Saturday, June 17, 2023

 This morning when I tried to leave Iowa 80 I found that the left-side marker lights on my trailer were not working.  I drove over to the shop at Iowa 80 to get them fixed.  They had 7 service bays and all were empty.  There were a couple guys cleaning the floors in one bay.  The guy at the service counter was rude and said they were too busy now and I'd have to wait until tomorrow.  I left.  I drove to the TA truck stop in Council Bluffs, IA, and got my lights fixed immediately with no problems. I'll be here until Monday morning. Deliver not too far from here.

Friday, June 16, 2023

 Had to time it so that I didn't get to Missouri before a half hour before sunrise.  I left at about 4 AM CDT.  Drove to Scott City, MO, and delivered the excavator.  Then drove up to Davenport, Iowa and loaded a dumpster truck that is going over to Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Stopped at Iowa 80 truck stop in Walcot, Iowa for the night.  561 miles today.  I'm tired. Good night.

Thursday, June 15, 2023

 I got started a half hour after sunrise this morning.  Didn't do too bad getting around Atlanta.  Very heavy traffic, as usual, and only a couple slo n' go's.  Somewhere along the journey this morning a picked up something in one of my tires and developed a slow leak.  Stopped at a truck stop in Ringold, Georgia to get it fixed.  No shop there so road service came out.

When he was finished I got back on the road.  Some bumper-to-bumper traffic in Chatanooga.  Continued on to the Love's truck stop in Jackson, Tennessee for the night.

Here is a better look at how much track is on the trailer.

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

 I was first in line this morning at the Port of Savannah.  Wouldn't you know it, the paperwork on their end was screwed up and I had to wait until they straightened it out. After that was fixed I went over to load the machine.  The procedure is they bring the machine over to me and then I load it.  Well, there was no one in sight.  I waited an hour for them to bring it.  They finally got it to me.  These are a bit tricky to load without the counterweight on the back and no boom arm out front.  The machine is way off balance. It is really easy to roll over backward ending up upside down if you aren't careful.  Have to back it onto the trailer and then spin it around.  Just to make it more interesting, look closely at all the photos.  Most of the tracks are not even on the trailer.  This is a Caterpillar 340 that is going to Scott City, Missouri.

Here is what I weigh ...

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Jackson, Georgia for the night.  

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

 I decided to make my permit load a legal load.  It was wide by only a couple inches.  Hard to tell when looking at it, especially at night.  I left at 2:15 AM EDT and took the back roads bypassing the weigh stations.  Drove down to Tampa and delivered the wheel loader without any problems.  By 7:15 AM I was heading to Savannah, Georgia for my next load.  There was a big wreck on I-75 just south of Ocala and the Interstate was backed up for 15 miles.  I got off in Wildwood and took the back roads again.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, GA for the night.  Made it there with 27 minutes left on my driving clock.  581 miles today.

UPDATE:

Here is the reason I-75 was backed up today...

Ocala / Marion County: The Southwest 66th Street overpass is currently closed after a northbound dump truck struck the 66th Street overpass on Interstate 75. (Yes, the same overpass that was struck several weeks ago). Drivers headed northbound on I-75 should expect delays. The interstate is still open for the time being but, as we learned the last time this happened, officials may have to temporarily close down traffic on I-75 to inspect/repair any damage.