Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Thought the problem was fixed last night, but it wasn't. First thing this morning had my inverter replaced.  Much better now!!!  After that headed for my next load.  It was down in Chillicothe, Illinois.  That is just north of Peoria.  Loaded a fuel tank and some stairs for a large genset.  They are going to Arlington, Virginia.  Have a Saturday morning crane appointment.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Bloomington, Illinois for the night.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Finished this morning at ARI and went over to the Petro truck stop in Fremont, Indiana.  Needed to weigh the truck and trailer to see if I could take a load.  Turns out that I was too heavy for the load.  I ate some breakfast and went back to sleep.  A little while later I had another issue pop up with the sleeper so I went back to ARI.  They fixed it at about 9 pm.  I stayed there in their parking lot for the night.

Monday, August 24, 2015

This morning I got started early cleaning the inside of this truck. For the past week I only had enough energy to make a mess. It looks a lot better now.  Also went to the laundry mat and did five loads of laundry.  After I got everything put back together inside they were ready for me in the repair shop.  They replaced the TV antennae, my water pump was leaking and was replaced, a pop off valve in the hot water tank was bad and replaced, serviced the generator, and replaced a light that was bad.  Have one more thing to fix tomorrow morning and I'm done.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

This morning drove the short way over to ARI in Shipshewana, Indiana.  I am having a few things repaired on the sleeper tomorrow.  One thing is my over the air TV antennae.  It fell apart a month or so ago.  I like being able to get the local weather reports using that.

Able to eat some more solid food today.  Still not much, but more than yesterday.  Be glad to have my strength back.  Still have no energy at all.  Getting there slowly but surely.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Much better today.  No more throwin' & goin'.  Glad that has stopped. Was able to eat some solid food today.  Not much, but it's a start.  This rest is what I needed.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Another rough day.  Not as bad as yesterday, but still rough.  Finally made it in to Lockport, Illinois and delivered.  Thought I was never going to get there.  After that went to the Petro truck stop in Gary, Indiana for the rest of the weekend.   I'm so glad to be here!!!!!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Another rough day.  Was stopping at every rest area all afternoon.  Took all day to drive 380 miles,  At the Iowa 80 truck stop for the night.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Yesterday was not a great day.  The Colorado permit didn't come in until about 1 pm local time.  Then there were curfews in Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver.  Stopped last night at the Love's truck stop in Hudson, CO.

I have had food poisoning for the past few days.  Been very sick.  I was up all night stomach cramps, chills, throwin' and goin' !   It was not fun. What little strength I had left is all gone now.  Have not had solid food for three says.

This morning felt a little better and hit the road again.  Had to stop early because I was still sick.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in York, Nebraska.  Hope tonight is better than last night.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Too tired to post.  I'll do it tomorrow.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Left this morning and drove up to Questa, New Mexico to a mine that was being shut down.  I was to load a Ford F-650 and two excavator buckets. They are going to Lockport, Illinois.  I met the person from the mine out on the road at a Chevron station.  She had to check me out and my truck.  The safety regulations in place by the company are absolutely ridiculous!!  She had to make sure all my lights worked, there was no cracks in the windshield, I had a 5 pound fire extinguisher, and a first aid kit.  I had to have steel toed boots, long sleeve shirt, safety vest, hard hat, gloves, and safety glasses.  Then we went in to load.  When we got to where the stuff was they didn't have a way to get the truck on my trailer.  So we loaded the two buckets.  Now here is the really stupid regulation!  I was not allowed to get on my truck trailer to secure the buckets.  Had to do it standing on the ground!!!  STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm all in favor of doing things safely but there is a point at which it becomes totally asinine!!!!!  So I rigged a couple chains to hold them in place until I got off their property so I could properly secure them.  Now how safe is that?????  STUPID!!!!!!   Then we drove about 5 to 10 miles to another location where they had a loading ramp.  My trailer was higher than the ramp so they had to build it up so they could drive the truck up on my trailer.  Once that was done I measured the height.  Too high!!  14 feet 4 inches. (13 feet 6 inches is highest legal)  After several phone calls and waiting around for a decision, they finally decided to get permits for being over height. Secured the truck and left.  Drove to a section of road that had a pull off.  There I finished securing the load. How freggin' stupid!!!  Can you tell I was (AND STILL AM) pissed???

Didn't have any permits yet but I wasn't staying there so I left.  Drove to a truck stop in Walsenburg, Colorado for the night.  I'll wait here until my permits get here.  Also no camera because Sprint sucks here.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Left this morning way too early.  My brain said go but my body disagreed.  I wanted to get through the desert before it got too hot.  It was supposed to get to 117 F (47.22 C).  Did ok for the first hour but then had to stop for a nap.  Then continued on.  In New Mexico went through two separate thunderstorms.  Each with heavy rain and pea sized hail.  Stopped for the weekend at the TA truck stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I was not real happy with the restaurant here tonight. Still very tired and hungry, I wanted to eat and go to bed. I sat at a booth and got no service.  So I went to the salad bad and made a salad.  I was half way through eating it when she finally took my order. I also asked for some napkins. Never did get any napkins.  Made two trips to other empty tables to steal theirs. After finishing my salad and waiting for a long time I still did not get my order, or napkins.  I canceled my order and left.  And NO, I did not pay for anything.  I have very little tolerance for poor service in a restaurant. Unfortunately it happens to single people all the time.  After my salad dinner, as I was about to step out into the parking lot a bolt of lightening struck in the parking lot in front of me.  It was really cool!!!!

Friday, August 14, 2015

Very early this morning went in and unloaded the parts.  Then went back for the rest of them.  Drove back to the City of Industry with NO bumper to bumper traffic. Things were going so smoothly I knew something would go wrong.  I was right.  Loaded the first piece fine.  The second one was the stairs.  It had a hand rail.  On my trailer it was way too high.  14 feet 11 inches to be exact.  Tried to lay it down but that didn't work either.  Then it was too wide.  So a lot of phone calls were made.  I suggested taking the hand rail off.  They were not too keen on that idea.  So they explored other options, none of which panned out.  So I ended up taking the hand rail off.  Then finished loading and securing the stuff.

Left there an hour and a half later than I really should have and drove back to Irvine.  Of course now I had quite a bit of bumper to bumper traffic.  Finally got there and delivered.  Left there and headed toward New Mexico for my next load.  Had bumper to bumper traffic all through the LA area on I-5, CA-91, and I-15 through the San Bernardino mountains.  Cleared up after going over the mountain. Thought I'd never get through there!!  Why in the world would anyone want to live there!!????!!  I am so glad to get away from that mess.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Barstow, California.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Well it took all day but I finally got unloaded.  Then went 38 miles up I-5 to The City of Industry, California and picked up a parts load that is going back to the same place in Irvine, CA.  

Left there and drove back to Irvine for the night.  With all the "lovely" traffic in the Los Angeles area it took an hour and a half to drive 38 miles (61.16 Km).  

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Very easy day.  Started at sunrise this morning.  Drove up CA-86 past the Salton Sea. Click on that for more information on it.  Stopped at the TA truck stop in Coachella, CA.  Will be here until Friday morning. Not scheduled to deliver until Friday.  Here is the route the State of California is taking us.  It is 110 F (43.33 C) here.  HOT!!!!!

This afternoon I got a call and was told that it is OK to go in tonight so we will be leaving here at 5 pm local time (8 pm EDT) to go in.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Got started this morning at sunrise and drove to the TA truck stop in Eloy, Arizona where we stopped for lunch and to top off with fuel.  After I got fuel I saw two other Daily trucks with loads going where I am going.  They were waving me over to them.  They were waiting for a curfew in California to get over, one that I had overlooked somehow.  Glad I stopped when I did.  So I waited there with them until it was time to go again.

At about 2 pm local time we left again.  Passed what was left of a semi truck vs. bus crash.  We heard about it when we were waiting at the truck stop.  They had it almost cleaned up.

Drove down to a truck parking area on I-8 because we were still too early to go through Yuma, Arizona.  Once that curfew was over at 6 pm we left again. Made it through Yuma and  into California.  Here are some pictures of the Imperial Dunes State Park. It is a desert.

Continued along I-8 in southern California.  It parallels the USA / Mexico border so close that you can throw a rock and hit the fence.

 

Finally ran out of hours and had to stop for the night at a truck stop in El Centro, California.  I tuned in the local TV stations on my TV and all of the 15 that I got were in Spanish.  Not one in English.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Left this morning before sunrise.  Drove through Texas and finally got to New Mexico. Drove along the USA / Mexico border for quite a while.  Then finally up to I-10.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Deming, New Mexico.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

It is HOT here!!!   103 F (39.44 C)   Here is the goofy route the state of Texas has us going tomorrow. Actually starting from Sweetwater.  That is another 40 miles (64.37 Km) east of Colorado City.  Remember, you can click on any picture to get a better look.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Got started right at sunrise this morning. When we got to Texarkana, Texas our front escort dropped off.  Don't need one in Texas.  Would have been nice to have though. Texas routed us all over the place.  Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the TA truck stop in Sweetwater, Texas.  Still have a long way to go in Texas.  They routed us all over the place.  We don't even get on I-10 at all.  All back roads.  Oh well, we will deal with that Monday.  Now it's time to do chores and rest.

Friday, August 7, 2015

Left Glendale, Kentucky this morning and had another good day on the road.  Stopped at the Petro truck stop in West Memphis, Arkansas for lunch and get my CB fixed.  A wire broke in my mic so I couldn't talk to my escorts.  Not a good thing.  Also had the radio tuned up.  Now it is better than it was when it was new out of the box. From there we drove to the Petro truck stop in North Little Rock, Arkansas.  Had to stop because of the curfew in Little Rock .

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Left at 8 this morning.  Could not go through Charleston, WV before 9 am.  After we got through there had to stop at the TA truck stop in Hurricane, WV and wait for my Kentucky permit.  An hour and a half later it arrived and we were back on the road again.  Once in Kentucky the State took us way off the interstate almost back up to Ohio then back down to Lexington.  It took forever to get through there.  It was mostly a 2 lane road with a wide shoulder most of the way.  The last part was 2 lanes with no shoulder and a drop off on either side.  Also had low hanging trees on both sides of the road.  So I had to keep from falling off the side of the road, keep from hitting oncoming traffic AND keep from hitting the trees.  Made for a fun drive.  Just beat the Lexington curfew.  

Shortly after we got on the Blue Grass Parkway we came upon what looked like a head on crash with a fatality. Fortunately it was on the other side.  

Looks like the minivan next to the ambulance was hit head on by the car in the median.  The fatality was (obviously) in the car in the median.

Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Glendale, Kentucky.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

First thing this morning went over and loaded a Pritchard-Brown Exhaust SCR (basically it is a huge catalytic converter for a huge generator) that is going out to Irvine, California.  It is 15 feet wide.

Left there in real good time this morning.  My two escorts arrived just as I was finishing up.

Here is my front escort.  She will be with me until Texarkana, Texas.

And here is the guy bringing up the rear.  He will be with me all the way to delivery.

Left there and had a very good day on the road.  Stopped for the night at the truck stop in Jane Lew, West Virginia.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Delivered the genset first thing this morning.  My next load is tomorrow in Baltimore, MD.  Drove up there and much to my surprise did not have a bit of bumper to bumper traffic going around Washington DC or Baltimore.  Hope that is a good sign!!  Went to the Daily yard in Baltimore and dropped off my trailer and picked up a 53 foot stretch flat bed.  Then went to the TA truck stop in Baltimore, MD for the night.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Went the rest of the way into Newberry, SC and loaded a Caterpillar XQ375 Genset that is going up to Ashland, VA.

Drove to the TA truck stop in Ashland, VA for the night.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

My next load is Monday morning in Newberry, SC. This morning I drove over to the Wilco Hess truck stop in Prosperity, SC.  Stopped at Wal-Mart on the way to pick up a few things.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Left at sunrise this morning.  Drove 542 miles through the ups and downs in the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.  Delivered the dozer in Batesburg, SC.  Then to a small truck stop in Gilbert, SC for dinner and sleep.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Checked out of the hotel again and went back over to Cummins in St. Louis, Missouri this morning.  The part arrived!!!!  He installed it in 15 minutes.  Took longer to do the paperwork.  The generator works great!  Then went back to the TA truck stop, picked up my trailer and hit the road.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Oak Grove, Kentucky.  I'm about an hour from Nashville.  

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Checked out of the hotel and went over to Saint Louis, Missouri to the Cummins-Onan shop.  Was there at 6 am local time. When they opened they took my truck in right away.  A short time later he had found the problem.  The stater was bad.  He had one in stock.  Said it wouldn't take too long to fix.  Great!!!

BUT this is me we are talking about.  Nothing ever goes that smooth.  A short time later he came back and said that the part he had in stock was defective and did not work.  He did not have another one.  The closest one was in Memphis and that he could have it sent overnight.  I told him to do it.  He put my truck back together and I went back to the hotel and checked back in.

Overnight shipments don't arrive at the shop until about 10:30 or 11 in the morning so I'll be there when it arrives.  

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Left Council Bluffs, Iowa at midnight local time and drove to Morton, Illinois and loaded a Caterpillar D7R Dozer that is going to a military base in Batesburg, South Carolina.  I'm about 111,000 pounds (50348 Kg).

Left Morton and drove to the TA truck stop in Troy, Illinois for the night.  Drove a total of 586 miles (943 Km)  today Went inside to eat and shower while the inside of the truck cooled down.  When I came back to the truck after showering found that the generator had stopped working. Usually the fuel filter needs changing when that happens so I changed the fuel filter.  Damn thing would not start no matter what I did to it. Just great!!!  Now I need another shower. SO to make a long story short, I'm at the Red Roof Inn across the interstate from the truck stop.  I left my trailer at the TA.  Can you see it??

No?  Well let me zoom in a little bit for you.

Of course when I went up to the top floor of the hotel and tried to get in my room, the key didn't work.  Par for the course!!  Got that fixed and got in and settled in for the night.  It is a nice room for the price!   I have an appointment at the Cummins-Onan shop in St. Louis, MO first thing in the morning. I ordered a pizza.  After I eat and take another shower I'm going to bed.  I am really pooped!!  Tomorrow I get to spend a lot more money!!!

Monday, July 27, 2015

Went back over to Omaha to the job site this morning.  Picked up my trailer and then got unloaded.  Was back at the truck stop and in bed again waiting to find out what my next load will be before 7 am.

Late this afternoon I got my next load.  It is tomorrow back in Morton, Illinois.  I'll leave early tomorrow morning.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

About 2 am a thunderstorm passed by just to the south of me but the outflow winds came through the area I was in.  Wow!!  That wind really had my truck rockin' !!!!  Local TV news said those winds were up to 70 mph (112 kph) and I believe it!!  It was really cool to watch.

This morning went into the job site in Omaha and dropped the trailer.  Did that to be ahead of the Omaha curfew. Otherwise I'd have to wait until after nine am Monday to go in to unload.  When that was done I drove across the river to the Sapp Brothers truck stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa for the rest of the weekend.

Friday, July 24, 2015

Was at the place to load first thing this morning.  Backed inside the building and waited for them to load the thing.  They loaded a section of an air conditioner that is going up to Omaha, Nebraska.

Left there in fairly good time.  Drove up to the Sapp Brothers Truck Stop in Omaha, Nebraska for the night.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Loads are pretty scarce in this neck of the woods.  My next load is, as I expected, down in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and it loads Friday.  I drove down there stopping at Wal-Mart on the way to restock a few things.  Then stopped for the night at the Daily yard in OKC. 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

I still didn't have another load yet so I made good use of my time off.  Got the truck and APU serviced.  Now I'm ready to go again.  Just need a place to go.

Here is the weather this evening,

Then after the rain, the sunset.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Didn't expect to get called in to unload today but that's exactly what happened at about noon local time.  Drove down to Calhan, Colorado where I was taken back to the job site.  I followed a tower section and another hub.  There were three more hubs behind me as we went in.    Here is the location of where my hub will live.  If you are really good you can plot it using the lat and long numbers on the photo. Elevation here is 6,845 feet.

Here is a video of them unloading a tower section.

Here is what the inside of the tower section that is in the above video.  That is the top section.

Here is the inside of the bottom tower section.

Here is the concrete base the whole thing sits on.

Here is the part that you don't see, the underground wiring.

Well, they unloaded tower sections first.  Then they unloaded the hubs. After i got empty I drove back to the TA truck stop in Limon, CO for the night.  Got back there at 7:50 pm Local time.  Sprint sucks here so there is no dash cam, sorry.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Left just before sunrise this morning.  Passed a truck not having a good day.

Stopped at the TA truck stop in Limon, Colorado.  Not scheduled to unload until Tuesday.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Left Denton, Texas half hour before sunrise this morning.  Another great day on the road!! Stopped at The Big Texan in Amarillo, Texas for lunch.  It was delicious as usual.  There was a guy up there doing the "72 Ounce Challenge".

After that got back on the road again but with a full belly had to stop about an hour later for a quick 15 minute nap.  Then I continued on to a truck stop in Springfield, Colorado for the night.  I can drive on Sunday in Colorado so I'll finish the trip tomorrow morning.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Left at sunrise this morning.  Good day on the road.  Texas routed me through Dallas instead of around it.  It took over two and a half hours to get through there.  City streets filled with traffic lights and lots of traffic.  Of course I got 3/4's of them red, and some of them I even got red twice!!  The last 1/3 of Dallas was the worst.  Bumper to bumper traffic on I-35E through a lot of construction.  Lanes narrowed.  Try doing that with a load wider than the lanes without taking off anyone's mirrors - or worse.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Denton, Texas.   I'm exhausted again.  Didn't even go in.  Showered in the truck and cooked dinner. Too pooped to walk in there. Going to sleep early tonight.  

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Got lucky!!  Called in to load first thing this morning.  I was the first one in of four.  Of course he couldn't find my paperwork so everyone else got loaded first.  He finally found it and loaded a GE Wind Energy Hub on my trailer.  It is going to Calhan, Colorado.

It was so hot!!!  Took forever to tie the thing down!  Left there and drove to the Petro truck stop in Jackson, Mississippi for the night.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

It is good to be back on the road again. Drove over to Pensacola, Florida today.  I'm supposed to load Friday but I came over early hoping that they would load me early.  So we will see.  Getting a wind energy hub that is going to Colorado.

Friday, July 10, 2015

It has been a while since I had anything to post here.  Had a great week off!!  While I was off, the truck was at the body shop getting repaired from the second "mishap".  In case you forgot, almost two months ago a guy backed into my truck busting out a headlight and broke my brand new hood. Here are a couple pictures to refresh your memory.

I picked it up today.  They did a beautiful job.  Can't even tell that anything was broken.

Then the fun part!  Putting all my stuff back in it.  I had 3 full bags of laundry!!  After that cleaning up the inside.  Looked like a bomb went off in there.  I got started on that.  Still not finished.  Dash cam won't be back up until probably Monday.