As Randy said, I'd can mean both 'I had' or 'I would'. In your sentence it can only be 'I would', because 'I had' doesn't make sense in such a sentence. "I'd never drive that far by myself" = "I would never drive that far by myself" If it was: "I'd never driven that far by myself" then it means "I had never driven that far by myself". Now you tell me, what are the I'd in these sentences? "I'd never wanted to drive that far" "I'd never have driven that far" "I'd like some ice cream, please" "I'd been there before"

You can tell just by looking at the main verb. If it's a past participle (PP), the 'd is "had". If it's an infinitive, it's "would" I'd never drive that far by myself = would I'd never driven that far by myself = had

It could be "I had" or it could be "I would".

Thank you very much, Marty Collins

It is an abbreviation for 'I would.' You could say 'I would go to the store.' Or 'I'd go to the store.' Both have the same meaning. Cheers!