Saturday, October 22, 2011

Left Oklahoma City this morning and drove all the way to Jasper, Alabama. Very uneventful day but a pleasant drive, except Memphis, TN.  That is always unpleasant.  The roads there are not good.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Finally made it to Topeka, KS and delivered the excavator.  I backed it off the trailer and parked it.  I love playing with big "toys"!!  After that drove down to Wichita, KS for my next load.  Picked up 2 skid steers and 2 boxes of stuff for them.  They are going to Fort Smith, GA. 

Got back on the road and drove to the Petro truck stop in Oklahoma City, OK for the night.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Started this morning at 8:30 CDT and made it around Dallas without any bumper to bumper traffic.  Nice!!  Once I got into Oklahoma the route the state chose was ridiculous!!  They took me off a nice four lane highway to a bunch of back roads.  I zig-zagged through Oklahoma all day!!  Most of the day was on skinny two lane roads.  They even routed me over a bridge with a weight limit of 37 tons.  I am 41 tons!!  Some of the other bridges were not wide enough for me and a vehicle going the other direction to cross at the same time.  In case you don't know, when you have a permitted load the State tells you what route you must take.  No deviations allowed. I'm STILL in Oklahoma!!  Ran out of daylight and stopped at a truck stop in Big Cabin, Oklahoma.  I still have another hour or so in Oklahoma before I get to Kansas.  The route in Kansas is more direct.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

This morning drove down to Galveston, TX to the port for my next load.  Picked up a brand new Caterpillar Excavator.  I had to load it, by myself, on my trailer.  Having never driven one of these before, I was really looking forward to doing that.  Backed up to the loading ramp then went searching for it. There were two long lines of excavators there. I got lucky and found it quickly. Got in, started it up, drove it over to the truck, up the ramp, and onto the trailer. No problem.  I forgot to mention that it was wider than my trailer.  It was FUN!!  I love this job!!  I get to play with the "big boy toys"!!  This is my first (of many) oversize loads with Daily Express.  Chained it down and got on the road.  Stopped at the scales and found out that I had too much weight on the trailer axles so I had to un-chain it and move it up a few feet. Re-chained it and got back on the scales again. This time it was OK. I am 82,500 pounds and 10' 6" wide. 

Got back on the road and drove to a small truck stop south of Dallas for the night.  I cannot drive through Dallas during rush hour so I had to stop early. Can't start tomorrow until 9 am CDT when Dallas rush hour is over.  I deliver this in Topeka, KS.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Drove on into Port Arthur, Texas first thing this morning. It took them forever to unload the trailer.  Finally got it emptied.  Then I went out to the Petro truck stop in Beaumont, TX.  I'll be here until Wednesday on a reset.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Left Knoxville, TN early this morning and drove down to Egan, Louisiana to the Petro truck stop. Will deliver first thing in the morning in Port Arthur, Texas.