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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 39 - New GMC - Refer ... to Liberal, KS 3/29/04 - I had wanted to leave yesterday, but my 'other job' said they needed me today so I had stayed in town ... then this AM they say things haven't gone as planned and there was no need for me to come in today ... When you try to get a trip at the last minute on a Monday AM you can't be too picky ... I pretty much said I'd go anywhere ... and that's where they sent me ... First it was going to be TX to MT to ID ... but by the time I got to the office it had changed to KS ... Liberal, KS ... why not? A nice two day run ... (that was wishful thinking) This was going to be a team effort ... the second time in a year that I've been with the same driver twice. By the time we've gotten our paperwork and are checking our trucks, dispatch comes out to find us to tell us that there isn't rental car within 200 miles of our drop ... let the fun began ... Our first drop is Washington, IA ... almost no Interstate on this leg ... we didn't get started until after 3 PM (vs 8 AM) ... problem's this leg. Once we drop the other guy's he gets to ride with me for four hours to KC ... we get as far as Bethany, MO before we shut down for the night ... a Family Budget motel for $38 single ... costs us $46 for the two of us. After 9 PM our only choice is a Country Kitchen, we opt for breakfast there instead. 3/30/04 - Up with the sun ... by the time breakfast is over it's time to roll ... breakfast was just so-so, not bad, just food. In KC we pickup a truck that had broken down a few week's back ... now another 400 miles to go. Dispatch is still working on getting us out of Liberal, so far it looks like a two ride back ... on a trip paying under $300 ... not looking good. We make good time this trip and get to our drop a couple of hour earlier than originally thought ... by now we finally have a plan, such as it is ... We have to pay a guy $50 to get us to the next town 60 miles away where we will catch the bus tomorrow AM to Witchita, where we will pickup a rental car for home ... three legs to get home, that's a first. Our ride finds us the bus station and the closest motel, which is well over a mile away, a BestWestern ... $60+ for the two of us ... ouch, but what choices do we have? ... it does get better, that price includes a free breakfast at the place across the street ... and the other talks the motel into letting us use their car to get to the depot and they will pick it up there ... huh ... this doesn't happen in any big town ... When the motel clerk ID'd my co-driver is when I found out that this guy was 70 ... I had guessed him at about 55, he would get carded again at the bus depot tomorrow ... and this guy just got his class B about a month ago ... We did get a 'free' ride to another restaurant tonight with our ride to town, we thought maybe he'd hit us up for another couple of bucks but he didn't ... 3/31/04 - 5:15 AM ... breakfast is at 6 AM ... a good breakfast ... we need to be at the bus depot at 6:30 to catch the bus at 7 ... Not sure why I (or anyone else) didn't think about the fact last night ... that the bus depot was located in the ... AMTRAK station ... yep, we could have caught the train at 11 last night ... we could have have been on the road eight hours earlier and not paid for a motel. The bus ride was uneventful and a cab was waiting ... but once we got to the airport things stopped ... "Ah ... not sure how to say this ... but the credit card your company reserved your car on ... has a problem." We eventually find out that it is going to expire before we return the car tomorrow." At first the office is less than helpful "Tell them the card is good." ... "Tell them to over ride the date." ... huh? ... and when we say we are going to rent it on our own ... "NO, do NOT do that." (makes me wonder what kind of 'perks' the boss is getting on these rental cars....?) I tell the other guy we'll give them a half hour, we are not getting paid by the hour and this sitting is costing us money. After about an hour we do get our car and are rolling ... Sometime over the last 24 hours dispatch has offered us a quick $50 each for picking up a car on our way home ... both the pickup and drop are with 10 miles of our Instate so it's easy money. We keep our rental car there isn't even any back tracking. The other driver has dropped here before so he is finally in the lead ... when we had stopped for a quick break he had suggested that I "... kick it down to at least 80" ... then offers to lead. I had only looked at the map once and now he had the map ... I thought we were close, then he bolts the opposite direction, then he waits until we are back on the freeway to stop, which gets the attention of the local patrol ... I ask if he's looked at the map ... "No, but I know where we're going now ..." five miles later we stop again, this time I am out of the car and asking to look at the map. Yep, a half hour a ago we were two blocks from our drop ... back when we first exited the freeway. By now it is almost midnight, so I drop the other driver at his house and we will return the rental car tomorrow ... By now I have had plenty of time to look at all the options of our return trip (without the car we picked up) $150 - Wheels - $65 Uhaul, $45 rental car, $40 fuel ... 14 hours $150 - Train-Car via Garden City - $25 ride, $60 train, $10 cab, $35 car, $20 fuel ... 21 hours $170 - Bus-Car via Amerillo - $35 bus, $55 car, $40 fuel, $10 cab, $30 motel ... 40 hours >> $175 - Bus-Car via Garden City - $25 ride, $40 bus, $10, $45 car, $25 fuel, $30 motel ... 30 hrs $190 - Bus - $160 bus, $30 motel ... 47 hours $225 - Train - $25 ride, $30 motel, $170 ... 52 hours $290 - Plane - $260 air, plus $30 motel ... 22 hours |