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.