D.C. & L. Trucking

Thursday, January 16, 2020

We got a little more snow here last night.

It doesn't look good for getting over Snoqualmie anytime soon. Here is what it looked like at 8 AM PST. I called up to the truck stop that I want to get to, and they are overflowing with trucks. So I just stayed in Yakima for the time being.

At noon PST it was still a no go...

At 3 PM PST still a no go, but it looks better...

At 6 PM PST things are looking better. Maybe tomorrow....I hope!!

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Compared to yesterday, today was pretty boring. This morning I still didn't have my Washington permit that was ordered on the 8th. I decided to get a little closer to Washington State so I left and drove to the Pilot truck stop in Stanfield, Oregon to wait. After about an hour my permit arrived. It expired yesterday!!! Good job!!!!!! I sent an email telling my dispatcher that it was expired. About 15 minutes later a current permit arrived. I left there and drove to the Gear Jammer Truck Stop in Yakima, Washington for the night. It is snowing. There is no hurry to go further. My next (and last for this load) mountain pass is Snoqualmie. Conditions up there are not good.

Went to take a shower. I went in the shower room and could not believe it. Horrible!!!! Took the key and towels back and refused the room. That is the first time I have ever done that. Tomorrow I'll move to the Flying J in Ellensburg, WA to wait for Snoqualmie to open. Should get a real shower there. Weather reports do not look favorable to getting across until next week. We'll see.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

What a game last night !!!!!!!!!!!!

The trophy is back where it belongs in the SEC.

We got some more snow last night and this morning.

The roads got worse. Chain Law is still in effect in more sections of the road.

There are 6 other oversize loads sitting here waiting along with me.

At about 1 PM PST they dropped the chain law on I-84. Most of the oversized loads left, myself included. Roads were real good for quite a while. But then it changed.

I had gone past the "point of no return" when they put chain restrictions back in place. Just a few miles past that photo, traffic came to a stand still. Up ahead at the chain up parking area, along side the road, a driver was putting his chains on his truck. Another truck hit him. They did CPR on him while waiting for the ambulance. Sat there for 2 hours. When I got past that, I stopped and chained up. Once my tire chains were on, I continued. I had cleared it with the Highway Patrol to keep going. Here is a time lapse video of part of my trip. Sorry about the annoying amber warning light.

Once I got over the mountain and past Cabbage Pass the next problem was where to park. The only place was at Arrowhead truck stop in Pendelton, Oregon. There is also the Wildhorse Casino there with a large truck parking lot. Of course by the time I got there both parking lots were full to capacity and security was turning trucks away and sending them to an overflow area. Fortunately the casino had other property on the other side of the Interstate and they were sending the overflow of trucks over there to park. They also provided a shuttle back to the casino. Here is a video of how I got to, and where I parked for the night. It took 6 hours, 15 minutes to drive 91 miles.

After parking I took the shuttle to the casino and had dinner. Then back to the truck for some much needed sleep. Hopefully the weather and traffic cooperates better tomorrow.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Cabbage Hill was still bad this morning. Chain law still in effect. But where I was it was nice. There is another truck stop about an hour north of where I was so I decided to move a little closer. Here are some photos of my short trip this morning.

Stopped at a small truck stop in Baker City, Oregon. Great restaurant here. The place is packed. Was lucky to get a parking place. A guy was pulling out as I approached. Had to parallel park to get in.

Have no idea how long I'll be here. Here is the DOT camera at the top of Cabbage. Chain law still in effect. I can't go if chain law is in effect.

At least the food is good here. Had a second breakfast. Well, at least I can watch the last college football game of the season. The National Championship between...

GO LSU !!!!!!

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Left at sunrise this morning. The weather seemed to be holding. Here is my view as I left Ogden, UT.

Then the snow started.

Followed a plow for a little bit until there was enough room to go around him.

After a little while I drove out of it. The rest of the day went pretty good. Made it all the way to Oregon, much to my surprise!! Stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Ontario, Oregon.

The most challenging section of the entire trip lies ahead. If the weather permits, I'll be going through Deadman Pass also known as Cabbage Hill. It is a very treacherous portion of I-84. Click here for more information on it. For a live traffic camera from Oregon DOT, click here.

If chains are required, then I can't move. Permit loads are not allowed if the Chain Law is in effect. The weather there is not supposed to be very good, so we'll just have to play it by ear. Right now, I'm about 3 hours from there.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Left a little before sunrise this morning. Beautiful sunrise, with a full moon too, in Wyoming.

But the wind was wicked!! It was pushing me back so hard that I could only go between 45 and 50 mph and I was only getting 2 MPG.

Yes, it says 65+ MPH

It was slow going for a while this morning.

Here are some photos of the snow fence doing it's job along I-80 in Wyoming.

Some more sunrise photos.

Then the wind really picked up.

Here is a brief video of the wind.

Things cleared out after a while and was pretty good until I crossed into Utah. Then the snow came down.

I stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Ogden, Utah. It's still snowing. May be here for a few days, don't know.

Friday, January 10, 2020

I got very lucky today!!! That doesn't happen too often!! I beat the weather and got out of there a half hour before sunrise this morning. Heavy overcast and high cross winds but no sleet, snow, rain or ice. West of Hays, Kansas had some heavy wet snow but it didn't last too long. By the time I got to Colorado I was well past the weather system and the sky cleared. Had some bumper to bumper traffic in the usual spot on I-270 in Denver. Had a lot more north of Denver on I-25. Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I made it a lot farther than I thought I would today.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Left this morning at sunrise. Very good and uneventful day on the road. Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Salina, Kansas. I may be here for a couple days. The weather report for Friday and Saturday does not sound good. Freezing rain, sleet, and snow. Saturday they are saying 1 to 5 inches. Can't drive a permit load in any of that. If so, I picked a good place to sit. Plenty of places to eat here.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

After the Little Rock curfew was over at 9 am, I drove in and delivered the dump truck. My next load was just up the road at the Keen Caterpillar yard. Went over there and loaded a Caterpillar 982M Wheel Loader that is going up to Tukwila, Washington. That is a suburb of Seattle.

Left there and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Russellville, Arkansas for the night. Scaled up after getting fuel.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Left the TA in Cartersville, GA a half hour after sunrise this morning. An excellent day on the road. No traffic problems except for a crash that just occurred in Memphis, Tennessee. Looked like a Mustang cut in front of a dump truck and the rear quarter panel struck the front of the dump truck causing damage to both vehicles. The Mustang spun out and was blocking the left lane. No emergency vehicles there yet so we could get by the crash quickly. Smooth sailing from there until about an hour east of Little Rock, Arkansas. Real bad crash on the east bound side. The Interstate was totally closed down on that side. Our side slowed for the "lookie-loos".

Continued to the Petro truck stop in North Little Rock, Arkansas for the night. Can sleep in a bit in the morning thanks to the Little Rock curfew. Can start a little before 9 am tomorrow. Deliver about 25 miles from here.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Went over to the Port first thing this morning and loaded a Caterpillar 745 Articulating Dump Truck that is going to Little Rock, Arkansas. I like these. When loading, only about 1/4 of the tire on each side is on the trailer, the rest hangs off the side. Also when the front tires start to go up on the trailer, you can't see the trailer anymore. Have to load it by feel. One other thing, because it articulates the front tires could be perfectly lined up but the back tires could be off by a few inches. That could make it fall off the trailer. That would be a bad thing!! You have to hit it very straight. Makes it interesting. The boards under the tires are there to support during transport. Don't really help much during loading or unloading. Takes a long time to do by myself. Today I was lucky, I had a good spotter. Cut the loading time down by more than half.

Left there a little after 9 am. Had some bumper to bumper traffic in Atlanta caused by a tractor trailer that rolled over on the ramp from I-285 to I-75 on the north side. Fortunately he rolled off the road and dumped his load of garbage and everything off the travel lanes. After getting past that I continued on to the TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia for the night.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Well all good things must come to an end. The Holiday season was great, but it is time to go back to work. This morning I drove up to the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, Georgia. Load at the Port in the morning. It did feel good to be back moving again.