Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Went back over to the Port of Savannah and picked up my trailer.

Left there and had a good day on the road.  Just a few small "hick-ups".  The first one was on I-75 between Forsyth and  Atlanta.  There was a high speed chase that terminated on the south bound side of I-75.  Our side, the north bound side, was backed up from all the "rubber neckers".

Here is the "bad guy".

After that, had a couple road construction slow downs.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop, actually I'm next to it in a dirt lot, in Monteagle, Tennessee.  The Pilot was full, as usual.

Monday, May 21, 2018

Went into Springfield, GA first thing this morning and delivered the Material Handler.  Then went over to the Port of Savannah and loaded a Caterpillar 745 Articulating Dump Truck that is going to Aurora, Colorado.  I'll have pictures tomorrow.  I didn't have enough hours left today to go anywhere so I left the trailer at the Port and went to the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, GA.  I'll go get it in the morning.

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Left this morning to time my arrival at the Tennessee / Georgia state line for a half hour after sunrise.  Very nice day on the road.  Traffic was light and no problems going through Atlanta.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Port Wentworth, Georgia.  I deliver about 20 miles from here in the morning.

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Nothing exciting today.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Monteagle, Tennessee.  Actually a dirt lot next to the Pilot.  The Pilot was full.  Gee, what a surprise!!

Friday, May 18, 2018

Good day on the road.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Bloomington, Illinois.  Lots of detours in Illinois. Have a long one tomorrow morning, that's why I stopped here for the night.  Also doing 2 loads of laundry while I'm here.  I almost forgot, here is my scale ticket.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Drove about 40 miles north to Deerbrook, Wisconsin first thing this morning to load a Caterpillar MH3037 Material Handler that is going to Springfield, Georgia. Got there at about 6:15 CDT.  Had to teach myself how to operate it.  Loaded it on the trailer by raising the machine with the outriggers and, using the boom arm on the machine, pushed the trailer under it.  That took a while.  Secured it to the trailer.  Fortunately they had a truck scale on site.  I went over and scaled.  It was almost right on the money, but it was too high.  

Called the "home office" in Carlisle and explained the problem.  They sent me a diagram showing how it should be loaded.  It didn't tell me how to do it, just showed me what it should look like.  That was a huge help.  So I did what the diagram showed but it messed up the weight so I had to move the machine.  Had to move the machine a total of four times before I got it as close to right as it's gonna get.  It took all day to do this.

This thing is a lot bigger and heavier than it looks.  I'll get a Cat Scale weight tomorrow. When I finally left there at 2:30 CDT I was totally exhausted.  I went back to the truck stop that I was at last night, took a very l-o-n-g hot shower, and had dinner.  I ache all over, especially my back.  Can hardly walk.  Going to sleep. Good night.

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Left this morning a half hour before sunrise.  Drove up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and delivered the wheel loader.  I load tomorrow morning in Deerbrook, Wisconsin.  I headed in that direction.  Stopped for the night at a nice little truck stop in Whittenberg, WI.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Had a good day on the road today except I had to wait almost two hours for my Illinois permit.  Even so, I still drove 503 miles today.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Effingham, Illinois.

Monday, May 14, 2018

Went over to the Port of Savannah, GA first thing this morning and loaded a Caterpillar 980M Wheel Loader that is going up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Took forever to load.  Had a hard time getting it centered on the trailer.  Not as easy as it sounds!!!  Also helped another Daily driver load his machine.  He had not loaded a large machine before and needed assistance.  He had only had his trailer for about a week.

 Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia for the night.  I'm exhausted!!!! Good night.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Left this morning and drove up to the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, Georgia.  Stopped on the way and had routine maintenance done on the truck and trailer.  Load in the morning at the Port of Savannah.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Went in to the Port of Jacksonville on Blount Island this morning and delivered the dump truck.  Then went over to the Daily yard and dropped my trailer there.  Then I went to the tire shop and got two new front tires.  After that went back to the yard and parked the truck.  Then got in my pick up truck and ran a bunch of errands.  My next load is Monday up in Savannah, GA.  I'll be here until Sunday.

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Hit the road a half hour after sunrise.  Lots of bumper to bumper traffic getting to Atlanta.  Once I got the the beltway traffic got back up to speed again. Just south of Atlanta on I-75 passed a bad crash. Fortunately it was on the other side.  The Interstate was shut down.  Before I got to it 3 ambulances went by heading to the hospital.  All with lights and siren on.  There was stuff scattered all over the highway from the SUV that rolled over multiple times landing upright in the grass off the road. There was another car with damage next to the median guard rail.   There was about six fire trucks, a dozen cops, a roll back wrecker, and lots of people watching.  Glad it was on the other side.  Our side was backed up from all the rubber necking.  The other side was at a stand still for four miles.  Farther down the interstate they had closed the interstate and were diverting traffic off at the exit.  That back up was two miles.  So glad I was going the other way.  Other than that, the rest of the day was uneventful.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Kingsland, Georgia. My Florida pilot escort car will meet me here in the morning.

Just found out more info on the crash I passed.  9 people ejected during the roll over.  7 were kids.  One fatality. 

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Left this morning a half hour before sunrise.  My pilot escort car was waiting for me at the Illinois / Kentucky state line and fell in behind me as I passed by him.  Good day on the road. This is what I see when I look in the mirror.

Had a small amount of bumper to bumper traffic in Nashville, Tennessee.  When I got to the Tennessee / Georgia state line my escort car dropped off.  I don't need one in Georgia.  I continued on to the TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia for the night.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

My next load was in Decatur, Illinois.  Yesterday I drove down there to the Pilot truck stop.  This morning I was at Caterpillar first thing.  Unfortunately it took forever for them to load me. When they did, I got a Caterpillar 772G dump truck that is going on an ocean cruise from the Port of Jacksonville, Florida. I weigh over 130,000 pounds.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois for the night.  Tomorrow I'll meet my pilot escort car at the Illinois / Kentucky state line.  He will be with me until I get to Georgia.

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Was over to load at a landfill in Lyons, Illinois first thing this morning. Loaded a Caterpillar 836 Compactor that is going up to another landfill in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.  Got the thing on the trailer  and then they took off the wheels.  While loading it, I think I broke my left thumb.

There was another truck there that was bringing the blade, wheels and some other stuff.  They started to load him as I was pulling out.  Illinois sent me on another "tour" of the Chicago suburbs again.  I was just about a half inch short of 14 feet high and they had me go under an overpass that was marked 14 feet 0 inches. I made it without hitting it.  Continued on up to Monomonee Falls, WI and delivered it.  They wanted to block it up and not put the wheels on it.  That was fine with me since the other truck had not arrived yet.  

The other truck arrived as I was about to leave.  Don't have another load yet so I went back down to the Petro truck stop in Racine, Wisconsin for the night.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Left this morning a half hour before sunrise.  Had a bunch of bumper to bumper traffic in Indianapolis.  Then up to the stupid route the State of Illinois sent me on through the suburbs of Chicago. Here is a map of the route. I can understand some of the routing because the Chicago area has a lot of very low bridges and I am 14 feet high. But this seems a bit weird.  Even on this route I went under a few bridges that were 14 feet, 3 inches high.

The dumbest portion was where I had to do a "U" turn.

Here is a street view of the intersection.

The photo below is the same as the one above.  I have drawn lines showing how I had to round this intersection.  The purple line shows where I first rounded the corner, unable to make it all the way around.  The red-ish line shows where I had to back up.  The green line shows how I finally rounded the corner.  What the photo does NOT show is that there was a LOT of traffic.  I had things pretty clogged up.  It was a lot of fun backing up, through all that traffic, through those intersections.

I made it and continued up to Elmhurst and delivered the excavator.  Next load is tomorrow morning.  I drove back down to the Petro in Monee, Illinois for the night.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Didn't sleep very well last night.  Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes.  My escort car was right on time this morning and we left at 5 am.  When we got to the Maryland / West Virginia state line she dropped off and I continued on.  Stopped in Wheeling, West Virginia at the TA truck stop for breakfast, fuel, and a very much needed shower.  After that, continued on.  Good day on the road - I needed that after yesterday!!  Stopped a little bit early today at a truck stop in Cambridge City, Indiana.  It is at the start of a long detour in Indiana.  If I continued on from here I would have run out of hours with no place to park.  I hope to deliver tomorrow. Have a weird route in Illinois too.  Hope to make it there by noon.

Monday, April 30, 2018

Was at the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland first thing this morning.  Loaded a Caterpillar 336 Excavator That is going to Elmhurst, Illinois.  I was loaded real fast and was ready to go before 9 am BUT someone in Carlisle forgot to order my permits last Friday so I didn't have any.  Had to wait for my Maryland to come in before I could leave the Port.  Also my pilot escort car was not there yet.  

A little after 10 my Maryland permit came in and my escort car arrived at the same time.  I left the Port and went to the TA to scale up.  Unfortunately I was overweight on my trailer axles.  I am just under 130,000 pounds.  I went around back and undid everything and moved the machine.  Chained it back down again and re-scaled.  I moved it too much!!  So I went back around back and did it again.  This time when I re-scaled it was fine.  Because of that we didn't get out of there until almost 1 pm.  We did good getting around Baltimore.  Made it all the way out to I-68 and then the trailer brakes on the front trailer axle started smoking like crazy!  I pulled over to the side of the road and checked them out.  Not being a mechanic, I didn't see anything out of place or broken, just smoke and they were real hot!  Called the shop and they sent out a road service truck from the TA truck stop in Breezewood, Pennsylvania.  They said they would be about an hour and a half to get here. So here we sat.

2 3/4 hours later the service truck arrived.  He got it working on the side of the road.  We then went 4 miles farther to a small convenience store with truck parking.  He dug into it farther and got it all good again.  I stayed there for the night.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

This morning I moved down to the TA truck stop in Baltimore, Maryland.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Was at Cummins in Harrisburg, PA at 6 am this morning, in the rain.  Good thing I washed the truck yesterday otherwise it might not have rained!!  They took my truck in and did whatever they needed to do for the recall.  I think they replaced the fuel pump.  Left there a little after noon and went back to Daily.  They did service on my APU and a few other things.  The trailer shop had my trailer inside and I explained a few issues to them so they could address them.  I also got some more chains and binders.  I didn't think I quite had enough.  When the shop was finished with my truck I parked it.  Took the company car to the laundry and did a few loads.  All my chores are done so I can relax until Sunday morning.  Then I'll go to Baltimore so I can be there to pick up my next load at the Port first thing Monday morning.

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Left at sunrise this morning.  Drove up to State College, PA and delivered the wheel loader.  From there drove down to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA.  Stopped on the way and had the truck and trailer washed.  Have to have some work done on the trailer.  Tomorrow I have to have the truck at Cummins in Harrisburg to have some work done on it.  There is a recall on the fuel pump.  After that I have more work to be done on it back at the Daily truck shop.  Tomorrow looks like it will be a long day.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Left at sunrise this morning.  Started raining shortly after I got started and continued for most of the day.  Absolutely amazing day!!  Made it through Richmond, Virginia and all the way through the Washington DC area, in the rain, with NO traffic issues!!!  That just doesn't happen, especially in the rain!!!!  I really need to but a lottery ticket!!!  My Maryland pilot escort car met me right on time at the Virginia / Maryland state line and dropped off when I passed into Pennsylvania.  I stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Breezewood, Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Was at the Port of Savannah first thing this morning and, as usual, there was a paperwork problem.  Once that was taken care of I loaded a Caterpillar 982 Wheel Loader that is going up to State College, Pennsylvania. 

Left there and headed north.  South Carolina has a long detour for all loads over 100,000 pounds on I-95 north of I-26 all the way past Florence.  Took forever to get through it.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Kenly, North Carolina.  

Monday, April 23, 2018

Delivered the excavator first thing this morning in Ocala, Florida.  Next load is tomorrow up in Savannah, Georgia at the Port.  Went up there stopping at the Daily yard in Jacksonville on the way.  Had a mechanical issue with the trailer to get fixed.  When that was done I continued on up there.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, Georgia.

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Drove to the Petro truck stop in Orange Lake, Florida this morning.  I'll deliver a few miles from here Monday morning.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Left at sunrise this morning.  Pretty good day on the road.  Made it through Baton Rouge, LA with no bumper to bumper traffic.  That is rare!!  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Marianna, Florida.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Went to Caterpillar in Victoria, Texas first thing this morning.  For a very nice change everything went smoothly this morning.  Loaded a Caterpillar 336F Excavator that is going to Ocala, Florida.

I was out of there before 9 am.  Not too long after I got on the road traffic came to a stand still because of a wreck up ahead. Earlier a flat bed semi truck carrying train wheels crashed dumping all the train wheels all over the place.  Fortunately my luck was holding and they started to let traffic go through just a few minutes after I got there.  They had removed the truck but were still picking up the train wheels.

Continued on without any problems.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop.  Did three loads of laundry tonight.  Glad that's done!!!

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Left at sunrise this morning and drove over to Prairieville, LA and delivered the dozer.  Next load is tomorrow in Victoria, Texas.  I drove that way.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Ganado, Texas.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Left the Daily yard in Jacksonville a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Had an excellent day on the road.  Traffic was light most of the day and the weather was perfect.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Hammond, Louisiana. 

Monday, April 16, 2018

Went up to Pooler, GA first thing this morning.  As usual there was a problem with the paperwork (I had nothing to do with the problem, it was all at their end) and I had to wait for over an hour and a half for it to get straightened  out.  So I went from second in line this morning to being last to get loaded.  Finally got loaded with a Caterpillar D6T Dozer that is going to Prairieville, Louisiana.

Left there but because of the delay this morning, I didn't get very far.  I stopped for the night at the Daily yard in Jacksonville, Florida.  Had to have some minor trailer repairs too so it was a good thing to stop here for the night.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Left this morning a half hour after sunrise. Didn't have too much trouble in Atlanta.  Traffic was very heavy and some slow downs and a little bumper to bumper.  It is always interesting in heavy traffic when I am wider than the travel lane.  Made it to the Port of Savannah and delivered the dump truck.  Here is an edited video of me unloading it.

My next load is Monday morning in Pooler, Georgia.  I went to the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, Georgia for the rest of the weekend.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Left this morning a half hour before sunrise.  About 45 minutes before I got to Kentucky I got a call from my new escort.  The one scheduled had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night and wasn't coming today.  The good news was that the new one was on his way to meet me.  He arrived at the state line about 30 seconds before I did so I didn't have to stop and wait.  Great day on the road.  weather was perfect.  Only had a minor slow down in Nashville.  Once I got to the Georgia state line my escort dropped off and I continued on.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Cartersville, GA.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

This morning I drove the rest of the way in to Caterpillar in Decatur, Illinois.  Took forever for them to get around to loading me, but finally got loaded with a Caterpillar 772G Dump Truck that is going on an ocean cruise from the Port of Savannah, Georgia.  My gross weight is about 129,000 pounds (58,513 kg).

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois for the night.  Tomorrow I pick up my rear escort car at the Illinois / Kentucky state line.  He will be with me until I get to Georgia.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Getting my reset out of the way so tomorrow I will load in Decatur.

Monday, April 9, 2018

Left this morning and drove up to Indianapolis, Indiana and delivered the Wheel Loader.  Don't have another load yet so I started off west on I-74.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Champaign , Illinois.  That is a good spot to wait.  Decatur, Peoria, and Montgomery are not too far from here. Chances are pretty good that I'll go to one of those.  If I was to place a bet, I'd bet on Decatur.  We will see.

Sunday, April 8, 2018

I wasn't planning on going anywhere today, but I changed my mind.  I  left this morning around 10 am.  Drove up to London, Kentucky to a truck stop there.  I had about a 110 mile detour in Kentucky and that's where it started.  While in the detour route I have to have an escort car.  We were planning on meeting tomorrow but he was available today, so I waited for him to get there.  When he arrived we left.  When we finished the detour he dropped off and I continued on to the Flying J truck stop in Waddy, Kentucky for the night.

Saturday, April 7, 2017

Left this morning and drove in very heavy traffic all day.  All the spring break people are going back home and really clogging up the Interstate.  Stopped at the Petro truck stop in Knoxville, Tennessee until Monday.

Friday, April 6, 2018

Left the Daily yard this morning and drove up to Pooler, Georgia and delivered the crane.  Then went over to the Port of Savannah and loaded a Caterpillar 982M Wheel Loader that is going up to Indianapolis, Indiana.  Had one Hell of a time getting that thing loaded.  For some reason I just couldn't seem to get it centered on the trailer.  After about two hours, I finally got it.  Very frustrating!!

Left there and drove to a truck stop in Pulaski, Georgia for the night.  Once again I'm exhausted and hurt all over.  Good night.

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Went over to Richie Brothers at 8 am when they opened.  Once again, there was no key to the machine.  They borrowed one from another machine so I could load.  Went to the machine, the key worked.

This is how the machine is when I get to it, yesterday's machine was the same way. Sorry that the focus didn't work very well.

Loaded it on my trailer.

Left there and immediately upon entering I-4 it was very slow bumper to bumper traffic.  Took an hour to go 20 miles.

 It was pretty much slow bumper to bumper all the way past the attractions, Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World. Cleared a bit then all the way through Orlando it was back to bumper to bumper.  Finally cleared just south of Sanford.  Did pretty good until about 15 miles south of the Jacksonville Beltway, I-295.  There was a wreck that caused a 15 mile back up.  Sat in that for a while.  Finally cleared that mess.  Then more bumper to bumper traffic for about 5 miles on the South Beltway.  Cleared that.  Then just past one of the exits that I take to get to the Daily yard in Jacksonville, traffic came to a very rapid stop.  When I braked real hard the machine shifted and fell off the blocks it was sitting on.  Fortunately it stayed on the trailer and all the wheels were still off the ground.  I slowly drove to the next exit and headed for the Daily yard.  When I got there, I took off all the chains and raised the machine, re-positioned the trailer under it, put new blocks under it and set it back down.  Chained it down again.  Good to go now.  Didn't damage anything.  Replaced the wood that broke too.  Stayed here for the night.  I'm exhausted, my back and feet are very sore.  Good night!!

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

A half hour after sunrise this morning I left and drove the rest of the way to Pooler, GA and delivered the crane.  Drove back down to Davenport, Florida to pick up another one tomorrow morning.  Parked for the night at the McDonald's that had a few truck parking places across the street from Richie Brothers.  The Love's was full already.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Went back over to Richie Brothers this morning to see if they found the key.  When I checked in at the gate, it wasn't there.  I went over to the machine and looked inside.  Lo and behold, there it was.  Somebody found it and left it in there for me.  I loaded the Terex RT 555 Crane on the trailer.  It took a long time to get it up there. But I finally got it.  It is going up to Pooler, Georgia. My gross weight is over 129,000 pounds (13,154 kg).

Left there and headed north.  Orlando traffic was it's usual nightmare!!  On the north side of Jacksonville I saw another RV rollover.  Just like yesterday's rollover except I actually saw this one happen!!  It also didn't block the entire interstate.  This one took out a street light pole.  I got it on video.  You might have to watch it a few times to see it.  It is on the opposite side of I-95, south bound.  Yesterday and today's wrecks are two great examples of why I do not like bumper pull RVs.

The rest of the day was uneventful.  I stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Brunswick, Georgia.

Monday, April, 2, 2018

Really enjoyed my time off.  Had one of the best Easter's that I have had in a very long time.  unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and it's time to go back to work.  

Left this morning and drove down to Davenport, Florida.  There was a wreck in Palm Coast on the north bound side of I-95 that blocked the entire north bound side.  The idiots on the south bound side just HAD to rubber neck so traffic on my side was backed up for a couple miles for no reason.

Supposed to load tomorrow but I went in to Richie Brothers and tried to load today.  Everything went fine until they went to give me the keys.  They couldn't find them.  I waited for a while, but no luck.  I left my trailer next t o the machine I am to load and went to the Love's truck stop across the road for the night.  I'll try again tomorrow.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Monday, March 26, 2018

Left at sunrise this morning.  Drove in to Austell, Georgia and delivered the dump truck.  After that drove home to Jacksonville, Florida.  Will be here for about a week.