This morning, I went over to the Port in Jacksonville. What a screwed-up Port that is!!! Brunswick is a very well-run Port, Jacksonville is not!! Anyway, I loaded a Caterpillar 950 Wheel Loader.
I left there and drove to Ocala, Florida, and delivered it. From there, I went back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, stopping to get the truck washed along the way. I'll be here for a little while, taking care of a medical issue.
This morning, I went to the Port in Brunswick, Georgia, and loaded a Caterpillar 320 Excavator.
I drove to the Keen yard in Brunswick, Georgia. It is across the street from the Port. Their computers went down, and they were working to fix them. Sat there for over an hour waiting. I was the 8th truck in line, and there were many lined up behind me.
When I finally got checked in and in to load, they sent me to the wrong place in there, SO I had to go to another area. Finally got loaded with a Caterpillar 330 undercarriage that is going to CZM in Ellabell, Georgia. That is just west of Savannah.
Left and drove up there. Got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic at I-95 and I-16. The geniuses in the road department thought it was a good idea to bring 4 lanes of traffic to one in the daytime to fix a guard rail. Finally made it and delivered. From there, I drove back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville for the weekend.
I left at about 1:30 AM EDT and drove to Ocala, Florida, and delivered the wheel loader. Then drove back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville.
I left at sunrise this morning and drove the rest of the way to Charlotte, North Carolina. Got stuck in some slow-n'-go rush hour traffic in Charlotte. Delivered the dozer. The next load was back in Clayton, NC. Drove there and loaded a Caterpillar 938 Wheel Loader that is going to Ocala, Florida.
Left there and drove to the Pilot truck stop in Dunn, North Carolina for the night.
I left Carlisle at about 4:30 AM EDT and drove to the Port of Baltimore. Loaded a Caterpillar D5 Dozer that is going to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Left there is pretty good time, unfortunately got stuck in a lot of slow-n'-go and bumper-to-bumper traffic going around Baltimore and Washington D.C. After that, it was pretty smooth sailing. Drove to the Petro truck stop in Mebane, North Carolina, for the night. 475 miles today.
Went over to the Caterpillar dealer in Perrysburg and delivered the excavator. In the process of unloading, one of the air lines got cut when the excavator ran over it.
I left at about 1 AM EDT when my ten hours were up. Drove to the TA truck stop in Perrysburg, Ohio. Will deliver on Monday morning.
Blog readers for the past week...
I drove to the Port of Baltimore this morning. Was there before they opened. After checking in, I loaded a Caterpillar 313 Excavator that is going to Perrysburg, Ohio.
This machine is exactly 8 feet, 6 inches wide, so it had to be perfect on the trailer so that nothing hung over the side. I left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Wheeling, West Virginia, for my ten hours.
Drove over to Clear Brook, Virginia, this morning and delivered the remaining excavator when they opened. From there drove up to the "home office" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. They wanted to do a little more work on my truck. Spent all day there. I'll load tomorrow morning in Baltimore
I left at 1:30 AM EDT when my 10 hours were up. Drove to Annapolis, Maryland, and delivered one of the excavators. From there, I went over to the TA truck stop in Jessup, MD. This place is really bad. I avoid this TA as much as possible. They charge $35 a night to park here. Everything else is way overpriced, too. Horrible place!!!! The only reason I'm here now is that I didn't have enough hours left to go anywhere else.
I took a nice ride over to Athens, Georgia, this morning to load. One of the machines I was to load was broken, and they had to fix it. I sat there for over an hour waiting. Finally loaded two Caterpillar 306 Excavators. One is going to Annapolis, Maryland, and the other is going to Clear Brook, Virginia.
This morning I went to the Port in Brunswick, Georgia, and loaded a Caterpillar 323 Excavator.
Left there and drove to Macon, Georgia, and delivered it. Stopped at the Love's truck stop in Macon for the night. Load tomorrow morning in Athens, GA. 10:30 AM Loading appointment.
This morning I delivered the wheel loader in Ocala, Florida. Returned to the Daily yard in Jacksonville.
I went back to Clayton, NC, and loaded a Caterpillar 938 Wheel Loader that is going to Ocala, Florida.
Left there and headed south. In North Carolina, I got stuck in stop-n'-go traffic. It took 2 1/2 hours to go three miles. Finally got through it and drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, Florida.
Blog readers in the past 7 days...
I left Carlisle at midnight. Drove to Clayton, North Carolina, to load. They didn't make an appointment last week, so I wasn't able to load today. My appointment is now for tomorrow morning. I went back to the Petro truck stop in Kenly, NC, to wait until tomorrow.
They didn't have another load for me today, BUT much to my surprise, my new truck was ready for me to move into. It is a 2027 Kenworth 680. I like it a lot!!!
I spent the rest of the day swapping all my stuff into it. Took my mattress pad and blankets to the laundry also. I'm about 3/4 of the way finished moving everything. I'll do the rest tomorrow.
I left at 9 PM last night. Drove to Poughkeepsie, New York, and delivered the wheeled excavator. Don't have another load yet, so I started to go to Carlisle, PA. Ran out of hours for today and stopped at the Petro truck stop in Scranton, PA. 574 miles today.
When my 10 hours were up, I left and drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA. Got there before 11 PM. Stopped and washed the truck along the way.
I left Jacksonville, FL, at 9 PM last night. Great night on the road. Stopped at a Sheetz truck stop in Woodford, Virginia. 644 miles today.
This morning, I was at the Caterpillar dealer in Ocala when they opened. Delivered the excavator. Then drove back up to the Port in Brunswick, GA, and loaded a Caterpillar M316 Wheeled Excavator that is going to Poughkeepsie, New York.
I left there and drove back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, FL. I'll leave on Tuesday.
This morning, I drove down to Ocala, FL, and delivered the excavator. Then I drove back to the Port in Brunswick, GA, and loaded a Caterpillar 313 Excavator that is also going to Ocala, FL.
While I was loading, this went by...
When I finished, I stopped by the crane that was lifting it. Do you know who's airplane that is?
Here it is when it was parked at his house in Ocala.
He donated it to a museum in Australia. It is no longer able to fly, so it was disassembled and is being sent there by ship. Anyway, after I finished, I drove back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, FL, for the rest of the weekend.
I left at midnight-30 this morning. Drove to the Caterpillar dealer in Ocala, Florida. Delivered the wheel loader. My next load was at the Port in Brunswick, Georgia. I drove up there and loaded a Caterpillar 315 Excavator that is also going to Ocala, Florida.
I left early this morning and drove the rest of the way to the Caterpillar dealer in Greensboro. Delivered the excavator. Left there and drove over to Clayton, North Carolina. Very heavy traffic all the way over there, with about a half hour's worth of bumper-to-bumper too. Once I got there, I loaded a Caterpillar 926 Wheel Loader that is going to Ocala, Florida.
I'm finally back on the road!!!! Was at the Port of Baltimore this morning before they opened. When they opened, I loaded a Caterpillar 317 Excavator that was going to Greensboro, North Carolina.
Left there in pretty good time. Had a bunch of slow-n'-go traffic going around Baltimore. Amazingly, I had a smooth ride through Washington DC. Drove to the TA truck stop in Greensboro, NC, for the night. 500 miles today.
Well, my trailer wasn't finished this morning. At about 2:30 this afternoon, they finished it. Much too late to load today, so I'll load tomorrow morning. At least everything is finally finished!!!
They finally finished working on my truck at International in Harrisburg, PA, so this morning I went up there and brought it back to Carlisle. My trailer is not doing as well. It is still in pieces in the shop.
My truck is finished in the Daily shop, but it had to go to International in Harrisburg. They have not started on it yet. My trailer is in the Daily shop with all the wheels off. It needs a bunch of stuff done to it. I'm in a hotel. Have no idea how long I'll be here.
I left at 3 AM EDT and drove to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland. I-70 was closed in the Hagerstown area, and had to follow a detour that took about an hour to get through. Also, it rained all the way in. Delivered the tractor. After that, I drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. My truck is due for maintenance, and my trailer needs a few tires. Hand more rain on the way. In the area of the MD / PA state line, the rain changed to snow. It had all stopped by the time I got to Carlisle.
I left half an hour before sunrise this morning. All that bad weather in the Midwest that you heard about on the news today, I drove through several times. Periods of heavy rain, wind, and pea-sized hail. Made it safely to a small truck stop in Grantsville, Maryland, for the night.
I left at 2 AM EDT and drove to Sturdavant, Wisconsin, and loaded a Case 70325 Tractor that is going to the Port of Baltimore, and then it's going on a big boat to Romania.
I drove the rest of the way to Shelby, Michigan, and delivered the wheel loader. My next load is in Sturdevant, Wisconsin. I started off that way, but had to stop at the TA truck stop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to get a flat tire repaired. Stayed there for my 10 hours.
I left Hagerstown, MD, at about 4 AM EST. Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Toledo, Ohio. I'll be here until Monday morning.
I left at 4 AM EST and drove the rest of the way to Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. Unloaded the genset. Then drove to the Port of Baltimore and loaded a Caterpillar 950 Wheel Loader that is going to Shelby, Michigan.
I left there and drove to the AC&T truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland. I stopped a little early today because I was very tired, hungry, and I'd had enough of heavy traffic!!!
Blog readers for the past 7 days...
I started off at 4 AM EST and quickly realized that the fog was way too heavy for a permit load to continue. I stopped at the next truck stop, a Flying J, in New Haven, Indiana, and waited for it to clear up. About two and a half hours later, the fog lifted enough to go. Even so, it rained all day again. My original permit route through Pennsylvania was really stupid!! This is where they were sending me...
I had a discussion (that is putting it nicely) with my dispatcher about it. A new permit was ordered with a better route...
