Monday, December 23, 2013

Left Hagerstown just after sunrise and drove in to the Port of Baltimore and delivered the wheel loader in the pouring rain.  As I was putting the trailer back together I saw that I had a flat tire on the trailer.  

Left there and went to the Baltimore TA to get a new tire.  There were 5 trucks ahead of me.  I didn't wait.  Left there and headed south.  Got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic south of Washington DC.  Took an hour and a half to go 40 miles.  Stopped at the TA in Ashland, VA to get fuel.  Their shop was empty so I had the tire replaced there.  

Inside the tire.  You can see the slice in the tire.  The culprit is that piece of metal laying there.

Finally got that done and got back on the road.  It rained almost all day.  Stopped raining just before I stopped for the night at a rest area on I-95 in Shiloh, SC.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Left New Paris, Ohio this morning just before sunrise.  Pretty dull day.  Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland.  Will be here for the weekend.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

This morning went the rest of the way to Davenport, Iowa and loaded a John Deere 2606 Wheel Loader that is going to the Port of Baltimore.  From there it is going on a boat bound for the U.K.

Drove to the Petro truck stop in New Paris, Ohio for the night,

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Hit the road a little before sunrise.  Drove to a rather large coal mine just outside Evansville, Indiana.  Went way back in off the main road.  Of course it was all mud, and lots of it!!  Here is what I followed in.  Made my truck look like a Matchbox car.

Got the thing off my truck and got out of there.  Here is what my truck looked like after all that mud.

I went straight to a truck wash.

Next load is way up in Davenport, Iowa.  Headed that way.  Ran out of hours so I had to stop for the night at a Pilot truck stop in Woodhull, Illinois.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Woke up in the middle of the night and took a look outside to see if it had started snowing yet.  Nope.  But I just happened to see five deer paying me a visit.  If you look close in the photo you can see two of them.

When I woke up the next morning the snow had started.  We had about two or three inches already and it was coming down hard.  Here was my view.

I decided that I was not going to wait and left immediately.  The roads were not too bad.  The plows were out in force and doing a very good job keeping up with the snow.

Once I got out of Maryland and down to lower elevations the snow changed to rain.  The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Grayson, Kentucky.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Left the truck stop after sunrise this morning and drove in to the Port of Baltimore and delivered the "box".  Next load was way back in Kitzmiller, Maryland. That is in the furthest west county in Maryland and the town is at the southern most point in the county. Where I loaded was at a coal mine about 45 minutes to an hours drive south of I-68 on back roads. Then about a half mile to a mile back on a snow/ice covered dirt road in the woods.  Loaded a Hitachi EX 2500 Engine Room.  It is going to another mine in Evansville, Indiana.  I'll have photos tomorrow.  By the time I finished tonight it was dark and it had started to snow.  Stayed there for the night.  Weather forecast is for 2 to 4 inches of snow tonight.  I may be here for a few days.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

The snow didn't start until around 5 am.  This is what it looked like at 9 am.

It continued to snow all day.  Here is what it looked like at about 4 pm.

By 6 pm it had changed to freezing rain.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Left Brazil, IN just before sunrise this morning.  Very good day on the road again.  Just a little bit of construction bumper to bumper going around Columbus, Ohio.  Other than that, no problems.  Had to stop for the weekend at a small truck stop in Hancock, Maryland because I ran out of daylight again.  

The weather is supposed to get real bad starting tonight.  National Weather Service is saying that we should get 4 to 8 inches of snow starting tonight around midnight.  By tomorrow evening it is supposed to change to sleet and then freezing rain.  Here we go again!!  Stay tuned, I'll have more snow photos tomorrow.  I'm supposed to deliver Monday morning.  Hope the roads are clear by then.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Left Vinita, OK just before sunrise this morning.  Nice day on the road.  Drove to the Petro truck stop in Brazil, Indiana for the night.  Had to stop, ran out of daylight.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Left the casino early this morning and went in to Denton, TX and delivered the AC sections.  Then went back up to the Daily yard in Oklahoma City and got rid of that lovely trailer and got my trailer back.  From there I drove up to Tulsa, Oklahoma and loaded a case of flight simulator parts that are going to the Port of Baltimore.

After that drove to a very small convenience store with some truck parking in Vinita, Oklahoma for the night.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Got up at 5 am local time.  The TA truck stop was PACKED tight.  Difficult to get around in the parking lot with all the trucks and ice.  There were also trucks lined up down the road too.  One truck got stuck in the ice trying to get out and had the road blocked.  The cops and a wrecker were there trying to get him out.  Tried to get fuel while I was there but they were out of fuel.  I managed to get out by going out the "in" and driving the wrong way down the divided road to the stop light.  

The roads were still horrible in Denton.  I got to the place at the University of North Texas where I'm delivering, and backed in off the main road.  This is what it looks like.  That ice layer is several inches thick. And yes, that is solid ice.  You could ice skate on it if you had skates.

Once I got empty I drove back to Oklahoma City to load three more sections.  Got there right at noon local time and was fifth in line.  Finally got loaded.  Was the last one they loaded today.

Left there and drove to the WinStar Casino at the Oklahoma / Texas state line on I-35.  Didn't want to go back to that TA again.  That place was a mess!!  This place is HUGE!!   Had a great dinner at the Grand Buffet.  

Monday, December 9, 2013

Went back to get loaded in OKC this morning.  Loaded three sections of an air conditioning system that are going to Denton, Texas.  After everything was secured and I had pulled out of the lot, they called and said to go back, they screwed up.  So I backed in again and they took off one of them and put another on.

Finally got out of there and drove down to Denton, Texas to the place I was to unload.  In Texas, the Interstate was in fairly good shape but once you get off the interstate the roads were a mess!!  Hadn't been plowed and no salt/sand.  Just solid ice ruts.  Anyway, there was no one there.  The job site was still shut down due to weather.  They said that they will be there tomorrow morning.  I then went over to the TA truck stop in Denton, TX for the night.  

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Light dusting of snow this morning.  Felt an aftershock this afternoon.  I'll be glad to get moving again.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Pretty boring day except we had an earthquake!!!   It felt very weird.  My first experience with an earthquake that I could actually feel.  

Click here for details

Friday, December 6, 2013

The snow stopped this morning before 9 am local time.  Hard to tell from the drifting snow, but I guess we got about 4 inches.   Here is my view today.

The drain in my sink froze up so I have a sink full of water.  Other than that, very boring day. 

Thursday, December 5, 2013

First thing this morning, so far, the weather was fine.  No precipitation yet, but still cold and windy.   Went over to the place I was to load.  Picking up three sections of an air conditioner that are going to a job site in Denton, Texas.  That is just north of Dallas. There was a truck ahead of me loading up for a trip to St. Louis.  Once he finished and got out of the way, I backed in.  The contractor at the job site called and said not to load.  They were shutting down the job site until Monday because of the storm. Fortunately, they had not started to load me yet.  They were going to pay for me to wait.  There are two other Daily trucks transporting these things down there too.  Drove back to the Daily yard in OKC and dropped my trailer.  Went to Wally World (Wal-Mart) and picked up a bit more food for the weekend.  Made it back to the Daily yard, parked and plugged in to electricity before the weather started.  Then took a nap.  Woke up to the sound of the sleet bouncing off the truck.

Apparently this is a significant weather event for this area.  The local TV stations are doing what our TV stations do when a hurricane approaches.  Wall-to-wall weather coverage with reporters all over the place showing roads and airports and saying stupid things.  By 4:30 pm local time roads were a mess.  About 1/4 inch of sleet has fallen so far covering everything in ice and temperature in the 20's.  Glad I'm parked.  Here is my view.  Lovely, isn't it?

The weather weasels are saying that we will get 4 to 5 inches of snow overnight.  By noon tomorrow it should be sunny again.  

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Drove the rest of the way into Oklahoma City this morning and delivered.  Then went over to the Daily yard in Oklahoma City and changed to a flat bed trailer for my next load.  

SUPPOSED to load tomorrow morning BUT the weather is going to get very bad starting tonight with sleet and freezing rain and then snow.  Winter Storm Watch or Warning is in effect for most of the state.

News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

I found video of the truck hitting my mirror yesterday.  Here it is.

Honestly, I don't think he even knows that he hit it.

I'll spent the night at the daily yard so I can plug in to electricity and not run the generator.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Left real early this morning.  Dreary day all day.  Slight rain, overcast, and foggy.  Stopped in Little Rock at the Petro truck stop for fuel and then parked to walk in to take a shower inside the Petro.  While I was in there someone took out the wide load mirror on the passenger side.  Fortunately that's all he got.  Of course he was nowhere to be seen.

This is not starting off to be a good month.  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Ozark, Arkansas.  Weather Channel is saying that I'm going to be in an ice storm this weekend!!  Oh Goodie!!

Monday, December 2, 2013

After a very nice Thanksgiving holiday spent with family and friends I am back at it again.  Went to the Port in Brunswick, GA this morning and loaded an itsy-bitsy Volvo Roller.

After that went to the Port in Savannah, GA and loaded a tiny Volvo Excavator.

They are both going to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Left Savannah and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Temple, GA for the night.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

The end of a horrible season!!

Final

#2 Florida State

(12-0, 8-0 ACC)

Florida

(4-8, 3-5 SEC)

@

		1	2	3	4		T
FSU		3	14	10	10		37
FLA		0	0	0	7		7

Saturday, November 23, 2013

The "Muskrat" has got to go!!  No excuse for this!!!!!

Final

G Southern

(7-4, 4-4 Southern)

Florida

(4-7, 3-5 SEC)

@

		1	2	3	4		T
GASO		0	7	13	6		26
FLA		3	7	0	10		20

Friday, November 22, 2013

This morning loaded a Terex RT230 crane.  Didn't go very far with it.  Took it form a job site in North Charleston, SC over to another job site at the Air Force base in North Charleston.  A whopping 10 miles!!

Delivered the crane.  Didn't have another load so I drove home.  Will be home through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Very easy day today.  Drive in to Columbia, SC and delivered the dozer.  Next Load is not until Friday in Charleston, SC.  Drove down to the Kangaroo Express truck stop in Summerville, SC.  I'll be here until Friday morning.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Got a late start this morning.  Could not enter Louisville, KY this morning until after 9 am.  Timed it perfectly.  Crossed the river into Louisville exactly at 9 am.  The rest of the day was very nice.  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Inman, South Carolina.

Monday, November 19, 2013

This morning went to Davenport and delivered the excavator.  My next load was at the Daily yard in Morton, Illinois.  Went down there and loaded a Caterpillar D6 Dozer that is going to Columbia, South Carolina.  

Aint it purdy!!!

Nice pleasant day on the road.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Seymour, Indiana.