Monday, November 28, 2011

Went into Woodruff, SC this morning and picked up the first load.  Easy one.  It's a feeder going to South Dakota.

Then drove a short hop over to Mauldin, SC for the second one.  This is a Caterpillar C-15 Generator.  It is going to Iowa.

Got on the road and drove in the rain all day.  Glad I loaded both loads inside!!  Rained real hard in some places.  Drove (again) up the prettiest Interstate highway east of the Mississippi River.  I-40 between Asheville, NC and where I-81 meets I-40 in Tennessee.  Its a little bit up and down but is is VERY twisty and turny.  Drive through a gorge. Takes a while to get through the approximately 75 miles of it.  Very nice scenery, even in the rain. Stopped for the night at the Pilot in Georgetown, Kentucky.  That's just north of Lexington.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Had an absolutely fantastic week off.  Really enjoyed being home.  It went by so fast. Now I'm back out on the road.  Drove up to Enoree, South Carolina to a small truck stop for the night. I pick up two loads tomorrow morning.  First one is just a few miles from here in Woodruff, SC.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Got on the road early this morning.  Drove home.  Will be off for the Thanksgiving week.  Be back at it again Monday the 28th.  Nice to be home!!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Still raining when I woke up.  Got on the road early this morning and drove in the rain all morning.  Sometimes it was pretty heavy.  Finally drove out of it.  Went to the Charleston Air Force Base and delivered the fork lift.  After that went to spend the night at the TA truck stop in Savannah, Georgia. Soon the weather I drove out of today will catch up with me.  Good sleeping !!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

This morning went to Brimfield, IL and picked up a Caterpillar 928 ATFL fork lift.  It is going to Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina.

Got on the road.  Nice drive until Cincinnati.  Rain and bumper to bumper traffic.  Got there at rush hour.  Continued raining the rest of the way tonight.  Stopped at the Love's truck stop in Richmond, Kentucky.  Have a headache. Ate, took a long hot shower and lots of Motrin.  Now time for bed.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Delivered the dozer first thing this morning just down the road in Springfield, IL.  My next load picks up tomorrow in Morton, IL.  Drove up there to a small truck stop for the rest of the day and night.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Left Pittsboro, IN this morning and had a nice leisurely drive to Springfield, Illinois to spend the rest of the weekend at the Pilot truck stop.  The weather is georgous!   Deliver first thing Monday morning.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Left Hagerstown, MD as soon as the sun came up.  In the mountains along I-68 in western Maryland had my first taste of snow this winter.  Started off as flurries but got heavier.  Only about 1/4 inch, but none to speak of on the roads.   Briefly the road had a dusting on it, but no big deal.

I drove out of it in West Virginia.  Later on it cleared up nicely and ended up being a beautiful day.  Drove to Pittsboro, Indiana (just west of Indianapolis) to the Love's truck stop for the night.  Tomorrow will be a short day.  I should get to see some football.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Went into the Port of Baltimore this morning.  I had to unload it myself then take it to a parking area.  After that my next load was from the same place, just a different area.  This was a new Caterpillar D6N Dozer and blade going to Springfield, Illinois. I had to load the dozer myself.  It took me a little bit to figure that one out.  Brought it over from it's parking stall, up the ramp, and onto the trailer. Chained it down and waited for the blade.  Of course by now it was lunch time.  Had to wait an hour for them to finish lunch.  Union shop.  That says all you need to know!!  They finally brought the blade and put it up on the trailer.  I tied it down and was finally on the road.

Went straight back to the TA truck stop, fueled, and scaled.  Everything was fine.  Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland for the night because I ran out of daylight.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Left the Pilot in Greenfield, IN early this morning in the rain.  It rained hard most of the morning.  Other than that, a nice day on the road.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Baltimore, MD.  Deliver this in the morning at the port.  It is going on a big boat to South America.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The crane arrived early this morning.  That was a good thing.  Since I was the first to arrive, I was the first to unload.  Drove around the new Federal Court House to deliver.  Here are some photos of the delivery.

As you are looking at these photos, think about this.... I had to back in off the road from the blind side.  The blind side is the passenger side.  When the trailer starts to turn you can't see the back of the trailer anymore.  Can't see anything at all.  Had to back up a slight muddy incline in the rain.  On the passenger's side of the trailer was the hole that the "box" was going to be set in.  On the driver's side of the trailer there was a small drop off.  AND the load was wider than the trailer so I couldn't see anything behind me except a black box.  Now that you have that in your mind, let me add one more thing.....the back of the trailer had to go in between the outriggers of the crane.  OK, who is ready to give that a try??

When I finished there I drove over to Dubuque, IA for my next load.  Picked up a John Deere bull dozer.  It is going to the port in Dundalk, Maryland - that's next to Baltimore.

Once that was tied down I got on the road and drove to Greenfield, Indiana, just east of Indianapolis to the Pilot truck stop for the night.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Left this morning in the rain.  Rained for a few hours then I drove out of it.  Stopped along the way and had my front shocks replaced.  Then drove in to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to a staging area. Getting unloaded tomorrow morning when the crane gets here.  There are several more trucks arriving with two more vaults and other trucks with the lids for them.  Hopefully it wont take too long tomorrow morning.  I'll spend the night here.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Left Raphine, Virginia as soon as the sun came up.  Nice pleasant day on the road.  Drove up to Crawfordsville, Indiana (that's north west of Indianapolis) for the rest of the weekend.  Will start again Monday morning when the sun comes up.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Drove in to Chesapeake, VA this morning and delivered the generators before the sun came up.  After that drove over to Harrisonburg, VA for my next load.  Picked up a 38,000 pound concrete vault.  It is going to a new courthouse being built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

After securing it to the trailer, I got on the road.  Didn't get very far.  There is a curfew in Charleston, West Virginia from 4 to 6 pm and no overnight parking on the WV Turnpike so I stopped at the Petro truck stop in Raphine, Virginia for the night,

Thursday, Movember 3, 2011

Today went a whole lot smoother than yesterday.  Left real early to beat the Atlanta rush hour traffic.  It worked!!  Got to Griffin, GA early and got loaded pretty quick.  Picked up 4 large generators.  They are going to Chesepeake, VA.

Got on the road and drove up to Emporia, VA to the Pilot truck stop for the night.  Deliver in the morning.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Got off to a good start this morning until we went through a construction area.  The right lane was closed for repaving.  As we went through the construction area the truck in front of me was oversize too.  He took out all the road cones.  One of them landed right in the road directly in front of my truck.  I couldn't stop in time and there was nowhere to go but right over the cone.  As it went under the truck it pulled off a small coolant line.  Didn't know it until the "Low Coolant" light came on and the temperature shot up.  We pulled over to the side of the road, quickly found the problem, and fixed it before all the coolant was all gone.  He had some extra coolant and water which we added to my truck.  That was just barely enough to get me to a truck stop where I added 2 gallons of coolant and a lot of water.  That worked.  From there on it was a nice drive down to Smyrna, TN to the Nissan plant.  Delivered the "things".  After that went over to Peterbilt and had my coolant drained (since it was mostly water) and refilled with coolant.  Also had them replace a fuel line check valve that has been bad for months.

My next load is down in Griffin, GA so I drove down to Atlanta to spend the night at the Petro truck stop.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Drove in to Columbus this morning and picked up my next load.  I have no idea what they are or what they are used for.  All I know is that they are going to a Nissan auto plant in Smyrna, TN. 

There was another Daily driver there picking up some much bigger "boxes" going to the same place.  You can see the front of his truck behind my truck in the top photo.  We both left together and are driving together down to Tennessee.  We didn't get very far today because it took all morning to load.  Stopped at the Petro truck stop in Glendale, Kentucky for the night.

Monday, October 31, 22011

Fortunately I didn't have to wait too long this morning for West Virginia to send me my permit.  I was on the road by 8:30.  Drove down to Belle, West Virginia and delivered the big bucket.  After that went back to Nitro, West Virginia and delivered the little excavator.  Think about this one!!  He drove it off my trailer without using ramps!!  He did good!! 

My next load picks up in Columbus, Ohio tomorrow morning.  I went up that way and stopped for the night at a small Pilot truck stop in Circleville, Ohio.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Nothing exciting today.  Nice pleasant drive.  Drove to Catlettsburg, Kentucky for the rest of the weekend.  West Virginia was very slow in getting my permit and I still don't have one.  I am just a mile or two from West Virginia at a Flying J truck stop.  Have to wait here Monday until WV decides to send the permit.  Hopefully it will be first thing Monday morning.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Drove into Wamego, Kansas this morning and picked up the rest of my load.  It is a bucket for a Caterpillar 993 Wheel Loader.  The bucket alone weighs 33,500 pounds.  The machine it attaches to weighs over 200,000 pounds!! Now my load is complete.  They are going to West Virginia.

Got on the road and drove to the Pilot truck stop (very small one) in Okawville, Illinois.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Drove into Irving, Texas this morning and delivered the engines.  After that my next load, actually my next two loads, are up in Kansas.  Drove up to Park City, Kansas and picked up the first half of the load.  It is a very small excavator.

The second half is up in Wamego, Kansas.  I started off that way.  Here is a little Kansas Autumn color.

Stopped for the night on a side street behind a Pizza Hut in Herington, Kansas.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Went into Griffin, GA this morning and picked up my next load. Four Caterpillar Marine Engines going to Irving, Texas.

Drove to Greenwood, Louisiana to the TA truck stop for the night. Will deliver these in the morning.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Beautiful day outside!!  Went over to Thermo King in Savannah and had some work done on my APU.  Had the AC ductwork re-routed.  Much better now!! Got info on my next three loads.  Next one loads tomorrow morning in Griffin, GA. 

Monday, October 24, 2011

Went into Fort Stewart this morning and delivered the skid steers.  After that drove to the TA truck stop in Savannah, GA to do a reset.  Will be here until Wednesday.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Very uneventful day.  Left Jasper, AL early this morning.  Got past Talladega Speedway before the race traffic.  The place was already full of RVs.  No bumper to bumper traffic in Atlanta either.  That's always a good thing.   Drove to a small truck stop in Pulaski, GA for the night.  Deliver in the morning.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Left Oklahoma City this morning and drove all the way to Jasper, Alabama. Very uneventful day but a pleasant drive, except Memphis, TN.  That is always unpleasant.  The roads there are not good.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Finally made it to Topeka, KS and delivered the excavator.  I backed it off the trailer and parked it.  I love playing with big "toys"!!  After that drove down to Wichita, KS for my next load.  Picked up 2 skid steers and 2 boxes of stuff for them.  They are going to Fort Smith, GA. 

Got back on the road and drove to the Petro truck stop in Oklahoma City, OK for the night.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Started this morning at 8:30 CDT and made it around Dallas without any bumper to bumper traffic.  Nice!!  Once I got into Oklahoma the route the state chose was ridiculous!!  They took me off a nice four lane highway to a bunch of back roads.  I zig-zagged through Oklahoma all day!!  Most of the day was on skinny two lane roads.  They even routed me over a bridge with a weight limit of 37 tons.  I am 41 tons!!  Some of the other bridges were not wide enough for me and a vehicle going the other direction to cross at the same time.  In case you don't know, when you have a permitted load the State tells you what route you must take.  No deviations allowed. I'm STILL in Oklahoma!!  Ran out of daylight and stopped at a truck stop in Big Cabin, Oklahoma.  I still have another hour or so in Oklahoma before I get to Kansas.  The route in Kansas is more direct.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

This morning drove down to Galveston, TX to the port for my next load.  Picked up a brand new Caterpillar Excavator.  I had to load it, by myself, on my trailer.  Having never driven one of these before, I was really looking forward to doing that.  Backed up to the loading ramp then went searching for it. There were two long lines of excavators there. I got lucky and found it quickly. Got in, started it up, drove it over to the truck, up the ramp, and onto the trailer. No problem.  I forgot to mention that it was wider than my trailer.  It was FUN!!  I love this job!!  I get to play with the "big boy toys"!!  This is my first (of many) oversize loads with Daily Express.  Chained it down and got on the road.  Stopped at the scales and found out that I had too much weight on the trailer axles so I had to un-chain it and move it up a few feet. Re-chained it and got back on the scales again. This time it was OK. I am 82,500 pounds and 10' 6" wide. 

Got back on the road and drove to a small truck stop south of Dallas for the night.  I cannot drive through Dallas during rush hour so I had to stop early. Can't start tomorrow until 9 am CDT when Dallas rush hour is over.  I deliver this in Topeka, KS.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Drove on into Port Arthur, Texas first thing this morning. It took them forever to unload the trailer.  Finally got it emptied.  Then I went out to the Petro truck stop in Beaumont, TX.  I'll be here until Wednesday on a reset.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Left Knoxville, TN early this morning and drove down to Egan, Louisiana to the Petro truck stop. Will deliver first thing in the morning in Port Arthur, Texas.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Washed the truck this morning then went to Shady Grove, PA to a huge place that makes/builds all types of cranes.  I was there with four other trucks picking up parts of a crane going to Port Arthur, Texas.  We didn't get all the parts of the crane, there had to be a lot more trucks picking up sections of this crane.  It is a big one!  Here is what I got:

You wouldn't know that they are crane parts if I didn't tell you. Got on the road and headed toward Texas. Got to Knoxville, TN just as the LSU at Tennessee game was letting out.  Bumper to bumper traffic with a whole lot of depressed Tennessee fans. Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop west of Knoxville just in time to see the Gator game.

Friday, October 14, 2011

The crane unloaded the last piece from my trailer first thing this morning.  It was done in less than 10 minutes.  Then off to Shady Grove, PA for my next load.  While on the way they called and said that they were backed up and couldn't load me until tomorrow.  I stopped at the TA truck stop in Greencastle, PA for the rest of the day.  It is about one mile from where I get loaded tomorrow.  Made for a very short day today.  Really didn't mind 'cus it was still raining and I had a pretty bad headache.  Hope it is gone soon.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Went into Manassas, VA to the delivery location.  They unloaded the smaller stuff.  The crane came in this afternoon and got set up for tomorrows unloading.  The other two trucks arrived with the big stuff.  I'll get unloaded first in the morning. Hope the rain stops by then.  Then off to Pennsylvania for my next load.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The rain that Florida had has moved up the east coast.  I left this morning in the rain and didn't drive out of it.  Rained all day.  Tried to get some photos of the fall colors as I went through the West Virginia mountains.  Here are a few.

Since I have not put a video in here in a long time, here is a short (not very exciting) video of the fall colors in rainy West Virginia. 

Sorry that the photos aren't better but "Mother Nature" didn't cooperate very much today.

Stopped for the night at the Wilco Hess truck stop in Tom's Brook, Virginia.

Tuesday October 11, 2011

Drove into Edelstein, IL this morning and picked up the last two pieces of this load.

Somewhere between Minonk (where I slept last night) and Edelstein I got a flat tire on the trailer. Right front inside tire.

I drove to the Daily Express terminal in Morton, IL ( that's just west of Peoria, IL) because I wasn't too far from there.  Called the shop and they sent a guy over to change both tires.

Now I have two new trailer tires!!

After that two hour delay I got back on the road.  Really enjoying the fall tree colors.  Drove to Hebron, Ohio (just east of Columbus) to the TA truck stop for the night.

Monday, October 10, 2011

This morning went into Darien, WI to a place that makes HUGE Caterpillar generators.  There are two other trucks transporting the really big stuff that is going where I'm going.  I'm bringing the smaller stuff.  Got my stuff loaded after they loaded one of the other trucks. 

From here I have to go down to Edelstein, Illinois to pick up some more stuff for this load.  I get that in the morning.  Drove to a truck stop in Minonk, IL for the night.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

At least it wasn't a shutout. 

Friday, October 7, 2011

Drove into Mequon, Wisconsin and delivered first thing this morning.  My next load isn't until Monday morning in Darien, WI.  Went to the Pilot truck stop in East Troy, WI for the rest of the weekend.  Caught up on a lot of paperwork that I have been putting off.  Also did some projects with the truck that I have also been putting off.  Now I can relax and enjoy a quiet weekend of football.  Hope the Gators don't get too creamed by LSU tomorrow.  I'm afraid it is going to be a massacre though.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Went and got my trailer at the yard.  It is definitely not as nice as the JRC trailer.  48 foot step deck.  It is pretty beat up.  Oh well, it works.  Then went over and picked up my first Daily Express load.  I'm not sure what they are except the paperwork says that they are steel castings.  Doesn't tell you very much, does it?  Anyway, there are 44,700 pounds of them and they are going to Wisconsin.

Finally got on the road.  Sure feels good to be back on the road again.  Drove to Gary, Indiana and stopped at the TA truck stop for the night.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Last day of orientation!!  Its done!!  I'm an official Daily Express driver now.  LOL  So far I'm very impressed with the entire organization. Very professional.  Everyone here, from the guys in the shop to all the office staff, are very nice and pleasent to talk with.  They really make you feel welcomed.  

They finished with my truck in the shop.  Here is my new look:

They also finished putting on my new (used) headache rack.  Looks pretty good.

Then I got all my stuff put on it - chains and binders.

The trailer is still not ready yet.  They have one thing on it to fix.  The shop will do that tonight and I'll pick it up in the morning.  Then it is over to pick up my load.  I'll be VERY glad to get back on the road again. 

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Orientation day today.  Got a bunch done.  One more day of orientation tomorrow.  I have a load waiting for me when its done.  Thats a good thing!!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Pulled into the Daily Express yard in Carlisle, PA first thing this morning.  Glad I got here a day early.  Got a few things done already.  The truck is in the shop and has had their inspection done on it already.  I'm checked into the hotel.  Orientation starts tomorrow at 8 am. So far so good.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

I'm all moved in up in Jacksonville.  Really enjoyed having a few days off.  Especially spending them with loved ones!!  Back to the road today.  Drove bobtail from Jax up to Hagerstown, MD today.  On my way to Carlisle, PA to the "home office" of Daily Express. Have orientation Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.