Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Delivered the excavator first thing this morning.  Those things really drive funny without the boom and counterweight on.

Next load is a farm tractor that loads in Sturtevant, Wisconsin and going to the port in Baltimore, MD.   Drove over there.  On the way went through Chicago.  Amazingly, no bumper to bumper traffic!!  Crystal clear day so I was able to snap off a shot of the Chicago skyline as I went through on I-94, the Dan Ryan Expressway.

 Made it to Sturtevant and loaded.  Photos will be tomorrow.  Too dark, by the time I finished, to get any today.  Went to the Petro truck stop in Racine, WI for the night.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

It rained all night last night and stopped just before I got on the road this morning.  That worked out well, for a change.  A lot colder this morning.  Left Hagerstown, Maryland just after sun up and drove almost non stop today.  Ran out of daylight  so I had to stop for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Ottawa Lake, Michigan.  Will deliver tomorrow morning.  Don't have a load yet.  Hope something comes up.

Monday, November 12, 2012

After spending a great weekend with my brother and his family, I'm back to work.  Loaded a John Deere 470G Excavator this morning.  Couldn't drive very far today.  There are no permit loads allowed on I-70 between mile marker 24 and 18 on Mondays until February 2013 because of construction.  Had to stop in Hagerstown, Maryland for the rest of the day.  So, I'm at the Pilot truck stop until tomorrow morning.

I'm a little heavy with this one, 112,720 pounds.

Weather front coming through tonight.  Going to rain and drop the temperature 20-30 degrees.  Don't need a jacket today, but sure will tomorrow!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Nothing today.  Replaced the right front tire today.  It got chewed up pretty bad when the truck was out of alignment.  My next load is Monday in Dundalk, MD.  It is a big excavator going to Michigan.

Here is a better video of the guy backing into my truck the other night.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Left the Pilot  after sun up this morning and drove in to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, MD. My crane appointment was at 1 pm local time.  Don't have another load yet so after I got empty I went to the TA truck stop in Baltimore for the rest of the day and night.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Left Oakwood, IL just before sun up.  Started off in rain but it stopped after a while and cleared up.Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Grantsville, Maryland.  There is still snow on the ground here from Hurricane Sandy.  The photo below is in West Virginia.  Here at the Pilot the snow is still a foot deep and piled up all over.

While laying in bed watching TV, a truck backed into my truck.  Just great!!!  

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I'll make a very long story short.  Finally got in and loaded late this afternoon.  A Caterpillar 777G Dump Truck chassis that is going to the port in Baltimore, MD.  Of course to make matters worse it started to rain just as I was about to load.  

When I finally got out of there I only had enough daylight to drive 79 miles to a small truck stop in Oakwood, Illinois for the night.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Went over to the John Deere plant in Dubuque, IA and delivered the excavator first thing this morning.  Next load is at the Caterpillar plant in Decatur, IL.  Went down there to load a Caterpillar 777G dump truck chassis.  Checked in at 1:25 pm local time.  They didn't have room there for all the trucks so they sent everyone to the Pilot truck stop to wait.  They were going to call on the phone when they were ready.  They didn't call today. Can't say that I am surprised.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Great day on the road!!  Left Nashville, TN just before sun up and drove all day, 648 miles, stopping only twice to water the grass on the side of the road.  Stopped for the rest of the weekend at a small convenience store with a few truck parking places in Dubuque, Iowa.  Deliver a few miles from here Monday morning.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Went back to John Deere in Kernersville this morning and loaded a John Deere 250G Excavator.  No problems today.  It is going to Dubuque, Iowa.

Drove to the TA truck stop in Nashville, Tennessee.  The one right next to the football stadium where the Tennessee Titans play.  Two years ago this place was flooded out and was under 6 feet of water.  It was closed for almost a year while they rebuilt it.  Much better now.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Got my paperwork signed first thing this morning and took off for Kernersville, North Carolina for my next load.  Things were going too smoothly and , as usual, it went downhill.  Arrived at the John Deere plant in Kernersville to load.  Separated the trailer and waited.  They came to load my machine.  He started to go up on the trailer and one of the blocks of wood used for a ramp somehow popped up and went through the lower glass on the machine.  Now the machine could not go.  They do not have glass there and had no idea when it would be fixed.  Just great!!  

After they cleaned up the glass, I put my trailer back together and went to the TA truck stop in Whitsett, NC (Greensboro).  Now my next load is tomorrow back at John Deere.  Hope this one goes better.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Got on the road just before sun up and drove pretty much straight through to Leesville, South Carolina.  They were closed when I got there but the office got me the gate code so I could go in.  I went in and unloaded the crane then dropped the trailer and went in to town and had dinner.  After that I went back and hooked back up to my trailer and spent the night in their parking lot.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Wasted another day sitting here at this job site waiting for a stupid permit!!  The damn thing didn't arrive until 4:30 pm!!! So, I could only drive for a couple hours today before I ran out of sunlight.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Went into Memphis, TN this morning and delivered the wheel loader.  Next load is also in Memphis.  They are building a power plant and I am picking up a Terex TR 230 Rough Terrain crane from the job site.  Went and loaded it up.

None of my permits came in yet so I had to sit at the job site waiting on permits.  Nothing today.  Wasted a whole afternoon!!!  Stuck here for the night.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

This morning I drove the rest of the way in to West Memphis, Arkansas.  Stopped at the Petro truck stop for the night.  Went over to the shop and had the truck aligned again.  It was out of alignment.  Deliver in the morning across the river in Memphis, Tennessee then re-load in Memphis.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Before I left the truck stop this morning I got the truck and trailer washed.  Then hit the road.  Here is the Kansas sunrise this morning.

In Kansas, this passed me.  Don't see a Lambroghini too often outside of Miami or Los Angeles.

I stopped at a rest area to use the facilities and guess who was in there too.  Yup.  It was him. When I parked he was showing off his car to some other people so, naturally I had to look too.  He said that he paid over $400,000 for that car. Must be nice!!   He was on his way down to Wichita to race it. He said that it goes 220 mph.

That was the extent of my excitement for the day.  Stopped for the night at a very small convenience store with a few truck parking spaces in Conway, Arkansas.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Left Bunker Hill, KS just before sun up.  When I got to Colorado the weather had changed a bit.  Got my first snow this season.  Wasn't much, just enough to see the plows.  

Stopped at a rest area to use the facilities and saw this sign:

JUST GREAT!!  They said that the Interstate was indeed closed due to a multi car and multi semi truck crash.  One of the semis burned.  Haz-mat units were on the way.  They said that the road would be closed for at least 6 hours.  I was still an hour from Limon so I continued on in hopes that there would be a way around it.  When I arrived in Limon the road was still closed.

I stopped for fuel in Limon at the TA truck stop.  After talking with some of the folks there and my office in Jacksonville, FL calling Colorado State Patrol, found a way around the mess.  Look what the weather did to my machine!!

It turned out to be only 26 miles farther but it took 45 minutes to get back to I-70.  Made it in to Denver and delivered the wheel loader.  My next load was right there picking up another wheel loader going to Memphis, TN.  This one is a bit smaller and does not require permits.

Got back on the road.  The east bound lanes of I-70 had opened up for traffic.  I passed 3 semi trucks being towed away from the crash.  Where the crash occurred was at a very wide section of Interstate.  I took a few photos of what was left as I went by.

I zoomed in on this one for you.

Here are a couple web sites for you to see more info on the crash.

http://kdvr.com/2012/10/26/semi-with-explosive-on-board-catches-fire-closes-i-70-near-limon/

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/10/26/i-70-near-limon-closed-after-multiple-accidents/

I continued on into Kansas and stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Oakley, KS.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Left East St. Louis, Illinois at 8:30 local time.  Drove through a cold front on the west side of Missouri.  Had rain and watched the temperature drop from 72 down to 45 in about 30 miles.  Cleared up after Kansas City.  Stopped for the night at a small truck stop in Bunker Hill, Kansas.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Got on the road a little after sun up.  Had some nice fall color in north Georgia / Southern Tennessee.  These photos are along I-24 going up and then down Monteagle, TN.

Had to stop in Kentucky and wait for the KY permit.  Fortunately it didn't take long and I was back on the road.  I couldn't get into the truck stop that I wanted to go to because an oversize load truck carrying a large and long tank rolled over in the middle of the road at the entrance to the truck stop. The truck was on its side and the tank came off.  Big mess. Didn't get close enough to get any photos.   Blocked the entire road both directions and no one could get in or out of the truck stop.   Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in East St. Louis, Illinois.  It is right across the street from the Gateway Speedway (NASCAR races there.  So does NHRA).  I can see the Gateway Arch from here.

Will be a late start in the morning.  Have to wait until 9 am local time for the St. Louis curfew to get over.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Went in to Tampa this morning and loaded a Volvo L110F wheel loader. It is going to Denver, Colorado.

Went to the scale at the Flying J truck stop just north of Tampa and scaled.  Had to readjust the loader a few times to get the weight correct.  Finally did and got back on the road.

Came up behind this truck and I saw this on the back of the truck.  Does anything look a little strange?

I don't think I want to see that driver's package.

While going around Atlanta passed this.

Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia.

Monday, October 22, 2012

After I got the stitches out of my mouth this morning, I drove to Thermo King in Orlando and got my APU fixed.  Works great again!!  After that drove down to the TA truck stop in Seffner, FL, just outside of Tampa.  Replaced all eight drive tires.  Glad that's done!!  Now I'm here for the night.  Load in Tampa in the morning.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Left the TA truck stop Thursday after getting a shower.  Drove up to Orange City, FL for the weekend.  Getting the stitches out of my mouth Monday morning. 

Final

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
•  
• T

7South Carolina

(6-2, 4-2 SEC)

• 3
• 3
• 2
• 3
•  
• 11

2Florida

(7-0, 6-0 SEC)

• 7
• 14
• 16
• 7
•  
• 44

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Left the rest area just before sun up and drove straight in to deliver in Miami.  Then drove up to the TA truck stop in Vero Beach.  Amazing that I didn't hit any bumper-to-bumper traffic, especially in Miami.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Got on the road at sun up this morning.  Drove straight through to the Daily yard in Jacksonville.  Had the mechanic there replace all of my batteries.  They were all bad.  Then drove down to the rest area on I-95 in Scottsmoor, FL for the night.  APU is not working right now, so I'll have to have that fixed too.  

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

FINALLY got the correct Virginia permit this morning and got on the road a little after 11 am.  Since I only had about half a day, I didn't get very far.  Took a few photos of the Virginia fall foliage for you.

Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Kenly, North Carolina.  Still don't have an updated South Carolina permit.  Hope it gets here before I get there.  Might be sitting at "South of the Border" for a while tomorrow.

Monday, October 15, 2012

At 10:30 this morning my Virginia permit came in but it was not correct.  No overhang.  So here I sit for at least another day waiting on the STUPID Government.