1 bus heading to Spartanburg SC (delayed or canceled)
... spending the night at Livermore CA
Alarm at six, rolling at seven. We did look in the breakfast room but there wasn’t any good ‘road food,’ so we decided to wait until later.
One good thing already, 1st day in three that my blood pressure wasn't high on the 1st test.
At some point BB decides this is a good time to go to Walmart. ??? So we spend a half hour at Walmart getting a note book and some clothes as we will not have time to wash if we are going to make it to SC and then home by the weekend.
Just north of Dunnigan there is a 'homeless' type RV parked at the end of a dead end road up against the freeway. Twice when going past, they have had sheets hanging so that you can't see the entrance to the RV. I doubt that a homeless person is washing their sheets every other day. (And I am not sure why the don't either move the RV away from the freeway or at least turn it so that the door doesn't face the freeway.
1st stop is Dunnigan at Pilot / Wendy’s for breakfast. As we pull in, I am looking for a parking spot and BB says ‘there is a bus.’ It was one of the ones going to Medford so I pulled over and parked next to it without there being a parking spot. I hopped out and the driver slowly opened the window. I said I work for the same company and just dropped two buses.
He said his name … I said from FaceBook? I told him my name and his face lit up and he shook my hand again. We talked a lot and fast. He was sitting there trying to find a bus wash. I said the bus didn’t need to be washed because it was a short trip. Then when I was just about to get back in the car I asked him about an OR permit. He said he didn’t need one because it was a 35 ft bus. I said lets check. It was over 26,000#, he needs a permit. I just saved the guy a $400 fine.
He said he had seen my SC bus and had taken a picture of it. So now we knew it would be easily found.
Then we went to get food at Wendy’s. And we were still in and out in 15 minutes.
2nd stop was in Pleasanton at the Shell for fuel in the rental car. We still have gift cards to use up for Shell. Then 10 miles down the road to the shipper.
3rd stop was Livermore to pick up the bus. This time BB went into the office with me to get her temp checked so she could drive back where the buses are kept. So I asked if the office could buzz me in. Yes, the receptionist is the one that opens the gate, and leaves at 3:30. That is why I haven’t gotten anyone to answer the gate buzzer in the last five years. Still learning new things.
I call NC about trucks that they have coming back to MO. MO trucks are the closest right now to home. They are non-CDL, but they are the same trucks that I drive that are CDL. The CDL one is rated at 26,001# and the non-CDL is rated at 25,999#. BB does not want to drive one. I didn't ask about the pay.
It takes us about a half hour to move all our things and do the inspection. Then BB leaves to drop the rental car and I call for permits. I get my AZ permit for Saturday and NM for Sunday. When I am leaving, after I pass the security gate, I need to drop off my paperwork for this bus before leaving the property.
With my paperwork dropped, and my bus in gear, my dispatch calls. ‘DO NOT TAKE THAT BUS.’ All buses are on hold.
I quickly call BB, they are checking the rental car in but haven’t completed it. Whew.
Dispatch had told me they would know more in two hours. I ask the head shop person where I can park the bus for two hours. He told me where … and then … ‘It won’t be two hours, it will be sometime next week.’ Major issue. Maybe Tuesday???
So I park the bus and call dispatch one more time. Then BB gets there and we try to decide what to do. I had thought we would get downtime but no. I hadn’t left the property. Dispatch does have one run to ID but that is a lot of work for a few $$. And we have been running hard the last few days.
I call dispatch one more time and tell him no on the ID. Instead we will get a hotel for the weekend. So we would not have needed new clothes, we now have time to wash these.
While at the bus company, I saw two buses to SD. I mentioned that to dispatch, I’d be willing to switch. And dispatch said they were ‘MORE than happy to give me a SD.’ Really, who other than me wants to go to SD? ;)
4th stop - We head to the Cheese Steak Shop. Great food.
5th stop - After sitting in the car for an hour after eating, we head to Walmart. Relaxed fit jeans, it seems to mean that you can SAY you are still wearing the same size jeans but they can stretch to fit 2-3 sizes bigger. I bought a pair last week and they fit OK but as soon as I fill my pockets they are sliding down. Now it is hard to find pants that are not relaxed fit, so I got one pair in a smaller size. Also got three new shirts, plus the underwear this AM and we need another suitcase.
At my usual 3:30 PM I call dispatch. Now what he knows is what I told him four hours ago. 'Maybe Monday or Tuesday.'
So we book a room at the Quality Inn. We won't earn maximum rewards points if we stay in the same place every night so we likely will switch hotels. If we leave town then dispatch will not pay for the hotels. This time there were too many other things going on to ask more questions. I have asked before if we can stay further away but so far I don't have a mile number. Just that Santa Nella was OK last time.
6th and final stop - Quality Inn in Livermore.
Load board
US - 346
IA - 120 / 115
MN - 1
WI - 18
At the bus company we saw buses going to Medford OR, Whidbey Island WA, Atlanta CA, Palm Beach FL ... and Sioux Falls. SD.
Our take home money will stay about the same with us sitting but our daily rate starts dropping.
Spent a lot of time looking at rental cars. It looks like IF we get to the drop on or before Friday, we will have to sit and wait until Saturday to get a local rental car. Then we can shuttle to where I car is and then back to the cars pick up location. And the price is double what we usually pay for a one way per day.