Saturday, November 16, 2013

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Left the rest area just before sunrise this morning.  Great day on the road.  Traffic was not bad, most of the scales were closed, and I saw only two cops all day.  I like Saturdays!!  Had a little rain, nothing heavy, in Illinois.  Stopped for the weekend at the Bettendorf, Iowa Daily terminal.  Deliver a few miles from here Monday in Davenport.  It is very windy here.  Truck is rockin' real good!!!

It wasn't as bad as I expected.

Final
Florida

(4-6, 3-5 SEC)
#10 South Carolina

(8-2, 6-2 SEC)
@
1234T
FLA770014
SCAR337619

Friday, November 15, 2013

Friday, November 15, 2013

This morning left the TA very early and went to the Port of Baltimore and was one of the first in line.  Loaded a Caterpillar 329LE Excavator that is going to Davenport, Iowa.  I really enjoy driving these things!!




After securing it I had to wait for the Baltimore curfew to get over.  9 am arrived and off I went.  Great day battling the mountains along I-70, I-68, I-79, and I-70 again through Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.  The truck worked hard but performed wonderfully.  Stopped for the night at the west bound rest area on I-70 in Zanesville, Ohio.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Got started right at sunrise this morning and drove to Bensalem, PA to deliver.  The stupid state of Pennsylvania routed me all over the place.  Went down and around the south side of Philadelphia only to go back up through Philly to Bensalem which is north of Philly.  Through a lot of small towns and a zillion traffic lights!! Went right past the entrance to Longwood Gardens.   Just dumb!!  Added an hour to the trip.  But I finally made it and delivered the thing.  Next load is down at the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk tomorrow morning.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Elkton, MD.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Got a bit of a late start today because I had to wait for my Ohio permit.  Once it arrived I got started.  Very uneventful day.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Brooksville, PA.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The weather cooperated last night.  The snow stayed to the east of where I was.  Didn't get anything!!  

First thing this morning went over to load a Sandvik crusher.  Backed in off the road into a small sandy area and detached the trailer.  There were two guys there and neither one knew how to run the machine. I didn't either, and wasn't going to.  The one guy figured it out and, to make a long story short, he loaded the thing on my trailer.  But the way it was on there the machine hung over and I could not reattach.  He called someone that knew something about the machine and was told that the machine was on the trailer backwards.  He took it back off.  By now it had warmed up a bit and the once frozen ground had thawed.  Decided not to try to load again there because it was too soft.  The front of the trailer had sunk in the sand and I was unable to reattach.  Fortunately there was a wheel loader there and they lifted the trailer up enough for me to reattach.  Then I needed a push from the wheel loader to get out.  I decided that trying to load in there was not a good idea.  By now it is noon.  There was a place in there that was gravel and not sand.  Moved the trailer over there and tried it again.  (there is a lot more to this, but I won't go in to all the details)  Finally it worked!!  Got the thing up on the trailer.  Notice that there is no cab or place for a driver?  It is operated by remote control, there is no cab.



This is why I was concerned with loading in the sand.


Stopped for the night, when I ran out of daylight, at the Pilot truck stop in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Monday, November 11, 2013

Drove up to Milwaukee and delivered the wheel loader in the rain.  After that drove down to Sturtevant and loaded a Case 315 tractor and wheels.  Just as I finished securing it the rain changed to snow.



Since I was soaked and filthy I went back to the Petro in Racine (only one exit north) scaled and showered.  After scaling found out that I was too heavy.  Permits were only for width, not weight.  So I took the tractor up to the Daily yard in Lannon and dropped it off there.  Someone else will have to take it to Texas. My next load is tomorrow morning back down in Gary, Indiana.  I headed down to Gary.  Of course I hit Chicago right at rush hour.  Not a fun thing to do in the heavy snow.  Took two hours just to get through Chicago.

Here is Chicago on Friday.

Here is Chicago today

Finally made it down to the Petro truck stop in Gary, IN.  Weather report for Gary is up to 5 inches of lake effect snow tonight.  Not supposed to stop until noon tomorrow.