Second (third?) Trip Report

This is a report on the second driveaway trip I've taken. I guess the third if you count the return trip for my first trip. That was the one that included the Greyhound adventure.

This one went much better. Was told to pick up my truck in Forest,Va around noon on Monday. Dispatch couldn't or wouldn't provide a contact so I could get an exact pickup time for the truck which was to go to Louisville, Ky. Got there around 11 am and the truck was all prepped and ready to go. So I could have headed out earlier if I could have just found out.

Being new to the business, I'm still not sure why dispatch doesn't like to or can't give out the contact info. I'm assuming they don't want all the drivers calling the companies. I'm sure some don't do well with the customer contact skills.

The truck I picked up was a GMC 7500 with 6 speed. No AC or radio. Was exactly like my first trip, except the bed was different on this one. Had one annoying problem of a rattle in the clutch assemby that was almost deafening. I tried to wrap some paper around where I thought it was rattling, but that didn't do much good. Finally just got used to it. Had a pleasant, but hot, trip thru western Va., WV, and KY. Once you get thru the mountains on I-64 and push into KY, it becomes a very beautiful trip. Stopped near Lexington, KY around 8 pm. Got a$39 rate at a nice Days Inn.

Was interesting to see the two people ahead of me at the motel desk storm out upset with the $65 rate they were offered. I sweet talked the desk clerk, was told that all she could offer was a $45 smoking room with queen bed. I said I would take it, but when I went to the room it was a very nice non-smoking room with king bed, and at a $39 rate. Still don't know if it was a mistake, or what, but I didn't ask any questions.

Took my time getting on the road this morning because I was to meet another driver in Louisville for the return trip in a rental car and I knew he had not been able to leave Va until 6 pm Monday, so I thought he would be well behind me. Got a call from him at 8 am this morning and he was almost in Louisville. He had driven until 2 am. So he was ahead of me and I jumped on the road. Delivery went well, another driver took us to the airport to get our rental van, and we were on the 8 hour trip back to Va by about 11 am.

All went well and looking forward to finding out what the real pay will be. Didn't have to get involved with Greyhound, so the trip was much better. I told my dispatcher, after the last trip, that I likely had taken my first and last Greyhound trip in 30 years. Will just have to see how that goes, but so far, so good.

Last Leg of First Trip - and the Greyhound Experience

Just finished the return part of my first trip by delivering to Chantilly, Va. Dispatcher had said they would put me in a rental car to return home, but when the time came to commit they said rental was too expensive from Dulles to Roanoke and I'd have to get on Washington Metro to Union Station and then on Greyhound.

I've read Dick's posts about Greyhound travel and how if you treat it as part of the "adventure" it's really not too bad. Well, this was the first time I've been on Greyhound in 30 years, and I can say it was more than an "adventure". The first leg of the trip from Washington to Charlottesville naturally was late, but the fight that broke out on the bus followed by the cops holding the two individuals in Charlottesville made it particularly adventuresome. Then, the Charlottesville to Roanoke leg was stopped in Amherst and searched by the drug sniffing dogs. No arrests that time. It took over 8 hours to get home from Washington and I figure the pay wasn't worth that part of the trip. I had enjoyed the driving and the rest of it, but I'm not sure I'm up for the Greyhound "adventure" any more. Not sure what I can do about that.

First Driveaway Gig

Well folks, after watching the Yahoo Driveaway group for about 2 years I finally stuck my toe in the water and took my first driveaway gig, and I'd have to say it's gone well so far. I'll do the report and throw in some dumb first-timer questions for you veterans to weight in on.

I picked up a new bucket/chipper truck Sunday morning with 81 miles on it in Forest, Va. for delivery to Dayton, Oh on Monday morning. It was a GMC 7500 with 6 speed, no A/C, and no radio. It was hot inVA, WV, and OH on Sunday. Truck drove nicely, but was governed at 2500 RPM's, which would let it do about 67 tops. Would pull down fairly quickly on inclines, which there are a lot of in WV. It seemed to be top heavy, which I guess is understandable with a big boom on top, but I'd like to know if those type trucks are prone to turn over if you'd go around a turn too fast or drop off the edge of the road.

I do have a question from this part of the trip: Where do you post your stickers, etc. if you want to have your side windows rolled down? I toughed it out and just cracked the windows so my stickers would still display on each side. Spent the night at Knights Inn in Xenia, OH Sunday night for $39.99 plus tax. Not great, but I made it out OK. Delivered Monday morning after briefly getting lost and seeing more of south Dayton than I wanted to. Was happy to have my first delivery safely over with. Nice folks where I delivered and they offered to give me a ride wherever I needed to go.

Dispatch had previously told me they would put me in a rental car back home to Va, but they asked if I'd be interested in bringing a truck from Paducah, KY to Chantilly,Va. I said yes, and they put me in a rental car to Paducah, about 360 miles away. I drove there Monday and picked up a new vacuum pumper truck (for cleaning porta-potties). I had to return the rental car to the Paducah airport and the vendor was nice enough to deliver the truck there. So I headed east via Nashville about 5:30 pm. Stayed overnight at Best Western ($39.99 plus tax) on I-40 east of Nashville last night (Monday). I found a coupon in one of the travel books at the visitor centers. I have to be in Roanoke (home) to drive a school bus tomorrow (Wednesday), so dispatch said it was OK for me to bring the truck here and take it to Chantilly on Thursday.

So that's the plan. The vacuum truck is a new Chevy 5500. Run's really great, with automatic, A/C, and radio. No problem going 70+ if/when needed. Only question I had on it was, for some reason, it seemed to want to occasionally fish tale on me. I thought that odd given it didn't seem to be pulling that much of a load, but occasionally it would get to wagging depending on road conditions or wind from other trucks. I had some trouble trying to mount my driveaway tag on the rear so I put in on the front instead. Dispatch said that was OK, but I wonder. Didn't get pulled at any of the weigh stations. Also, the vendor already had a KY temporary tag taped to the lower right on the windshield. Dispatch has since advised me to not have anything taped to the windshield and just lay it on the dash. Comments on that?

So I'm mid-return on my first trip and thought I'd give this report. Let me know if you have comments and/or answers to the questions.