Saturday, September 18, 2021

 I decided to stop and get a hotel for the night.  Stopped in Smithfield, North Carolina. At about 2:00 AM I woke up and decided to get back on the road.  Was having a nice easy drive this morning until I got to mile marker 148, southbound, on I-95 in South Carolina.  Watch the video below and see what happened.

Here is what the car looked like afterward.

Had the Highway Patrol come out and make a report.  Was able to use a strap from my suitcase to tie up the front of the car until I could get to a place to get stuff to hold it better.  

Stopped at a truck stop and got some heavy zip ties and secured it better.

I continued on.  Stopped at the Enterprise Car Rental place at the Jacksonville International Airport and swapped into a different car. Never a dull moment.

Friday, September 17, 2021

 Well, they came up with a car around noon.  I loaded up and headed for home. Be there for at least a week and a half. Probably two.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

 At about 7:45 this morning I was finally brought into the shop to get the trailer tire replaced. 

When the tread flung off it wrapped around the axle.

He had to get in there and cut it off.

And here is what was wrapped around the axle.

Once he finished I was on the road.  Drove to the Port of Baltimore with a few places of bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Delivered the wheel loader.  Next drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA with a lot more bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way.  This truck is due for several services including a major recall.  They will have the truck for about two weeks (I'll bet it is longer than that) to do all the work. Daily had reserved a rental car for me but with all of the unforeseen delays, I was very late getting there.  Since I was not there to pick up the car when it was reserved for, they gave my car away.  They said that they won't have a car available until sometime tomorrow afternoon.  Great customer service!!  

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

 Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning.  Had a good day on the road right up until the end.  About 2 miles from the Ohio / West Virginia line on I-470 a trailer tire blew.  I was able to limp it to the TA truck stop in Wheeling, WV.  Checked in there to get it fixed.  They were so backed up that they wouldn't be able to get to it until about 8 AM tomorrow.  I parked the truck for the night.  My APU started up as it should but then shut off with a red engine warning light displayed.  Just great!!!  Have to idle the truck all night again.  Always an adventure!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

 Left Wheeling, WV at sunrise this morning.  Drove to East Peoria, Illinois, and delivered the Material Handler.  Then re-loaded a military Caterpillar 966H Wheel Loader that is going to the Port of Baltimore.  I guess Biden and the Democrats want to send the Taliban some more of our stuff.

Left there and drove over to the Daily yard in Morton, Illinois for the night.

Monday, September 13, 2021

 Went over to the Port of Baltimore this morning.  When I checked in to unload and to re-load they said that the machine I was to pick up had already been picked up in August.  Ok.  So I sent an email to my dispatcher in Carlile then went and unloaded the tractor.  I packed everything up to leave.  But something didn't seem right.  I decided I would drive around the Port and see if I could find the machine.  Lo and behold, I did.  I took a photo of it and the serial number and went back to the office.  They had to figure out what happened at their end. Once all the paperwork was straightened out, I went back to the machine and loaded it. It is a Caterpillar MH3026 Material Handler going to East Peoria, Illinois.

They can be a pain to load because the outriggers hit the trailer going on.  Have to build a small ramp for the tires to go up on before the trailer.  As you can see, it's up there with no problems.  Left there much later than I wanted to and drove to the TA truck stop in Wheeling, West Virginia for the night.

Also, someone stole my fuel cap over the weekend.  Had to replace it when I got here.