Saturday, Devcember 15, 2012

Started off in the rain this morning.  Drove out of it after a few hours and it was sunny and clear for the rest of the day.  Drove to a truck stop in Ringgold, Georgia.  That's as far as I could go without a Georgia permit.   Hope it comes in early Monday.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Unloaded the excavator first thing this morning.  Next load is in Washington, Illinois.  That is just outside Peoria.  Drove down there to the Caterpillar Proving Grounds.  It is a place with a concrete race track for Caterpillar machines to run tests on.  The place is huge!  There are a lot of dirt areas for other machine testing as well.  It is in a very remote area.  I suppose to keep competitors from seeing their new stuff that is in development and testing.  Had to go a ways down a very windy two lane road to get there.  They told me they are getting a big machine next week that they are going to have to unload from the truck way down on the main road because it it is too big to bring up on the truck. They will have to drive it up from there. Anyway, I loaded a Caterpillar 545 Wheeled Skider.  It is used in logging to drag the cut trees out of the forest to the loading area.  It is a little heavier than it looks.  I gross out at about 91,000 pounds.

This thing is going to LaGrange, GA.  Got on the road and drove down to the Pilot truck stop in Okawville, Illinois.  Didn't get my Georgia permit today so I won't be able to get very far tomorrow.  Oh well.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Great day on the road today!!  Drove 682 miles stopping only at two weigh stations that wanted to see my permit.  Started just before sun up from Lebanon, Tennessee.  Stopped for the night at the John Deere plant in Dubuque, Iowa where I deliver in the morning.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Loaded a John Deere 290 GL Excavator first thing this morning at the Plant in Kernersville, NC.  It is going to another John Deere plant in Dubuque, Iowa.

Scaled out at 106,740 pounds.  Was a little too heavy on the drive axles so I flipped the neck down and re-scaled.  Perfect!  Got on the road and drove until I ran out of daylight.  

Tennessee sunset:

Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Lebanon, Tennessee.  That is just east of Nashville on I-40.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Went in to Ring Power in Ocala this morning and loaded a small Lee Boy 7000 Paver.  It is going up to Simpsonville, SC.

Got on the road and drove up to Simpsonville, SC and delivered the paver.  Next load is in Kernersville, NC.  Drove up to Kernersville and spent the night at the John Deere plant there.  692 miles today.  Not too shabby!!

Monday, December 10, 2012

This morning I still didn't have a load yet so I spent the morning at the Jacksonville Landing.

There was a middle school marching band there playing Christmas music.  For a middle school, they were pretty good.

The owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Shahid Khan, has his yacht Kismet docked at the Landing. It is HUGE and GORGEOUS !  

Built in Germany in 2007, the yacht is 223 feet long and powered by three Caterpillar engines.  It can cruise at 42 knots.  He is selling it right now so, if you are interested, it is $112 million.  If that is a little steep you can charter it for a mere $600,000 a week PLUS expenses.

Finally got a load this afternoon.  It loads tomorrow morning in Ocala.  Drove to the Petro truck stop north of Ocala for the night.