1 Pickup to Shakopee MN (delivered)
1 trash truck to Wheeling IL
... spending the night at La Crosse WI
Breakfast this AM was bacon, eggs and yogurt. BB took stuff to eat later.
I had told the local dispatcher I would call them back at 9 AM, but I called before the office opened and said I had other plans.
I had the car in gear at 7:30 this AM and rolling.
At 8 AM BB dials and puts dispatch on speaker phone. I get a trash truck going to Northbrook IL.
1st stop is in Mountain Lake at a Casey's for the restroom and for me to call the shipper. Today they said to stop in the office for the keys, it must have been talked about yesterday.
2nd stop is the shipper. I overhear that another transporter is about 45 minutes behind me. I never see them. The person with the keys meets me at my truck. Bad news, good news. The truck says it has a range of 39 miles, the good news is the tank is over half full.
I do not find any issues with this truck and we are in and out in less than a half hour. But Opps, when I call in to get dispatched in the computer, they can not. Seems the first dispatcher I talked to today dispatched me already. So a quick call to them, yup, they oppsed.
3rd stop is the drop in Shakopee. Busy today, five people checking cars in and out instead just one or two. There is also an auction going on so the parking lot is full.
4th stop is the Honey Baked Ham in Burnsville for sandwiches. If it is close to time to eat and we are in the area, it is our 'to go' place.
5th stop is the Fleet Farm in Owatonna for fuel. Gas is often $.25 a gallon less here. For the less than 10 gallons our tank holds.
6th stop is Dodge Center. First the office, no one has shoveled the sidewalk to the office yet. I have to dig through over a dozen packets to find mine.
Then to the shipper, all the keys are in a lock box and I can not find mine. Someone in the office hears me moving keys and walks out to help. There is a 2nd lock box for this company, both are almost full. 30-40 trucks waiting for drivers. (I didn't open my other companies box to see how many trips they have waiting) I was wearing my 'other company' jacket today but had put my reflector vest over it. But when I walked out I realized that the vest does not really cover the name part, Not sure if the office person noticed or cares.
Found my truck, CNG. No issues. but it does take a half hour plus to check it out. We do the brake and backup light check as we are leaving. This place does not like extra people walking around so this time we do not.
We had done the math and La Crosse will be close to dark. Mauston would be another hour ... and the deli has lasagna tonight.
7th and final stop is the Comfort Inn in La Crosse. This hotel's parking lot is laid out so that I fit across four spots. After checking in, we/I call Ciatti's for Italian food. :)
When I picked up this truck we are not supposed to move them until we leave the lot. So when we got to the hotel I took better pictures, then I went to grab my stuff from the passenger side and notice I have lost my placard, blew off in the wind and BB didn't notice and she had been following me the whole way. I think this is the first one I have lost in 18 years. Luckily BB has her set which I will use until I can pick up a new set. I actually have extra placards, I just do not have the IFTA stickers on them, those the company has to give us. And they give us one set per person.
... and we get a call from home, the person who's car has died is using our other car and having issues with that. This time we were able to walk them through it over the phone.
As I am typing this, BB and I are talking and I look up the company scheduled fuel stops. For CNG we need to stop where they say so that we do not run out of fuel. (and if we do, it is on them, not the driver)
The 1st stop is here in town, just out of route.
The 2nd one has numbers transposed. I have fueled there before so I knew right away it was wrong.
The 3rd stop is 90 miles out of route ??? I email the dispatcher. Something is wrong.
... Oh, something was wrong at pickup but I let it go without a comment. This truck is going to a different place than I requested, only six miles difference so I let it go.
I guess I should not have. When BB asked me a question now, I looked at a copy of what the shipper gives us instead of what the carrier gives us. I have two different addresses. That will be a phone call for the AM. I need to know which route I am supposed to take, the computer does not show 'my way' as an option.
Load board
US - 296
IA - 69/64
We don't know a plan for tomorrow yet. But once we drop we are looking for more work. So far the trips on the load board don't pay after a rental car. We are also watching the ever expanding storm watch area over MN/IA.
LOG
7:30 - Leave Comfort Inn in Mankato MN
8:00 - Call dispatch while moving
8:30 - Mountain Lake - Casey's - call shipper
9:15 - Worthington MN - Pre-trip at shipper
12:15 - Shakopee MN - Post-trip at drop
12:45 - Burnsville MN - Honey Baked Ham
2:30 - Dodge Center - office and Pre-trip
4:45 - La Crosse MN - Arrive at Comfort Inn
5:30 - La Crosse MN - Ciatti's