The Gators got off to an unimpressive but good start last night. I love this time of year!!!!!
As soon as the Gator game was over I left Kenly, NC, and drove all night up to the TA truck stop in Maybrook, New York. I'll be here until Tuesday morning because of the holiday tomorrow.
Left Cocoa, FL at about 1:30 AM and drove to the Daily yard in Jacksonville. My next load was waiting there for me. Loaded another Caterpillar B10 Roller. This one is going to Poughkeepsie, New York.
Left there and drove up to the Petro truck stop in Kenly, NC.
Left Kenly, NC at about 2 AM and drove down to Orlando, Florida, and delivered the excavator. Didn't have much time left on my clock so I had to find the closest truck stop. That turned out to be in Cocoa, FL. I drove over there to the Flying J for the night. 659 miles today and only 23 minutes left on my clock when I stopped. Going to get some much needed sleep now. Good night.
Left pretty early again this morning. Drove to Carlisle, PA. Got the truck washed and fueled up before going over to load. Then loaded a Komatsu PC 170 Excavator that is going to Orlando, Florida.
Left there and drove down to the Petro truck stop in Kenly, North Carolina for the night.
I was on the road by 1:30 AM this morning. Drove the rest of the way to Bloomingburg, New York. I drove into the remnants of Hurricane Ida today between Washington D. C. and Frederick, Maryland. Stayed in rain the rest of the day. Most of it was very heavy rain. There was no wind. Delivered the roller. My next load is tomorrow in Carlisle, PA. I started off that way. Stopped at a small truck stop in Mountain Top, PA for the night.
Drove up to the Port of Savannah, Georgia this morning and loaded a Caterpillar B10 Roller that is going up to Bloomingburg, New York.
Left there and drove to the Pilot truck stop in Emporia, Virginia for the night. As soon as my 10 hours are up, I'll be on the road.
Over the weekend my APU quit again. This morning I was at Thermo King when they opened to get it fixed. Fortunately, they were able to fix it today and did. I load tomorrow morning at the Port of Savannah. I'll leave here in the morning to go up there.
Left early this morning and drove the rest of the way to Washington, Georgia. Got there before they opened. Gave me enough time to get all the securement stuff off and put away. Then they got to work and unloaded me. From there I drove home to Jacksonville, FL for the weekend. Have a doctor's appointment Monday. After that, I'll be back at it again.
Left at 1 AM this morning. Drove almost non-stop 689 miles to the Pilot truck stop in Augusta, Georgia. Had to stop. Only had 10 minutes left on my drive time clock. I'll deliver in the morning.
Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning. Drove the four-hour trip up to a quarry in Sandusky, Ohio. As soon as I started to un-chain the crusher it started to rain. Then the heavens opened up. Of course, I got soaked!! Waited for the rain to slow down enough to be able to work and finally got the thing off my trailer. My next load was about two hours away in Girard, Ohio. Drove over there and loaded a Caterpillar D6 dozer blade and the arms for it. They are going to Washington, Georgia.
Left there and went across the street to the Petro truck stop for the night. As soon as my 10 hours are up, I'm on the road again.
Left at sunrise this morning. A very uneventful day on the road - that's a good thing!! Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Caldwell, Ohio.
Went over to the Port of Charleston early in hopes of getting loaded early. No luck. They didn't start until a little after 1 PM. Loaded a Crusher that is going to a quarry in Sandusky, Ohio.
With my new trailer in tow, I started off for South Carolina. Got as far as the gate at the yard. The air tank at the back of the trailer had rusted through causing a huge air leak. I turned around and went back into the yard. Dropped the trailer in the repair area and settled in to wait until it was fixed. I sent a text to the mechanic. He came in and swapped out the tank. Shortly after noon I was once again heading to South Carolina. Stopped at the Flying J truck stop in St, George, South Carolina. Will get a late start tomorrow. My crane appointment to load at the Port isn't until 1 PM.
Left real early again and drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, Florida. I'm unloading the machine here. Another driver will take it the rest of the way to Dania Beach. I am getting a different trailer (only temporally) to pick up a machine at the Port in Charleston, South Carolina Monday morning.
Left Carlisle, PA early this morning and drove to McConnellsburg, PA. Loaded a Caterpillar TL1255 Fork Lift that is going to Dania Beach, Florida.
Left at 2:30 this morning and drove the rest of the way to Milford, Massachusetts, and delivered the counterweight. Then turned around and drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Another 600 miles today. Needed a tire replaced on the trailer and got it done while there. I load tomorrow morning in McConnellsburg, PA.
Left at about 12:30 AM and had a good day on the road. No traffic issues at all. Washington DC, Baltimore, and Harrisburg were a breeze. Stopped for the rest of the day at the TA truck stop in Montgomery, New York. The truck is due for another routine maintenance so I'll get it done here.
After a much-needed restful weekend, I went over to the Port of Savannah and loaded a Caterpillar Counterweight that is going up to Milford, Massachusetts.
While there the guy from the Port asked me if I would be able to help out another driver load an excavator that he was not comfortable loading. I said "sure". So, after I got everything squared away with my load I went over to him and loaded his excavator for him on his truck. Then I left. Drove to the Petro Kenly 95 Truck Stop in Kenly, North Carolina for my 10 hours. As soon as it is up, I'm leaving. Phones off. Going to bed now. Good night.
Left at 2 AM today. Drove the rest of the way to Savannah, Georgia, and delivered the stuff. My next load is at the Port of Savannah. Was hoping to reload today but I didn't have enough hours left to do it. I'll get a reset in over the weekend and pop on over to the Port Monday morning and snag my next load. Until then I'll be sleeping a lot at the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, GA. Did 660 miles today.
Went the rest of the way to Kokomo to a Chrisler plant there. Went to the engine manufacturing plant. Delivered the CNC Machine. Next load was in Lafayette, Indiana. Went there and loaded a Caterpillar Engine, Generator, and a parts box that are going to Savannah, Georgia.
Left there and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Waddy, Kentucky. I'll be outa here as soon as my 10 hours are up.
Left at sunrise this morning and drove to the Love's truck stop in Tipton, Indiana for the night. Deliver in the morning.
Went back over to the Port very early this morning. Loaded a CNC Machine that is going to Kokomo, Indiana.
Not much to look at, but has a bit of weight to it.
Left at sunrise this morning. Pushed it hard today and made it to the Port of Baltimore in time to deliver today. After that went to the TA truck stop in Baltimore for the night. I reload in the morning back at the Port.
With my reset out of the way, I left an hour before sunrise this morning. Nice day on the road. Only a little bumper-to-bumper traffic in the construction on I-70 east of Indy. Drove to the Flying J truck stop in Millersport, Ohio for the night.
Left real early this morning and drove to Mason City, Iowa, and delivered the motor grader. Had it off before they even knew I was there. Next load is in Waterloo, IA. Went there and loaded a John Deere 8RX 370 Tractor that is going to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland.
Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning. I only had around 7+ hours to work with today. Stopped for the rest of the day at the Pilot truck stop in Osceola, Iowa.
I gained a bit over ten hours today. I left at about 1 AM CDT. Just a little bit of bumper too bumper traffic in Dallas from a wreck. Other than that, very uneventful day adding another 575 miles to my tally. Stopped for the night, with only 11 minutes left, at the Pilot truck stop in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
I only had about 6 hours available today. Went the rest of the way to Carmine, TX, and delivered the wheel loader in the mud. The next load was over at the Port of Galveston. Drove there and loaded a Caterpillar 140 AWD Motor Grader that is going up to Mason City, Iowa. These things are fun to drive!!
Of course, it started to rain as I started to load. It stopped as I was finishing. By the time I had finished, I was just about out of hours. I parked in a small area across from the Port entrance for the rest of the day and tonight. The blue "X" marks where I parked.
Thought you might like to see the controls for these machines. Notice, no steering wheel. It steers with the left joystick.
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| Left Joystick |
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| Right Joystick |
Drove another 575 miles today to the Love's truck stop in Waller, Texas. I'm only about an hour away from delivery but I ran out of hours today so I have to deliver tomorrow.
Left Raphine, VA at about 1 AM. Drove 716 miles to the TA in Meridian, Mississippi for the night.
Left Scranton, PA at about 4:30 AM and drove into Bridgeport, NJ. Timed it perfectly. Got unloaded real quick. Then drove up to Carlisle via Baltimore for my next load. Went to the "home office" in Carlisle and loaded a Volvo L90H Wheel Loader that is going down to Carmine, Texas.
Was out of there by 11:30 AM. Drove to the Petro truck stop in Raphine, Virginia for the night. 511 miles today. Not too shabby!! But I'm tired. The phone is off. Good night.
Went the rest of the way into Honesdale, PA this morning. Got there around 7 AM. Found out that the rail car had to be disassembled this morning. It is going to a place in New Jersey just outside Philadelphia to be overhauled and refurbished. I was transporting the car's wheel assemblies. Another Daily driver was transporting the car.
Left this morning in the rain. Rained off and on most of the day. Drove up through Pennsylvania and met my pole car at the PA / NY state line on I-86. Uneventful day along I-86. But then we went north on two-lane back roads the rest of the way up through the finger lake region of upstate New York. Went over the Erie Canal. If you want to look it up, that is Lock 25 on the canal.
I had an excellent pole car driver. There were several dozen low power lines that I had to zig-zag around as well as an untold number of low tree branches. But here was the tightest spot on the trip. A bridge over the Seneca River. I was 14 feet, 6 inches tall, and 10 feet wide.
I squeezed under that with, and I'm not kidding, one-inch verticle clearance between the tractor and the bridge. Then it was on to deliver the tractor. My next load is back in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. I started off in that direction. Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Binghamton, New York.
Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning. Made it around Indy with no problems. With all the construction going on there and I-70 east of Indy, that is quite an accomplishment. Stopped a bit early today because of the lack of parking availability ahead of me. Stopped at the Petro truck stop in Girard, Ohio. Tomorrow I'll get a pole car when I get to New York.
Good day on the road. Nothing exciting, and that's a good thing!! Stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Pittsboro, Indiana
They were able to get the replacement slack adjusters very quickly this morning. Didn't take long to install them.
They were done before my permits came in. Once they came in I was back on the road. Had no traffic problems going around the "Twin Cities". Continued to the Petro truck stop in Albert Lea, Minnesota.
Friday Carlisle told me that my trailer was due for an inspection. Tried to get it done Friday but the shop here at the Petro said that they didn't have anyone available to do it until Sunday morning.
This morning I was at the shop when they were supposed to open at 8 AM local time. They didn't get there until 8:15. They eventually brought the truck in to do the inspection. The trailer failed. They said it needed 2 slack adjusters for the brakes. They took one off because the only place to get parts that was open today needed to see one to see if they had any in stock. So they took it over there and, of course, they didn't have them. Now I have to wait until Monday sometime for them to be located someplace else.
I didn't get any permits so I'm here until at least Monday sometime. Yesterday, while loading, I saw and heard the military jets flying around. There was an occasional sonic boom too. Didn't think much of it because I'm around military bases quite a bit. Well, I found out why they were flying around so much. The Fargo Air Show is going on this weekend. The airport is not far from here so I watched the Blue Angels perform this afternoon.
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| Internet Photo |
Went the rest of the way up to Warner, SD to the job site where this transformer was to be unloaded. I was a little early.
Once the crew got there things moved pretty fast. They unloaded that 46,000-pound transformer with no problems.
My next load was up in Fargo, North Dakota. I went up there and loaded a Case 500 Tractor that is going to Auburn, New York.
By the time I finished with that I was totally exhausted. I went to the Petro truck stop in Fargo for the night and to wait for my permits to come in. So far, no permits have come in so it looks like I might be here for the weekend.
Left early this morning. Thought you might like to see what Kansas is famous for (besides The Wizard of Oz). The State flower, sunflower!
Very uneventful day on the road. I like those! Made it through Nebraska and up into South Dakota. I love it up here!! Stopped for the night at a very small truck stop in Wolsey, South Dakota. I'm just about an hour away from delivery. The crane set up today so they will be ready for me when I get there. Shouldn't take too long to get unloaded.
Left early this morning. Had no traffic issues going through Fort Worth, I went through before rush hour. Didn't have any issues going through Oklahoma City either. Stopped for the night, after driving 600 miles, at a truck stop in Newton, Kansas.
