Trips 28 - 30 PA, NJ, DE, MD, NC

Forest, VA to Whitehouse, PA
Monday, February 20, 2006

My birthday was going to be on Tuesday of this week, so I decided I'd just as soon be on the road to celebrate. I may have gotten a bit more than I asked for. Got the rough roads of PA, the busy highways of NJ, DE, and MD, the VA snow, and more. Got to visit two new states doing driveaway - NJ, and DE.

Took a boom/chipper truck along with chipper trailer from Forest, VA to Whitehouse, PA on Monday. All scales were closed, perhaps due to President's Day, but in any case that always helps reduce some of the stress and hassle of the trip. It was icey when I left on Monday morning, but I didn't have any problems, although there was a significant wreck on the entrance to Rt 29 north at Lynchburg.

I must report what I think was a funny company name on the side of a nice, white, Chevy pickup truck loaded with building supplies. The name of the company was ABM Bathroom Refinishing. Riding up I-81, no radio on, just taking in the surroundings, I found that name to be particularly funny - funny enough for me to laugh out loud in the truck.

I arrived Whitehouse, PA around 5:30 pm and immediately figured housing for the night might be a chore. I left I-78 and headed down to the small burg (township?) of Whitehouse to see if I could find anything. Finally asked someone at a Gulf station, who directed me to the east end of town to the Red Mill Motel. As Dick would describe it, it was a first tier Pattel motel, barely English speaking, and definitely roughing it. No place close to eat. Ended up walking probably the better part of a mile to a convenience store for a dinner of tuna sandwich and some other junk.

Before I arrived Whitehouse, dispatch had told me they wanted me to catch a bus on Tuesday back to Bethlehem, PA and pick up a truck for Upper Marlboro, MD. I would have to catch the bus at Clinton, PA, which was about 7 miles from my dropoff point. I tried to locate a cab, with little success that evening, so as I left on Tuesday morning I new I'd be at the mercy of the receiving company to give me a ride to Clinton.

Tuesday, February 21 (My birthday)

The Red Mill Motel wasn't open when I was ready to leave at 7:00 am, so I just left the key and headed out. It was a short drive to the dropoff point at a park and ride on exit 24 off I-78. The receiver didn't come until about 8:00 am, but he was kind enough to give me a ride to Clinton, so that solved one of the first major logistical problems for the day.

Nice little commuter bus terminal in Clinton where I got a $4.00 ticket to Bethlehem, PA. The bus was on time at 8:50 am, so didn't waste much time. It was about the equivalent of a tour bus. Clean, not very crowded, and pretty comfortable. Made it to Bethlehem by 9:40 am. It took the cab a good while to come to pick me up and take the several mile drive to the next pickup.

Trip 29 - Bethlehem, PA to Upper Marlboro, MD

I wasn't sure what to expect, because you can get anything when you're on the other end of a trip - everything from nice and new to total junk, and dispatch claims they don't have info about the truck, just the number. I arrived at the pickup at Utility One about 10:30 am and it took them a while to figure out which truck I was taking. But I was pleased to see it was a new one. This one was a "digger derrick" truck, which is a boom truck with an auger. It was a Chevy 8500, automatic, and radio. Turned out to be a nice truck to drive, so I headed down I-476 to I-95 past Wilmington, DE, Baltimore, MD, and on to Upper Marlboro, MD, which is just off the DC I-495 beltway on the eastern side. As you'd expect, there is a lot of traffic the whole way, but I made pretty good time and didn't have any significant slowdowns. Even took the truck through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel with no problems even though it was definitely tight.

I arrived at Upper Marlboro around 4:30 PM and made the delivery. Just pure luck on finding the dropoff at Pepco because the directions provided seem to always be for arrival from a diffent direction than the one you come in on. It was there that the trip got complicated.

Dispatch said they wanted me to take a truck then from Daleville, VA to Charlotte, NC, with pickup that night. I pretty much told them I wasn't interested, but would do it on Thursday (this being still Tuesday, my birthday). However, they were insistent, and I was losing a few options given they had said they couldn't find a rental for me to take out of DC and they wanted me to go back to BWI, pick up a company chase car, and drive it to Daleville, which is very near home for me. I finally relented, except for sticking to my guns on not picking the truck up that night. I'd pick it up and take it to Charlotte on Weds.

So, it was off to BWI with a $65 cab fare and plenty of farsie, or whatever it is the cabbies speak when they are on the phone to their girlfriends. Even through the DC/Baltimore traffic, we made it to the airport about 6:00 PM and I was quickly on the shuttle bus to Satellite Parking Lot B, Bus Stop 6. I figured that was going to be fun trying to find the company car without the row number, just the bus stop, but I lucked out and found the car right away. So I was shortly in the Hyundai Accent with 350k miles and on my way back home. Of course that still meant a 5 hour drive and fighting the traffic around DC, but I arrived home around 11:00 PM after a very long day, which began before 7:00 AM.

Trip 30, Daleville, VA to Charlotte, NC
Wednesday, February 22

It was snowing to beat the band Weds. morning, so I delayed a little by getting part of the mounds of paperwork driveaway entails completed, waiting until the post office opened, then heading to the pickup at Altec. I got there a little after 8:00 AM.

The snow presented a challenge I wasn't expecting. Altec had at least 20 trucks lined up, most were IHC 4300 or 7300. The truck number is usually hanging on the sun visor so you can usually drive down the line and find your truck. However, with the snow, the windshields were covered on all the trucks, and I initially wondered if I'd have to find the keys and unlock each one before I found the one I was to take. It is important you transport the correct truck. As I approached the task, I did discover that, on most of the trucks, I could climb up on the passenger side and see the number. Naturally, the truck I was looking for was the next to last one I checked. It was an IHC 7300 boom 4WD with automatic. Except for the bouncing, it was a nice truck to drive.

The snow presented extra challenges as I was hooking up the company chase car to pull along and pre-tripping the truck, but got all done and was headed out to fuel up by about 9:00 AM. It took an eternity to fuel up at the local Pilot station and finally get on the road.

Made it to Charlotte and the droppoff point at Shaw Electric by about 1:00 PM, and finally, I was on the way back home to stay for a while. They initially wanted me to drop the company chase car, which drives pretty well given it turned over 350k on this trip, back to Daleville, but I convinced dispatch it needed to go to Forest where my personal car was. I drove home and picked up my car the next morning.

I had stayed out at least one trip longer this time than I really wanted to. Was a little more worn out than I wanted to be. I continue to admire truckers who can do this constantly for a living. It's certainly harder, and more draining, than almost any of my 30+ years in an office.

Dispatch was already asking when I would be ready to head out again before I was out of Charlotte city limits. I told them I had to cool it for a while or I was going to get burned out at this, but as always, I'd be available for an "emergency" - which seems to be constant in this business. I figure I won't go next week since I'm driving the school bus on Tuesday and that messes up most of a week for driveaway.

Quick Trip #27

Monday February 13

Dispatch had called several times after I got back, even on the way back, last Thursday from my last trips. So Friday, after they upped the anti an extra $50, I agreed to take a chassis from Forest, VA to Jonestown, PA. I figured if dispatch thought it was so important, I could take a day to do it. Since I've been out a good bit lately, I insisted that I come straight back from PA. After all, we retirees have to be retired sometime during our retirement, right?

It snowed about 5 inches around here over the weekend, but I was at Forestry Equipment early to pick up the chassis. It was a IHC 4300 6-spd, and this time, with a radio, a real bonus. It was frosty, and took a few cranks to get it started and a lot of work to get it cleaned off. The company where I picked up now requires we go to the office before heading out since they still have a truck missing.

The 300+ mile trip to Jonestown, PA was relatively uneventful, except for the requirement, as I understand, that the temporary mudflaps on a chassis always have to come loose. And of course, these started coming loose with about 80 miles to go. The plastic/nylon straps used to hold the wooden crossmember started breaking. So I had to stop and try to wire them back on. I didn't have much wire, and it lasted for about 50 of the remaining miles before that broke also. I slowed down, and the last several miles were off interstate anyway, so I was able to make it to the dropoff point.

This is the first time I've been to this location. There was a surley guard, who ushered me in and told me where to go as long as I was sure to ask just the right questions and say "yes sir" and "no sir". He did manage to get me lined up with a private guy who does some cabbie work on his own to take me about 25 miles back to Harrisburg, PA to pick up a rental car.

The cabbie was a retired trucker. He retired with prostate cancer, something we all have the pleasure of looking forward to if we are male and live long enough. He said he's been clean almost 5 years, so things are looking up for him. Was a nice fellow and I enjoyed the ride to Harrisburg with him. He made sure I was at the right spot before he would leave.

I had originally planned to stop off somewhere on the way back for the night, but I got pumped, had the PDA playing my favorites, so rolled all the way back home, getting here about 9:30 PM. So, all in all, a pretty good trip, and as always, good to be back home.

Trips 23 - 26 - A Full Week of Excitement

Trip 23 - Forest, VA to Almost New Orleans
Monday, February 6

I had taken several relatively short trips and was ready to head out on a longer one. Dispatch had called me last Thursday to see if I could take a truck immediately to somewhere in FL (failed to get the exact location), but with Super Bowl weekend coming up I had other commitments and said no. They asked that I call back on Friday and they'd line me up with something for the following week. So I did, and it was New Orleans, which I was relatively excited about. I've still got that voyer thing going and want to see what New Orleans and area look like. I've been near it several times, but haven't seen the real thing since storms.

So Monday, went to Forest, VA to pick up a nice new boom/chipper truck. Took a little longer to pick up this time, since they are no longer staging their trucks in their bull pen since one is now missing. Got on the road by about 8:30 AM. I'd only driven about 40 miles to near Roanoke (time enough for the Check Engine light to come on and go out once), when dispatch called. They had an "emergency" delivery to Baltimore, MD from Daleville, VA, only about 5 miles from where I was, and could I take care of it for them. I said I'd much rather stick with the New Orleans trip, but that I'd do it if it was such an emergency. They wanted me to stage the truck I was in at the local TA Truckstop. I was thinking I'd get to come back from Baltimore and take that one on to New Orleans, but that didn't happen. I still wonder how they couldn't get someone else to do Baltimore but they quickly got someone else to do New Orleans. You think I might be an easy mark?

Trip 24 - Daleville, VA to Baltimore, MD
Still Monday, February 6

My son turned around from going to work and came by the truck stop to take me to Daleville. Picked up a new boom truck around 11:00 am and had an uneventful trip to Baltimore. That's a relatively good accomplishment given that almost all my trucks give me some sort of a problem and the traffic around Washington DC is always enough to spoil your week. The "emergency" became questionable when I delivered around 4:30 PM. No one was particularly interested in accepting the truck, but I did finally find someone nice enough to take it. I was in a cab and back to the BWI airport by 6:00 pm to pick up a rental car. Fought the traffic around DC, but luckily it didn't stop often. I had expected to stop over somewhere for the night, but I got on a roll and drove all the way home. So Blue Ridge, to Forest, to Daleville, to Baltimore, back home is a pretty good day's driving - something over 700 miles.

Trip 25 - Daleville, VA to West Palm Beach, FL
Tuesday, February 7

Dispatch had sort of acted like they owed me one when they took me out of the New Orleans trip, so they lined me up for West Palm Beach. That sounded good in a new boom truck from Daleville, VA. All the trucks, to this point this week, were IHC 4300's. All were 6-speeds, except the automatic I took to Baltimore.

Since I had gottem back from Baltimore late on Monday night, I did the paperwork for the Monday trips, which includes faxing some stuff and mailing all the forms and receipts, before I left for West Palm Beach. Since I wanted to get on the road, naturally faxing didn't work and other things ended up taking up a lot of time, but I finally left around 11:00 am. I had to return the rental car to the Roanoke airport and then take a taxi to Daleville. I was finally on the road around 1:00 pm.

It was a nice, relatively warm, day in VA and NC, and I made it to Hardeeville, SC, just above the GA border on I-95 by about 9:00 PM. Bedded down at a Sleep Inn (working on a free night with their stay twice, get a free night, deal). Up and on the road to FL by about 7:30 AM - always trying to stay legal. I made it through FL, which is a very long state when you start driving it, and arrived at West Palm Beach about 3:30 pm. Folks at the Altec facility there were extremely nice, getting me a fax and setting up a ride to the airport with a smile. I hope to visit them again sometime.

Before arriving at Altec, I had received a call from dispatch asking if I could fly to Baltimore (why has it become so popular all of a sudden?), take a cab to Frederick, MD, and pick up a truck there at the Altec plant for delivery to Lowes Motor Speedway (Charlotte) in Concorde, NC. Now that sounded interesting - a trip to the race track. Not really putting 2 and 2 together, I said yes, mainly because I was glad to be flying back closer to home, and the idea of going to the races sounded intriguing.

I had about a 4 hour wait at the airport, which gave me time to do the paperwork for both trips, and think about what was coming up. Admittedly, a beer into it, it occurred to me that I should check my documentation for the upcoming trip a little closer. The directions for once you arrived at the speedway said to follow the auction signs. Uh-Oh, auction signs. What do they mean, auction signs? Well, as I let my imagination roll, it occurred to me that auction might mean OLD TRUCK going to auction. But surely, Altec didn't have really bad old trucks going to auction, right?

Dispatch had wanted me to pick up that night after flying in, but I stuck to my guns and said it would be too late. I didn't want to pre-trip the truck in the dark. Is that a technique dispatch uses - get you to pick up in the middle of the night so you're stuck with whatever you get and have to deliver anyway? I've had this happen several times, and I'm beginning to totally avoid the night pickups.

Thursday, February 9

I had the $80 cabbie take me to the local Econo Lodge, and got a short nights sleep and over to Altec about 7:45 AM. I guess the week had gone well enough that it was time for it to tank.

And there it was. The orange of well worn Asplund. This thing was an I don't know what year GMC 7500 5-spd with 76k miles. I've found you can muliply mileage by about a factor of 10 on these trucks. The chipper bed was still loaded full with brush, garbage, metal objects, I think one or more dead bodies, and several lunches. The cab also held most of last year's breakfasts and lunches. The drivers side window was 1/3 down and wouldn't go up. Tires were iffy at best. Lights, mostly worked. The engine started on the cold morning OK, but had a miss. I called dispatch and told her I was disappointed, but would give it a try if I concluded it was roadworthy. I talked with one of their mechanics, who said the truck had been worked on and should be OK (yea, right). So I finally headed out onto I-70 about 9:00 AM.

Upon entering the interstate, the truck began jumping, hissing, popping, and misfiring. Couldn't get it above 45 MPH. I pulled off at the first exit, only a mile down the road thank goodness, called dispatch and said this is a no-go. Can't visit the speedway in this one. Luckily, dispatch didn't give me a hard time and just said to take it back to the pickup point, only about 3 miles or less away.

I was highly relieved to be rid of that one. There was a company chase car there for me to take to the BWI airport, got a rental car, and was on my way home shortly after noon. Another lucky trip around DC and I was home by 4:30 PM.

I was much relieved to have finished this week up. Got to add FL to the states I've visited doing driveaway. Dispatch had already called as I was on the loop around Washington to see if I could do a couple of round trips from Forest to Glen Allen, VA. Seems Forestry Equipment had specifically asked for me. I guess my good looks paid off since they are no longer staging their equipment in the bull pen. But I told dispatch it would be Monday at the earliest.

Dispatch has since called again, this time asking to take a new chassis from Forest to Jonetown, PA on Monday. Still not ready to get back, I hesitated. And for the first time, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse - $50 extra for taking it on Monday and put me in a rental car from Harrisburg back home. Wow, 50 big ones. Think of all the things I can do with that! So Monday, if snow doesn't close us down, I'm on the way to Jonestown.