Tour of Duty 29th March 2008 to 3rd May 2008
Part II: 6th April to 24th April

On Sunday 6th of April I was taken to Trinity Baptist Church in Burlington, ON where the message was on Romans 6:1-11 followed by communion. Then I was taken to company headquarters where I made an after-hours pickup and got started.

Trip: Burlington, ON to Sharon Hill, PA 428 paid miles Routes: QEW to Peace Bridge to Interstate 190 to Interstate 90 to Interstate 390 to Interstate 86 to US15 to Interstate 80 to Interstate 476 to Interstate 95 Maximum elevation: 2,157 feet at Bloss Hill on US15 south of Blossburg and north of Liberty, PA Trip Permits needed: PA

This truck was the newest this tour of duty (and newest so far), a 2009 International with an automatic shift. It was a straight box truck with equipment designed to shred documents.

I took on some fuel at Ultramar in Ft. Erie, ON where diesel went for
$1.159/liter which converted out to $4.386/gallon CAD. Price was really not much if any worse than what I later saw in New York. The border crossing at the Peace Bridge went with no wait and no hitch whatsoever. I was not even asked for ID. I spent night in Henrietta, NY a suburb of Rochester.

Next day upon entering PA I got a picturesque view of Tioga, PA and the Tioga River. Fuel at the Petro in Milton, PA was $4.159/gallon. There was some congestion on Interstate 476 the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike where there was construction. I made delivery in Sharon Hill and got taxi to PHL.

This was only the second time I used PHL, last time being in 1975 when I was still a minor. [As an aside that time my parents took me to PHL on holiday in the summer of 1975 to sightsee the year before the Bicentennial. I flew AA LAX to PHL on a B-707 in F stayed at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel and ended up flying back PHL-DFW and DFW-LAX in Y both on B-727's.] I purchased ticket, checked bags which weighed 46.5 lbs and 44.5 lbs and got boarding pass. Then I cleared security. There was no secondary screening but my boot bag was run through a second time. While I was waiting I enjoyed a Philly Cheesesteak (minus peppers and onions) at Chickies & Petes.

Southwest #2023 PHL-PIT B-737-500 Seat 4A Boarding Pass A21 Cruising altitude 22,000 feet Estimated flying time 0:42, actual 0:50 Scheduled departure 19h10, actual 19h22 Scheduled arrival 20h30, actual 20h46 Ticket cost: $110.50

Plane was late arriving. Load was light with only 46 of 122 seats taken. Announcement was made it was 72F and clear in PIT. I had whole row to myself. Pushback from gate E10 was 12 minutes late and taxi/hold was 31 minutes followed by takeoff to the northeast. I saw downtown Philadelphia and it looked like a baseball game was going on at Citizens Bank Park down below. I saw the Delaware River and we made a "U" turn.

I was offered peanuts but asked for and got pretzels. There was drink run and I got cup of soda. Seatbelt sign went off at 0:12. I felt descent begin at 0:30 and seatbelt sign went on at 0:35. Announcement was made it was 65F in PIT. We made turns and circled around and landed more or less north to south. There was reverse thrust and taxi was 2 minutes and we arrived 16 minutes late at gate 7. I got bags 18 minutes after arrival and got transport to lodging for the night.

Next morning some rain came through. I got word someone would be waiting for me at an empty lot in Cecil, PA and I hired a taxi to go there. The rain quit by the time I got to the truck.

Trip: Cecil, PA to Ferndale, WA 2,625 paid miles Routes: Pennsylvania 50 to Interstate 79 to Interstate 76 to Interstate 80 to Interstate 294 to Interstate 90 to Interstate 94 to Interstate 694 back to Interstate 94 to Interstate 90 to Interstate 405 to Interstate 5 Maximum elevation: 6,393 feet at Homestake Pass on Interstate 90 about 10 miles east of Butte, MT. Permits needed: Trip Permits for MT and ID.

This truck was a vintage 1973 Mack tractor (no trailer) with a V8 engine and a 6-speed standard transmission. This is the oldest truck I've ever driven so far. This truck is old enough that it does not have many of the things drivers take for granted on newer models. There was no power steering, no cruise control and no air conditioning. There was also no tape or CD player but an AM/FM radio with the old style tuner where you turned the dial and the needle went up or down as opposed to the digital displays on the newer models.

I put in some fuel in Bridgeville, PA next to Interstate 79 and the cost was $4.159/gallon. I had some fun and games getting in and out of the filling station. I learned the transmission through trial and error and this was not a fast truck and I did not want to go too fast (not much over 55mph) due to fuel costs. I spent the first night in Middleburg Heights, OH.

Next day I got diesel for $4.139/gallon at service plaza on the Ohio Turnpike and $3.999/gallon at Petro in Fremont, IN. There was rain west of Toledo and the rain got heavy at times in Fremont and Elkhart, IN. There was a thunderstorm in Shipshewana, IN and I shut down in South Bend, IN.

Breakdown

Following day I knew there were problems with the air pressure. The low air warning buzzer and light activated while I was waiting to make a left turn out of the motel grounds. I had to engage the parking brake and build the air pressure back up and wait for a break in traffic and then make the turn. While I was driving at highway speed air pressure was acceptable but not as high as normal. I had more problems with the air pressure while waiting to pay toll at toll booth. I ended up going to the TA in Gary, IN and truck went into the shop and the mechanics were not able to make the needed repairs due to the age of the truck. The truck was actually older than some of the mechanics.

A guy in a van came to look at the problem and had me follow him. Due to a closure I had to drive through downtown Gary to get to the shop and it was a challenge to keep the air pressure up. I was actually glad when I had to stop at a railroad crossing and that allowed time for me to build the air pressure up while waiting for the train to pass. Two air leaks were found plus an exhaust leak. One air leak was fixed before the shop closed. Not everything was repaired but enough was that I was able to get down the road. The owner of the truck wanted to spend as little as possible for repairs. I got room for the night in Portage, IN as I did not want to spend the night in Gary.

Next day I described what happened to dispatch and was told to proceed. I fueled at Flying J in Gary, IN at $3.879/gallon, the lowest price not only for this trip but also for the entire tour of duty. There was some off and on light rain in the Chicago area. There were some snow flurries starting in Janesville, WI. I stopped at the Petro in Portage, WI to fuel at a cost of $4.099/gallon. Fortunately the pumps were not very busy.

Second Breakdown

I always cut the motor when I fuel. After I fueled the motor would not start back up. So the truck was stuck at the fuel island. I followed procedures for after-hours breakdowns (it was Saturday evening) and a mobile unit from the truckstop I was at came over and the guy tried to give a boost but the truck would not start. The guy said he thought the problem was the starter went out and the shop did not do starters. So I informed breakdown and a tow truck was sent out and the truck was towed about 30 miles back to Madison, WI. The shop was not open Sunday so no work could be done until Monday. I spent the rest of the weekend in Madison.

I was taken to Grace Baptist Church in Madison for morning service and message was on John 7:19-23. I did laundry and had lunch at Culver's and was taken to Calvary Bible Fellowship for evening service and the sermon was on Colossians 3:1-2. Going to church and getting paid downtime for it is hard to beat!

Monday I got transport to the Mack shop where the truck was being worked on. Original estimate was truck would be ready midafternoon but it was not until almost 23h00 when repairs were finally finished so I got to motel just outside Madison in Windsor, WI and shut down as I had been up all day.

Tuesday I was back in business and it was warm enough that I wore a short sleeved shirt. Diesel was $4.059/gallon at the Petro in Clearwater, MN and I got as far as St. Cloud, MN for the night.

Wednesday I had a late start and had a few drops of rain in Fergus Falls and Rothsay, MN. I attempted to fuel at the Petro in Fargo, ND but the pumps were down there. I attended midweek service at Calvary Baptist Church in Valley City, ND and the message was on making appeals. I was unable to get lodging in Medina, ND so I continued on and spent the night in Steele, ND.

Next day as I came through there were signs directing trucks to exit at the rest area east of Bismarck, ND as DOT was set up there. I exited as instructed but apparently the officers were busy so I was not pulled in for inspection which was a surprise. Diesel was $4.119/gallon at the Flying J in Beach, ND. I spent the night in Miles City, MT.

Next day weather was nice in Miles City but there were a few raindrips approaching Billings, MT and more rain in Big Timber and Livingston and a few drops ascending Bozeman Pass. I spent the night in Bozeman, MT.

Next day I saw downtown Bozeman then had lunch at Montana Wheat in Three Forks. There were a few flakes of snow west of Three Forks and snow really started after I cleared Whitehall going up Homestake Pass. The snow eased as I approached the top and intensified again going down the west side and changed to rain in Butte. I fueled up at the Flying J in Butte and the precipitation changed back to snow west of Butte. The snow intensified and got to near blizzard conditions as I approached Deer Lodge so I shut down there for about 90 minutes. Some drivers said things were real bad all the way to Spokane. The snow eased so I got rolling again then things got worse and I saw a set of doubles off the road on the other side and a van nearly slid into me so I exited at Drummond, MT and found a room there and decided to shut down due to the weather.

Sunday I had difficulty getting the truck started but it finally started. It was snowing lightly and I attended morning service at Community Church in Drummond, MT. A group from Montana Bible College out of Bozeman was there to do a musical then I was invited to partake of the potluck dinner before I got rolling. Diesel was $4.199/gallon in Bonner, MT and ther was some snow near Alberton and west of Superior, MT. Lookout Pass was dry and I elected to spend the night in Kellogg, ID.

Next day it was snowing and I heard Fourth of July Pass was blocked due to jackknifed semi trucks. I got rolling late morning and that pass was fine by the time I got there. There were some heavy snow squalls in Post Falls, ID and more heavy squalls in and west of the Spokane area. Then weather cleared up and I got as far as Ellensburg, WA where I spent the night.

Next day I checked my fuel levels and proceeded. The fuel gauge was not working so I have to unscrew the lid and visually check the level. Snoqualmie Pass was bare and dry with just a few wet spots. I'm glad I did not need to fuel in Washington as diesel there was approaching and in some cases exceeding $4.50/gallon. Interstate 405 in the Kirkland area was jammed due to an accident. I soent the night in Bellingham, WA.

Next day I was told not to deliver as there was some sort of dispute between the customer and company over payment. There were a few rain showers but nothing major. I was taken to midweek service at Bellingham Baptist Church and message was on I Corinthinans 15:35-58.

Following day I was cleared to deliver. I made delivery in Ferndale, WA then was taken to the Bellingham Airport where I got the Bellair Shuttle to SEA. From there I got shuttle to motel as flight was not scheduled to leave until following morning.

No "icky stuff" on the Philly cheesesteak, eh?

Yikes - that old truck sounded like a real pain in the you-know-where. Glad you made it OK!