Friday, February 25, 2022

 Last night at about 8:30 CST road service for the tire showed up first, then Love's service truck for the trailer lights. Got it all fixed.  It stopped snowing around midnight.

I left this morning a half-hour before sunrise.  The snow had stopped and the plows did a good job of clearing the streets.  The Interstate was fine. Wet, but fine.  I stopped off at the Daily's Bettendorf, Iowa Terminal and got a couple things done there.  Only took 30 minutes.  Had a brief snow shower around Indianapolis, Indiana.  No accumulation.  When I stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Spiceland, Indiana we were having more snow flurries.  Nothing interesting.  Have to do a reset here so I'll be leaving Sunday morning. Did 500.8 miles today.  

Thursday, February 24, 2022

 Left at about 2 AM CST and drove the 231 miles to Shakopee, MN.  I got there before they opened.  On the way up here the truck's "Check Engine" light came on.  Just what I needed now!!!  While waiting for them to open I called our shop to report the issue.  Once they opened tried to unload the machine but it was so cold that the fuel had gelled in it.  So he had to go get a heater and warm it up so that he could get it off the trailer. Once that was finally done I was able to get out of there.  I drove down to the International Truck dealer in Albert Lea, MN to get the "Check Engine" light taken care of.  They told me on the phone that they could get me in this afternoon after 3 when the second shift came in.  I was VERY lucky and they took me in right away!!  I couldn't believe it.  They were able to fix it pretty quick and I was out of there.  But that is where my good luck ended. Shortly after I got on the road my ELD (electronic logbook) went haywire.  Then it started to snow.  Then unbeknownst to me, my trailer turn signals and brake lights went out.  That attracted the attention of a DOT cop.  I got pulled over and inspected.  Also had a bad tire.  Fortunately, I didn't get any tickets and was able to temporally fix the problem.  I just got a crappy inspection.  I was able to just make it to John Deere in Waterloo, Iowa, and load a John Deere 8RX 370 Tractor that is going to the Port of Baltimore.

I stayed at the John Deere plant for the night.  Had road service come out and change the bad tire and fix the trailer lights.  Hope it stops snowing so I can go in the morning.  3 inches on the ground so far and still coming down hard. Can't have all good days, got to have some bad ones too.  That's just the way it goes with everything.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

 Had to wait to start this morning.  Couldn't go into St. Louis, Missouri until after 9 AM CST.  It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes from Mt. Vernon, Illinois to get there.  So I left at 7:45 AM CST instead of the usual half-hour before sunrise.  I drove across the bridge over the Mississippi River into St. Louis precisely at 9:03 CST.  Timed it pretty good.  Had some snow flurries in the St. Louis area but nothing interesting.  Road crews were out pretreating the roads.  I guess they are expecting some weather later on.  Had a nice uneventful day.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Evansdale, Iowa.  I can drive at night in Iowa and Minnesota so I'm going to bed now and getting started as soon as my 10 hours are up.  I'll deliver in the morning.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

 Left a half-hour after sunrise this morning stopping on the scale before I left.  Here is my scale from last night.

Here is my scale from this morning.  Had to get the trailer under 42,000 pounds for Kentucky.  In all the other states I was fine the first time.

Well, just as soon as I got out on the  Atlanta Beltway, I-285, I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic.  It eased up a bit and then I was right back in it again.  Once I got out of there It was smooth sailing to Nashville.  Heavy rain just south of Nashville caused the traffic to back up.  It was a real mess at the I-24 and I-40 split.  Once I got past that and onto Briley Parkway (the road that goes past The Grand 'Ole Opry) it was back to smooth sailing again.  The rain stopped by the time I got to Kentucky.  Continued on up to the TA truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois for the night.

Monday, February 21, 2022

 I'm enjoying a nice, large, cup of hot chocolate while I'm typing this.  It's really good too!! Left at about 2 AM this morning.  Drove the rest of the way to Marianna, Florida, and delivered the boom lift.  When loading and unloading those things you have to hold on tight.  When it goes up on or down off the trailer it wants to flip you like a pancake on a spatula.  My next load was up in Atlanta.  Drove back up there and loaded a Komatsu 210 Excavator that is going up to Shakopee, Minnesota. 

Of course, it was raining.  I was covered in grease and mud as well as being soaked to the skin when I was finished.  Left there and went straight to the Petro in Atlanta, got fuel, then scaled.  Wouldn't you know it... I was too heavy on my trailer axles.  Had to unsecured it and back the machine up a couple feet.  Then re-secure it all again.  Just what I love to do in the cold rain!!  I'm sure I have it right now.  Parking places are at a premium here so I wasn't about to pull out of the two I had. I need two spaced side-by-side because of the machine width.  Finished the day after driving 560 miles with only 9 minutes available on my electronic babysitter.  I'll re-scale in the morning just to make sure.  Long hot shower, dinner, then bed!!!

Sunday, February 20, 2022

 My reset was finished at 8 PM Saturday evening.  I left the "home office" at 8:15 PM.  Stopped and got the truck washed before I left town.  Really nice night driving.  No traffic issues at all.  The way I like it!!  Stopped for my 10 hours, after driving 630 miles, at the TA truck stop in Commerce, Georgia.