Monday, December 31, 2018

Happy New Year's Eve

Snoopy Is Excited GIF from Holidays GIFs

Saturday, December 29, 2018

What a great way to end the Gator's football season!!  SEC destroying the Big 10 !!! I love it!!!!!!!

 

Next up tonight...

Two great games!!

GO SEC!!  Go Alabama!!!!

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Merry Christmas

Monday, December 24, 2018

Its Christmas Eve GIF from Christmaseve GIFs

Friday, December 14, 2018

Last night after I had published my blog post I got the paperwork that I needed.  That was a good thing!!  This morning we drove the rest of the way into the Port of Savannah.  Had to wait to get unloaded.  They were loading these guys. There were three of them. And you thought I was big?

After they finished with them they unloaded me.  Here is the crane they used.

After my trailer was empty I pulled over to another area and disassembled my trailer.  Then had to wait for over three hours for a fork lift to put it all up on my trailer so I could go.  I finally got out of there and drove home to Jacksonville, Florida.

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Left real early this morning to beat the Chattanooga curfew.  We did.  Had to wait on the side of the road at the Georgia / Tennessee state line because I couldn't drive in Georgia until a half hour after sunrise. 

Once that time arrived we left again.  Had a great day on the road.  Some bumper to bumper traffic near the Atlanta airport.  But that was all we had today.  Drove to a truck stop in Metter, Georgia for the night. I'm still waiting on some paperwork to deliver so I'm not exactly sure when I can deliver this thing.  Either way, I'm still going into the Port tomorrow.  If I can't deliver I'll drop my trailer there and come back when I can deliver.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Had a real good day on the road.  No traffic problems at all going around Nashville.  When it was time to stop for the night had a bit of trouble finding a place I could get into and out of.  Decided to spend the night at the weigh station on I-24 just south of Manchester, Tennessee.  Just hope the cops don't hassle me here.  Will be starting very early tomorrow morning to beat the Chattanooga curfew.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Drove to Decatur, IL to the Caterpillar plant.  Had to "put together" my trailer.  Lot of work involved with that!! I was very fortunate that a friend of mine came over to help me.  He does this all the time and knows a whole lot more about it than I do.  His help was greatly appreciated. 

Loaded a Caterpillar 789D Dump Truck Chassis that is going to the port in Savannah, Georgia.

This is an internet photo of what it looks like all put together.

I got there to load at 7 am.  Didn't leave there until 1:15 pm.  I am over 154,000 pounds and over 115 feet long.  Largest load I have had so far.  With my pilot car escort in behind me we left, but didn't get very far.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Effingham, Illinois.  Been a busy day. I am totally exhausted.  It was all I could do to get a shower and eat dinner.  Going to sleep now.  Good night!!

Monday, December 10, 2018

The trailer that I was waiting for came back and I swapped all my stuff into it.

But the load that I am picking up tomorrow requires a little more stuff.  Put all that stuff up on the trailer and tied it down.

Now I'm ready to head down to Decatur in the morning to load.

Friday, December 7, 2018

Went to the Caterpillar Proving Grounds in Washington, Illinois first thing this morning and delivered the dozer.  Don't have another load yet so I went to the Daily terminal in Morton to wait.

I will be here for a while.  There is a trailer here that I want.  It is scheduled to do a local run on Monday.  When it comes back Monday night I can have it.  So I'll wait.  Working on a load for Tuesday that should be a challenge.  Interesting.  We will see if it happens.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Left a half hour before sunrise.  No snow (yet), just overcast.  Started snowing just before Indianapolis. Like yesterday, it didn't stick to the roads.  By the time I got to Illinois the snow had stopped.  I stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Bloomington, Illinois.  Will deliver tomorrow morning.

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Left North Canton, Ohio at 3 am this morning in the snow.  It snowed all day. Fortunately it only stuck to the grass and not the roads.  Drove down to Sand Fork, West Virginia and loaded a Caterpillar D8T Dozer that is going to the Caterpillar Proving Ground in Washington, Illinois.  That is near Peoria. 

Left there and had a good day on the road in spite of the snow. Here is my view today.

Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Hebron, Ohio. Drove 555 miles through the West Virginia mountains and loaded today!!  I'm exhausted!!!  Good night!!

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

The trailer lights are still working!! Hooray!!!!  I left the Petro in Gary, Indiana at midnight CST and headed for Cleveland.  Had a stretch of about 20 miles of heavy lake effect snow. Several inches deep.

When it was time for my 30 minute break, I took a nap.  It lasted an hour and a half!!  Oh well.  Continued on into Cleveland to the job site to deliver.

 Here is where I had to back in and up to the crane.

Delivered the TBM with no problems.  Left there and started off toward West Virginia for my next load.  Stopped for the day at the TA truck stop in North Canton, Ohio because I was close to running out of hours and I was exhausted. 

Monday, December 3, 2018

The trailer lights went out again so I spent all morning in the shop getting them fixed. Hopefully the fourth time is a charm!!  Got my Ohio permit late this afternoon.  Still no Cleveland city permit.

Sunday, December 2, 2018

More trailer gremlins!!  Half of my trailer lights decided to stop working.  At 3 am went over to the shop here at the Petro to get them fixed. The only guy they had working at that hour was unable to figure it out.  Had to wait for a different mechanic to come in.  To make a long story short, the other guy was able to fix it and I was out of the shop at 1 pm.  At least it is fixed, hopefully for the last time.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Here is a little time lapse video from yesterday backing in to load.  All blind side backing. Hope you like it.

Here is a short time lapse video going down the road after being loaded.

Today I'll enjoy a bunch of football.

And...

Friday, November 30, 2018

Went over to Menomonee Falls first thing this morning and loaded a Tunnel Boring Machine that is going to Cleveland, Ohio. 

Left there in great time.  I had all my permits except Ohio.  Found out, while on the way, that Ohio's permit computer crashed yesterday.  It was back up today but they were back logged.  Also found out that I needed a Cleveland City permit.  That one takes three days to process BUT they will not even start the process until they get my Ohio State permit.  All that means is that instead of delivering tomorrow as planned, I may not be able to deliver until Tuesday, Wednesday, or even Thursday!!  I stopped at the Petro truck stop in Gary, Indiana until I get my Ohio permits.  Happy, happy, joy joy!!

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Had some snow last night.  About an inch.  Left real early this morning and drove the rest of the way up to Eau Claire, Wisconsin and delivered the dump truck.  After that drove over to the Daily terminal in Lannon, Wisconsin.  It is the Milwaukee terminal.  Had a bunch more things to fix on the trailer.  When he finished that, I found out that my printer took a dump.  Went to Wal Mart and bought a new one, then installed it.  Now I'm settled in for the evening.  I load very close to here in the morning.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Another great day on the road. Snow was on the ground in northern Illinois from a dusting to about a foot thick.  No snow on the ground in Wisconsin. It was sunny and the roads were clear and dry all day.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Portage, Wisconsin.  Will deliver tomorrow morning.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Left a half hour after sunrise this morning.  A great day on the road. No traffic problems going through Nashville.  Continued on up to the TA truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois where I'll spend the night.  No snow yet, but it is c-o-l-d !!!!

Monday, November 26, 2018

Went overt to the Port of Savannah first thing this morning and loaded a Caterpillar 745 Articulating Dump Truck that is going up to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Got out of there in real good time this morning.  Went through Atlanta with no traffic problems.  That's amazing!!!!  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia.  Feels GREAT to be back on the road again!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Hard to believe...

Left early this morning and drove to the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, Georgia.  Wanted to (and did) beat all the "going home" traffic.  Load tomorrow morning over at the Port of Savannah.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Another great day for SEC football!!!!

Florida Gators vs. Florida State Seminoles.  Rivalry Weekend in College football. Last game of the regular season.  Can't believe how fast it went!!!!

Gators did a great job of destroying the Seminoles!!!

Back to work tomorrow.  Load Monday.  It will be great to get back to work.  Been off way too long.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Saturday, November 17, 2018

A great day for SEC football!!

 

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Here is the trailer I picked up last night.

Monday, November 12, 2018

This afternoon drove down to Eustis, Florida to another Daily driver's house and picked up a trailer.  Was raining when I left and heard the traffic report on the radio, it was not good.  I went the back roads all the way down to avoid all the traffic back ups.  Even so, it took three hours to get there.  Once I got the trailer I went back to Jacksonville. Too dark for pictures.  I'll post them tomorrow.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Drove the rest of the way back to Jacksonville, Florida this morning.  We will see what next week brings.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Left Carlisle, PA last night at about 10 pm.  As I had hoped, I had no traffic issues going around Washington DC.  Stopped at the Petro truck stop in Kenly, North Carolina for the day.  Got a nap and then an afternoon of SEC football!!!

Gators looked horrible, but somehow pulled it off!!!

Friday, November 9, 2018

Nothing interesting came up today.  Late this afternoon we decided to leave my trailer here in Carlisle and bobtail back to Jacksonville.  That was the easy part.  The hard part was where to put all my chains and binders.  The rain didn't help much either.  I have 20 large binders and chains too with very little storage.  It wasn't easy, but I managed to pile most of them up on the cat walk and tie them down.  Just hope they don't shift any while I'm going down the road.  I'll grab some more sleep now and leave here tonight to, once again, avoid the Washington DC traffic. That is even worse in the rain. Hopefully I'll have as good luck going back as I did coming up.

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Last night I left a little after 11 pm.  Drove the rest of the way to Carlisle, PA.  No traffic issues at all.  When I got to Carlisle I stopped at the truck wash and got everything washed.  Then over to the Daily yard and went to sleep.  Later on int the morning when I got up, I got the trailer unloaded.  Then took care of everything else I had to do up here.  We will see what tomorrow brings.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Left this morning and drove about 5 hours up to the TA in Ashland, Virginia.  Got here about 1 pm. Had to take a nap.  I'll leave here in the middle of the night to try to avoid the Washington DC traffic.  Going to get some more sleep now.

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

I'm finally back on the road.  Still don't have all my strength back, but I'm doing pretty good.  Last Friday we loaded two jeeps on my trailer that are going up to the "home office" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  

Late this morning I decided to leave and take my time going up there.  It felt so good to be moving again.  I was going nuts sitting still.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Florence, South Carolina. 

Saturday, November 3, 2018

I'll be back on the road briefly next week. 

Today didn't go very well for the Gators. Not very well at all.

Saturday, October 27, 2018

I'm still recovering from surgery.  I'll be back real soon.

In the mean time, another great weekend of SEC football!!

Unfortunately the end didn't come out as we had hoped.

Saturday, October 13, 2018

A wonderful Saturday watching SEC Football!!!!  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Friday, October 12, 2018

Another driver that is here in Jacksonville, and does most of the local moves, had a load waiting for him over at the Port.  It had to load today.  His truck was in the repair shop.  So I helped him out.  Took his trailer over to the Port, he followed in his pick up truck.  I hooked up to his trailer in the yard.  Here it is:

The last two axles on the trailer are steerable. Makes cornering very easy.  Pulled out of the yard and down to the main road, rounded the corner from the stop sign and the last two axles on the trailer did not straighten themselves out like they are supposed to.  Instead they took the trailer straight off the road and into a tree.

Fortunately there was no damage to anything except the tree.  Called our mechanic and he brought the fork lift down and fixed the problem.  I won't get into the details of what caused this to happen, because you wouldn't understand it anyway. I'll just say that it was easily fixable.

Left that mess and went over to the Port.  Didn't have any more problems.  We loaded a Liebherr Material Handler that weighed 110,000 pounds (49,895 kg) using two big cranes.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any photos of that because I was too busy.  Here is an internet photo of one.  The one we loaded did not have the tracks on it and only had half the boom.  They were being shipped separately.

 Once we got it mostly secured to the trailer I dropped the trailer and left it there.  He was going to go back tomorrow and finish.  I went back to the Daily yard.  Now I will be off work for a while for my surgery.  

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Left LaGrange a half hour after sunrise this morning.  Heavy overcast and occasional light rain.  Breezy, but no big deal.  Drove to the Caterpillar dealer in Macon to deliver the machine.  Had to wait an hour and a half for the tire guy to get there.  When he got there we found out that they shipped the machine without any lug nuts!!  After waiting another hour for them to figure out what to do, they finally decided to take a few lug nuts off another machine and put them on my machine so it could be unloaded.  Got the thing off and the trailer put back together just as the first rain bands started to get to Macon. I left there and started to head home by way of Savannah.  Here is what the radar looked like.

Passed at least a hundred power company trucks that were going toward the storm.  The overhead message boards looked like this.

Just out of Macon drove through a real heavy rain band.  Was windy and could hardly see the road.  It didn't last long.  The rest of the way home was not bad at all.  Traffic on I-16 was light.  It was heavier on I-95, but it always is.  Made it home to Jacksonville without any problems.  I will be here for about three weeks.  Having surgery next week, then a little re-coop time.  Hope to be back as soon as possible.