Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Was over to load at 7 am CDT.  I haven't been here for many years.  It really has grown!!  Here is what it looks like from Google Satellite. 

Went in and went over to where my hub was and waited for them to load me.

Once all that was done, I was out of there at noon CDT.  Started back toward Goff, KS.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Salina, KS.  They have good showers here.  Also needed to do a load of laundry.  My back was doing pretty good tonight until I started carrying that laundry around.  Of course I'm parked in the back of the parking lot so its quite a hike to the building. Now it is hurting pretty good.  I'm sure it will feel better in the morning.  Laying down always helps.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Early this morning I went back and hooked up to my trailer and waited.  The had to bring the tower in first - he was blocking the way in.  Once he got in to unload they brought the crane over and I pulled in to unload.  The tower section didn't need the crane.  The trailer he had is one where he can unload himself.  Didn't get stuck today.  The ground was a bit firmer.  

Once again the front of my truck was right at the edge of the hole where the substructure of the tower was.  This is the part you normally don't see.

Once empty I drove down to Garden City, Kansas.  I load there in the morning.  Another hub going back up to Goff.  

Monday, May 4, 2020

Followed a tower section in this morning.  We left at about 7 am CDT.  It takes about an hour to get to the pad from here.  Got to the pad when we got the word that operations were suspended due to lightening in the area.  Not really the best of ideas to be working with a crane when there is lightening all around.  

I hurried up and got the tarp off and everything put away as it was sprinkling. Shortly after that they shut everything down for the day.  I dropped my trailer there and went back to the truck stop.  Try again tomorrow.

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning in a thunderstorm.  After a while I drove out of it and eventually it became sunny.  Made it up to the staging area in Powhattan, KS before 10 am CDT.  Still didn't feel very good so I went to sleep.  Woke up mid afternoon and felt better. This evening, after dinner,  I got a call from the guy up here.  I'm going in to unload first thing in the morning.  Excellent!!!!!  

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Saw this truck parked at the truck stop this morning.  Now that is a real heavy haul truck!!  

Went back to get my trailer at 8 CDT.  They started loading me at 11:45.  Loaded another Wind Energy Hub that is going to Goff, Kansas.

My escort car was waiting for me as I left.  At the Kansas state line she dropped off and I continued on.  Drove to the Newell Truck Stop in Newton, Kansas.  I'm exhausted.  Those damn tarps are so hard on my back.  Hard to move.  Another night on the heating pad.  

Friday, May 1, 2020

This morning I was at the loading area at 7 am CDT.  At about 9 am I moved over to where my hub was and waited.  They were going to load a nacelle first then come over and load me.  At about 11 am they told me that the wind had increased too much to load anything and that they were going to see if it dies down enough to load after lunch.  At 2 pm CDT I got a phone call telling me that they were shut down for the remainder of the weekend.  Operations would resume Monday morning.  I dropped my trailer there and went over to the Love's truck stop in Enid for the rest of the weekend.  A little after 3 pm CDT they called me again and said that they would like me there at 10:30 tomorrow morning.  They would try to load me then.  Hope the wind dies down!!  The saga continues!

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Met the repair guy this morning and he followed me back to where the trailer was.  I hooked up to it and he fixed it.  Here are a couple pictures to show where I unloaded yesterday.

Didn't take long and I was out of there.  Headed back to Enid, OK to pick up another hub.  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Billings, Oklahoma.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Well today didn't go as planned.  Didn't go in to unload until noon CDT.  Had to follow a nacelle from the truck stop in to the site.  The site is way back in the middle of nowhere!!!  The road in wasn't too bad, but at the pad it was a mess!!  Once the "good" part ended they had to put down crane mats for us to drive on to get up to the crane.  Then waited for 3 hours before they started to unload me.

View of the Pad

They brought in another crane and put down crane mats for me to drive on.  I pulled up on the crane mats and the trailer bottomed out on the crane mats.  Had to be pushed to get unstuck.  Finally got unloaded.  When I backed out found that a drain valve on an air tank on the trailer got knocked off.  This caused the brakes to lock on on the front trailer axle.  

Air Tank on the Trailer

Hole Where the Drain Valve Was

Was able to get it out of the way and dropped the trailer there.  By now it is well after hours and Daily couldn't find anyone to come out because they were closed for the day.  They will try again in the morning.  I left the trailer there and went back to the truck stop, my home away from home.  

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Well today wasn't the day.  He tells me that I'll be unloaded in the morning. We'll see.

Monday, April 27, 2020

The parking lot cleared out pretty good today.  I think I will get unloaded tomorrow.  Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Saturday when we had the cook out one of the other drivers had a drone up and took some photos.  Thought you would like to see a few.

Looking South

These photos were taken before it rained.

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Yesterday evening, while they were setting up for the cook out, three blades arrived.  Thought you would like to watch them back in to the parking area here.  I sped up the video so you wouldn't get bored.

As soon as everything was set up for the cook out it started to rain.  Had a brief shower.  Just enough to soak everything.

After the rain passed we had our cook out.

Other than that, I slept a lot today.  Nothing else going on.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Drove to the staging area in Powhattan, Kansas.  It is a small truck stop at the Sac and Fox Casino.  No food here.  Have to go get it.  There are a lot of trucks here already waiting to unload.  3 tower sections, 2 nacelles, and 3 more hubs. Talked to the guy that is responsible for getting us unloaded. He said I might not get unloaded until Thursday. Another reason I hate hubs!!!  Oh well.  The guy that is responsible for unloading us is having a cook out for us here tonight.  That will be nice.  

Friday, April 24, 2020

In Enid, Oklahoma GE has a huge yard with hundreds of wind energy blades, nacelles, and hubs. I was there at 7 am CDT to load.  They had me position next to the crane.  And there I sat.

Just before 11 am CDT they came back and started to load the hub on my trailer.

After it was on my trailer and chained down came the "fun" part, tarping the thing.

When that was done I left with my Oklahoma escort car.  To make a long (a very long) story short we had to stop 12 times to add more bungie cords to keep the damn thing from flapping.  And that still didn't work.  When I got to Kansas my escort car dropped off and I continued on.  Had to stop again on the north side of Wichita because the entire back half of the tarp flung all the bungies off and was flapping like a huge flag.  Re-secured the damn thing again.  Continued on to a truck stop in Newell, Kansas.  My back is so sore tonight it is hard to walk.  Took a long hot shower and that didn't help.  Sleeping on my heating pad again.  Good night.  By the way, this thing is going to a wind farm project in Goff, Kansas.

Thursday, April 23, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left.  Drove the rest of the way to Enid, Oklahoma.  Stopped for the rest of the day and night at a convenience store with truck parking in Enid.  Load just a few miles from here Friday morning.

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Had to stop and wait for 2 hours at the Texas / New Mexico state line for my pilot escort car to arrive.  When he arrived we were on our way.  Made it way back off the road in an oil well field outside of Jal, New Mexico.  There were hundreds, if not thousands, of oil wells in there.  It was like the Saudi Arabia of America in there.  Once the crane was set up they unloaded me.

Left there and started off for my next load in Enid, Oklahoma.  Stopped for the night at a convenience store with truck parking in Brownfield, Texas.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Went back to the Caterpillar dealer this morning and got my trailer.  A Caterpillar Genset going to Jal, New Mexico.

Left at 8:45 CDT to time it so that I arrived at the curfew area at 9 AM when the curfew ended.  Was doing real good until I heard a trailer tire blow out.  For a change I actually heard it this time.  Looked in the mirror and saw the rubber flinging everywhere.  Pulled over to the shoulder and went back and checked it out.  Decided that I could drive to a safe place to stop.  On the shoulder my load was sticking out into the travel lane.  Not safe.  I drove slowly about 4 miles to a place that was wide enough for me to stop safely and also safe for the guy that was coming to fix it.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the guy showed up and changed the tire.

Got back on the road again.  Obviously I didn't get as far as I wanted today.  Stopped at the TA truck stop in Big Spring, Texas for the night.  I'll still deliver tomorrow, just not as early as I wanted to.

Monday, April 20, 2020

This morning I drove to the Caterpillar dealer in Irving, TX to load.  Had to wait for the crane to get there.  It arrived sometime after 1 pm CDT.  After they got all set up they loaded a Caterpillar Genset on my trailer.  By the time they finished, and I got the thing secured in the trailer, it was too late to go anywhere.  Fort Worth has a curfew from 4 to 6 pm.  I dropped my trailer there for the night and bobtailed to the TA truck stop on the south side of Dallas for the night.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Left early this morning in the misty rain.  Didn't even get out of OKC when I was cut off. 

Oh well, that is normal.  Happens all the time.  But if he had hit me, they would try to blame the truck.  Drove to the TA in Denton, Texas. I load tomorrow afternoon in Irving, TX.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

My next load is Monday afternoon in Irving, Texas but it is with a different trailer.  I swapped my stuff to the next trailer.  Then my truck was due for it's 90 day inspection, so I had that done too.  Now I'll sit back and relax until then.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left.  That was at midnight EDT, 11 PM CDT.  Drove the rest of the way to the Daily terminal in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 457 miles.  Got there before the office staff came in to work.  I'm going to sleep now.  Phone is off again.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Left as soon as my 10 hours was up.  That was sat 2 AM EDT (midnight local time).   I like driving at that hour.  No traffic!!  Went the rest of the way through Wyoming then into Colorado.  No traffic issues going through Denver.  Then on into Kansas.  Stopped at the Petro in Colby, Kansas for the night.  604 miles today.  I'll be back at it again when my 10 hours are up.  Going to sleep very early.  Phone is off.  Good night.

Monday, April 13, 2020

Had several dustings of snow yesterday and when I left this morning it was snowing.  No accumulation.  Drove into West Jordan, Utah and delivered the thing.  They were all set up and ready for me when I arrived.  Next load is in the OKC area.  I started off that direction.  Here is a photo of the view leaving Salt Lake City.

 Stopped at the Little America truck stop for the night.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Started a half hour before sunrise.  Weather was partly cloudy.  No snow.  The wind steadily increased as the morning progressed.  Another heavy headwind with gusts up to 40 MPH.  LOTS of prong horned elk out today.  Must have seen at least a hundred along the way.  They were everywhere.  Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the TA truck stop in Fort Bridger, Wyoming.  Would have kept going but there is no place to stop in Utah along my permit route.  The snow is coming down from the north.  Expected later this afternoon and evening lasting until tomorrow morning.   Will be heaviest in the eastern 2/3 of Wyoming.  Not supposed to get much here.  Hope they are right. 

Friday, April 10, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Weather couldn't be any better!!   It is so nice not having a lot of traffic on the roads.  Coming into Omaha, Nebraska visitors are greeted with this...

I always enjoy seeing the old steam engine and the new diesel electric locomotive sitting up there as I pass by.  Farther on down I-80, a lot farther, I went under the Archway.  It is closed right now because of this COVID-19 virus stupidity. 

Continued on into Wyoming and stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Burns, WY.  That is just east of Cheyenne.  The restaurant here is closed but the Taco Bell and Burger King are open.  Look at how they are "serving" their customers...

I've seen some stupid stuff before, but this is the dumbest so far.  Media driven hysteria.  So stupid!!!

Anyway, I ordered 4 chicken soft tacos from Taco Bell.  She was going to charge me $19 !!!  I told her that she was out of her mind and cancelled my order.  Had crappy Burger King instead.  The weather in Wyoming is supposed to deteriorate tomorrow.  Supposed to get snow.  They say up to 7 inches in some places.  I'll leave here a half hour before sunrise and hope I can beat it.  

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Spent the first half of the day on back roads.  Very heavy head wind toady.  Also went through about a half dozen short patches of snowfall.  There was no accumulation, too warm for that.  Stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Newton, Iowa. Same place I stayed a week or so ago.  The one at the Iowa Speedway.  Still incredibly windy.  This truck is really rockin' !!!!

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Had to wait for my Ohio permit to come in.  It finally arrived at about 9:45.  Didn't get anywhere near as far as I wanted to today.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in New Haven, Indiana.  Hopefully I can get a lot more miles tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Couldn't leave as early as I would have liked to because of the Harrisburg curfew.  I timed it so that I entered the curfew area right at 9 am.  Here is what I have on my trailer that I am taking out to West Jordan, Utah.

I have no idea what it is or what it does.  Drove to a truck stop in Hubbard, Ohio for the night.  Stopped a little early for several reasons.  But one of them was my back still hurts and wanted to get off it.  I'm sure it will be better tomorrow.

Monday, April 6, 2020

Left at 7 am and drove in to Norfolk.  Picked up my Pilot Escort car at the Norfolk city limits.  Drove to the Port and delivered the Machine.  Only one aircraft carrier in Port today. 

I zoomed in for you.  Sorry the picture isn't better.

Next load is up in Carlisle, PA.  It is a skid already on a trailer waiting for me to go get it.  Drove up to Carlisle, dropped my trailer in the yard and got the new trailer.  Secured the load to the trailer. Then moved most of my stuff from my trailer to the new one.  Ready to go in the morning.  Went to Wal Mart and got my Rx refilled, then a late dinner and shower.  I'm exhausted and my back really hurts tonight. Glad to be in bed to give it a rest.

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Very short day today.  Only went about 120 miles to the TA truck stop in Ashland, Virginia.  Will be here until Monday morning.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Nothing interesting today.  Left early this morning and drove to the Petro truck stop in Raphine, Virginia for the night.

Thursday, April 2, 2020

All that stuff I posted yesterday about the super secret load was nothing but an April Fools Day joke.  Did I get you???  

Here is the real scoop...

This morning I drove to Lafayette, Indiana and loaded a Caterpillar C175 Genset that is going to the Port in Norfolk, Virginia.  Not very exciting, is it?

Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Mount Sterling, Kentucky for the night.  Tracker will be back on soon.  

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Well I finally got a load.  It is very different from anything I have ever done before.  It is over in Indiana, but that's all I can say about it.  It is a super secret load.  Can't say where I am loading or where it is going.  My tracker is turned off and so are all my cameras for this load.  Will have an armed security person in the truck with me.  Will have a ton of highly visible and invisible security for this.  Can't say anything more until it's over.  Will be very interesting!!!  I drove to the TA truck stop in Whitestown, Indiana for the night.  I'll have more details tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Had another trailer light go out.  I tried to fix it but, as usual, I was unable to.  This morning went over to the Daily yard in Bettendorf, IA and had that fixed.  Was out of there before noon and back at Iowa 80 waiting for my next load.  

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Still very windy!!!  Drove to the Love's truck stop in Newton, Iowa.  It is right at the Iowa Speedway where NASCAR races.  Got all settled in then sent a text to the phone number that I had for delivery.  Had instructions to contact the guy before delivering.  Had no idea if that phone number was a cell phone that I could text to or if it was a hard phone in an office.  Much to my surprise he replied to my text!!  He even said I could deliver today!  Of course I jumped on that and drove over to Sully, IA, which was only about 30 miles away, and delivered the dozer.  I left there and drove to the world famous Iowa 80 truck stop in Walcott, Iowa for the night. 

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Had some rain for a while but it cleared and ended up being sunny and very windy.   Still looks weird looking at all the huge casinos bone dry empty.  Not even one car in any of the parking lots.  Missouri sent me all over the place.  I'm still in Missouri!!!!  

The first diversion was 105 miles to bypass 27 miles of I-29.  The second one was not as bad.  86 miles to go around 34 miles of I-35.  Oh well.  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Camron, Missouri.  The wind really has this truck rockin' tonight.

Friday, March 27, 2020

Last night I got an email that said my truck was due for A Maintenance.  Using the TA/Petro phone app I scheduled a service appointment at a TA I was going to go past about 2 hours away from where I was.  About a half hour before sunrise I left and drove up to the TA in Hillsboro, Texas.  Got the truck serviced and was back on the road.  Wasn't bad going through Ft. Worth.  This Wuhan virus sure is making the roads a lot better.  Stopped for the night at a  small truck stop in Savanna, Oklahoma.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left.  Made such good timing that I decided to stop by and see if my load for tomorrow might be ready today.  So I went to the Caterpillar dealer in Austin and checked in.  It wasn't quite ready but they were not that busy so they got it ready for me.  Then had to wait for the paperwork.  It took 4 1/2 hours but it finally made it's way onto my trailer.  A Caterpillar D6T Dozer that is going to Sully, Iowa.

My Texas permit doesn't start until tomorrow, but I left there anyway.  Drove to the Flying J truck stop in Jarrell, Texas for the night.  

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning and arrived in Doniphan, Nebraska just about opening time.  Unloaded the grader and was out of there by 8:30 AM CDT.  Next load is Friday morning in Austin, Texas.  Started off that way.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As soon as my 10 hours is up I'll be out of here.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Left a little before sunrise this morning.  No problems with traffic at all.  Drove up to the Petro truck stop in York, Nebraska for the night.

Monday, March 23, 2020

Yesterday afternoon I went back to the Daily terminal and hooked back up to my trailer.  This morning I drove to the Port in LaPorte, TX and loaded a Caterpillar 140 Motor Grader that it going to Doniphan, Nebraska.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Denton, Texas for the night.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Left at sunrise this morning.  Drove in the rain to Longview, Texas and delivered the excavator in thick messy mud!  Next load is in LaPort, Texas Monday morning.  I drove to the Daily terminal in Houston, dropped my trailer there and went over to the TA truck stop in Baytown.   When I showered I had to wash all the mud off my boots in the shower.  That mud was everywhere!!!!   Looks weird to see all the restaurants closed up everywhere.  Some of them are only open for carry out or delivery only.  I ordered Italian from Door Dash and they brought it to me.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Left at 1 AM EDT.  Very good day on the road.  Traffic was not bad at all.  Drove 615 miles to a small truck stop in Hensley, Arkansas for the night.  Have to wait until sunrise tomorrow morning to get started again.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Left at 2:30 AM EDT and drove the rest of the way to Kernersville.  Got there just before they opened.  Once they opened, loaded a John Deere 350 Excavator that is going to Longview, Texas.  

I did real good this morning.  Was out of there and on the road by 8:30.  I got a lot farther than I thought I would today, 485 miles.  But had to stop just before getting to Tennessee because my wonderful dispatcher didn't order it until 1:30 this afternoon.  That was an hour after I had stopped to wait for it.  I wanted to get into Tennessee before I ran out of hours, so I went anyway.  Stopped for the night at a "mom & pop" truck stop in Newport, Tennessee.  At 3:38 PM my Tennessee permit came in.  Good thing I didn't wait because I would have been out of hours when it got here. I could have made it to Knoxville.  Oh well.  At least it came in.  I'll be able to start again as soon as my 10 hours are up.  Can drive at night in Tennessee. I like that!!!

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Late yesterday afternoon I finally got a load!!!   Early this morning I drove to Valdosta, Georgia to a Caterpillar dealer.  Got there just before they opened.  When they opened, loaded a Caterpillar 725 Articulating Dump Truck that is going to another Caterpillar dealer in Austell, Georgia.  This is a small one.

Left there and drove up to Austell and delivered it.  Next load is tomorrow in Kernersville, North Carolina.  I started off that way.  Traffic around Atlanta was heavy, as usual, but didn't have any bumper to bumper.  That was nice!!!   Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Commerce, Georgia.  Going to sleep early so I can get a very early start at about 3 AM.