As soon as my 10 hours were up I got back on the road heading north. Drove to the International dealer in Jacksonville to get the 5th wheel cylinder replaced. I arrived right at 7:30 when they opened. About an hour and a half and I was out of there. All fixed.
Then drove to the Daily yard in Jacksonville. Going to move a few trailers over to the Port of Jacksonville tomorrow. More on that tomorrow. Otherwise, I'm home for the holidays and a bunch of doctor's appointments.
Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning. Did pretty good time-wise until I got to south Florida. Had several bumper to bumper traffic episodes down there. My permit route had me do a "U" turn in the middle of heavy (and it was heavy too) Miami traffic. What the heck were they thinking!!!!!!?????? I just had to barge my way through because nobody was going to let me do a "U" turn.
Was worried that the fog this morning would delay my start for a few hours. Fortunately, the fog had lifted just enough so that I could go at sunrise as planned. Drove 515 miles down to the TA truck stop on the south side of Jacksonville, Florida for the night.
Got unloaded first thing this morning then headed for Kernersville, NC. Saw quite a few Ohio and West Virginia road department trucks were staged and ready for the snow that was coming.
The weather didn't start until I got south of I-70. Started off as snow. Didn't stick to the roads. After a while, it changed to snow/rain mix. Then some sleet. And for the rest of the day until I got to North Carolina, rain. I passed three big truck wrecks today on the way south. The roads never did cover over or get slick. Because of that, I was able to make it all the way to Kernersville just in time to be the last machine that they loaded today. BOY did I get lucky!!!! Loaded a John Deere 250GLC Excavator that is going to Miami, Florida.
After securing it to the trailer I pulled out front and parked for the night. I'll be able to get a good start in the morning. Hopefully, with luck, I'll be able to deliver this on Friday.
This morning went over to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland. Loaded a blade for a Caterpillar D8 Dozer, the swing arms, and a parts box. All going to a landfill in Dover, Ohio.
I tried to make it a legal load (not needing permits) and thought I had it. But it didn't work. When I started to move the blade shifted. Had to go back and have the forklift re-position it. Now it was a permit load. Oh well, I tried. Left there and drove straight through to Dover, Ohio landfill, 408 miles. There was plenty of room for me to park overnight. There is a snow/ice storm on the way. I pushed it hard to get there. Didn't want to be stuck at a truck stop an hour or less away. At least when I'm empty I can still drive in the snow or ice. Can't with a permit load. So I will get empty first thing in the morning. My next load is in Kernersville, North Carolina. That puts me driving right through the heart of the snow/ice storm through the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia and North Carolina in the morning. Tomorrow will be an interesting day.
Didn't get my next load until noon. It is up at the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland. I left and drove to the TA truck stop in Baltimore. Rained all the way. Had some bumper to bumper traffic in several places in the Washington DC area. Didn't get up there in time to be able to load today, plus I didn't get the paperwork needed until 4 this afternoon. So, I'll go over first thing in the morning and load.
