Across the Border and a Breakdown
I almost hate to start on this write-up, and don't really know why I am, other than to get it out of my system.
Last Friday, 1/16/09, dispatch asked if I would be interested in taking a truck from Creedmoor, NC to Calgary, AB, then one from there back to Maine. With weather, distance of over 5,000 miles, etc., I chickened out on that one, later regretting that I didn't go ahead and take it and see if I could visit my place in Choteau, MT going and/or coming. I was offered another trip from Creedmoor, NC to Fort Erie, ON, which is just across the border from Buffalo, NY. I would pick one up there and return it to Ashland, OH. That sounded like a doable trip, and would give me the opportunity to try a Canadian border crossing, so I took it.
On Monday, 1/19/09, I deadheaded 166 miles to Creedmoor to the Altec plant. I easily found my bright red and orange truck staged outside their bullpen. I pre-tripped and got my
toad hooked up, but the lights were not wired properly for my vehicle. Dispatch told me to go in to Altec and see if I could get them to fix it, which they did fairly quickly. So I was out and on my way by about 11:00 AM.
The most direct routing would have taken me up by Washington, DC and through PA, but with the big inauguration coming the next day, I knew I didn't want to do that, so I headed out through western NC, through the tip of VA, and in to WV. Then I'd go up through PA, across part of NY and into the Lewiston, NY border crossing just above Niagra Falls. Seemed like it might be a nice trip - but NOT!
I hit snow in Beckley, WV and literally drove through it the rest of the way. I spent the night in Weston, WV and was up and on the road early on Tuesday, arriving at the border crossing about 3:00 PM. I had the feeling that I really should stay in the US before trying this new trick of crossing the border with a new truck and a lot of documentation, and knowing I'd still have to go out into the boonies to deliver this truck and pick up a used truck to return to the US - all in freezing snow and wind. Naturally, dispatch highly encouraged me to go on across, and like the good natured fool I am, I proceeded.
Dispatch couldn't provide any guidance on how to do the actual crossing, where to go at the border, etc., so I blindly headed across. I planned to try to go to the customs office because I was told I needed to see a broker. Don't ask, I don't really understand the broker situation, but it turns out you need one, along with a lot of other offices, to get a truck across.
I missed the turn into the customs area on the US side, so pulled into the first parking area I could find, which was Duty Free (I don't really understand duty free either). A trucker there told me the brokers were far across the other way, but I could see the building and walk to it. So I left my truck and toad parked, since I couldn't back up with my toad, and truddled across to the customs building.
Inside, I was lost, so poked my head into the export office to ask where I could find the brokers. The kind agent there (yes, there are some) told me that this office was the one I needed to be in. So she started working on my paperwork. All she really needed to see was the truck and its title. I had the latter, but told her where the truck was and I'd have a difficult time getting it over here if she had to see it. Her boss was there, and he, for some unknown reason, agreed to let her stamp it and send me on. She told me to head on to the booth on the Canadian side.
Getting there, the Canadian agent told me the broker I had listed didn't exist to her knowledge, but she pointed me to the building where I could park and go inside to find out. There, an agent did find the correct broker and sent me to that office. I was actually lucky. This office wasn't overly busy and they were able to process my paperwork, send me to Canadian Customs, back up to the broker, and back down to Customs in about 2 hours. I managed to leave my cell phone at the broker's office on one of those trips, and one of the ladies there was kind enough to find me and return it. That would have been a lot of fun if I had left without it.
I got across the border at about 5:00 PM. During this whole time, while I was waiting around, I was working my dispatcher to try to find out about the paperwork and what was needed to get back across with the used truck. No luck there.
I had contacted the client, Lucas Tree, and a fine gentleman named Mark met me at one of the exits on the Queen Elizabeth Way, QEW, and led me out into the snowy, cold, windy, boonies to deliver this truck and pick up the used one. When we got there, we both agreed it was too dark and too cold to post-trip this one and pre-trip the next, so he took me to a hotel for the night and picked me up the next morning.
The next morning, it was about 5 degrees, but I got everything off the new truck and pre-
tripped the old truck I was supposed to take back to Ashland, OH. Mark had told me that the panel lights and gauges did not work correctly, but that the truck ran well, which it did seem to do. Given that the oil light was on, I did make sure to check it before heading out. He guided me to a truck stop just inside the border, where we exchanged our paperwork for the new truck I had delivered, and I hoped I could receive the paperwork for this truck so I could cross.
My dispatcher had given me several bogus directives including Mark would have the paperwork (NOT), and go to the border and the paperwork will be there - of course NOT! So I refused to leave the truckstop until I had documents in hand. While waiting on dispatch, I found the angel that you often run in to on these trips where things seem to be getting out of hand. The angel was a fine lady named Kathy, who worked in the permit office which was located at the truckstop. Seems her job is to get the proper documentation so truckers can go across the border into the US. She, on her own, volunteered to help me at no pay, saying she didn't have anything else to do and would just as soon do this. Neither of us realized it would be 8 hours before I had what I needed to get across the border.
I don't know why, but while I was waiting around in the truckstop, it never occured to me to drive about 2 miles or less, and I'd be able to view Niagra Falls. I went 360 degrees around the falls, but have yet to see them.
I still don't understand the process, or all the paperwork and agencies involved, but I did finally get what I needed - with no thanks to my dispatcher, and only a few thanks to my company. I finally got out of there about 4:00 PM and headed across the border. Kathy had told me exactly what I was to do at the border, but her directions basically said to just follow the trucks and they would take me to the right place. As luck would have it, there were no trucks as I approached the border, and I'm pretty sure I missed where I was supposed to go - the customs area, I think, but I ended up going across the bridge and came to the customs booth. Now I had been told multiple times by Kathy and other truckers, that if you try heading across the border without the proper documentation, customs can fine you $5,000. So I was a bit nervous as I pulled up to the booth.
The agent took my documents, looked at his computer for a long time, looked out and over the truck several times, and then started asking me a bunch of questions. They mostly dealt with the fact that I was driving a truck owned by one company, leased by another company, being returned to a different company, and being driven by even another company. None of that computed for him, but he did finally let me go.
Let me mention that in no border crossing did I ever show my passport or any form of ID. I simply can't believe that, but it's true. All the agents were just interested in the ownership and value of the truck. Neither truck was inspected or even looked in to. Both had big chipper bodies on them and the used one, unbeknownst to me at the time, had a fairly good supply of wood chips still stuck in it. I won't comment on how safe that makes me feel as an American.
I headed, very happily, out of the gate and on across NY on I-90 toward Ashland, OH. I planned to stop in Erie, PA for the night. Well, my luck for the day continued. The truck started losing power about 10 minutes before I got to the last toll booth, just inside the NY/PA line, and when I stopped at the toll booth, it started missing. And as I pulled out, the motor stopped. I drifted to the side of the road, never to hear this truck speak again. I cranked it a few times, but quickly knew it was hopeless, so started making the phone calls. My emergency dispatcher told me to call the owner, who told me to call 911. 911 transferred me to road services, and in about 15 minutes a service vehicle showed up. The mechanic worked on the truck for several hours, eventually changing the fuel filters, but it still wouldn't fire, so it was towed in. This episode started about 6:00 PM, and it was being towed at 9:00 PM. Thank goodness for toads pulled behind your truck, because in instances like this you can keep warm and you can get to your hotel.
The next morning, I called the place where the truck was towed to find out when they could check the truck out. I was told it would be at least lunch before they could check it and probably tomorrow before they could work on it.
I'm intentionally not reporting what a bitch my dispatcher had been during all this, but we had our final falling out Thursday morning as I was trying to report to her the information she would need to pay for the service and tow, and where the truck was located. She will no longer be my dispatcher, and until I talk to the owner of my company, they may no longer by my driveaway company.
Driveaway has always been a real difficult job for me, but I've continued to do it because I like the freedom you have to set your own schedule and come and go from home as it suits you. I've become less and less enamored with it, and most times while I'm out I wonder why I even fool with it. So I'm going through a lot of thought on that right now. Until I talk to the owner, I won't decide what I'm going to do. I went through this same process about two years ago.
Anyway, after the final falling out with my dispatcher, I made sure the truck was safe and headed home - a deadhead of about 480 miles. It was unusually good to be home. I actually had several highs on this trip - a real high when I got across the border, and another high when I was rid of that used truck and heading to my hotel for the night. So I can still get some highs in driveaway. They just aren't as frequent as they used to be.
Last Friday, 1/16/09, dispatch asked if I would be interested in taking a truck from Creedmoor, NC to Calgary, AB, then one from there back to Maine. With weather, distance of over 5,000 miles, etc., I chickened out on that one, later regretting that I didn't go ahead and take it and see if I could visit my place in Choteau, MT going and/or coming. I was offered another trip from Creedmoor, NC to Fort Erie, ON, which is just across the border from Buffalo, NY. I would pick one up there and return it to Ashland, OH. That sounded like a doable trip, and would give me the opportunity to try a Canadian border crossing, so I took it.
On Monday, 1/19/09, I deadheaded 166 miles to Creedmoor to the Altec plant. I easily found my bright red and orange truck staged outside their bullpen. I pre-tripped and got my
toad hooked up, but the lights were not wired properly for my vehicle. Dispatch told me to go in to Altec and see if I could get them to fix it, which they did fairly quickly. So I was out and on my way by about 11:00 AM.The most direct routing would have taken me up by Washington, DC and through PA, but with the big inauguration coming the next day, I knew I didn't want to do that, so I headed out through western NC, through the tip of VA, and in to WV. Then I'd go up through PA, across part of NY and into the Lewiston, NY border crossing just above Niagra Falls. Seemed like it might be a nice trip - but NOT!
I hit snow in Beckley, WV and literally drove through it the rest of the way. I spent the night in Weston, WV and was up and on the road early on Tuesday, arriving at the border crossing about 3:00 PM. I had the feeling that I really should stay in the US before trying this new trick of crossing the border with a new truck and a lot of documentation, and knowing I'd still have to go out into the boonies to deliver this truck and pick up a used truck to return to the US - all in freezing snow and wind. Naturally, dispatch highly encouraged me to go on across, and like the good natured fool I am, I proceeded.
Dispatch couldn't provide any guidance on how to do the actual crossing, where to go at the border, etc., so I blindly headed across. I planned to try to go to the customs office because I was told I needed to see a broker. Don't ask, I don't really understand the broker situation, but it turns out you need one, along with a lot of other offices, to get a truck across.
I missed the turn into the customs area on the US side, so pulled into the first parking area I could find, which was Duty Free (I don't really understand duty free either). A trucker there told me the brokers were far across the other way, but I could see the building and walk to it. So I left my truck and toad parked, since I couldn't back up with my toad, and truddled across to the customs building.
Inside, I was lost, so poked my head into the export office to ask where I could find the brokers. The kind agent there (yes, there are some) told me that this office was the one I needed to be in. So she started working on my paperwork. All she really needed to see was the truck and its title. I had the latter, but told her where the truck was and I'd have a difficult time getting it over here if she had to see it. Her boss was there, and he, for some unknown reason, agreed to let her stamp it and send me on. She told me to head on to the booth on the Canadian side.
Getting there, the Canadian agent told me the broker I had listed didn't exist to her knowledge, but she pointed me to the building where I could park and go inside to find out. There, an agent did find the correct broker and sent me to that office. I was actually lucky. This office wasn't overly busy and they were able to process my paperwork, send me to Canadian Customs, back up to the broker, and back down to Customs in about 2 hours. I managed to leave my cell phone at the broker's office on one of those trips, and one of the ladies there was kind enough to find me and return it. That would have been a lot of fun if I had left without it.
I got across the border at about 5:00 PM. During this whole time, while I was waiting around, I was working my dispatcher to try to find out about the paperwork and what was needed to get back across with the used truck. No luck there.
I had contacted the client, Lucas Tree, and a fine gentleman named Mark met me at one of the exits on the Queen Elizabeth Way, QEW, and led me out into the snowy, cold, windy, boonies to deliver this truck and pick up the used one. When we got there, we both agreed it was too dark and too cold to post-trip this one and pre-trip the next, so he took me to a hotel for the night and picked me up the next morning.
The next morning, it was about 5 degrees, but I got everything off the new truck and pre-
tripped the old truck I was supposed to take back to Ashland, OH. Mark had told me that the panel lights and gauges did not work correctly, but that the truck ran well, which it did seem to do. Given that the oil light was on, I did make sure to check it before heading out. He guided me to a truck stop just inside the border, where we exchanged our paperwork for the new truck I had delivered, and I hoped I could receive the paperwork for this truck so I could cross.My dispatcher had given me several bogus directives including Mark would have the paperwork (NOT), and go to the border and the paperwork will be there - of course NOT! So I refused to leave the truckstop until I had documents in hand. While waiting on dispatch, I found the angel that you often run in to on these trips where things seem to be getting out of hand. The angel was a fine lady named Kathy, who worked in the permit office which was located at the truckstop. Seems her job is to get the proper documentation so truckers can go across the border into the US. She, on her own, volunteered to help me at no pay, saying she didn't have anything else to do and would just as soon do this. Neither of us realized it would be 8 hours before I had what I needed to get across the border.
I don't know why, but while I was waiting around in the truckstop, it never occured to me to drive about 2 miles or less, and I'd be able to view Niagra Falls. I went 360 degrees around the falls, but have yet to see them.
I still don't understand the process, or all the paperwork and agencies involved, but I did finally get what I needed - with no thanks to my dispatcher, and only a few thanks to my company. I finally got out of there about 4:00 PM and headed across the border. Kathy had told me exactly what I was to do at the border, but her directions basically said to just follow the trucks and they would take me to the right place. As luck would have it, there were no trucks as I approached the border, and I'm pretty sure I missed where I was supposed to go - the customs area, I think, but I ended up going across the bridge and came to the customs booth. Now I had been told multiple times by Kathy and other truckers, that if you try heading across the border without the proper documentation, customs can fine you $5,000. So I was a bit nervous as I pulled up to the booth.
The agent took my documents, looked at his computer for a long time, looked out and over the truck several times, and then started asking me a bunch of questions. They mostly dealt with the fact that I was driving a truck owned by one company, leased by another company, being returned to a different company, and being driven by even another company. None of that computed for him, but he did finally let me go.
Let me mention that in no border crossing did I ever show my passport or any form of ID. I simply can't believe that, but it's true. All the agents were just interested in the ownership and value of the truck. Neither truck was inspected or even looked in to. Both had big chipper bodies on them and the used one, unbeknownst to me at the time, had a fairly good supply of wood chips still stuck in it. I won't comment on how safe that makes me feel as an American.
I headed, very happily, out of the gate and on across NY on I-90 toward Ashland, OH. I planned to stop in Erie, PA for the night. Well, my luck for the day continued. The truck started losing power about 10 minutes before I got to the last toll booth, just inside the NY/PA line, and when I stopped at the toll booth, it started missing. And as I pulled out, the motor stopped. I drifted to the side of the road, never to hear this truck speak again. I cranked it a few times, but quickly knew it was hopeless, so started making the phone calls. My emergency dispatcher told me to call the owner, who told me to call 911. 911 transferred me to road services, and in about 15 minutes a service vehicle showed up. The mechanic worked on the truck for several hours, eventually changing the fuel filters, but it still wouldn't fire, so it was towed in. This episode started about 6:00 PM, and it was being towed at 9:00 PM. Thank goodness for toads pulled behind your truck, because in instances like this you can keep warm and you can get to your hotel.
The next morning, I called the place where the truck was towed to find out when they could check the truck out. I was told it would be at least lunch before they could check it and probably tomorrow before they could work on it.
I'm intentionally not reporting what a bitch my dispatcher had been during all this, but we had our final falling out Thursday morning as I was trying to report to her the information she would need to pay for the service and tow, and where the truck was located. She will no longer be my dispatcher, and until I talk to the owner of my company, they may no longer by my driveaway company.
Driveaway has always been a real difficult job for me, but I've continued to do it because I like the freedom you have to set your own schedule and come and go from home as it suits you. I've become less and less enamored with it, and most times while I'm out I wonder why I even fool with it. So I'm going through a lot of thought on that right now. Until I talk to the owner, I won't decide what I'm going to do. I went through this same process about two years ago.
Anyway, after the final falling out with my dispatcher, I made sure the truck was safe and headed home - a deadhead of about 480 miles. It was unusually good to be home. I actually had several highs on this trip - a real high when I got across the border, and another high when I was rid of that used truck and heading to my hotel for the night. So I can still get some highs in driveaway. They just aren't as frequent as they used to be.
posted by Harry | 2:14 PM
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