Saturday, February 5, 2011

Slept in a little bit today to give the roads a chance to de-ice.  Got on the road at dawn .  The trees were still ice covered.  Still very pretty.  Tried to get a photo of them but it was still too dark and it didn't come out very good.  By the time the sun had come up enough to get a photo the ice had melted off the trees.  The roads were still icy in many places.  Didn't get too bad until Shreveport, LA.  Then they weren't too good.

Here is I-20 almost at the Louisiana / Texas line.

Little did I know that the worst was yet to come.

About 40 miles east of Dallas it got real bad.  LOTS of ice on the road.  Traffic slowed to bumper to bumper all the way to Dallas.  There were cars spun out all over.  Trucks jack knifed, it was a total mess.  No salt and very little sand on the road.  The ice was 1 inch thick in most places.  It took several hours to get to Dallas.

Once I got past Dallas the roads improved.  It also warmed up a lot.  Drove up to Amarillo, Texas to the Petro truck stop for the rest of the weekend.  The weather is supposed to get bad again tonight and maybe tomorrow.  Expecting 1 to 2 inches of snow.  We shall see.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Picked up my load of crane mats in Perry first thing in the morning.  I asked the guy how many truck loads have gone out of there so far.  He said about 340.  Also said that there were at least that many more to go.  Hope I can get back to Florida to get a third load of them.  This load is going to Lakeview, Oregon.  Drove all day in heavy mist and light rain.  When I stopped for the night in Tallulah, Louisiana the trees were covered in ice.  Was very pretty.  Unfortunately I couldn't get any photos of them because they were too far away and it was starting to get dark.  I'll be going through Dallas and Ft. Worth tomorrow.  Hope the roads are better.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Drove into Pensacola and delivered the first half of the load first thing this morning.  Then drove to Mobile, Alabama and delivered the rest of it.  My next load was back in Marianna, FL so I went there.  When I got there the guy told me that I had to have 14 4x4s and what I had on board would not work.  He told me that I had to go to Lowe's, which was just down the road, and buy them.  I said "That ain't happenin!!" and left.  Called the dispatcher and explained the situation to her and said that I refused the load. 

My next load was more crane mats from the same place in Perry, FL that I went to before.  I drove to Perry and stopped at the little truck stop there for the night.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

went down to Sanford and picked up my next load.  Some aluminum going to Pensacola, FL and Mobile, AL. Then went back to Seville to wait for the UPS guy to deliver my part for the satellite TV dish. 

The UPS guy finally came at about 3:30 and had my part.  I had to take the entire dish off the truck and then take the whole thing apart to get the broken motor off and the new one on.  Finally finished and got on the road.  Drove to a rest area on I-10 just outside Pensacola for the night.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Left Marianna very early this morning and drove down to the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Florida and delivered.  After that drove up to Seville for the night.  One of the motors that rotate my satellite dish went bad and the company is sending the part overnight to me.  I'll put it in when it gets here tomorrow.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Left Terrell, Texas very early this morning.  Drove in fog and misty rain all morning.  Then light rain for the rest of the day.  Came around a foggy corner on I-20 about 10 miles west of Jackson, Mississippi and saw a semi trailer on the right shoulder fully engulfed in flames.  Fortunately the driver was able to separate the truck from the trailer before the fire got to his truck.  As I passed it one of the trailer tires popped.  Was pretty neat!!   No emergency vehicles were there yet.  Glad I went passed it before they got there and closed the interstate.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Marianna, Florida.  Will be starting very early in the morning again.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Got up this morning and drove over to Terrell, Texas.  That's just east of Dallas on I-20.  Will finish my reset here.  Straightened out my log book and now I'm ready to go in the morning.  Trying to deliver in Riviera Beach, Florida at the Port Tuesday morning.  We will see  :)