It's Been a Long Trip

It's been sometime since I've updated this blog, so I figured my first set of trips since taking my summer Montana break, and perhaps my longest combined trips, deserved a post.

I actually hadn't notified dispatch that I was ready to hit the road again since returning from Montana for the summer, but they did call on Thursday, 8/19/10, to see if I could be available. Initially I told her not until Monday, but she seemed desperate and she had an interesting set of trips for me to ponder. She offered me a pickup in Creedmoor, NC that would require I go to Shelby, NC to add a chipper, then deliver the unit to Orlando, FL. Then go to Lake Wales, FL and pick one up going to Lincoln, MA. New England is not a favorite destination of mine, but the combined paid trip was over 2200 miles, plus Southwest Airlines was showing a $78 fare back to Raleigh where I'd need to return to pick up my car, so I told her I'd take it leaving on Sunday.

Sunday was incredibly hot and humid, but since the truck I was picking up in Creedmoor was at Altec, I felt confident it would have air conditioning - NOT! Needless to say, I was highly disappointed when I arrived and saw that it was a nice, new Ford F750, automatic, radio, but no AC. I proceeded to Shelby, where I was to pick up the chipper. I had not been to this particular Altec plant and dispatch had failed to provide directions, only the address. Since it was Sunday, the chipper would be locked in the bull pen, for which I did have the combination. But upon arriving, I found the main gate had a keyed padlock. It was hot, my cell phone decided not to work there, and after about an hour I had about decided that I would have to go to a hotel in Shelby and pick the chipper up on Monday. About the time I'd sweated all I thought I could, and was about to leave, I noticed cars going down a road on the back side of the lot, so I decided to drive the truck over in that direction to see if I could find another way in. After finding 3 other gates to the lot, the last one had a combination lock, and my combination worked.

I then had the chore of trying to back up to and attach the chipper with no help - no easy task by yourself. I'd say I was in and out of the truck over 10 times getting the chipper hooked up, and I was in a total sweat and about to pass out, but did accomplish the task. I'd wasted over an hour and a half there, but did proceed on towards Florida. I made it to St. George, GA for the evening where it was wonderful to finally get in an air conditioned room. I decided to go to bed early and try to get on the road Monday as early as I was legal, which was about 5:00 AM to try to take advantage of as much morning cool as possible.

Getting up the next morning, I found there wasn't any morning cool. It was so humid my eye glasses stayed fogged. I did have some luck in it was cloudy most of the way to Orlando, where I delivered about noon. I'd called over the weekend to find taxi's to Lake Wales and finally had settled on one that gave me a $89 fare for the 55 mile trip. I called to let them know I was there, but it was about an hour before they arrived.

At Lake Wells, I did get some good news. The truck was a nice little Izuzu non-CDL spray unit that was a real dream to drive, and above all, had the best AC I could hope for. I literally had to turn some heat on to keep from freezing with it on. I drove back through rain around Orlando and made it to Kingsland, GA for the evening.

The next day, Tuesday, it was my goal to make it 560 miles and stay at home for that night on the way to Lincoln, MA. I made good time, and about 4:30 PM dispatch called to say I was today's lucky winner and had been selected for a random drug and alcohol test. What a pain! Dispatch did get it set up for a place I've been to several times in Roanoke, and I was there about 5:30 PM. The guy was quick and I was on my way home by 6:00 PM.

The next morning, Wednesday, I was up and heading up I-81 through Scranton, PA and across I-84 towards MA. I'll add miles to avoid the I-95 corridor. I was looking forward to dropping this unit the next morning, working my way to Boston's Logan Airport and on my way home, but dispatch called late in the evening to complicate things. They had a truck in Somerville, MA, about 15 miles from where I was dropping that was going to Florida.

I initially said no, but after some negotiation, she said I could just drive it back to Creedmoor, NC, where my car was. Even though I was about out of hours for the week, that did sound fairly attractive to have paid miles to get back to where I needed to go anyway. However, she wasn't sure the truck would be ready on Thursday after I dropped, and I wasn't willing to stay over. I drove on to Vernon, CT for the evening.

Thursday morning I was up early, as always, and fought the traffic approaching Boston, and got to Lincoln and the drop point about 9:00 AM. I'd done some checking and found the drop point was near the commuter rail, so I planned to catch it to either get closer to Somerville to pick up the next truck, or to the Boston airport. I called dispatch right away to see if the truck was ready. It was not, so my plan was to get to the airport.

The drop point was literally 200 yards from the commuter rail station, and there was a 9:40 AM train I wanted to catch. The mechanic at the drop point was kind enough to insist that he drive me over to the station to make sure I got where I needed to be. Sometimes you run into sending/receiving outfits that are super kind.

I had also found that I might be able to catch an earlier Southwest flight if I got to the airport early enough, so I was sort of in a rush. Even though I had very good luck catching the commuter train, then the subway, and then the bus to get to the airport, I was still about 10 minutes too late to catch a 11:40 AM flight that I wanted. But I was able to pay a little difference and catch a 3:00 PM flight. I was originally scheduled on a 5:30 PM flight. That got me to Raleigh at 6:55 PM, then a half hour wait on my $48 cab to get me back to Creemoor to pick up my car. I got there about 8:00 PM and started the 3 hour drive home, arriving about 11:15 PM.

Overall, except for the incredible heat going to Florida, this was one of the better driveaway trips I've taken, with maybe the most paid miles I've had, and probably typical for those in driveaway who do not tow. It takes a tremendous about of logistics to line up your transportation between trucks, and the costs can escalate exponentially on you if you aren't careful. Even though I don't like deadheading, I still prefer towing my car and not having to hassle with mass transportation.