Trip 100 and Summer Vacation!

Since my last blog entry (I'm getting lazier about this all the time), I've completed several more trips, including my 100th, and am now officially on vacation for the summer. When my wife finishes teaching duties, we will be heading to our little home in Choteau, MT, June 13. We expect it to take about 4 days to drive the 2,200 miles unless we really get anxious and haul ass to MT, which we might do.

I'm not going to go into the details of each of the driveaway trips I've taken since the last entry. I'll post a couple of pictures, brag that I've now completed 101 trips, and let it go at that. So, the pictures:



There's actually two more, but they look like the chassis and the boom/chipper truck, so didn't see any need to upload the images. The chassis was my 100th driveaway trip, an accomplishment for which I am amazed. That's over 60,000 miles combined truck and chase car driving in less than 2 years. Never thought I'd do that many trips when I started doing this. Been burned out a few times, but since I've outfitted my tow car, I've been enjoying it a little more, and actually making a little more money. But driveaway is definitely not much of a money-maker and I'm still trying to figure out why I'm doing it. It was the excitement of travel, but getting to be too many trips into PA and the northeast, so I'm not sure it's that any more. Could make a joke about it being a good reason to be away from the wife, but that wouldn't be funny to some, so won't make that joke.

Oh, I know why I'm still doing driveaway - its for credit card airline points. That's how I manage to fly to Great Falls, MT. Otherwise, the airline tickets are just too much. With the credit card deal I have currently, I get 5 points for each dollar spent on fuel, and with some of the bigger crane trucks, I can rack up 1000+ points in one fuel-up. So that's why I still do it.

I've officially retired from school bus driving. I let Roanoke County know this week that I would not return next year. I've sort of enjoyed taking the sports teams to various events and the few field trips, but each time I look in that big mirror over the driver's head, I'm aware of the incredible responsibility and liability that I have as a driver. That, plus I'm just spending too much time driving between bus driving and driveaway, and I need to free up some time for Montana.

Anyway, I'm now officially on vacation until mid-August, so all you blog fans (and you know there are 10's), be safe out there and enjoy your summer.

Visited the King

This week, I was able to work in a quick driveaway trip. It was a short week since Monday involved counter top re-installs and Tuesday was bus duty taking the girls softball team (one of my favorite sports) on a long trip to Alleghany.

But first, a brief note on my wife's and my most exciting trip to Nashville last weekend to visit our son. He moved down there about a year ago, and since then he seems to have made himself a good home, carrying on his own graphics business, making alot of great new friends, and drumming with several good bands. We saw one of his latest bands on Saturday night and really enjoyed them. During our visit to Nashville, he also took us downtown to take in the sites, the honky-tonks, and the Country Music Museum. A really enjoyable weekend.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

I was lined up to drive 230 miles to Shelby, NC, where I would pick up a Southco chipper truck destined for King of Prussia (thus, the visit to the King), PA to a tree service there. I got an early start in my toad for the drive to Shelby and arrived there by a little after 11:00 AM. I found the nice, new IHC 4300 with automatic already staged in their bullpen, and with a quick pre-trip and hook-up of my toad I was off. Since the trip to King of Prussia involved traveling within 5 miles of home, I decided the round trip of about 500 miles to/from Shelby would make a good day's work and I'd just come by home for the night rather than staying in a motel. I got permission from the manager of the local Food Lion to park the truck there for the night. Unhooked my toad and was home for the evening by about 5:00 PM.




Thursday, May 10, 2007

I wasn't sure when I left home that morning whether I would be able to make the 375 miles to King of Prussia and whether I'd have another truck lined up or return home. But while hooking up my toad, I managed to wrench my back again for the umpteenth time, and as I headed out I knew it was going to be a long day no matter what I did.


I had an uneventful trip up through the Shenandoah Valley and across PA. It was a beautiful day, the truck drove great, and it had a 72 gallon fuel tank, which meant I only had to refuel one time. I arrived at the tree service in King of Prussia around 2:00 PM, where the owner was anxiously awaiting his new truck. He had another in route and was anxious to find out where it was, but dispatch doesn't fill us in on those sorts of details, so I didn't know, but was able to find out that it would arrive in about an hour. One more happy Spirit Miller customer.


Dispatch did not have another truck available that would get me home by Friday evening, a requirement in prep for Mother's Day, so with my ailing back I started the 375 miles home. I seemed to be spaced out enough, for some reason (no drugs other than Ibuprofen), that I was able to drive the whole way with one stop, and was home by about 9:00 PM. I say I was spaced out, because at the one stop, I filled up for gas, went in to the fast food next door, ordered a taco salad, which they didn't have, ate the Southwestern Salad, then ordered a Frosty, before I realized I was in a McDonalds, not a Wendy's.


So, today, I'm nursing a sore back, and trying to figure out what I'm going to do for Mother's Day. And also starting the prep for something I've looked forward to for a long time - the graduation of my third, and final, child. My wife and I have put 5, counting ourselves, through college - a goal for which we are very proud.


Next week, I may work in another quick driveaway trip before heading to Richmond for Caitie's graduation. She's worked hard and I hope she enjoys herself.

Up and Back

Took a quick 3-day outing leaving this past Sunday and back home on Tuesday afternoon. Probably about the right length for me, although if I hadn't been driving a really old truck on the return I might have been good for another day or two.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Dispatch had me lined up to take one of four trucks bound for Tolland, CT from Daleville, VA. Tolland is a little area just northeast of Hartford, which is an area I'm finding has serious traffic congestion even though it is not that big. The truck I was to take was a new Altec boom/utility IHC 4300 automatic. Nice truck to drive and just the right size after driving so many cranes lately.

I was on the road and fueled up by about 8:00 AM. I wasn't expecting to make the full 600+ miles, but I made good time and arrived at Tolland about 6:30 PM, even though traffic in Hartford was backed up for miles at 5:30 PM on a Sunday. I've been through there about six times and five of those have involved heavy traffic, no matter what time of day it is.

Since I pulled my toad, it made it easy to make the decision to go ahead and drop off the truck that evening rather than wait until Monday morning. I could unhook my toad in a few minutes, drive to a motel, and be able to wait there on Monday morning until dispatch came in and got me lined up for the next trip. This is a lot easier than waiting at the customer location.

Monday, April 30, 2007


Dispatch had me lined up by 8:30 AM to return to their office in Deposit, NY, about 220 miles away to take a truck from there to Cloverdale, VA, which is very near where I live. Didn't occur to me at the time that this was likely an auction item, but I found out soon enough.


I arrived in Deposit at about 1:00 PM and saw a lot full of old trucks. The biggest and ugliest was an old 1996 Ford L8000 with a body that is used to carry and stretch cable. As I went up to the office, I sure was hoping my truck wasn't going to be that one. But, naturally, it was. The owner assured me her son had driven it in from Worcester and it ran great. So I did the extra pre-trip inspection. It did seem to run OK, hold air pressure, etc., so I went ahead and hooked up my toad. Makes it a bit easier to head out in these oldies with your own ride behind you if needed.



The old truck did drive ok, except for maxing out at 57 mph, but I made it to Carlisle, PA for the evening. It would occasionally give out a scream, which it took until the next day at delivery to partially identify. There was some fan, that wasn't associated with the heater, that would just scream at random times. By the time I delivered on Tuesday afternoon, it was really screaming.



I was back home a little after 1:00 PM and, as usual, glad to be safely back. Paperwork to do and catch-up on cat lap time and the newpapers, which now include the Choteau Acantha, my favorite.