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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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211002 IA-MN 1 RV to Ramsey MN (Sunday) ... spending the night at home Sometime after 8 AM we called in and BB got a trip to Ramsey MN. Then I called the auction dispatcher and he didn't pick up but he did call me back before I was done leaving him a message. He can't do anything with the auction trips on the weekend because he has to deal with a 2nd dispatcher who doesn't work the weekend. Ramsey is about a three hour trip from the shipper so we'll do the three hours down and three back tomorrow and then stay in a hotel within a few miles of the drop and about an hour from our house. It would be nice to stay at home but it is too many miles out of route, and we are still using rewards points for hotels. Plan was and still is to call in on Monday to get a Hill City truck heading back to IA. But by tonight the MN load board is empty. ??? The 2nd dispatch wasn't open so my guess is the dispatcher just clears the load board to get people to stop calling him. That is what the RV dispatchers do sometimes. (If the load board is low) We picked the Ramsey because the Hill City trip WAS still there. We had looked at doing a Neenah WI because there had been trips out of Appleton. We picked a 'surer' thing, now we won't know until Monday if it was the right bet. Today IA added seven (or more) trips to the load board. Now there is one going up to Anoka which is a few miles shorter than Ramsey. Anoka is where we plan on spending the night tomorrow night. Besides the Anoka, there is now nine other trips that are less than 400 miles that would work. But we will do the Ramsey and see what things look like after we have delivered. Load board US - 154 IA - 64 MN -0- WI - 2 |
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| 211003 IA-MN 1 RV to Ramsey MN ... spending the night at Anoka MN Grrr I had the whole write-up done and I lost internet and lost everything I had written, the down side of not doing this in Word and then copying and pasting. No rush to get going in the AM as we only have 300 miles to go today and can't deliver until tomorrow. (this wouldn't make sense if we were paying for our hotel in cash) We had planned on getting going by noon. We left before noon, 11:30. But by not being in a rush this AM we had eaten a late breakfast so we were not hungry but will be later so more fast food. Lots of traffic. It seems like since things have opened up after Covid that there is more traffic on the weekends than there is during rush hours. Lots of field work being done and already been done. Even saw a field that was plowed, we don't see that often anymore, but I can still tell by the furrows. 1st stop was in Owatonna at Jimmy John's for food. We each had a Little John and even that was almost too much food. 2nd stop was the shipper in Forest City. Today there was less than 10 packs of paperwork laying out for drivers, we have seen it where there was over 100. So not real busy. Two other drivers showed up while we were there. One of them asked for cable ties, sounds like this was the persons first solo trip. So this may have been something the other person was in charge of? The other driver didn't talk to us and was in after us and out before us. Not sure where his plate and placards were, I couldn't see them from the distance I was standing. We noticed there was a car by the office and then noticed the bosses light on. Couldn't see him because of the office layout but someone was working. Someone gave away the trip I was going to call on Monday AM. When we looked at noon today, Sunday, it was gone. :( 3rd stop was the Fleet Farm in Owatonna for fuel. $2.80. BB put in two gallons so it was important to find the cheapest fuel on the trip. :) There were lots of computer choices to get to our hotel but they all have to cross one of a couple of bridges. 4th and final stop was at the Comfort Inn in Anoka/Ramsey about two miles from the drop. Not cheap, but close. And we are still using rewards points. Once we get back doing long trips we will start paying for rooms again. When we were checking in I asked the desk clerk if they had ever eating at the place across the highway ... yes, they have ... and they work there :) Aurelio's Pizza, they used to be in Roseville, there was an article on their wall about the move. I didn't take time to read that but did look online and they have 20 IL and 10 IN locations plus a few others. Good food, BB and I split a meal and we still have leftovers. ... BB usually plays it safe, but today her low fuel light came on before she got to the cities and is now flat on 'E.' We still have a mile to go on the frontage road to get to the station. If we hadn't been driving into the sun tonight she might have been able to see the stations before we got to them and she would have stopped. Maybe. Tomorrow we will likely not have a trip until after BB has dropped. If nothing shows up local out of MN we will head back to IA and hope they put something better on the load board. There are still 'good' trips that we can take, and enough of them that we don't need to decide right away. |
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| 211004 IA-MN 1 RV to Ramsey MN (delivered) 1 pickup to Williamsburg IA ... spending the night at Albert Lea MN At 7 AM I call the auction dispatcher. Yes, he took everything off of the load board over the weekend and will add trips back based on the new orders. At 8 AM we go down for breakfast, by the time we get back the new trips have arrived. I call right away but it will be about two hours before I hear back that I got the trip. Breakfast. Omelette and Polish (type) sausage. Good food. WHEW - BB made it to the gas station without adding any more fuel. The gauge never moved, it just laid flat on 'E,' It took about an hour for the inspection with two people looking at it. By then I had my next trip so we went back to the hotel to use their printer for my Bills of Lading. The printer won't work so I had to ask for help. For some reason they have the computer set to a non-existent printer. It just needs to be manually set to the actual printer. That took another half an hour that we hadn't counted on. The hotel and drop are on US-169 and so is the next shipper, 140 miles away. 3rd stop - is Garrison at Burger King for lunch. We didn't realize that there were three food places in the one building so that was our longest walk of the day, from one side of the building to the other. 4th stop is the shipper in Hill City. WOW - They have moved. All the temporary offices, fuel tanks, shops, everything but a few trucks across the lot are gone. Looks kind of eerie compared to two weeks ago. So I called the shipper contact to see who should sign, no one. Then later I called again because there were a couple of things left in the truck. He said it was my lucky day ... he didn't them. This truck does not have as much fuel, but the readout says it is getting better mileage. And later I will find out the pay isn't as good as on the shorter trips, but still better, way better, than any RV we drive. Not sure why, but we stopped at one of the first fuel stops in the correct direction. Fuel was cheaper down in Milaca but another five cents and I could have made it. ... and not sure what was going on across from the gas station. I noticed a car on the shoulder on the oncoming lane and a person with a bicycle walked out into the travel lane and stopped and talked to the driver. The on coming semi and all the other traffic had to stop while they chatted. I was turning off right then so I didn't see how long it lasted. Only heard the horns for a short time. BB had said put in 20 gallons ... Opps. I'm not always thinking ... logically. When I picked up the pickup I had looked at the mpg and saw it was over 13. And I looked at my last trip and I ended with 8.1 mpg. So this would be interesting. I switched screens and looked later and it was at 7, then 15, then 34 ... that is when I finally realized I was looking at the TRIP miles not the mpg :( ... Opps, and each time I looked I was re-doing the math as to how much fuel I should put in. Not sure why but I stopped the pump at $60, 18.7 gallons. 5th stop - that was a local gas station in Aitkin. My actual mpg did get up to 15.2 by tonight's hotel and I will still be 40 miles short of the drop. We'll see if that changes before the drop. Shortly after I leave the station I get a phone call so I decide to stop at the next logical place. 6th stop - Rest area near Milaca. That ended up being my 30 minute break for the day. Lots of hay being cut today. After a dry summer where they had to feed livestock in July they will need all the feed they can get. Not bad for an afternoon rush hour. 7th stop - rest area near Northfield. I hadn't planned on stopping until Owatonna but I stopped and texted BB that she could pick where we stayed for the night. BB decides we will stay in Albert Lea 8th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Albert Lea. Our supper is left overs from last night. It almost wasn't, this AM we were in our vehicles when BB remembered we had left the food in our room. We have three coolers with so lots of place for food. Load board US - 191 IA - 48/47 MN - 2 WI - 1 As of right now, there is nothing in IA heading back to MN. The best IA trip at the moment would be Green Bay but there isn't a second leg right now heading back to IA. The best trip on the board right now is from Duluth back to Dodge Center. I didn't look at the load board all day so not sure what else was added and taken. Today is only Monday ... |
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| 211005 IA-MN 1 pickup to Williamsburg IA (delivered) 1 RV to Ramsey MN 1 pickup to Shakopee MN (Wednesday) ... spending the night at Lakeville MN We got the IA pickup dropped, an RV picked up and should be able to pickup and drop a 2nd pickup tomorrow. No plans for Thursday yet. (It took too long to eat tonight, more later) Awoke to the alarm at 6 AM, breakfast at 7 AM. Eggs, bacon and good yogurt here. Plus grape juice. They always put out a good spread here. Weather said heavy fog this AM but it wasn't bad on the freeway. It seemed to be thicker where there was foliage and to the east of the freeway. Where the crops had been harvested there wasn't as much or any fog. On the first stretch of the trip this AM I saw one of the tanker trucks I drive ... being hauled ... and the cops had it pulled over. Better him than me. I knew I was going to have to buy fuel somewhere and I had decided on the Kwik Star in Story City. I was only going to get a couple of gallons so it wouldn't pay to stop at a big truckstop. Flying J and Loves were about $.40 a gallon more than the those two. I almost stopped at a Kum and Go but didn't. I would have saved a whole penny a gallon on both gallons. 1st stop was the Kwik Star in Story City. Before fueling I was short 20 miles range to get to the drop. After I fueled I was 12 miles over, by the time I dropped I was 47 miles over. So I would have had enough fuel. Oh well, I am tired of running on fumes, at least for today. 2nd stop was ... on the shoulder at Williamsburg. I had not looked at any maps so I had no idea where I was going. I didn't even know the exit, I just knew how many miles I had to go this AM ... 225 and this was as close as it would get. Easy directions, south two miles, take a left by Homer's and then a right on the delivery street. Building was well marked. It was 11:30 but it was lunch time for them. I was expecting another auction house. No, this is a shop but almost no trucks around. So they must move them in and out pretty fast. They told me where to park and when I came back in after moving the pickup, someone met me at the door and signed. They never looked at the truck, just asked where the keys were. Easy drop, I home this customer is always like this. 3rd stop is Arby's. Then we sit in the car and eat. An RV has shown up since we were at the drop five minutes ago. We grab it. But first we had called the auction dispatcher because there was a trip an hour away and we were guessing the short ones pay good. Opps, it will not be ready until Thursday ... BB had been itching to get back on the road but less than two days and she is already starting to drag. So instead of taking another pickup to IA we first call on one going back to Dodge Center. 4th stop - Rest area near Victor to switch drivers. The Dodge Center dispatcher is not picking up his phone and the voice mail is full, so BB will drive for a while so I can keep calling. When I finally get ahold of the dispatcher the trip is gone. It sat out there for two days and then while 'I' can't reach dispatch the trip is somehow taken ??? So I call back the auction dispatcher and take another pickup, but this one is going to Shakopee so we should be able to do that trip in one day. Now for the three more hour ride to the shipper. 5th stop - Ankeny rest area, mostly to switch drivers again, I'm back as driver. 6th stop - hardware store in Clear Lake to drop off a UPS package we have been hauling around for a few days. We finally looked online for the closest drop location and this was it. 7th stop - Shipper in Forest City IA. Today there are five other drivers there, so it is busy. I didn't take time to talk to any of them. We were in and out in a half hour. When we head out I am short about 60 miles range. 8th stop - for fuel at Fleet Farm in Owatonna. It is still cheaper here by $.20 a gallon even after going up today. $.20 on two gallons :) By the time I had gotten to Owatonna I was only 20 miles short, when I left I was twelve miles over. I should be good. 9th and final stop - Quality Inn in Lakeville. 1st Quality Inn in months. A little step down but we didn't want to run another hour and we still haven't eaten. Once we are checked in we order from Cracker Barrel, it's been a long time since we had gotten food from there also. Load board US - 138 IA - 49/47 MN -0- WI - 2 They added a trip from IA to Brainerd after we picked up ours, that would have only less than an hour to our next pickup. Stuff comes and goes. We will wait until mid-day Weds to decide about Thrursday. |
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| 211006 IA-MN 1 RV to Ramsey MN (delivered) 1 pickup to Shakopee MN (delivered) ... spending the night at home Dreams :) I dreamt someone was after me and then grabbed me, I tried to push them away but they were solid ... solid as ... my headboard. I woke up and was pushing on my headboard. Breakfast, it is not a Sleep or Comfort Inn. Breakfast was OK. Juice? I filled two cups with passion juice, then tasted one as I was standing there waiting for BB. Yuk, almost a soap taste, none of the passion flavor. So I poured one out and did my mix of apple and OJ. But I could see instead of OJ it was just clear water going in my cup. Eggs and sausage were not great either. If I had seen any yogurt that I wanted, I would have gotten that instead. By 7:30 we are ready to pull out. A pilot car driver was parked next to us and we talked to them briefly. We both kind of do the same nomad kind of thing only they usually don't go as far. Google said last night it should take 50 minutes to get to my drop. At the heart of rush hour it took 57 minutes, so not bad. Today we were going slow enough that I was watching the EZ-Pass lane and the number of cars that get the blue light vs the cars that get the yellow light. My low fuel light finally comes on about 10 miles from my drop, so I still had a 30-40 mile range when I got to the gas station. That is about where I like it. 1st stop - is the Holiday in Anoka for final, dealer paid fuel. $20 2nd stop - is in Ramsey at the drop less than two miles away. I am there a few minutes before when they want us so I get most of my stuff taken care of before bringing the paperwork inside. Not sure why here, today, but two different sales people made jokes about there being dents in my RV, the one hadn't even seen the RV ??? BB thought she overheard them say this one was already sold. As we were standing in the parking lot, we could only see four motor homes, all the rest were travel trailers. And one of those four was the one that BB brought in on Monday. No (REAL) driver damage and we are in and out in 30 minutes. Monday it took an hour and then we went back to the hotel to try and print our BL for the 2nd leg. So today we are an hour ahead of Monday. 3rd stop - Culvers in Brainerd. As we drive in we see the lobby is closed, drive through only. So we pull around to the drive thru. But as soon as it moves ... Firehouse Subs in Brainerd. The line was taking forever and we hadn't stopped for over two hours. Time for a restroom and the Firehouse was in the next parking lot. They did have a bathroom and there were only a couple of people ahead of us. Not sure how they were doing their orders as it took 30 minutes for us to get our food and by then their may have been two dozen people in line behind us. Great food but ... After making a mess of my shirt yesterday, I put on one of my jackets backward to keep from spilling ... on my shirt. But I still made a mess, all over my jacket, my pants and the seat. So great food, just not great for eating and driving. One more hour to go. 4th stop is at the pickup location in Backus. I had called my contact before we left Ramsey this AM and he wanted to be there when I picked up as their company had a BL for me to sign. So I call when I get there. My contact is now in Park Rapids, 45 minutes away. So he tells me to just grab and go. I ask about my paperwork, just leave it in the office. Not much for numbers on these trucks so we had to open the doors of all the Ford 350's and check the VINs. We found it. Good news, it is almost full of fuel. Not as good news. It is blocked in both front and back. But all the trucks have the keys in them so not a major issue. As I am doing my inspection I find that one of the side compartments is full of stuff, and there is stuff under the seats. So I pull around to the shop. The guy wants nothing to do with signing anything but is very interested in anything left in the truck. Lots of choice words for his former co-workers. This place is already 'closed,' as in the job is done and they are just cleaning up. I didn't ask but my guess is in a couple of weeks this place will look like Hill City. Empty. BB stops once on US-169 at a rest area, I don't. 5th stop - The rest area near Hasty on I-94. Not sure how, but BB caught up to me. And nowhere today is the speed limit over 65 mph (other than a couple of miles between road constructions) BB calls me at the rest area, she has just pulled in and I was just pulling out. Todays ??? driver award goes to ... There is a place on I-494 where the entrance ramp has it's own lane for over a quarter of a mile to the next exit ramp. Someone comes down the ramp and stays right beside me. At one point they are slightly ahead of me and I do not see any blinkers. When they get to the exit ramp they lay on their horn, ??? expecting me to get over? Last time I was on this highway a person also came down the same ramp ... and exited at the next one. I'm guessing their break or accelerator would have worked so they could have gotten in front or behind me in less than a quarter mile. Runner up would be the guy who hit the gravel shoulder in road construction. A mile later he is straddling the white line so no one can pass. When we clear the road construction, I do pass him. He is texting with both hands. NO hands on the wheel. ... and the driver that was following so close that I thought they were being towed. At about 40 mph someone was about three feet off the bumper of the person ahead of them. And all traffic was going 40 mph so there was nowhere else to go if they did get past. And coming back from Hill City a couple of days ago. Someone was taking a left turn off of Hwy 169 and there was a 'bypass lane.' Except when they stopped they swung wide so their right tires were in the next lane. I was the first person behind them and saw the bypass lane but didn't realize they were going to swing wind. So I actually drove out in the gravel to get around them. As I did, they pulled ahead into their own lane. All the cars behind me used the bypass and the couple of oncoming trucks they were waiting for cleared, and as far as I could see that car was still sitting stopped in the traffic lane. 6th stop - the auction house in Shakopee. When I pull up, I see truck headlights so I figure a truck is leaving so I sit back. Then I realize it is being towed, backwards. So I pull ahead, leaving room for any cross traffic. Cross traffic does come, but pulls in line ahead of me blocking the opening I had left. I throw my hands up in the air. The driver sees me and realized what the did, so they back up. 1st time there has been a line. Third time here so I know, or should know, the routine. After I park I realize I forgot to have them sign my paperwork, so I have to do that as I am walking out. And I ask what hours they are open. They are open until 10 PM 7 days a week. Hmmm :) Earlier we were not sure if we would want to run again tomorrow so we didn't call before we left the hotel, or from the 1st drop, or from lunch or the pickup location. Now the trip out of IA is gone and it is too late to get work from the East coast dispatcher. So we are going home. 7th stop is the Honey Baked Ham in Burnsville :) One for tonight, one for later. 8th and final stop is home. Load board US - 159 IA - 50/47 MN - 3 WI - 9 We haven't done exact math, but it seems that it may pay about as well to do just an RV trip or just and auction trip as to try and tie the two together. Earlier today there had been a IA to Brainerd trip and a Hill City to Shakopee trip but we didn't jump on it and then it was gone. We will see what tomorrow brings. These short trips wouldn't pay if we were using rental cars and paying for hotels, but as we are doing them ... we have made as much in four days as we usually do on a good week working seven days. And about five other trips that we didn't grab soon enough could have made those numbers even better. |
