Monday, August 15, 2016

Left Joplin, MO just before sunrise this morning.  Got back on the phone and started calling Cummins repair shops to try to find one that could work on my generator.  Dallas and Ft. Worth were booked up into September.  Houston never did call me back after several attempts and leaving messages.  San Antonio could take me but not until the 25th.  Oklahoma City was the winner!!  I went to the Daily terminal on OKC and dropped my trailer.  Then went to the Cummins shop and they took my generator out.  I am still 5th in line to get fixed. Then went back to the Daily terminal.  Tried to plug in there but couldn't.  Kept popping the breakers.  So I went to a campground for the night.  I am right in the heart of tornado ally.  Thought you would like to see what a tornado shelter looks like.  Here is the one at the Daily terminal.  

Here is the inside.

Not very exciting.  

The RV park that I am in is very close to Tinker Air Force Base.  This was doing touch n' go's this afternoon.

Close up.

I'll deliver tomorrow then head back to OKC for my generator.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Yesterday afternoon after I got settled in I was so tired that I fell asleep.  Somewhere around 6 pm I woke up when the power went out during a thunderstorm.  I started the generator and drifted back off to sleep.

At about 11:30 pm I woke up again when the generator shut off.  The electricity from the shore power was still out.  So I restarted the generator, it ran a few seconds and shut off again.  SAME DAMN PROBLEM AS BEFORE!!!!!!!!!!!!  I went out and, hoping that it might do some good, changed the fuel filter in the rain.  Of course it didn't change a thing.  So I ran the truck engine for the rest of the night so I could have at least some air conditioning.  

This morning the power was still out.  I called the closest Cummins dealer which was in Bloomington, IL.  They were also the ONLY one that was open on Saturday.  They were so booked up that they could not even look at my generator until the 26th. With that not being an option I hit the road and started heading toward Waco.  I stopped at the Flying J truck stop in Joplin, Missouri and, with their permission, dropped my trailer in their parking lot until Monday morning. 

I then went over to the KOA Campground for the rest of the weekend.

Friday, August 12, 2016

First thing this morning drove in to Riverdale, Illinois to a H-U-G-E steel plant to unload the slag pot.  They used two very large Caterpillar wheel loaders to lift it off my trailer.  One on each side, and up it went.  I drove out from under it.  From there I drove down to East Peoria, Illinois to the Caterpillar plant and loaded a Caterpillar D6T dozer that is going to Waco, Texas.

Left there and drove over to the Daily terminal in Morton, IL for the night.  I can plug in here and not run the generator.  Tomorrow will be a half day because I'll run out of hours for the week.  Stupid Federal regulations!!!!!

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Left at sunrise this morning.  Fantastic day on the road.  Beautiful weather and no traffic issues.  But the roads too their toll on the beacons on my trailer.  Had to replace one totally because the horrible roads shook and vibrated the thing to death.  Base was broken, guts laying in pieces, it was a mess.  The other one was not as bad.  Fixed that one temporarily with tape.  Will have to replace the guts of that one sometime soon.  Stopped for the night at the Petro in Monee, Illinois.  Will deliver tomorrow morning.  Only about a half hour to forty five minutes away.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

This morning I drove over to the Port of Houston and loaded a slag pot that is going up to Riverdale, Illinois.  That is just outside of Chicago.

Timed it perfectly.  Left there just as the Houston curfew ended.  Had a good day on the road.  Timed it perfectly again and entered Little Rock, Arkansas five minutes after their curfew ended.  Stopped for the night at the Petro in North Little Rock.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Left early this morning and drove to the terminal in Daily Houston.  When I got there I got the mechanic to help me using the fork lift flipping the neck back down and pulling the king pin on my trailer.  Took 5 minutes and it was done.  Then I went to Shipley's Donuts.  Sooooo good!!!  Will load tomorrow morning in Houston.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Well, they canceled the football game last night.  I was so pissed!!!

This morning I drove to the job site where I was to deliver.  Got there at 7:30 am local time.  They unloaded 4 tower sections and a nacelle before unloading me.  I left there at 3 pm local time.  Started on my way back to Houston for my next load.  Was supposed to load tomorrow but it got moved back a day. Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Ganado, TX.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Left at sunrise this morning.  Very short day today.  Stopped at Wal-Mart along the way.  Then stopped for the rest of the day at a convenience store with a few truck parking spaces in Freer, Texas.  I'm about an hour from delivery tomorrow.

Tonight the NFL Preseason starts!!!!   The "Hall of Fame Game".

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Left this morning at sunrise.  Was very happy to get out of Louisiana!  In Texas the kooks were out today.  Here is one of them...

And not five minutes later this idiot squeezes between me and the "Jersey wall".  Stupidity like that is the reason I straddle the dotted line and block both lanes when I have a wide load.

Stopped for the night at a small truck stop in Victoria, Texas.

Friday, August 5, 2016

This morning when I woke up the parking lot had filled up.  There were trucks all over.  Then I saw a bunch of trucks go in to load hubs.  There I sat, again.  So I walked back over there to inquire.  The same damn thing happened again!!!!!  I got lost in the system for the second day in a row!!!  After all the other trucks got loaded, I was finally called in with the next batch of trucks.  I was still last in line, they made sure of that.  Eventually the fork lift came over and moved the hub forward about a foot.

I secured it again to the trailer and left.  Went back to the scale at the Oasis in Robertsdale, Alabama.  Well, I guessed it wrong again.  I was still 800 pounds overweight.  So, I spent another hour and a half flipping the neck on my trailer.  I knew what a pain in the butt that was so I was holding off doing that unless I had to.  Well, I had to. It looks like an easy thing to do, and in all honesty, it should be, but it isn't.  Not without the right tools.  It wouldn't be too bad if the pins lined up, but they don't.  To make a VERY long story short,  I finally got it flipped.  Scaled up again.  This time it was fine.

By now the 98 degree heat, humidity, and bright sun (no shade) had taken its toll.  I was exhausted.  I stopped at the TA truck stop in Grand Bay, Alabama to shower and re-energize.  That helped some.  After that I drove to the Petro truck stop in Hammond, Louisiana for the night.  I am really whipped tonight!!  I wonder what will go wrong tomorrow.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

I have been here for a day and a half.  All the trucks that arrived here this morning to load hubs were called in  to load at about 11:15 local time.  I was not. Once again, I got lost in the system.  So I sat there and waited until they figured out what happened.  

Well, I finally made it in to load.  Was last in line.  After everyone else was loaded I got loaded with a GE Wind Energy Hub that is going to Oilton, Texas.  That is just outside of Laredo.  

Left there and drove to the Oasis Travel Center in Robertsdale, Alabama to scale up.  That was the closest scale.  And then it happened...

I was overweight on my trailer axles by over 2000 pounds!!  This hub is apparently heavier that the last few I have had.  It was put down on the trailer in the exact same place as all the others, and they were fine.  So I turned around and drove back to GE in Pensacola to get it moved forward a little bit.  Of course, because of all the delays earlier in the day, it was after hours and now and I had to wait until tomorrow to get it moved.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

This morning I drove down to Pensacola, Florida to the GE Wind Energy plant and checked in.  Not supposed to load until the 4th but hopefully they will load me tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed.

This afternoon I got the notice I knew was coming.  Sprint is canceling there unlimited data plans.  I will have it until the end of the month.  That means the "Live Streaming Video" will come to an end unless I can find another carrier that has an unlimited data plan that is cost effective.  I'm looking into it and will let you know if I find one.  Otherwise, enjoy it while it is still there.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

The Petro I stayed at was not the best so I went on into Montgomery, AL to the TA truck stop.  When I got there I went to the service area and had the truck chassis greased and the APU (generator) serviced. I'll stay here for a couple days.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Went over to Savannah and loaded another Sany SY235 excavator.  My last one for a while.

Left there and drove up to Peachtree City, GA.  On the way got stuck in a huge traffic back up on I-75 south of Forsyth, GA.  It took an hour to get through it.

4 lanes of traffic funneled down to 1 lane.

Someones half a million dollar RV Bus.  Nothing left of it.

Finally made it past that mess and on up to Peachtree City and delivered it.  My next load is not until August 4th in Pensacola, Florida.  So I started in that direction.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Shorter, Alabama.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Went back over to Savannah, GA and loaded another Sany SY235C Excavator.  Same as yesterday.

Drove it up to Peachtree City, GA and delivered it.  Went back to Savannah to do it all over again tomorrow.  Stayed at the TA truck stop for the night.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Left this morning and drove up to Savannah, Georgia and loaded a Sany SY235 Excavator that is going up to Peachtree City, Georgia.

 Left there and drove up there and delivered it.  Turned around and went back for another one.  Made it as far as Polaski, GA when I ran out of hours.  Stopped for the night at a crappy truck stop there.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Still nothing.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Nothing.  My dispatcher says he has 10 other trucks around the country that are all empty too.  It is not good out there.  Can't wait until Trump is President and this country will start to get going again.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Finished my trailer yesterday.  He really does great work! Here is the completed job.

And for good measure he did two more!!

Today He fixed a couple things on my truck.

All better now.  All I need now is a load to go get.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Left the truck stop a half hour before sunrise this morning and drove down to Miami Lakes and delivered the box.  Then drove back to Jacksonville to get my trailer back.  The trip back home was anything but boring.  I was cut off at least a dozen times.  I put one if them in the video below.  As you watch this keep in mind we are doing over 70 miles per hour (112.65 kph).

Then up in St. Augustine went past a wreck that shut down the south bound side for over three hours!!  So glad I was going the other way!!!

Finally made it home in one piece!!  Sure was glad to get here.  Still no load yet.  But that's OK because my trailer was not quite finished yet.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Left this morning a half hour after sunrise.  Stopped at the Daily yard in Jacksonville, Florida and put my load on a different trailer and left my trailer there for the mechanic to work on.  While doing my pre-trip inspection this morning I found a slight brake problem.  Fortunately it was on my third trailer axle and it has been chained up and not even being used on this load.  Here is what it should look like...

And here is the bad one...

So, after all that was done I continued on south.  Stopped for the night at the TA Truck Stop in Vero Beach, Florida.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Left this morning in a thunderstorm and heavy rain.  After about a half hour I drove out of it and it was clear sailing the rest of the day.  Had some bumper to bumper traffic around Nashville.  Then had a lot of bumper to bumper traffic in the Atlanta area. Finally made it out of that mess and stopped for the night at the rest area on I-75 in Sycamore, Georgia.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Left this morning a little later than normal because I couldn't go through Omaha, Nebraska until 9 am local time.  No problems again today.  Just another good day on the road. Had to stop and wait out the St. Louis, Missouri curfew this evening.  When it was over at 6 pm local time I continued on to the Gateway Rest Area in I-64 on the east side of St. Louis for the night.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Left this morning just before sunrise.  Very nice, uneventful day on the road.  Drove 763 miles (1,227.93 km) to the Sapp Brothers Truck Stop in Elk Creek, Nebraska for the night.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Started off this morning by getting two new tires on the truck.  Then drove into Idaho thinking that I would be there for the weekend because my Montana permit had not arrived.  After being there for a couple hours my Montana permit showed up in my email, much to my surprise.  So I got back on the road.  Here are a couple more photos of the mountains.  Sorry about the bugs on the windshield.

Here is a photo of the mountain overlooking Butte, Montana. Notice anything about it?

No?  Well here is a little help.

Here is a close up.  Sorry it is a bit fuzzy.  That's the best I could get.

To see what it is, and get a much better picture, CLICK HERE.

Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the Pilot truck stop in Billings, Montana.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Late this morning I got another load.  I left and headed for Spokane, Washington.  I-90 in western Montana and Idaho is absolutely gorgeous!!  Sorry I couldn't get any photos today, too much traffic, road construction, and curvy roads.  Saw a few deer and a mother moose and her two babies.  Made it to Spokane and loaded a Caterpillar tank in a crate that is going to Miami Lakes, Florida.

Believe it or not, this is a permit load.  It hangs off one side 1 inch and the other side 2 inches.  How silly!!  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Spokane, Washington.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Got started again just before sunrise this morning. The weather couldn't be any better!!!!!  Lows in the mid 40s and highs in the lower 80s, very low humidity too.  Here are a few pictures of sunrise in Montana.  I LOVE it out here!!!!

Have I come upon Brigadoon?

Made it up to Fairfield, Montana and finally delivered the hub.  Had to go eight miles down a dirt road to the job site.  As expected, I don't have another load lined up so I drove back to Butte, Montana and stopped at the Pilot truck stop for the night.