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...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
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Trip 69b - New IH - Class B Refer ... to Pittsburgh, PA Trip 69c - Used IH - Class B Refer ... from Pittsburgh, PA Trip 69d - New IH - Garbage Truck ... to Philadelphia, PA Trip 69e - New Sterling - New Watertruck ... to Portland, OR 1/4/04 After waiting for a while the boss came up with a 'round trip' run to Pittsburgh ... will need to ride up to our depot, take a used truck to the customer where I will then pickup my truck. This meant I was not going any where at 8 AM ... by 10:30 the shuttle was ready to go ... a two hour ride to the depot ... at -3 my used truck won't start and I wear the battery down, find a set of jumper cables but it still doesn't start. Finally after an hour someone comes by with a can of starting fluid and after a few slow firings, it starts. Another two hour ride to the customer ... do save 15 minutes by not stopping for fuel, looks like I have enough to make it ... when I pass the last station before the customer it still shows I have 1/4, but it starts to drop rapidly and is laying on E when I pull in, does bounce up a little, don't really like leaving it like that at a regular customer but it should still have enough fuel to get around the yard and they do have a pump in their lot. Finally rolling ... hours later ... ... a little good news, the truck I'm picking up isn't on empty so I can make it to a truck stop about 15 miles away to fuel. All this time getting nowhere has the storm catching up to me ... on the average trip I can get to the WI/IL border by about 4:30 ... on a good day, by 1 or 2 ... today ... 8:30 PM. By now it is raining / snowing and not good weather for using the cruise control. More expenses, same rate of pay ... the tolls on the IL tollway increased Jan 1 ... I'm ready to give the guy at the first booth a buck and he says $2.85 ??? I pay it ...by the time I get to the last toll booth the price is back down to a buck ??? I'm tired and didn't bother to try and figure out the rates http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=53,35497,53_35524&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL (I now have checked the tolls ... the first guy charged me for a three axle truck ... mine is only two ... and by the time I got to the last toll booth it was after 10 PM so 'Overnight rates' applied) Try to make it to Toledo the first night ... 600 miles and a Motel 6 for $29 ... not tonight, could, but it would be well after midnight, end up at the Motel 6 in South Bend. It's finally happened ... a major opps at a Motel 6 ... the room I'm given has not been cleaned. I go back to the front desk ... "Checking out?" they ask 'Only if you can't find a clean room to give me.' I get a different room. It's late, cold, so I go to bed hungry. 1/5/04 Good news ... not a big pile of snow on my truck, seem to have stayed ahead of the storm. More good news, somehow I am getting good milage on a Class B Refer truck and only have to fuel three times, with the third not being a fill. And some bad news ... the main dispatcher is back and has told me that my return truck is not ready. Later in the AM I'm told there is a truck in OH a couple of hours away coming back to the office. And later am told there is a 'hot' truck right in Pittsburgh going to Philadelphia ... customer will give me a ride to my next truck. Philadelphia ... why not, do the boss a favor, a few hour trip and I'll still be home by the weekend. I turn one highway too soon and spend an extra couple of miles on the two lane ... get to the customer right at 4:30 local, just like I told them. Did leave the truck with less than a 1/4, was off a little on the milage ... would have liked to have left a little more as they were giving me a free ride. Was more than 1/8th of fuel so the low fuel light wasn't on yet. Page 3 - The next leg .... |