Trip 49 - Still Mindlessly Moving Trucks

I'm going to borrow a phrase from Dick Williams, and my own personal driveaway slogan will become - Mindlessly moving trucks across America. In honor of my very green-minded wife, I may also add - Burning our fossil fuels for no good reason (also stolen from Dick).

Dick came up with the idea, and I think I'll steal it because I think it so well describes what I've found we do so much in driveaway. We just move trucks from point A to point B, and there very seldom is a good reason as to why. I'm still trying to figure out why a company would pay to move a relatively old truck 2200 miles from Pottstown, PA to Show Low, AZ. I'd really think they could get the equivalent truck closer to home. Anyway, it keeps us driving around the country, and I guess that's what we really want to do.

Trip 49
Monday, May 22, 2006

My retirement schedule has really gotten filled up lately with bus duty and some other stuff. And in light of our upcoming long vacation trip to Canada and Montana coming up beginning June 21, I see there are not many days left to do driveaway in between. This week, I did have Monday and Tuesday, but had to be back Tuesday night so I could do my wife's class field trip on Wednesday morning. So last Friday, I called dispatch and told them things were getting tight, but if they had a quick trip for Monday I could take it. They seem to stay fairly booked up, so they came up with a truck leaving Forest (always Forest it seems) for Canton, NY (no, not OH). They already figured that over 600 miles would be a little further than I could likely make up and back in the two days, so they figured I could drive part way and likely leave it somewhere about Scranton, PA it order to be able to make it back by Tuesday night.

I headed to Forest early Monday morning to pick up the truck. It was the usual boom/chipper IHC 4300, 6-spd, but this one did have radio (a really lousy one that would hardly pick up anything) and A/C (which I didn't need because they had frost warnings in PA which I was unprepared for). When I pulled my personal car into the bull pen where everyone parks at FEVA, I noticed there were two company chase cars sitting there. One, for whatever reason, doesn't have a tow bar, but the other did, so I figured dispatch might want me to pull it and drive it back rather than track down taxis and rental cars for wherever I left the truck. When I called dispatch to let them know I had the truck ready to go, with a little checking they agreed it would be a good idea for me to hook up the chase car. So that added another 30 minutes or so to getting out. This particular car had 412,000 miles on it, so I was a bit cautious in checking it out to see if it stood a chance of getting me back.

I finally got on the road, fueled and hooked up, around 9:00 AM. The trip into PA was relatively uneventful. It was a beautiful day most of the way. As I approached the mountains north of Harrisburg, it did get cloudy and rainy looking, and I could tell the temperature was dropping. I hadn't packed a jacket in the interest of traveling as light as I could, especially since the forecast looked so sunny and warm. Around 3:00 PM, I called in to find where they wanted the truck staged. They agreed Scranton would be a good stopping point, so they came up with the Petro Truck stop just south of Scranton at Avoca, PA. I got there about 5:30 PM, unhooked the car and parked the truck and headed back south. It had been close to 500 miles for the day, so I drove about 100 miles back down I-81 to Jonestown/Lebanon, PA and stayed in a Red Carpet Inn (no, not a Red Roof as I thought where I'd get my travel points).

I was back in the old chase car towards home by about 7:30 AM. Probably the most excitement of the trip happened in lower PA on I-81, where a wild turkey flew out across I-81 perpendicular to my path, and kept on coming - all the way from far off the left side across the north-bound lane and on across my lane - the south-bound lane. Since 18 wheelers were bearing down on my little Kia Accent, I didn't slow down as it came across in front of my car. I was sure I was to hit it, but for some reason I missed by a matter of inches. First turkey I've played chicken with.

Took the chase car back to Forest, picked up my personal car, and finally got home about 2:30 PM. It had taken longer to drive the 450 miles back home than I expected, but as always, was glad to arrive safely. Another Spirit delivery.

Swirling Under the Low in Bourbon

Yep, I went to Bourbon. Bourbon, IN that is. And I was caught under the gigantic low pressure system that was sending record amounts of rain all across the mid-west and finally up the east coast. Dispatch had me lined up to leave on Wednesday from Forest, VA to Bourbon, IN. Then rental car to Swanton, OH, which is actually the Toledo Airport. From there, a taxi to Maumee, OH; then on to Wooster, OH. From there, I was supposed to catch a bus to Akron and pick up a truck for Gaithersburg, MD. That part didn't work out exactly.

Trip 46
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I had to take the girls softball team to Alleghany HS on Tuesday night for a game. That's a fairly long trip in a rather decrepit activity bus. So bright and early Wednesday morning, I headed to Forestry Equipment to pick up the truck for Bourbon, IN. Not sure how it got that name given bourbon is unique to Kentucky.

I arrived Forest about 7:30 AM. I wanted to get an early start so I could make Fort Wayne, IN before quitting, which would put me on schedule to make the other connections that dispatch had lined up. The boom/chipper truck was ready, but the paperwork wasn't. So I had to wait until after 8:00 AM when the office staff came in to complete the paperwork. I was pre-tripped, fueled up, and on the road by about 8:30 AM.

The trip through western VA, WV, and Ohio was relatively uneventful except for it seems to take an eternity to finally get out of WV. There were multiple potential routes I could take to get to Bourbon, IN and I finally settled in on I-64 to I-77, to I-70 past Columbus, OH. It was 5:00 PM when I pulled onto the by-pass around Columbus, when one of the company owners called to see if I would be able to deliver the truck in Bourbon by 8:30 AM the next morning. By that time, I had about decided I wouldn't be able to get there before about 10:00 AM, but I told her I'd give it my best shot. Turned out that I made pretty good time, even with lots of rain, up through western OH on route 33, where I turned north to route 30 and on to Fort Wayne, IN. Drove through some beautiful farm country and just past the Neil Armstrong Astronaut Museum, which I'd really like to visit sometime.

I figured I'd be able to find a room as I pulled on route 30 just off the Fort Wayne by-pass west, but turned out that pretty much immediately threw me back into the country. So I ended up driving until about 9:00 PM before I found an AmeriHost Inns Hotel for the night at Columbia City, IN. I had driven close to 600 miles for the day. The rain continued.

Trip 47
Thursday, May 11, 2006

Was up and at it early and delivered the truck to Dueco on the western side of the little country town (or is it township?) of Bourbon, IN by 8:00 AM. From there, I got a cab to Wausaw, IN, where I got an Avis rental to the Toledo Airport. The cabbie presumably was the owner of the cab service and a package delivery service. He claimed to be a muli-millionaire and could set me up in the courier business any time I want. So I'm still thinking about that, but at the same time trying to figure out why he's driving a cab in beat up clothes since he's a millionaire.

Turned out that things got a little interesting at the Toledo airport. Ground transportation was able to provide a ride, but they said the recent trial for the Priest who was found guilty that day for killing a nun was taking up all the regular cabs. They'd be able to take me to Charlie's Dodge, in Maumee, OH, where I was to pick up the next truck, but the only vehicle they had available was a stretch limousine. The charge would be the same as a cab. So I climbed into the back of the limo and was off to my next truck. Really wished I'd taken time to get a picture of my only limo ride, but I didn't. Interesting that I have to get into driveaway work before getting a limo ride.

Found the utility pickup at Charlie's that I was to take to Wooster, OH and was moving by about 1:00 PM. This was the only Dodge and smallest truck I've driven yet in driveaway, but it was sort of nice not to have to fight the size.

I arrived at Wooster about 4:30 PM. Dispatch had previously told me the next truck from Kent to Gaithersburg had been put on hold and they weren't sure what I'd be doing next. When I called in to let them know I had delivered, they were still working on it. Dispatch wanted to know if I'd be interested in taking a "beautiful" truck from Ashland, OH, which was just 20 miles from Wooster, to Chandler, AZ. I was interested, but that would keep me out past Mother's Day, and that was going to be a no-go. So we finally decided I needed to get a ride back to Ashland and they would have me pick up the truck at Altec and stage it at the Indianapolis Airport on Friday. I found a cab, oddly enough, in Wooster and had him take me to a Super 8 in Ashland.

Trip 48
Friday, May 12, 2006

I lined up a cab to pick me up by 7:15 AM to take me to Altec, which was only a few miles up the road on the edge of Ashland. When I arrived there, I was a bit worried. There were lots of well used trucks sitting around, but after some search, they found a rather large, but fairly new, digger derrick truck for me to take out. It was an IHC 7400 4WD, automatic. It was really low on fuel, fumes actually, and the folks at Altec were kind enough to put several gallons in to get me to the first fuel station. Since this thing was so big, it really used a lot of fuel.

I pre-tripped it in the rain and was on the road by about 9:00 AM. Drove straight to the Indianapolis airport, where I was able to find a parking spot in the back of one of the satellite parking lots. By this time, it was about 3:00 PM. Dispatch was still working on how they would get me home. At the time, they were planning to fly me to BWI, then rental car home. I figured I could drive from Indianapolis in less time than it would take to fly and drive via Baltimore. So I headed home in a rental.

Wasn't sure I'd be able to make it all the way since I'd done a lot of driving and not a lot of sleeping since Wednesday. But I got my juices going and did the 570 miles home in about 9 hours, arriving about 12:30 AM. That was probably the most driving I had done in one day - close to 800 miles. My previous record was 750 miles when I drove straight back from a technology conference in Orlando, home following the 9/11 attacks.

As alway, mom was glad to see me and the daughters were coming in on Saturday for Mother's Day. So all was well in Blue Ridge.

Bunch of Trips - 41-45 - Including Little Truckin' Moma!

I had several bus trips last week, the first week back from vacation from retirement, and was expecting the next week to be for driveaway, which it turned out it was. But several things came up that were going to mess up the schedule. I've found when you get ready to head out on a driveaway trip, you'd best be ready to stay out longer than planned. But for this week, the primary scheduling conflict that came up was an awards ceremony with the VCU School of Arts to which we had been invited. It was to be on Wednesday, the worst day of the week to try to plan any driveaway trips around. So when I told dispatch that I might have scheduling conflicts, they seemed to get creative.

Dispatch asked if I'd be able to go out over the weekend, which I usually avoid, but since I was having conflicts for the following week (this week) I said I could. So they scheduled a trip from Forest, Va to Copley, OH - a delivery I had made before. I was to leave on Saturday after I got some yard work done and they lined up a rental car to bring back on Sunday, since I'd be arriving Copely late. Then, they scheduled 4 one-way trips from Forest to Glen Allen, just outside Richmond, which they could work around my daughter's award ceremony, plus throw in a night's stay to boot. That, then, brought up a delima for me as to whether I was willing to break the driveaway rules and let my wife ride along to save her driving to Richmond seperately. In the interest of conservation, in light of the current gas crunch, I decided to break the rules, and she agreed to ride along. Turned out to be a fun trip.

Trip 41
Saturday, April 29, 2006

After enjoying our traditional Saturday morning breakfast eating out, my wife headed off to yoga and I quickly did the yard work and headed to Forest to pick up the truck for Copely. I got there about 11:30 am. It had been staged in their bull pen - something they had stopped doing since having a truck stolen. It was the usual IHC 4300, 6-spd, no radio, no A/C with a chipper attached. I was to deliver it to the Extended Stay America in Copley where the ABC Tree Service gang seems to hang out.

I was comfortable with this trip since I had made the exact same trip a month or so ago. I knew that there were several hotels adjacent to where I would leave the truck, and a shuttle service to get me to the Akron airport to pick up the return rental car. I had originally planned to stay somewhere just before Copley for the night, then drop the truck on Sunday morning. But given that I would have to drive the extra distance to the drop-off on Sunday plus the 450 miles home on Sunday, I decided if I could I'd go ahead and drop the truck Saturday night.

Even though it took what seemed to be an extra long time making it to West Va, since I decided to use the 460 route to Beckley rather than the 220/I-64, I made pretty good time and got to Copley around 9:00 PM. I had made contact with ABC Tree on the way and had been told to stage the truck behind the hotel and leave the keys at the front desk. I figured that would work out well since I could then see if they had a room at an affordable price. However, after staging the truck and taking the keys to the desk, I was told there was a basketball tournament in town and everything was booked up. Not a good deal if you've just released your ride to the care of the front desk. So I walked down the street to the Comfort Inn with some concerns that I might be out of luck. They also told me they were booked up, but when I pleaded as to whether they had a closet I could sleep in, they found a smoking room I could have for $79. After talking them down (not that I was in much of a bargaining position) to $69, I took the room, settled in, then headed across the street to TGI Friday's for a nice libation and shrimp meal. I was definitely the shortest person in Akron on Saturday night considering all the basketball players that were hanging around.

Sunday, April 30, 2006

I tried to line up the shuttle for Sunday morning, but could not get a return call, so called a cab. That cost the company $45 rather than $20 with the shuttle, but so goes it. The cab arrived about 8:00 AM and I was off to the Akron airport. The nice Hertz lady handed me the keys to my economy car, which turned out to be a Chrysler Sebring with satellite radio. So, with my PDA with GPS and Tom Tom mapping software, and the satellite radio, I was teched out for the trip home.

And, since I was getting an early start, I decided this was finally my time to do some tourist stuff doing driveaway. The Pro Football Hall of Fame sits right next to I-77, so I pulled in at 8:45 AM and was their first guest of the day. Its a nice visit for a football fan.

Then, played with the GPS and satellite radio the rest of the way home, and arrived about 5:00 PM. Time to get the paperwork done and settle in to watch West Wing.

Trip 42 and 43
Monday, May 1, 2006

Today, I was to do the first of two turn-around trips from Forest to Glen Allen, Va. Except for not making much money, I liked the looks of this trip given I'd be able to drop off and pick up at the same location. No hussling around for buses, cabs, bumming rides, etc.

Since I had to return the rental car to the Lynchburg airport, I did have to get a cab from there to Forest and got there about 8:30 AM. The trucks leaving Forest for these two trip were chassis only, a very bumpy ride, and then a boom/chipper truck back from Glen Allen. All of these are IHC 4300, 6-spd, no radio or A/C. Chassis only are usually a pain not only because of the extra bumpy ride but the temporary mudflaps that are generally a problem.

Made the round trip to Glen Allen and was back to Forest by about 3:00 PM with the boom/chipper truck. The plan then was to wait until Tuesday afternoon, after my wife got home from school, to pick up the next chassis and head back to Richmond.

Trip 44
Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Turned out the plan worked to perfection. My wife got home early, we headed to Forest, picked up the chassis and were on the way to Richmond by about 4:00 PM. My wife did a lot of bouncing, and the seats didn't fit her small stature too well, but I think she's on the way to becoming a Trucker Moma. We arrived at our very swank Super 8 Motel about 7:00 PM and met our two daughters, who live in Richmond, for dinner. Had a very enjoyable evening.

Trip 45
Wednesday, May 3, 2006

We had a leisurely morning since the award ceremony wouldn't take place at VCU until 2:00 PM. So it was about 9:00 AM before we headed to Glen Allen to drop off the chassis truck and pick up the boom/chipper truck. The plan was to stage it at the giant shopping center in Short Pump, VA, where my oldest daughter works, then have her pick us up, do lunch with the daughters, and attend the award ceremony. The plan worked to perfection, except for the oldest daughter being sick and not coming to work. But since she couldn't rouse our youngest out of bed to come and get us, she did come and pick us up and transport us around as needed.

We had a nice, leisurely, lunch at what is a rather weird restaurant for me Kuba Kuba, in the fan district in Richmond. My daughers are good at coming up with restaurants and, particularly, ones that cost dad a little on the high side. But it's always fun to dine with them and we had a long lunch that lead right up to ceremony time at the Sonia Vhalocovic Theater on the VCU campus a few blocks away.

The name, Sonia, has extra meaning to me. In a tail I won't get in to here, I was once a music major at VCU and Sonia was my sight singing teacher (no, I can't sing). She was quite a card and it was nice to see she was still around VCU and laying out the cash for an auditorium.

My youngest daughter, the one pictured here trucking with her dad, received a merit award for academic and creative excellence - talents she quite obviously doesn't get from her dad, but for which her mother and I are quite proud. Then, it was a quick visit to her apartment to visit Zy, the country become cityfied cat, and on back to Forest.

We dropped the truck off about 7:00 PM. It was nice to have the trip completed, since I had stretched the driveaway rules to have my wife accompanying. But it was nice to have company and all the other family activities built into this trip work out. Also, it was VERY unusual for my driveaway company to have all the trips lined up ahead of time and not get changed in the middle. Knowing what was going to happen and when really made a difference. Really enjoyed this lightly paid experience.