A Long Trip
I guess the last set of trips I just completed, and one of my longest, deserves a spot on the blog. And I added one new state, Nebraska, to states I've visited while doing driveaway.
I left last Tuesday, Dec. 1 with a Sterling 10-spd crane going from Daleville, VA to St. Joseph, MO, a trip of about 1,000 miles. Other than needing to dodge or outrun some southeastern snow on the way, things went well. I always have to stay on top of my game when driving triple-axle cranes, but in some ways it is good since you really stay awake.
I left debating whether I should tow my car since you are really left out there once you've gone 1,000+ miles and may or may not have a trip coming back. Dispatch usually cannot line things up before you leave. I decided to go ahead and tow my car. About an hour before arriving on Weds., dispatch offered me a trip back to Manassas, VA from Seward, NE. That was good because it would only be a 160 mile deadhead to Seward and Manassas was not too far from home. So after delivering the crane in St. Jo about 4:00 PM, I drove toward Seward. On the way, I called the sending outfit to make sure I had the correct directions to find them and that the truck was ready. All seemed OK, so I drove to Lincoln, NE and stayed there for the night.
The sending outfit had suggested it might be good to not show up right at 7:00 AM since they would be sending their trucks and crews out at that time, so I delayed until about 7:40 before arriving, at which time I found out the truck I was to take was broken down, parts would not arrive until Friday, and they were assigning a different truck going back (why they didn't know this when I called the previous afternoon, I don't know). Plus, the truck I had been re-assigned was an old 1994 Peterbuilt that had been sitting around for a while and needed 4 hours of mechanic's time before they could get the bed marker lights working and wiring for my toad. In the meantime, since it was 15 degrees with high winds, I'd check the truck out occasionally and otherwise stayed in my tow car for warmth (another good reason to tow). I found that the truck had a new wrinkle in that it had a 13-spd tranny with both a range shift and splitter. I've driven many with a range shifter, but this was the first with a spitter, which on this one worked considerably differently than I expected. The young mechanic on the truck gave me the pointers on how it worked. The whole 4 hours that I waited, I stewed about how old and dirty this truck was, and how likely it was to give me problems on the 1200+ mile trip to Manassas.
About noon, the truck was finally turned over to me. As I got ready to leave, dispatch called to tell me the truck was going to Indianapolis rather than Manassas. Although that might leave me a 550 mile deadhead to get home, I was somewhat pleased not knowing whether this truck was going to give problems. It turned out this old Peterbuilt was one of the best trucks I've driven. It drove well for its age and I didn't have a bit of trouble with it. The heater even worked and it had a working radio although there was at least an inch of dirt in it and trash from many years of drivers leaving all their stuff in the cab.
I proceeded on I-80 east and into Iowa. They were calling for snow squalls, which I did hit east of Des Moines that evening and I began to see a lot of wrecks and the traffic jammed up. I also discovered that even as heavy as this 60k lbs. truck was, it would still spin/slide on a slick road. I drove to Iowa City for the evening.
Up early on Friday morning, I headed on to Indianapolis. This truck was almost a pleasure to drive since it drove so well and had an 80 gallon tank which eases the constant worry of making sure you can find a truckstop to refuel at the right time. About 2 hours before I reached Indy, dispatch called saying they had a non-CDL unit also in Indy going to Frederick, MD. Even though I had in my head to head out quickly on my deadhead home, I figured a small truck going fairly close home would make more sense. Payed miles are always better than deadhead miles.
I delivered the ole crane about 3:00 PM on Friday, headed about 25 miles to the next one, pre-tripped and headed out into the Indy traffic about 4:00 PM. A big snow storm was heading up the east coast and I wanted to get as many miles in as I could knowing I would eventually hit snow. I'll say it was at this point that I was really relying on our Driveaway fearless leader, Dick Williams, who is also a retired meteorologist, to keep me posted on weather conditions and the forecast. He had done this all during the trip, and I must say he nailed it every time. I told him that he is much better at predicting than economists are.
I drove on Friday for as long as I was legal, which was the full 14 hours. I stopped about 8:30 in Zanesville, OH for the evening. I was back on the road Saturday just as soon as I would be legal (10 hours required off duty), but hit snow within 30 minutes. It snowed hard all the way to Frederick, and even though I went through some of the high country of PA, I really didn't me
et any covered roads. I was very fortunate that the temps were just high enough to keep the roads slushy at worst. It was snowing heavily the whole way, especially as I arrived in Frederick. I post-tripped, unhooked, and headed home immediately. And although the snow was very heavy down much of I-81, my little Saturn toad made it fine and I was home about 5:00 PM after a long but fruitful trip. Since I didn't have that much deadheading, it should be a good paying one.
I left last Tuesday, Dec. 1 with a Sterling 10-spd crane going from Daleville, VA to St. Joseph, MO, a trip of about 1,000 miles. Other than needing to dodge or outrun some southeastern snow on the way, things went well. I always have to stay on top of my game when driving triple-axle cranes, but in some ways it is good since you really stay awake.
I left debating whether I should tow my car since you are really left out there once you've gone 1,000+ miles and may or may not have a trip coming back. Dispatch usually cannot line things up before you leave. I decided to go ahead and tow my car. About an hour before arriving on Weds., dispatch offered me a trip back to Manassas, VA from Seward, NE. That was good because it would only be a 160 mile deadhead to Seward and Manassas was not too far from home. So after delivering the crane in St. Jo about 4:00 PM, I drove toward Seward. On the way, I called the sending outfit to make sure I had the correct directions to find them and that the truck was ready. All seemed OK, so I drove to Lincoln, NE and stayed there for the night.
The sending outfit had suggested it might be good to not show up right at 7:00 AM since they would be sending their trucks and crews out at that time, so I delayed until about 7:40 before arriving, at which time I found out the truck I was to take was broken down, parts would not arrive until Friday, and they were assigning a different truck going back (why they didn't know this when I called the previous afternoon, I don't know). Plus, the truck I had been re-assigned was an old 1994 Peterbuilt that had been sitting around for a while and needed 4 hours of mechanic's time before they could get the bed marker lights working and wiring for my toad. In the meantime, since it was 15 degrees with high winds, I'd check the truck out occasionally and otherwise stayed in my tow car for warmth (another good reason to tow). I found that the truck had a new wrinkle in that it had a 13-spd tranny with both a range shift and splitter. I've driven many with a range shifter, but this was the first with a spitter, which on this one worked considerably differently than I expected. The young mechanic on the truck gave me the pointers on how it worked. The whole 4 hours that I waited, I stewed about how old and dirty this truck was, and how likely it was to give me problems on the 1200+ mile trip to Manassas.
About noon, the truck was finally turned over to me. As I got ready to leave, dispatch called to tell me the truck was going to Indianapolis rather than Manassas. Although that might leave me a 550 mile deadhead to get home, I was somewhat pleased not knowing whether this truck was going to give problems. It turned out this old Peterbuilt was one of the best trucks I've driven. It drove well for its age and I didn't have a bit of trouble with it. The heater even worked and it had a working radio although there was at least an inch of dirt in it and trash from many years of drivers leaving all their stuff in the cab.
I proceeded on I-80 east and into Iowa. They were calling for snow squalls, which I did hit east of Des Moines that evening and I began to see a lot of wrecks and the traffic jammed up. I also discovered that even as heavy as this 60k lbs. truck was, it would still spin/slide on a slick road. I drove to Iowa City for the evening.
Up early on Friday morning, I headed on to Indianapolis. This truck was almost a pleasure to drive since it drove so well and had an 80 gallon tank which eases the constant worry of making sure you can find a truckstop to refuel at the right time. About 2 hours before I reached Indy, dispatch called saying they had a non-CDL unit also in Indy going to Frederick, MD. Even though I had in my head to head out quickly on my deadhead home, I figured a small truck going fairly close home would make more sense. Payed miles are always better than deadhead miles.
I delivered the ole crane about 3:00 PM on Friday, headed about 25 miles to the next one, pre-tripped and headed out into the Indy traffic about 4:00 PM. A big snow storm was heading up the east coast and I wanted to get as many miles in as I could knowing I would eventually hit snow. I'll say it was at this point that I was really relying on our Driveaway fearless leader, Dick Williams, who is also a retired meteorologist, to keep me posted on weather conditions and the forecast. He had done this all during the trip, and I must say he nailed it every time. I told him that he is much better at predicting than economists are.
I drove on Friday for as long as I was legal, which was the full 14 hours. I stopped about 8:30 in Zanesville, OH for the evening. I was back on the road Saturday just as soon as I would be legal (10 hours required off duty), but hit snow within 30 minutes. It snowed hard all the way to Frederick, and even though I went through some of the high country of PA, I really didn't me
et any covered roads. I was very fortunate that the temps were just high enough to keep the roads slushy at worst. It was snowing heavily the whole way, especially as I arrived in Frederick. I post-tripped, unhooked, and headed home immediately. And although the snow was very heavy down much of I-81, my little Saturn toad made it fine and I was home about 5:00 PM after a long but fruitful trip. Since I didn't have that much deadheading, it should be a good paying one.
posted by Harry | 11:29 AM
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