1 trash truck to Richwoods MO (delivered)

... spending the night at Pacific MO

Breakfast was the usual of eggs, sausage and yogurt.

We pull out about 7:30. The weather station says it is snowing but we don't see it.

1st stop is 10 miles down the road at Flying J in Evansdale. I have two fuel tanks and I am down to 1/4 and I am only able to put in 40 gallons. With this company we still do our check in calls the old way, we call on the phone and talk to a dispatcher.

Within a few minutes of getting back on the road after fueling we see the first wisps of snow on the highway. I don't remember where the traffic first slowed but by the time we got to Cedar Rapids we were down to 10 mph for a while.

2nd stop was the rest area just south of Cedar Rapids. I was expecting it to be full as slow as traffic was moving I thought people would just want to park here instead of on the freeway.

While we are stopped we see that the auction dispatcher has put out 100 trips, way more than usual. Within a minute or so we get an email ... Opps ... those were all flat bed loads, not driveaway. :( But there are driveaway trips also, just not where we are and where we are going to.

It was snow pretty hard when we were stopped at the rest area. But BB looked at the radar and it looked like we should be out of it in 60 miles or less so we pulled back into the mess.

Where the roads were the worst it had been 29 degrees. I was watching the outside temp on my dash and as the temp went up, I sped up. When the temp got up to 33 degrees I was back up to 45 mph. By then most of the traffic was passing me. But 33 degrees is the air temp, the road temp can be colder. Finally about ten miles from Mount Pleasant the temp was back up to 35 degrees and I sped up to 65 mph and set the cruise.

3rd stop was the Pilot in Mount Pleasant for food. This was not one of our original planned stops. But because of how slow we were driving, making it to Wayland was going to be over our two hour drive time. Plan had been not to eat until we were in Bowling Green, but we were stopped, it was 11 AM so we ate.

Arby's. We sat in the car and ate.

When we pulled out of the rest area by ABS light came on and had stayed on. When we stopped here I had shut the truck off including the battery to try to clear the code. But when I re-started the truck after our half hour break the light was still on. A half a mile later it was off and stayed off the rest of the trip.

4th stop was Wayland at the Flying J for fuel. I had looked to see how far we had driven since I filled this morning before getting here and at first thought I would not quite fill it and I would be good. Then I decided I would be driving faster so I might use more fuel so better to fill it. The customer is paying for the fuel so it doesn't hurt anyone to leave a little more fuel in it.

For some reason the pump shut off before the tanks were full. I wasn't sure why so I used a different card to put the last five gallons in.

From here I call the drop, we don't expect any more slow downs so I tell them we should be there in about four hours. I think I am padding the numbers.

5th stop is at a truck stop in Bowling Green. We park in the truck area and walk in to use the restroom. That is as close as we will get to a walk for today.

The computer wants to route us the shortest way but I am in a truck and down always trust the computer. I decide to add another 20 miles and stay on the freeway. It is time and fuel but also a nice wide highway.

Somewhere back I had looked at the miles from when we exit the freeway to the drop. I remember it being 10 miles. But my fuel gauge is almost down to the 1/4 tank where it needs to be when I deliver so I need to make a second un-planned stop.

6th stop is Mobil station at the exit in St Claire that says they have diesel. I pull in but do not look far enough ahead. I only see one diesel pump but as I get close I realize that the hose will not reach the way I have pulled in. There was a truck parked at an angle in the parking lot. I was able to get past him at an angle but I was too far from the pump. If I try to back in straight I will hit him. He is just parked there, sitting in his truck.

And pulling around the pumps won't work because someone is filling their tractor on their trailer so their pickup is all the way up to the cars parked at the curb. I am stuck. After a few minutes I decide I will just back out the way I came in. At that point the truck moves and I am able to fuel.

Just because, I put in three gallons. That is more than enough to get me the 10 miles.

By the time we leave there is only one car at the pumps. Every pump had been full a few minutes ago when we pulled in. Timing.

I had written the major roads down on my clipboard. Two roads so no problem.

After we have gone 12 miles I pull down the next road I see and call BB. She has the drop pegged but she is following, not leading me. It was 20 miles to the drop, not 10. I look at my phone and I still have that screen up. But I did not take the time to look when I was fueling. Opps.

No where to turn around so I back out onto the highway and head down the road. I had also written the wrong final road to turn on. So I follow BB's reminder and soon we see a huge land fill pile. We are close.

7th stop is the drop in Richwoods. My paperwork says this place is open until 7 PM. I got there at 5 PM. It was still light out but just barely. And it is dark 15 minutes later when we leave. No issues, all paperwork is signed clear.

These are some hilly, curvy back roads with almost all parts being no-passing zones. Someone follows me at about 45 mph for those ten miles even though the posted limit is 55 mph. I wasn't going 55 mph in the daylight either. When that person finally got a chance to pass they laid on the horn. Oh well, I was already driving beyond my headlights and one of the shop guys had told me the deer have been really thick lately.

8th stop is back in St Claire for food. That is the closest food, BB is hungry. We stop at a Taco Bell. Our other choices were McD's, BK and Subway. We sit in the car and eat because I ordered taco's. A little to messy to eat in the car.

Our choice of hotel in St Claire would be the Super 8, instead we will drive another 20 miles.

9th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in Pacific.

Load board

US - 275

IA - 77/75

MN - 3

WI - 7

No plans for tomorrow, yet.