mileage and for a
while I'm thinking that I will only need to fill it once but there is seldom
much fuel in that last ¼ tank. Not a fan of TA but that is where I'm
running out, don't dare take a chance to go that last 20 miles to the next
Pilot. They want to hold my credit so I tell them I'm only putting in $100.
I'll fill an hour later at a Pilot.
I know that by starting at 9 AM
I'll likely run to 11 PM so I grab a Subway and eat on the road … it's a
used truck, I'm sure it's seen food before. At Pilot I fuel and grab a sandwich
in 15 minutes, at the TA it took me 30 minutes just to fuel. Must have been too
much salt on that sandwich, I drank almost three bottles of juice in the next
three hours. Unusual for me.
I've never driven into this customer
before and my trip planner has me taking a different route than I am taking. I
don't look at the maps until I'm 'lost.' I pull off at an exit to take a closer
look at the maps, I find the exit I'm at … next exit. I wasn't really
lost, just anxious.
I do remember how to get to the customer once I'm
close, same weekend guard as last time. She knows where I'm supposed to stash
this truck but has no idea where my truck is. Last time ny truck was by the
guard shack. I start driving around the group of buildings and then cut in
between them. Good thing I did, after about four trucks I find mine by a sign
that said 'Monday.' 'E.' … as in NO fuel. Almost.
I do a quick
start to make sure the battery works and shut it off right away. Move my stuff
from one truck to the other then go and park my truck a ½ a mile away.
As I'm walking back to my 2nd truck I see their fuel tanks, locked. Not much
chance the guard will have a key (I ask later, they don't).
I pull my
truck up to the guard shack and turn it off, I still have two miles to go to
get to the gas station. I sign the companies paperwork and realize that I don't
have a bill of lading from my company. This is not good. I do have the bill of
lading from the customer so I 'should be' OK. I call dispatch. It's the weekend
and who knows when they'll call back.
Lucky for me dispatch had a
sixth sense today. They remembered that they had forgotten the after hours
phone … and went back to get it … and saw my call. They'll fax the BL
to the truckstop at the next exit.
I take it easy on the gas those two
miles and shut the truck off right away, I've made it. I don't even care that
it's a Citgo. It is fuel and I'm going to fill … if they don't ask for my
credit card, they don't and I put 57 gallons in a 60 gallon tank without
topping it off. Closer to 'E' than I like to run.
I stop and get my
bill of lading and I'm rolling again. I've been this route before so I don't
look too close at the routing, until I'm driving. I miss one 'North' that I
thought was a south. I think it can't be 'that much further' going this way. I
don't think it is … but I hit road construction and that cost me. One lane
of stop and go for most of an hour, or what seemed like an hour.
Now I
can start doing the math as to where I might stop for the night. I have the 2nd
and 3rd night planned but not night one??? I stop at the MI welcome center and
pick up two coupon books. Motel 6 for $33, but I'm thinking that was the one I
gave a bad review. Actually I've been this way enough times that I know there
is a Motel 6 at a Harbor and the second Motel 6 in Kalamazoo so I'm not
completely flying blind.
I have plenty of time so I keep rolling, it's
not until I'm past Kalamazoo that I realize that I was confusing it for Battle
Creek. I could have saved $5 by staying at this Motel 6. Instead I shot for
Battle Creek, a coupon says the Travelodge is $38. Billboard before I get there
says the Motel 6 is still $29 (and still not worth it). It had crossed my mind
to stay at a $29 motel back at the Harbor but the hours said no … and it
looked like lights out for that location. Couldn't see a sign or any lights on
inside. It's an old style Howard Johnson that I've watched go down hill, it
looks like it may have hit the bottom.
As I pull off I see that the
Days Inn sign says $36, I'm up for saying $2 and I've stayed there before so I
pull in. Nope, they won't let me park my truck there. (Didn't bother to tell
them we've parked more than one truck here … at the same time) I have to
back out on to the street, cop didn't seem to mind. Down the street to the
Travelodge, they had no problem with me parking at Pizza Hut, at the Days Inn I
was to park at Burger King. Just the way the parking lots laid out I didn't
like the Burger King idea. Good thing I ate, there is lots of food here, all
closed. Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Bob Evan's all in a row, big shopping mall another
block away.
>>>>>>>> TRIP ADVISOR -
Travelodge, Battle Creek MI
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
"A place in this
town where I'll stay, more than once."
3 of 5 stars Reviewed July 1,
2011 NEW
I ended up at this location because of a coupon … and
I've stayed at the Motel 6 before (see review) then tried to stay at the Days
Inn (cheaper than the coupon) but they didn't have a big enough parking lot
tonight.
I ask for the best price and it is the coupon, then I ask for
points and at first he says no … then says … that he'd better do the
points, in case I do a 'survey.' Don't know about a survey but I sure do
write-ups. :)
No issues with the room, clean, warm, and quiet. Water was
hot. I ended up in a handicapped room which explains the large bathroom.
WiFi worked, I don't eat the breakfasts so don't remember this one. Wendy's on
one side of the motel, Pizza Hut and Bob Evan's on the other with a big
shopping mall another block away and assume there is more food there.
* Stayed May 2011, traveled solo
o 3 of 5 stars Value
o 3 of 5 stars
Sleep Quality
o 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
o 3 of 5 stars Service
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Monday - 5/23/11
Running late last night means starting
late this AM, Didn't try the breakfast, it's just the usual.
An hour
down the road I stop for fuel, last name brand with perk points in the US. I
call my drop and leave a message, no answer at either number. Later dispatch
will tell me that today is a holiday in Canada. I make the last of my calls in
the US as I'm limiting my cell time once in Canada.
Still working on
the road near the POE in the US and are just about finished with a whole new
POE in Canada. No line for trucks, a little line for cars going into Canada, I
have my choice of three gates. My only questions today are, where do you live?
And how long are you staying … and do you know your way to the brokers?
I say I do until he tells me they are in the new building. I park and
take the ½ mile walk, OK maybe only a ¼ mile each way. Someone
hasn't done something at the broker so it'll be '45 minutes' which turns into
2-1/2 hours. But I have nothing but time to kill, do need to do the walk back
to the truck to get my plate number, I really should have that and our DOT# in
my wallet. During my walk I see that the trucks are now backed up to the top of
the bridge, later another driver will say he sat for an hour and a half on that
bridge waiting in line … lucky me.
I'm finally done at the broker
and go to customs, haven't been here enough to know that I was just supposed to
throw my paperwork in basket and walk away. I'm really getting hungry, (yes me,
hungry). I haven't brought much with me and nothing into the building.
Finally I break down and find a machine that takes US coins, of course when I'm
trying to put money in is when my name is called. The machine won't take dimes
and I have to go get change for a dollar.
By now no one is at the
counter so I wait, finally I ask if I'm cleared, someone in the distance says
'If it's stamped, you're cleared.' It was so I'm gone. I had noticed when I
pulled in that I parked next to a sign that said 'No dropped trailers' and
right next to it was a … dropped trailer. With a POE lock on it, it wasn't
going anywhere now until they paid a fine. By the time I come back to my truck
now, I see a 2nd trailer dropped next to it. By the time I'm done with my
paperwork, security is there putting a lock on that one also. I guess two
languages and an example just are not enough for some people.
Three
hours at the POE, I think that is the longest. Two minutes with buses is my
shortest. Had one where the guy never said a word to me, I handed him my
papers, he stamped them and handed them back. I liked that.
I'll still
have enough time to get to Toronto for the night. Last trip I stopped prior to
the border but that would have only been three hours today. London and the
other towns, still there. Fuel is holding so now it is where do I fill and
still come in on ¼ tank? It's too hard to do the math once it's in KM
and Liters. So I stop 300 miles plus from my drop, it seems that should be
about right. I might be a little short of fuel but I can always add fuel a few
miles from the drop.
5th Wheel truck stops. Hadn't thought about them.
Most if not all have motels, this one is $59 which is a little less than I'll
pay tonight and plenty of truck parking. I'll have to keep that in mind. There
is 4-5-6 of them on ON. They still pump the fuel for you here, the guy makes
sure I'm not using American Express. Some guy put in $500 in fuel and they
don't take American Express … I don't know a truckstop that does. Maybe
they do and just don't advertise it.
My delay at the POE did keep me
out of rush hour in Toronto, oh, that's right. It's a holiday, no rush hour.
And everything seems to be closed. WalMart, Best Buy, groceries. Do love this
eight lanes of traffic each way, if it does slow down it's not for long.
I have been staying at a Quality Inn near the airport but it doesn't
have much for truck parking, basically I park in an office lot next door. Works
fine on Friday and Saturday nights but I won't be leaving early enough today to
be out of their spots before they start showing up for work. Thinking a tow
would cost a bit. Do see a bus parked there when I go past so maybe I could
have tried. Other downside is they have the only food, at $20 for a burger.
My corporate pricing says I can get either a Best Western or Comfort
Inn a few miles past town for the same $50. Past town, that was another plus,
no fighting traffic in the AM. I find my exit but miss my turn, end up having
to go a mile past a car plant, don't remember which one it was. No place to
U-turn. The motel is on a frontage road that runs under this cross street, I
find the turn and the motel.
I try the Comfort Inn, no reason. By the
time I walk inside a storm has caught up to me and is dumping the rain in
buckets. About 20 people are outside watching it, maybe there were warnings
… didn't ask.
I had hoped the motel would have a 'business
center.' Last night my computer would not work. It wouldn't take a charge so I
didn't want to wear the battery down, I doubt it's the power cord but I wanted
to trouble shoot it via a 2nd computer. Instead I write down all the info and
will try to order it quick. I want to save enough battery for a tech to look at
it before it dies.
No idea. Power worked fine so I didn't order a
cord.
No food within a block. Supposed to be some 'within walking
distance' but I don't see it and don't really want pizza. The motel area guide
lists a few places across the express way so I head out. Don't like driving
once I've parked but I need to eat, it's been well over 24 hours since a meal.
All I've had is a couple of pieces of beef jerky and fruit bits.
Double rainbow could be seen from the Swiss Chalet, employees went out to look
at it, it was fading by the time I was done eating but I could see it from the
window at my table.
>>>> TRIP ADVISOR - Swiss Chalet
Chicken & Ribs, Oshawa ON <<<<
"Almost the whole menu
is chicken ..."
3 of 5 stars Reviewed May 24, 2011
... so I
ordered chicken.
I'd never been to this chain before and didn't know what
to expect. It was the closest to my motel so that was my reason for stopping. I
was in the mood for a burger but when I saw that chicken was their specialty I
went with the chicken.
Chicken wrap and chicken soup. I had thought I was
sub-ing soup for fries but I see now that I paid full price for the soup, next
time I'll ask. Price on the wrap was good, price on the soup was higher than I
like to pay.
Both the wrap and the soup were good, and the right amount of
food. Nothing left on the plate, no room for desert. Now that I've tasted their
food, I might even stop again when it's ... not the closest place.
*
Visited May 2011
o 3 of 5 stars Value
o 3 of 5 stars Service
>>>>>>>> TRIP ADVISOR - Comfort Inn, Oshawa ON
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
"The only problem
with this motel is getting to it ..."
3 of 5 stars Reviewed May 24,
2011
... and no food within a block. Take a good look at a map or an
aerial view. The motel is on a frontage road that runs under the cross street
where you exit the express way. If you miss it, it is about a mile before you
can make a u-turn.
The motel itself is great, room was clean and warm,
water was hot. I don't often take pictures of the bathroom but this one was
done up a little different. Also this was the 1st motel where I've seen a note
on the fridge that it is OFF to conserve energy, 'please plug in if needed.' I
thought that about a lot of motels. The fridge is running, the heat/AC is
running and no one is using it. I'm all for keeping the prices down.
In
the past I had stayed closer to downtown but parking there is limited except on
weekends and tonight was a Monday night so that would have been a tight option
(I drive a bigger rig). Here there was plenty of room to park but still could
be tight on a busy night.
With my 'corporate pricing,' the room was just a
little more than a truckstop motel for twice the room.
The desk clerk said
there was pizza within walking distance but I didn't see it (or look for it). I
ended up looking in the motel guide in the room and saw that Swiss Chalet was
just across the express way so I did a rare after hours move of my truck and
drove.
Breakfast was the usual, cold cereal, juice ... and hard boiled
eggs with a sign on the micro that said "cut the hard boiled eggs in 1/2 before
placing in micro"
* Stayed May 2011, traveled on business
o 4 of 5
stars Value
o 3 of 5 stars Rooms
o 2 of 5 stars Location
o 3 of 5
stars Cleanliness
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tuesday - 5/24/11
I take 11 hours off instead of my 10,
I'm aiming to drop about 1 PM and have no reason to get there before that
… or even then.
I've left 300 miles for today, good thing I
stopped when I did. Last trip I paid almost $100 for a Super 8. This time I see
motels for $70-80, even a Motel 6 bragging 'only $74.' Lots of fuel / truck
stops, but I like to stick with the 5th Wheel and Flying J. Only three Flying
J's on this leg, I think there is more past Montreal.
Glad to see the
QC scale not open. Both Ontario and New Brunswick do a great job of having
their road signs bilingual. Not QC, nothing, so glad to see the scale not open.
I have crossed them before, I just follow the lights.
Road
construction where hwy 20 and 40 split, they are the two big express ways. 20
is QC's part of the 'Kings Highway' that goes from coast to coast. Helps to
know where I'm going. We used to only get one map of our drop and always the
closest shot, Sometimes there weren't any cross streets that meant anything.
Now we get 4-5 maps each one zooming in. New gal, I'll have to say thanks
… I won't tell her it is overkill.
I find my drop and the first
person I see is the guy from last trip. Last trip I dropped at their customer
and he came over, this trip I'm dropping at his location. I clean out the
truck, he doesn't do nearly the inspection as last time. But last time it was
going right to a show. I get my signatures, he knows to fax a copy to my office
and then it's my ride to the airport.
One of our other drivers had
said this guy had spent time in the US so I asked him about it. Yes, his Dad
had wanted him to learn 'American English' and had sent him to boarding school
in NY when he was in 10th grade. He liked it enough and did well enough that he
did his last three years in the US. He had offers for college in the US but
decided it was time to come home to QC.
Things are still busy for him,
he's waiting on 14 trucks from the US. Two came Wednesday last week and another
is leaving today, plus the one I dropped today. Said he has a two week backlog
just for service calls.
'Everyone is flying Delta now.' It used to be
US Air/Canada Air when I was moving trash trucks out of here. Maybe it's an
'in/out' pricing thing.
Dispatch had called on the way to the airport,
I'm to call them back from a land line on their quarter. I find a phone and we
start talking. 'The only thing that will work' is one of three semi's in
Houston. I'll need to catch the next bus to VT and fligh from there. I haven't
driven a semi for over 20 years and this was not sounding like a good idea. The
more I heard the less I liked it so I said … sorry, no thanks.
Without skipping a beat dispatch was asking me about going to ATL and taking a
truck from there home ??? What happened to 'the only thing that will work?'
As I'm talking to them they are looking at flights and buses and
rental cars, at least two of the dispatchers. A flight to Miami will get me
into ATL for cheap … if $350 is cheap. It's too close on time for dispatch
to book online so I go to the counter, there is a 3:10 flight that will work.
Nope, by the time I get to the counter a few feet away both the 3:10 and 4:20
flights have been canceled … AND this ticket counter cannot sell tickets.
That has to be done on the phone.
So back to the phone and call
dispatch. There is still a 6 PM flight but that won't work with my Greyhound
connection. I won't budge on my 10 hours off and dispatch doesn't push it, I
would have just said … "Sorry, I don't drive that way, I'm just coming
home." They finally realize that if I take a city bus from the airport to
downtown that the Greyhound will still work, guess the Greyhound only goes once
a day to the airport. I've told dispatch a couple of times that with two of
three flights canceled there likely isn't any seats anyway but they are still
seeing them on the computer. Finally it's time to hit confirm and guess what
… no seats … I think I told them that a ½ hour ago. All other
prices have gone up and I don't offer that they look at flights out of VT, I've
lost an hour of what I needed to get to the bus depot. I go back to the ticket
agent once more to see about getting on today's flight … $175 change fee
plus differnce in fare. Last I looked they were $1,300. So it's time to go to
my motel.
The guy who drove me to the airport said that the Best
Western was the cheapest so I gave them a call, I asked about an airport
shuttle and then heard 'hold music' for a while before someone came back that
spoke English. Their rooms were $120. (I have since looked online and found
that the Ecnolodge and Rodeway Inn are both about $70 with airport shuttles. So
I could have done a little cheaper)
I call the Crowne Plaza and they
will be there in about 10 minutes … or about as long as it will take me to
walk back to the Delta area. After a few questions the driver goes quiet and it
only takes about five minutes to get to the hotel. At the hotel they great me
in English, three people behind the counter, I'm the only guest at the moment.
Upscale place, chandeliers winding open staircase, high ceilings. I'm on the
eighth floor.
>>>>>>>> TRIP ADVISOR - Crown
Plaza, Montreal QC <<<<<<<<<<<<<
"The room had all the little touches that make the difference between
just a place and a nice place"
4 of 5 stars Reviewed May 25, 2011
Last time I stayed an hour out of town and paid more for a Super 8
than I paid for this motel. I am more likely to stay in a $30 motel if I can
find one just to put this review in to perspective.
I called from the
airport and the person who answered the phone was bilingual (another motel I
called, I had to wait a couple of minutes for someone who spoke English-and
their price was more). They said a shuttle would be there in five minutes and
it was. Shuttle driver also spoke fluent English. I realize that I am in a
'foreign' country as a guest, but it is really nice to be accommodated by
EVERYONE in my own language.
No problems at check in, very helpful.
Everything I saw was in tip-top shape, if anything I would say this place is
underpriced. The room had all the little touches that make the difference
between just a place and a nice place. (I see that someone commented about the
view ... you are in a city, a few minutes from the airport. Sorry, there aren't
mountains, water and trees)
I don't see the restaurant listed on Trip
Advisor so I'll include it here. I had the lasagna, it was good ... I ate it
all including all the sauce and all the bread with no room for soup, salad or
deserts. The restaurant looked more like an event center with the high ceilings
and rows of tables.
* Stayed May 2011, traveled on business
o 4 of
5 stars Value
o 3 of 5 stars Rooms
o 3 of 5 stars Location
o 3 of 5
stars Cleanliness
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Interesting restaurant, again they greet me in English, only a few
people there at anyone time. Looks like an event center with the high ceilings
and rows of tables. There is an elevated area on one end so it is likely used
for an event center. I could see from the windows that there was another big
area to the motel. I didn't go to see if it was a convention center, pool area
or what.
The menu was posted outside the door so I could see the
prices before I walked in, high but. But where else was I going to go. I had
seen online that they featured 'Italian' so I was looking forward to it. They
didn't have a chicken with white sauce so I went for the lasagna after asking
if it was spicy. The waiter said no, and it wasn't. The red sauce was a little
different than I'm used to so I sort of ate around it to start with but it must
have grown on me because I ended up eating all the lasagna, all the red sauce
and all the bread. I didn't order any soup, salad or desert. This was just
enough that I was full but not to the point of feeling sick.
As I sat
there watching the help I was thinking, these people are more polite and speak
better English than a lot of places in the US. Airport, motel, restaurant.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Wednesday - 5/25/11
4 AM … (my time) … the
alarm goes off. Just so I can get home and mow the grass.
As soon as I
finally wake up I realize that I have a shuttle for thirty minutes from now,
that means I need to be down there and checked out … go, go, go. No
problem.
There ends up being three people from one group (saw them
down eating last night) from this motel plus a bunch of people from the Holiday
Inn next door. So it's a full shuttle this AM. The 'group' gets dropped off at
a training center and the rest of us head to the airport.
Still no
lines, no lines yesterday either. I explain that I want an earlier flight, the
one at 7:45 … and he starts talking about an 8 something flight. So I ask
why not the one I asked about. "It's full so I'm sending you through Detroit
(to Las Vegas)" … Noooooooooo I don't think he understood why I would
care, but he did know that 'the customer is always right' so he booked me on
the earlier flight I wanted. He even printed out a sheet that showed the first
three flights from layover (home) to Las Vegas were full but he had gotten me a
seat on one that was still earlier than my original (but not as early as going
through Detroit).
I'm just afraid someone is going to get wise to my
jumping off midflight and make me pay 'full fair.' That'll be a big ouch.
No line for security today, and they are set up for people being in
lines for hours. But a big opps for me. This is one of the airports with the
full body scan machine (not working today) so I have to have all pockets empty
… so I've been putting my money clip in my jacket pocket. After security,
I grabbed my jacket wrong and my clip went everywhere … I still don't know
if I got it all or if some went between the rollers. I checked for the basics
and haven't found anything missing … so far.
Customs was a breeze
too, no lines, agents open. The one I go asked where I lived and if I had
purchased anything I was bringing back to the US … that's it. |
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