1 mixer to Grove OK

... spending the night at Harrisonville MO ...

Later last night I read my paperwork and found out that my drop closes at 12 noon tomorrow. Something that dispatch did not tell me.

Because of previous plans, we could not drop our rental car until 8 AM today. So we were up and left the house by 7:15 AM. No major slow downs. I get to the rental car place in Burnsville in time enough to organize and do some of my paperwork for the day.

Leaving Owatonna, the road narrows from four lanes to two and the speed drops from 65 mph to 55 mph. There is also road construction right there ... this highway will soon be four lane all the way from Rochester to Owatonna. So I am driving 55 mph and getting quite a following. I finally think I have missed a sign and kick it up to 60, cars and trucks still pass me. And one that doesn't pass before, passes as soon as the lane is wide enough to not rub door handles, well before the markings show two lanes. Then we see the 65 mph sign. Heading back the same route, I watch more closely. There are lots of 55 mph signs and no where on the two lane is the speed over 55 mph. Maybe they haven't seen anyone drive it 55 mph before?

2nd stop, Dodge Center to pick up my mixer. BB had didn't bring her driving stuff so she did not have a safety vest, so no help from her today. I have the box coded keyed into my phone so I didn't have to call dispatch again. One other set of keys left in our box. It looks like there are still six carriers moving trucks but Spirit out of Kansas City is gone.

My truck was about 10 trucks down the first row I looked in. It starts, all checks good, it just takes a while to get it all done. It's a stick. It took me about 45 minutes this AM. Some trucks take an hour, some we do in 15 minutes. The doors on this truck are all decaled so I have to put my placards further back on the truck.

The only thing BB does help me with is checking my breaks and back up lights when we get to the stop sign at the end of the drive. She gives me the thumbs up on both ... but ... this place now has security and the guy gets out of his car and walks over to me. He thought we were motioning to him :) ... nope. Have a nice day. Not sure if they have had issues here, sometime in the last year they put up a high steel fence and now they have a security guy in a car driving around.

We pull out in the road and head into town. I have to stop to make a left turn and I get across the intersection but can't find my gears. Two miles down the road, when I turn from the city street onto the highway ramp, I loose it again. Then 10 miles down the road when I have to down shift to come around the clover leaf I loose it again. Have to come to a total stop all three times and start over.

The new MN northbound weight scale north of Albert Lea was open today, first time I have seen it open.

Noooo ... the IA scale is open. I decide to stop using the clutch. I slow down into the scale and speed back up with no issues. After having to use a clutch on the 5 speed yesterday I was trying to use the clutch on a split shift today and it was not working. No clutch for me, the other comes natural.

Did see the officer at the scale walking out putting on his plastic gloves, but it doesn't have the same feeling as it used to :)

3rd stop is Dows for a lunch break at an Arbys in a MaPa truck stop. BB is there ahead of me. While we are stopped I call the drop and my dispatcher. We need to check in twice a day. I will be asking if we will need to keep doing that now that they can see our logs live on the computer.

We eat in the car and adjust our plans. Next stop had planned on being Osseola IA. I won't make it. The truck did have 3/4 a tank of fuel but it has used most of it in the first 120 miles. I will need to stop sooner, and then I will not stop in Osseola to save time.

I debated stopping at a Loves about 50 miles north of Des Moines, the gauge dropped just past the exit. But then it stayed before slowing dropping again.

4th stop is at the Pilot in Clive / Des Moines for fuel. The gauge is laying on the top end of the red, but no low fuel light came on. Pump doesn't work well. You are supposed to have the option to skip DEF but that button is almost punched out, I'm guessing from the prior people having problems. I just said OK on DEF and when it was time to put in DEF I just turned it on and off. That wasn't enough so I had to go inside to see a cashier.

BB is there and we talk a couple of minutes. Next stop will be Kearney.

MO scale is closed :)

5th stop is at a Pilot in Kearney MO for more fuel. From here I should be able to make it, at least to Joplin if not to the drop. We would like to make it further but decide on stopping in one hour. Just past Kansas City so we will be heading against traffic in the AM.

Worlds of Fun is closed. Looked online and they are closed today, but open for the weekend. Must be on fall wind down already. Summer is over.

Very little traffic for 5:30 rush hour in KC.

5th and final stop is a Comfort Inn in Harrisonville. The next Choice Brand hotel is in Joplin, another two hours down the road. It would be past dark. Maybe if we hadn't had to drop the rental car and gotten going a lot earlier. But as it is, it has been a long day. Even with everything going right. We are too used to being on our own schedule.

BB looks at all the fast food online and then as we are leaving the motel parking lot she finally sees the Best Burito. That is where we end up. They have our food to us in less than five minutes and back to the hotel. Good food, too much.

I am down to about 10 hours left that I can work. Had not been paying attention to that, but it will work out OK. Tomorrow should be no more than three hours driving and one hour other. Have already remembered that there is likely a 'coin only' for my exit off the toll way tomorrow.

This AM I did email the IL toll company and the hotel about my missing points.

Load Board

US - 302

IA - 111

MN - 15

WI - 7