Beat the Snow, Added a New State
Monday, February 25, 2008
Dispatch lined me up with a truck from Daleville, VA to
Jacksonville again. But this time, the Jacksonville was in Vermont. And bad weather was on the way. So I got over to Altec early on Monday morning, found the truck, an IHC 4300 automatic bucket truck, pre-tripped, hooked up my tow car, and was heading out by 7:45 AM. Unfortunately, as I was pulling out, I realized I'd left my suitcase at home. I have no idea how I could have been that absent minded, but I was, and it left me in the dilima of trying to figure out where I could leave the truck while I unhooked my tow car, drove home, and then returned to re-hook everything up. I decided to leave it where I filled up at the Troutville Citco. So all this added about 45 minutes delay to my start up I-81 to Vermont.
I had an uneventful trip up through VA, WV, MD, PA, and in to NY. Made it to Kingston, NY for the night. The weather forecast was for snow to start mid-morning on Tuesday, so I was up super early and on the road. I had to go about 60 miles to get to Albany, then hang a right and head out into southern Vermont, all areas I had never visited before. Entering VT, it was very beautiful. They had a foot or more of snow on the ground. I arrived Jacksonville, a very small town nestled in the mountains, about 9:00 AM and it immediately started snowing.
Dispatch didn't immediately have the next truck lined up, so I told them I was heading south right away. It turned out I was on the sourthern edge of the storm and within 20 miles was driving out of the snow and, later, into heavy rain. As I was heading south, dispatch was lining me up to pick up a truck in Piscataway, NJ. I don't like heading into the NY/NJ area, but it was getting me south into warmer weather, so I took it. My other option was to head into western NY, where it was already snowing heavily.
I drove about 260+ miles through MA, CT, and into NJ, arriving at the pickup location about 3:00 PM. Unfortunately, the truck wasn't ready and wouldn't be until Thursday, a two day wait. So dispatch re-assigned a truck that was 40 miles back up the road in Roseland, NJ. Lots of traffic and lots of heavy rain. Plus, it was now getting very foggy.
I found the pickup location by about 4:30 PM, but had decided that I was not going to try to pre-trip the truck in the rain, and then head out into the 5:00 PM NJ/NY traffic and hope to find lodging. I had put in a long day and figured I would do better to find some place to stay with only the car to handle, let the weather pass overnight, and head out on Weds. morning. So that's what I did.
On Wednesday morning I went back to the pick-up location at Verizon in Roseland, found the truck, and began pre-tripping. It was a fairly old Ford F650. Started OK, but I couldn't get the marker or tail lights to work, which is an offense great enough for me to turn the truck down. I figured Verizon would have a mechanic on the lot that could fix it pretty quickly, but they didn't. So I told them I couldn't take this truck. There were several other trucks on the lot that they planned to have returned to Altec in Frederick, MD, so I suggested I take one of them. Since it
was before 8:00 AM, it took a good while to get in touch with dispatch to get this lined up. In the meantime, I picked a fairly good looking IHC 4300, pre-tripped it, and hooked up my tow car.
After I finally got through to dispatch, they agreed to send me on with the truck I'd picked, so about 8:30 AM I headed out toward Frederick, MD. I planned to pick up the Garden State Parkway to take to I-95, but for some reason my Tom Tom was convinced I needed to head straight toward Manhattan and pick up the NJ Turnpike. I saw signs for the Lincoln Tunnel and was beginning to think I'd made a big mistake, but Tom Tom came through and I got up on the Turnpike and on down 95 without incident. I arrived Frederick about 1:30 PM.
I planned on returning back toward home, and was hoping dispatch might have a truck heading south, but they didn't, so I did the 240 mile deadhead, arriving home about 6:00 PM. One of the best things about driveaway is returning home.
Dispatch lined me up with a truck from Daleville, VA to
Jacksonville again. But this time, the Jacksonville was in Vermont. And bad weather was on the way. So I got over to Altec early on Monday morning, found the truck, an IHC 4300 automatic bucket truck, pre-tripped, hooked up my tow car, and was heading out by 7:45 AM. Unfortunately, as I was pulling out, I realized I'd left my suitcase at home. I have no idea how I could have been that absent minded, but I was, and it left me in the dilima of trying to figure out where I could leave the truck while I unhooked my tow car, drove home, and then returned to re-hook everything up. I decided to leave it where I filled up at the Troutville Citco. So all this added about 45 minutes delay to my start up I-81 to Vermont.I had an uneventful trip up through VA, WV, MD, PA, and in to NY. Made it to Kingston, NY for the night. The weather forecast was for snow to start mid-morning on Tuesday, so I was up super early and on the road. I had to go about 60 miles to get to Albany, then hang a right and head out into southern Vermont, all areas I had never visited before. Entering VT, it was very beautiful. They had a foot or more of snow on the ground. I arrived Jacksonville, a very small town nestled in the mountains, about 9:00 AM and it immediately started snowing.
Dispatch didn't immediately have the next truck lined up, so I told them I was heading south right away. It turned out I was on the sourthern edge of the storm and within 20 miles was driving out of the snow and, later, into heavy rain. As I was heading south, dispatch was lining me up to pick up a truck in Piscataway, NJ. I don't like heading into the NY/NJ area, but it was getting me south into warmer weather, so I took it. My other option was to head into western NY, where it was already snowing heavily.
I drove about 260+ miles through MA, CT, and into NJ, arriving at the pickup location about 3:00 PM. Unfortunately, the truck wasn't ready and wouldn't be until Thursday, a two day wait. So dispatch re-assigned a truck that was 40 miles back up the road in Roseland, NJ. Lots of traffic and lots of heavy rain. Plus, it was now getting very foggy.
I found the pickup location by about 4:30 PM, but had decided that I was not going to try to pre-trip the truck in the rain, and then head out into the 5:00 PM NJ/NY traffic and hope to find lodging. I had put in a long day and figured I would do better to find some place to stay with only the car to handle, let the weather pass overnight, and head out on Weds. morning. So that's what I did.
On Wednesday morning I went back to the pick-up location at Verizon in Roseland, found the truck, and began pre-tripping. It was a fairly old Ford F650. Started OK, but I couldn't get the marker or tail lights to work, which is an offense great enough for me to turn the truck down. I figured Verizon would have a mechanic on the lot that could fix it pretty quickly, but they didn't. So I told them I couldn't take this truck. There were several other trucks on the lot that they planned to have returned to Altec in Frederick, MD, so I suggested I take one of them. Since it
was before 8:00 AM, it took a good while to get in touch with dispatch to get this lined up. In the meantime, I picked a fairly good looking IHC 4300, pre-tripped it, and hooked up my tow car.After I finally got through to dispatch, they agreed to send me on with the truck I'd picked, so about 8:30 AM I headed out toward Frederick, MD. I planned to pick up the Garden State Parkway to take to I-95, but for some reason my Tom Tom was convinced I needed to head straight toward Manhattan and pick up the NJ Turnpike. I saw signs for the Lincoln Tunnel and was beginning to think I'd made a big mistake, but Tom Tom came through and I got up on the Turnpike and on down 95 without incident. I arrived Frederick about 1:30 PM.
I planned on returning back toward home, and was hoping dispatch might have a truck heading south, but they didn't, so I did the 240 mile deadhead, arriving home about 6:00 PM. One of the best things about driveaway is returning home.
posted by Harry | 9:32 AM
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