Monday, June 9, 2014

Left this morning at sunrise and drove in to deliver. It was only 7 miles down the road at the VA Medical Center.  Got there before the crane.  When the crane arrived he backed into position.

After he got all set up it was my turn to back in.

Then I got unloaded.

And off it goes...

From there I went down to Manchester, TN for my next load.  Picked up a bunch of parts for a large tank that is going to Baker, Florida.

The truck with the tank was just finishing loading when I arrived.  He waited for me and after loading we traveled together.  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Wallace, Alabama for the night.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Left just after sunrise this morning.  Made it around Atlanta without any bumper to bumper traffic.  Amazing!!  Stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the weekend.  Deliver just a couple miles from here Monday morning.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

After a hectic few days at home I'm back at it again.  This afternoon drove to Thomasville, Georgia and loaded a boiler that is going to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

 My Georgia permit is not valid until tomorrow so I couldn't go anywhere.  Went over to the local truck stop for the night.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Got up real early and drove down to Orlando and delivered the wheel loader.  After that drove back to Jacksonville.  Will be home for a few days.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Left real early this morning and drove all the way home to Jacksonville, FL.  Will be here until Monday morning.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Got up real early this morning and drove to Elmhurst, IL and loaded a Caterpillar 924K Wheel Loader that is going to Orlando, Florida.

Left there and got stuck in the normal Chicago bumper to bumper traffic.  After I made it through that mess I continued down to more bumper to bumper traffic going around Nashville.  That was caused by a car fire.  Made it through Cincinnati without any slow downs.  But south of Lexington, Kentucky had more bumper to bumper traffic.  This time it was a five car wreck.  Made it past that, went a little farther and stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Williamsburg, Kentucky.  Gonna start very, very early tomorrow.  

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Left Marion, Illinois this morning and drove straight up to Davenport, Iowa and delivered the excavator.  Stopped by the Daily terminal in Bettendorf, IA and dropped off some stuff that I had for them.  Next load is over in Elmhurst, Illinois.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Morris, IL for the night.  

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Was first one in and loaded this morning.  Glad I was there all night.  There was eight trucks waiting this morning when they opened.  Loaded a John Deere 250G Excavator that is going to the John Deere plant in Davenport, Iowa.

Here is a short video for you to think about. I am doing 55 mph entering a construction zone on a bridge where the lane narrows. There is only 6 inches clearance on either side of the truck going through, and it narrows even more right at the end.  Take another look at the photos above and see how much of the excavator is hanging over the side of the trailer.  OK, now watch the video.  

Do you think you could do that without hitting anything?

Made great progress today and got a lot farther than I thought I would.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Marion, Illinois.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

I didn't think noon would ever arrive!!  It finally did and I drove to Raleigh, NC and delivered the building.  Here is a video if them unloading all 48,000 pounds of it.

Sorry, I know it wasn't very exciting.

After that I drove to Kernersville, NC for my next load.  Because of the stupid regulation keeping me from starting today until  noon, I arrived too late to load today.  Parked there for the night and will load first thing in the morning.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

My computer has been acting up lately but last night it really went bonkers.

After a while I got this one.

So this morning I went in search of a replacement.  Yup, bought a new one.  Spent the rest of the day setting it up and installing all my data files and programs.  Quite a job.  Still not done, but the important ones are there.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Got started this morning just after sunrise.  Surprisingly no problems going around Atlanta.  Stopped at Bill's Truck Stop in Linwood, N.C.  Since this is a holiday weekend more really STUPID, STUPID rules kick in.  In North Carolina, permit loads have to be off the road by noon Friday, today.  Can't start back up again until, get this!!, noon Tuesday.  Yup, that's right, noon.  STUPID, STUPID, STUPID regulations. Another one of the millions of reasons why this country is going right down the toilet!!!  Regulation Nation!!!!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

When my generator is way overdue for routine maintenance it has ways of letting me know.  It has been letting me know for about a week or so.  Last night it let me know again.  This morning I drove to Cummins in Jackson, Mississippi and had it serviced.  The governor was also worn out and needed replacing. That was what was giving me all the "fix me" signals.  After that was done, and it took all morning, I drove to the Petro truck stop in Atlanta for the night.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Since I didn't have to load until noon, I got up at 3 am and did four loads of laundry.  When that was done I went back to bed.

Went over  to Bossier City for my noon (local time) loading appointment.  Got there at 11:30 and checked in.  They couldn't find my paperwork.  All the others were there, but not mine.  Once again, nothing goes smoothly for me - and it gets worse. There were five trucks ahead of me.  So, while waiting I put some more stuff away in the headache rack and did some other minor "fix it" kind of things. Also found a tire that was almost flat.  At 1:45 they pulled my in to load.  Loaded a cell tower building that is going to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Left there and went to a tire shop and had the tire looked at.  Initial inspection revealed a bolt stuck in the left, rear, inside tire.

But when he took it off the rim, couldn't see it coming through.  It was only superficial.  The REAL culprit was a nail that was not visible from the outside.

He patched it and put the it all back together.

Got back on the road.  Obviously, I didn't get very far.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Tallulah, LA.  Went to the restaurant for dinner.  Took so long to get a server I went to the salad bar, got a salad, and half finished it before she paid any attention to me.  Took 45 minutes to get the steak that I ordered.  And it was the usual crummy TA steak. Was not a happy camper.  After showering I went back to the truck to do paperwork. For some reason my computer stopped recognizing my printer.  Spent two more hours fiddling with that.  Finally got that fixed and finished the paperwork at about midnight.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Easy day today.  Drove the rest of the way to Shreveport, LA this morning and delivered the roller.  Next load is tomorrow in Bossier City, LA.  Doesn't load until noon.  Went to the Petro truck stop in Shreveport for the rest of the day.  Got there just before noon.  

Monday, May 19, 2014

Drove the rest of the way in to Louisville, Mississippi and delivered the forklift.  Then drove to Adairsville, Georgia for my next load.  Loaded a Sakai 540 Vibratory Asphalt Roller that is going to Shreveport, Louisiana. 

Left there and drove to the Petro truck stop in McCalla, Alabama for the night.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Left Midway early this morning.  Drove through some rain north of Memphis.  Just enough to get the truck dirty again.  Stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Winona, Mississippi for the rest of the weekend.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Didn't sleep very well last night so I was fighting the "sleepy monster" all day.  Started very early this morning.  Stopped and got the truck washed.  Had to get all that snow dirt off it.  Other than that, pretty boring day.  Drove 703 miles.  Stopped for the night at the famous Midway Truck Stop in Columbia, Missouri.  For those of you that don't know, this place is featured on The Travel Channel with it's own TV show.  I have driven past it a zillion times.  This is the first time I have stopped here.  I must tell you that I'm not impressed.  It is old and pretty dumpy.  I won't go out of my way to stop here again.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Went over to load this morning.  Was there at 6:30 MDT (local time).  They didn't show up until after 9 am.  Loaded a Taylor 220S Forklift that is going to Louisville, Mississippi.  

But hold on, this is me we are talking about!!  It was almost a foot and a half too high.  The only people that came in were the secretary and an office guy.  All he knew about the machine was to start it and get it up on the trailer.  All the service guys were out in the field on jobs.  He finally called someone and they told him how to fix the problem.  To make a long story short, the "fix" worked.  I am only overweight now, but not by much.  

Finally got on the road at noon local time.  Went past Devil's Tower on I-90.  It is not on I-90, but if you know where to look you can see it from there.  It is still about 20 miles north as the crow flies.  Also past the world famous Wall Drug again.  Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Murdo, South Dakota for the night.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Got started very early again this morning and drove up to Laramie, WY.  On the way over the mountain just before Laramie on I-80 it was snowing. Lots of black ice.  The sanders were out in force doing a great job.  Elevation there was 8,500 feet.  To put it in perspective, Denver is 5,300 feet, and a mile is 5,280 feet.

Then down 1,000 feet, 5 miles on a 5% grade to Laramie.

I got to Laramie a little early so I went to the truck stop to wait.  It was snowing pretty good there.

Then I went over to deliver.  Detached.  Then the darned machine wouldn't start!!  Parr for the course!!  Blew lots of black smoke, but wouldn't start.  Fortunately, it had stopped snowing.

They couldn't figure it out so Caterpillar had to send a service truck out.

He was able to fix the thing and finally get it off my trailer.  Only took 6 1/2 hours!!  My next load is up in Gillette, WY. Drove up there to the Flying J truck stop for the night.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Because my load is only overweight and not too wide or high I can travel at night.  I left at 4 am local time and drove all day.  Great weather today.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Denver, Colorado.  Going to leave real early tomorrow morning so I can deliver tomorrow morning.  Don't have another load lined up yet though.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Went over to load this morning.  I was first (and the only one) in line.  Detached my trailer and got all set up to load.  Went to check in and they said that the machine is not scheduled for pick up until the 15th.  I knew things were going too smooth this morning.  Things never go that smooth for me so I'm really not surprised that this happened.  So after waiting for another hour I finally got a different load from the same place, just smaller machine going to Laramie, Wyoming.

On my way back out I-40 I knew where the tornado damage was so I slowed down and snapped off a bunch of photos for you.  BUT the auto focus on the camera focused on the rain on the window instead of everything behind it. SO, only one photo was somewhat visible and here it is.

Rained pretty hard all afternoon.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Peculiar, Missouri. 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

The weather finally cooperated enough for me to start to put stuff away in the new headache rack.  It doesn't look like it, but that's a lot of work!!!  It is so nice to have a place to store my equipment. I can see front passenger seat again!!!

Did you know that if you enter your e-mail address in the "Follow By  Email" area, daily blog posts will be automatically sent to your e-mail address?  It is a nice convenience.

Friday, May 9, 2014

My next load is in North Little Rock, Arkansas Monday morning.  Left Joplin and drove to the Petro truck stop in North Little Rock for the weekend.  Just north of there I drove through one of the areas that was destroyed by a tornado last week.  Came up on it too fast to get any photos.  The tornado went across I-40 destroying everything on both sides of the Interstate.  It wasn't a wide one, like those seen out west, but the destruction was the same.  It really is quite a sight to see.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

First thing this morning took the truck through the truck wash.  

Back in March, at the Louisville, KY truck show, I purchased a custom built headache rack from Brunner Fabrication in Joplin, MO.  A couple weeks ago they called and told me that it was finished.  After I left the truck wash I went over there and had it installed.  

I also had a small problem.  My fenders had become loose over time from my using them as a step, something they were not designed to do.  The one on the drivers side was so loose that it had been riding on the tire.  To temporally solve the problem I used a chain attached to the old headache rack to hold it up.

After my new headache rack was installed, they were able to tighten up both fenders and then they build a step for me (at no charge!!!!) so I could get up and down.

Here is a time lapse video of the removal of my old headache rack and the installation of the new one.

And here it is!!  They do great work!!  Isn't that gorgeous??!!??

When that was all finished I went back to the Petro Truck Stop in Joplin.  Don't have another load yet, so I'll wait here.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Left Oak Grove just before sunrise this morning.  Drove to Hutchinson, KS and delivered the harvester.  After that drove to Joplin, MO and stopped at the Chrome Shop Mafia and picked up a couple things. Then went across the street to the Petro truck stop for the night.  Tomorrow I am getting some work done on the truck here in Joplin.  Supposed to get some severe storms here tomorrow.  It is already windy.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Left just before sunrise this morning.  Pushed it hard all day driving 712 miles before I ran out of hours.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Oak Grove, Missouri.  That is just east of Kansas City.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Left Carlisle, PA early this morning and was first in line at the Port of Baltimore to load this morning.  Loaded a Jaguar 970 Harvester that is going to Hutchinson, Kansas.  

It didn't have enough guts to pull itself up on the trailer so I had to give it about 3 or 4 feet of running start to get the wheels up.  That was fun!!  It bounced as it went up.  It is a bit of a pucker factor when a machine that big is bouncing when it is half on a trailer with the wheels hanging half off the sides of the trailer.  Got the front wheels up, then the same for the back wheels.  As you can see, no problem.  The next thing was that it was too high.  Had to let a lot of air out of the tires to get it down to my permitted height of 14 feet.  Again, no problem.  Got on the road and made great time!  Ran out of hours for the day so I stopped at the west bound rest area on I-70, at about mile marker 70, close to the town of Brighton, Ohio.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Went to Cummins in Harrisburg first thing this morning to get my generator fixed.  They took my truck right in.  Here is what it was doing.

He found the problem right away.  It was not as bad as I thought it was gong to be.  It was finished and working great again before noon.  Left there and stopped at the Petro truck stop in Carlisle and did 3 loads of laundry. When that was done I went back to the "home office" to sit for the weekend.  Next load is Monday morning at the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, MD.  

Thursday, May 1, 2014

It finally stopped raining.  Here are a few of the flowering trees here at the "home office".

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

They finished my trailer late this morning.  I hooked it back up to my truck and headed off to Baltimore for my next load.  Didn't have all the paperwork yet so I went to the TA Truck Stop to wait for it.  

Here is the "river" that is flowing out of the woods at the truck stop entrance.  It has been raining a lot the past few days.

Started my generator and, to make a long story short, the generator took a major dump!  Blowing all kinds of smoke and shut off.  I have no idea what is wrong with it.  Canceled my load and made an appointment at the Cummins-Onan dealer in Harrisburg.  Unfortunately can't get in until Friday morning.  Drove back to the "home office" in Carlisle to wait.   

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Last night the shop (they are there until 10 pm) did my annual inspection.  The truck did fine.  BUT saw some wear in my tires indicative of it being out of alignment.  Also I was adding air to one of my tires and the tip of the valve stem broke off. Fortunately it didn't let any air out.

First thing this morning went to the tire shop and had the valve stem replaced.  At 11 am got the truck aligned.   It was way out of alignment. While that was being done found my left front tire was way out of round.  When the alignment was done I went back to the tire shop to make the tire round again.  Nope, the tire was too far gone.  Replaced the tire and had both front wheels balanced. All good now. 

Meanwhile back at the "home office", my trailer is due for inspection and service.  It also needs a little welding done.  It is in line to be done.  They are very short staffed in there right now so it is taking a bit of time for that.  It still isn't done yet.  This is all OK because I still don't have another load yet  AND I can plug in here so I don't have to run the generator.  

Monday, April 28, 2014

This morning I drove in to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, MD and delivered the "thing".  Then reload, right there, a Caterpillar D6K Dozer that is going up to Harrisburg, PA.

Drove it up to Harrisburg and delivered it.  Then went to the "home office" in Carlisle for the night.  

Friday, April 25, 2014

Whatever this thing is on my trailer, it sure is expensive.  It is worth over $222,000 !!  Very easy day today.  Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Hagerstown, MD.  I'll be here until Monday morning.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Nothing interesting today.  Left just before sunrise and drove to a small truck stop in Grantsville, Maryland for the night.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Early this morning I left Iowa 80 and drove to the Daily yard in Morton, Illinois.  I dropped my trailer there and went over to Wal-Mart and restocked.  After that I took a nap.  My crane loading appointment was for noon.  At noon I was in Pekin, IL loading a cone crusher (whatever that is) that is going to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, MD.  From there it is going on a boat bound for Germany. 

Believe it or not, that thing weighs 52,000 pounds and is top heavy.  Can't unload until Monday so I have a nice leisurely drive to Baltimore.  Drove to the Goasis truck stop in Lisbon, Indiana for the night.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Left Iowa 80 at 4 am local time.  All the farmers were out working in their fields.  Spring is finally here!!!

 It took 6 hours to get to Carroll, IA the way I was routed by  the State, but I finally made it.  Delivered the wheel loader to a private farm that was WAY out in the middle of nothing but farms.  The purchaser was out working in his farm.  Had to wait for him to come in.  Unloaded it, parked it in his barn, and showed him how to work it. He then went back to his tractor.   My next load is back in Illinois so I turned around and went back to the Iowa 80 Truck Stop for the night.  This time it only took 3 hours, 45 minutes.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Hit the road as soon as I could this morning.  Glad to be moving again!!  Drove through the cold front.  Little bit of rain.  Temperatures didn't change that much.  Stopped for the night at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop in Walcott, Iowa.

Sunday, April 20, 2014