1 trash truck to Pontiac IL (delivered)

1 box truck to Springfield OH (Thursday)

1 lawn truck to Burnsville MN (Friday)

... spending the night at Janesville WI

No snow on the ground here, a little snow on the sides of the cars.

Breakfast was the usual, eggs, sausage and yogurt.

There is briefly a trip out of TX to CA, it would have worked if we had taken the TX trips.

We are rolling at 7:30. The worst traffic all day is here in Cedar Rapids. Weather shows we made the right choice. Still snowing and blowing worse in WI.

I thought I was doing good on fuel, but by the time I get to the IA/IL border I am at 1/4 tank of fuel and I still have 150 miles to go. I could have fueled in Davenport but I didn't know it was going to drop that fast on the bottom half of the tank.

1st stop is the Loves in Atkinson. Didn't remember this one was here. Glad it was, I would have been pretty close to 'E' in another 40 miles where the Pilot is. While I am stopped I call the drop, they knew I was coming.

This Loves looked more like a parking lot. Drivers pulling into the pumps just to run in and then leave again.

Last trip I guessed too close on the fuel at 6 mpg so this time I used 5 mpg.

By the time I pull off the freeway to do the last 40 miles on back roads, BB has caught up to me. She had stopped for gas in Davenport.

We had looked at different routes before getting the paperwork, this time the paperwork made more sense. And I could remember the turns without writing them down.

When I see the 'trash hill,' I know I am getting close.

3rd stop is the drop. I park by the first building ... BB pulls along side and says the rest of the trucks are by the next building so I go to get back in my truck. But someone is standing there. They will sign for the truck here.

They sign with only seeing two sides. They do not look at anything in detail but sign off. I'm good. And we are gone. BB drives from here because of how deep the mud is here. But then we have to stop again because she has to look at the map to see where we are going, my telling her isn't good enough.

4th stop is in Pontiac at Jimmy Johns.

Local dispatch has called, I call them back. They need a truck moved to KS. It would work, if I was home. And it is not a trash truck.

Bus dispatcher called, I call him back. He only calls about once a year. He needs drivers but the only way I can get there is to deadhead 2,000 miles.

We look at the load board as we eat. We finally decide we will try do one of the OH to MN trips that require 48 hour notice ... AND right now there is a truck in Janeville going to within 15 miles of the next shipper. And that would delay us the extra day.

I call to make sure the Janesville truck is a box truck and not a chassis. It is. Then I call the OH dispatcher and get a truck. They have two but BB does not want one. I had thought the pay was good enough that she would try it but not this time. So now we have a plan for the rest of the week.

Before we leave JJ, we have the paperwork. I call the MN drop to see when we can deliver. M-F :( I was hoping for a Saturday option. Now we will have the truck for two extra nights. Maybe the truck will fit in my garage. ??

IF we had gotten our food to-go, we could have picked up in Janesville today but really no reason to. We can pace ourselves to get to the 2nd shipper on Friday morning.

Dispatch gave me the wrong number on the Janesville truck. I am to call ahead and they had no idea what I was talking about. But I've been there before and have put that number in my phone. Had to leave a message this time.

5th stop is the Loves in Monroe Center for the restroom.

6th stop is the Quality Inn in Janesville. Nothing special but it works, and it is cheap.

After we check in, we drive to the Golden Corral buffet. There was food across the parking lot that would have been cheaper and closer. This buffet was nicer than the one near our house. This one was built 'their way,' the one near us is a converted Old Country Buffet building.

Before we got food, I called the RV dispatchers because they were putting trips on the load board and we could not figure out what the were. Usually they are very strict on the no calling unless you can pick it up within 24 hours. Today they were trying to get us to commit to Monday. I had been going to call to see if we could commit on Friday instead of the usual Saturday. Today is only Wednesday.

I don't like to commit that far in advance. I had early told this other dispatcher that I don't commit to over 24 hours so their 48 hour is a deal breaker. And now I've already called them back on that one.

I also think that this may be the start of a big RV dump and we may get better trips if we wait ... :)

There is still a NL trip out of IN. Newfoundland, it has been there a couple of days. Not sure there is any money in it but it would be a good reason to go there.

Non-work. Someone messaged me last night. They found a letter I had written to their family 9 years ago about ancestry. Their great plus grandfather had been married to my great grandma's sister. And his family still owns the original farm next door to where both my grandparents grew up. I might be taking another history trip shortly.

Load board

US - 328

IA - 34/30

MN - 1

WI -0-

Plan is to pick up the Janesville truck when they open, then drop the rental car and head to OH. Then stop just short of the drop for the night and then drop and pick first thing on Friday AM.