Tour of Duty 16th April 2013 to 18th May 2013
Part III: 4th May to 11th May

I was picked up at MDW and learned that another driver needed to be picked up in Merrillville, IN before we headed to Streator, IL. We got to the location where the other driver was to deliver the truck then we waited and waited and finally found out the other driver was lost. To make a long story short we found the other driver who was parked at a filling station and we led him to where he dropped the truck off then we headed down to Streator. It was late enough that I spent the night in Streator, IL and made the pickup the following morning.

Trip: Streator, IL to Ottawa, ON 865 paid miles
Make: Western Star
Model Vacuum Truck
Transmission: Standard 10-speed
Route: Illinois 23 to Interstate 80 to Interstate 294 to Interstate 94 to Indiana 49 to US12 back to Interstate 69 to Blue Water Bridge to Ontario 402 to Ontario 401 to Ontario 416 to Hunt Club Road
Maximum elevation: unknown
Diesel price USA: $4.039/gallon at Flying J Grand Ledge, MI
Highest diesel price Canada: $1.199CAD/litre at Flying J Napanee, ON
Lowest diesel price Canada: $1.079CAD/litre at 730 Truckstop Cardinal, ON
Permits required: none
Border Crossing: Port Huron, MI/Sarnia, ON

I made a rare Sunday morning pickup and got started. I got to Chesterton, IN where I attended evening service at Fairhaven Baptist Church. Afterward, instead of getting back on Interstate 94 I took Indiana 49 to US12 and took that through Pines, IN into New Buffalo, MI where I rejoined Interstate 94 and that way I found a viable workaround the Indiana and Michigan weigh scales. I spent the night in Benton Harbor, MI.

Monday I proceeded toward the border and the weather was good. I got to the Blue Water Bridge and found the truck lane was backed up almost all the way across the bridge. I was able to take my time enjoying the view from the bridge and it took only 38 minutes to cross the bridge instead of hours. The broker and customs did not take long and I was not sent to Immigration. I got as far as London, ON and checked into the Motel 6 and as I was getting settled in I heard a strange beeping sound. I investigated and contacted the front desk and it was concluded there was a problem with the heater filter so I was moved to another room and granted a late checkout. I spent the night in London, ON.

Tuesday I left late due to the problems the previous night. Traffic was horrendous on eastbound 401 most of the way through the GTA. Weather was good. I spent the night in Kingston, ON.

Wednesday I headed toward Ottawa and learned that there was another truck at a different location in Ottawa to be picked up. I made the delivery and then a friend of mine picked me up and took me to the next shipper.

Trip: Ottawa, ON to Northville, MI 530 paid miles
Make: International
Model: Vacuum Truck
Transmission: Automatic
Route: Ontario 417 to Ontario 416 to Ontario 401 to Ontario 402 to Blue Water Bridge to Interstate 94 to Interstate 696 to Interstate 96
Maximum elevation: unknown
Diesel price Canada: $1.199CAD/litre at Flying J Napanee, ON
Diesel Price USA: $4.099/gallon at Pilot Kimball, MI
Permits required: none
Border Crossing: Sarnia, ON/Port Huron, MI

I made the pickup but was allowed to park at the shipper while my friend took me to Bytown Baptist Church in Ottawa, ON for the midweek service. After the service and dinner I was taken back to the truck where I got the paperwork signed and got started and rain started to fall. There was light rain off and on and I got to Brockville, ON where I spent the night.

Thursday the weather was better to start but there was some rain around Belleville. I timed my trip through the GTA by waiting until the end of evening rush hour to go through and I experienced almost no delay on the 401. I saw a nice sunset in Milton and spent the night in London, ON, this time without any problem.

Friday I was delayed as I double checked the ACE manifest that I needed for the truck to be imported into the USA and found out the ACE was for the wrong truck so I had to wait almost seven hours at truckstop for that to be resolved. There were some heavy rain showers while I waited then when I finally got going the temperature dropped considerably and there was some fog. I finally crossed the border but shut down and spent the night in Marysville, MI.

Saturday I headed to Northville and made an after hours delivery and hired a taxi to DTW. Upon arrival at DTW I got my bags organised then checked in. I got Economy Plus seating for free as there were no regular Economy seats available. I checked my bags which weighed 50 and 48lbs. I paid the bag fee then cleared security and was patted down after opting out of the machine. There was no hand search of my carry ons.

United Express #3679 DTW-ORD CRJ-700 Group 3
Seat 7A Economy Plus Cruising altitude not given Estimated flying time
0:53, actual 0:45
Depart: Gate D6 Scheduled 16h37, actual 16h35 Taxi: 9 minutes
Arrive: Gate C4 Scheduled 16h55, actual 16h44 Taxi: 13 minutes
Reclaim bags 30 minutes after arrival

It was overcast at DTW when we boarded via jetway. Pushback was 2 minutes early and takeoff was to the south from a dry runway and I saw some sunbreaks. I saw Interstate 275 and the shore of Lake Erie then we turned west. At 0:12 I got cup of soda. Seatbelt sign went off at 0:19 and it was announced we were about 20 minutes out and the clouds broke. I felt descent begin at 0:20 just past Grand Rapids, MI. We went over Lake Michigan at 0:23 and seatbelt sign was switched back on at 0:24. We made landfall at 0:40 and I saw downtown Chicago. We landed east to west and arrived at gate 11 minutes early. We deplaned via jetway and I had a long walk and had to go through a tunnel to get to baggage reclaim.