1 trash truck to Elk Grove IL (delivered)

1 box truck to Little Falls MN

1 pickup to Shakopee MN (Thursday)

... spending the night at Schaumburg IL

Breakfast was the usual, nothing like what was shown on the picture at check-in.

We get going right about 7:30, my first stop is two exits down at the TA, still in DeForest. A few open islands. Last time I put in 40 gallons and left way too much fuel. Today I put in 14 gallons.

I call the drop and my contact is not in the office today but says someone will check me in.

Nothing too exciting on the drive today. A few farms are chopping silage and one field looked like it had been combined. Or maybe it was commercial sweet corn? Some places fields are mostly brown and other area's there aren't any area's turning yet.

By the time I get to Janesville, the dispatcher for this truck is calling. So I stop by the rest area and give them a call back ... 'can you do another Chicago trip as soon as you get back?' I tell them I will need to call them back once I deliver. The pay is good, the ride is rough.

Before I get to the drop, I hit a couple of bumps that almost make me hit the roof and feel like they are shaking my brain. I've done longer trips than these but some trucks/trips are just rougher than others. Most times I can 'read the road' and know when a bump is coming. These last two I did not, so I will likely hit them again next time.

I pull into the drop, bring my paperwork into the office and empty my truck. I'm walking back out to my truck to take pictures when BB pulls in. I've gotten here ahead of her. Check-in takes about 15 minutes. Then another 15 to get the paperwork sent in and to make phone calls.

I call back this dispatcher to say I am NOT going to take another trash truck this week. But I get his boss and we start talking about buses. They really need bus drivers, they did not know these buses were going to be given to our carrier.

No other good trips have shown up.

We grudgingly agree to take a trip from IN to MN. It's going to pay about half as much per day as the others but it does pay. Most trips when I move these trucks from IN, they are right on our route coming back from somewhere. This time we have to dead head three hours to pick up the truck and then another three hours after we drop it in MN.

1st stop is at the oasis for lunch. FREE lunch. It is driver appreciation week and we could get a free meal every day from Dunkin. Other years it has been one meal from the TA/Petro but they have closed enough of those it's hard to find an open one.

BB and I each got a breakfast sandwich and a donut, plus I got a juice.

Next stop was the Love's in Goshen. If we had stopped in Gary it would have been less out of route miles but I've been staying away from Gary.

BB had forwarded my paperwork to the Loves so they could print it out when I got there. Not sure what happened but it never sent, is not in the sent or even in the draft folders. That took a little longer.

As we are pulling out of Loves, BB is looking for work. There is one in MN. I stop and call right away. I usually do not call before I am in my current unit but this is a short trip almost right in route for coming back home from the one we are picking up.

I tell dispatch what I want and then we dis-connect. After that it goes to voicemail so I start driving again. Dispatch does call back and BB puts it on speaker phone. They had their driver appreciation event Monday ... four drivers showed. He is down in FL and his trips are all over the US, not like some locations where most of the driver base lives near the main shipper.

Three big lots in Bristol. Mostly empty. Four trucks in my lot. Two RV's in the middle lot and a few travel trailers in the third lot. Lots are each big enough to fit hundreds. And likely did a couple of years ago.

That makes it easier to find my truck. All checks good. I call the drop and they are open until 6 PM so we should, should be able to make delivery tomorrow. And they will have a check for me. My first COD with this carrier.

Back to the Loves in Goshen for fuel. This is a gas. Love's $.10 savings adds up to $2 on this fill. And it is a nice big lot. No problems getting in or out today. I have had issues with both in the past :)

When I get to the toll booth, it will not read my transponder so I have to take a ticket. That is why I almost always go in a lane that has a ticket option. Somewhere today I saw a semi in an EZ pass only lane where the driver was out walking around, likely wondering what his options were when the EZ / I-pass doesn't work.

When I got to the exit of the toll way, I hid the I-pass and paid the ticket. But the booth was out of paper, so now we need to look online to find out how much I paid. I didn't see it anywhere on the screen. I was paying with credit card so it just took my money. At this point I lost BB.

Traffic was heavy around Chicago but it seemed like I was usually in the fast lane today. We had hoped to be to the hotel by 5 PM, I got there at 5:45 and BB about 6 PM. We had made reservations from back in Goshen. Our next stopping place is Rockford, another hour down the road. Would have been nicer for tomorrow but a long day today.

Both my local dispatcher and the rental dispatcher call while I am driving, neither leave a message.

When we checked in, they insisted they know the plate numbers off each unit. BB walked back out because neither of us could remember. I found it in a picture about the same time as BB got to the car.

After we checked in, we went to Chik-fil-A. No Smashburger today. Too much food. No deli close.

Now I see I did get a text on the MN trip. I got it, I'll get the paperwork sometime tomorrow.

Load board

US - 131

IA - 1/0

MN - 5

WI - 4

We have eight plus hours of driving tomorrow so it will be later in the PM when I drop in Little Falls. Haven't seen the paperwork for the MN trip so no idea when we can pick up there. And there is not much for great hotels up in that area. We may end up back tracking to make the last pick up on Friday AM instead of Thursday PM.