Friday, October 29, 2021

 Left NJ very early this morning and drove to Shippensburg, PA. Arrived at the Volvo plant perfectly after they opened.  Loaded a Volvo L90H Wheel Loader that is going to Topeka, Kansas.

Left there before 8:30 AM !!!!  Drove out to the TA truck stop in Hebron, Ohio.  They have a Bob Evans Restaurant here.  Thought I was going to get a good meal.  Boy was I wrong!!  I ordered a steak dinner.  The steak was smothered in onions and mushrooms.  That was ok.   I couldn't even see the steak.  I pushed all that off to the side and this is what I saw (I cut the meat to see how it was cooked)

The steak wasn't even a quarter-inch thick.  It had the chewability of shoe leather. It was horrible!!!  I complained to the manager and told him that they should be embarrassed to serve something like that.  He didn't charge me for the meal and I left.  What a disappointment.  I'm going to bed very early so I can start driving again a little after midnight.  

Thursday, October 28, 2021

 Left real early this morning and drove to New Castle, PA and loaded a big hunk of aluminum.  Actually, it is a 40,000-pound block of aluminum.  It was going to Newark, New Jersey then eventually a big boat headed for Germany.

Left there in great time.  Drove to Newark, New Jersey, and delivered it.  Great view of the autumn colors in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania all day today.  My next load is back in Shippensburg, PA.  I started off that way.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Bloomsbury, New Jersey.  I had 0 minutes left on my clock when I stopped.  629 miles today too.

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

 Left this morning a little later than normal.  Had to time it so that I didn't get to Allentown before 9 AM.  My timing was perfect.  Arrived at the job site and the crane was there and all set up - for a nice change.  Unloaded pretty quickly.  Next load was back in Shippensburg, PA.  I drove over there, checked in, and got everything ready to load.  The guy came back over to me and said that the machines were not ready today and wouldn't be ready until Friday.  I packed everything back up again, pulled out front, and waited for Carlisle to tell me where to go next. About an hour later I got my next load.  It is over 3 1/2 hours away in New Castle, PA.  Won't be loading that today.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Breezewood, PA for the night. 

Tuesday, October, 26, 2021

 Left Kenly, NC at sunrise this morning.  Had a good day on the road.  Had a few areas of bumper-to-bumper traffic in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area.  Otherwise just heavy traffic in the Washington DC, Baltimore and Harrisburg areas.  Heavy crosswind with a top-heavy load is fun!! Stopped for the night at the TA east of Harrisburg, PA.  Will deliver in the morning sometime.  Can't enter Allentown until after the morning curfew is over at 9.  Here is how my truck looks when I'm parked.

Close up.

Monday, October 25, 2021

 Went into downtown Jacksonville first thing this morning and loaded a Caterpillar Generator that is going to Easton, Pennsylvania.  

It is 14 feet high and top-heavy!!  Left there and drove to the Petro truck stop in Kenly, North Carolina for the night.

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

 As soon as my 10 hours were up I left.  That was about 1 AM.  Had no traffic problems in Louisville, Nashville, or Chattanooga.  Some minor delays in Atlanta.  Stopped for the night at a Mom & Pop truck stop in Metter, Georgia.  Drove 666.6 miles today.  Will deliver tomorrow morning.

Monday, October 18, 2021

 Left a half-hour before sunrise.  Drove to Indianapolis and delivered the excavator.  Next load was in Lafayette, Indiana.  Drove there and loaded two Caterpillar engines and six parts boxes that are going to Savannah, Georgia.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Seymour, Indiana for the night.

Sunday, October 17, 2021

 Left Hagerstown, Maryland early this morning.  Drove to a rest area on I-70 just east of Indianapolis, Indiana for the night.  Will deliver in the morning.

Saturday, October 16, 2021

 The offense was horrible.  The defense was even worse!!

Friday, October 15, 2021

 Left at 1 AM and drove to the Caterpillar dealer in Mechanicsburg, Virginia. Got there real early but was still able to unload.  Then drove up to the Port of Baltimore.  Lots of Washington DC rush hour traffic!!  When I got to Baltimore I loaded a Caterpillar 320 Excavator that is going to Indianapolis, Indiana.

Left there and drove to the Pilot truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland. I'll do a reset here tomorrow then continue on Sunday.

Tomorrow...

Thursday, October 14, 2021

 Left North Little Rock, Arkansas as soon as my 10 hours were up.  Drove to Kenworth in Nashville, TN.  Dropped off my trailer there and picked up a trailer that had a Caterpillar Backhoe on it that is going to Mechanicsville, Virginia.  The driver that had this load broke down, so I'm finishing it.

Left there and drove to the Petro in Glade Spring, Virginia for the night.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

 Left at 3 AM CDT and drove the rest of the way to Lonoke, AR to the Remmington ammunition plant.  I was the first of our trucks to get there.  The crane was there and set up but they didn't bring enough counterweight for this lift.  They had to go back and get more.  So I had to wait.  This was my view while waiting.  When they were ready, I had to back in to where you see the crane.

I got backed in there but it was very tight with a stretched trailer.  Had to do a LOT of wiggling and most of it blind because of the width of the tank.  Earned my money on that one!!  They lifted the thing off and I pulled out.  Then shrunk the trailer back to normal.  From there I went to the Petro in North Little Rock for the night.  Next load is in Nashville, TN tomorrow.  I'll be leaving early again.

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

 Left Jacksonville at 3 AM this morning and drove up to Manchester, Tennessee.  Had to stretch the trailer for the load to fit.  

Then loaded a large tank that is going to Lonoke, Arkansas.  There are two more going.  They are already on their way.

I was almost out of hours for the day so I stayed there for the night.  I'll leave tomorrow.

Monday, October 11, 2021

 Left at 3:30 this morning and drove down to Orlando and delivered the Telehandler.  Was out of there by 7 AM.  Drove back to the Daily yard in Jacksonville.  Got my next load late this afternoon.  It is up in Manchester, Tennessee.  Have to swap out trailers for this one.  I'll leave here around 3 AM to head up there.

Sunday, October 10, 2021

 Early this morning I drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, Florida.  Then went back to sleep.  Here is what I am hauling.

I'll leave here real early tomorrow morning to go to Orlando to deliver.

Saturday, October 9, 2021

 Last night I left Carlisle, PA at 11:45 PM. Finally able to get moving!!!  Great night and day on the road.  Drove 684 miles to the Pilot truck stop in Hardeeville, South Carolina.

Friday, October 8, 2021

 It finally happened!!!!!!   I got my truck back this afternoon.  The inside looked like a bomb went off in there.  Spent a long time putting it back together enough to live in again.  My next load was already on my trailer for me so I'll be leaving for Orlando, Florida whenever I wake up.  Good night.

Thursday, October 7, 2021

 Now they are saying Friday!!!

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

 

Monday, October 4, 2021

 Now they are saying my truck won't be ready until Wednesday morning.  

Saturday, October 2, 2021

 They played horribly today and deserved to lose.  No chance at winning the SEC East this year.  They will drop a lot in the polls too.

Friday, October 1, 2021

 My next load is already sitting on my trailer in the Daily yard.  This morning I went over there and secured it to the trailer and got it ready to go for when my truck is ready.  Unfortunately, my truck wasn't done today.  The hotel I was initially in was booked solid Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so I had to go to a different hotel yesterday. The hotel I was in last night was not, shall we say, acceptable.  Last night at about 10:30 what sounded like a black male knocked on my door saying "Housekeeping". Well, I'm not stupid enough to answer the door.  He went away.  So today I got a different hotel through the rest of the weekend.  There is a very popular car show in town this weekend so rooms are extremely difficult to get.  Click here to see the car show.  Managed to get a room just down the road.  I was lucky.  When I checked the air conditioner this is what I found...

I had them come and clean it.

The cable TV in this hotel sucks too!!!!  Oh well.  At least I'll be able to see the Gators tomorrow.  6 PM on ESPN, if you are interested.

Thursday, September 30, 2021

 Tuesday at about midnight I drove back to Carlisle.  Got there at about 3 in the afternoon.  

Today, I got a spare truck and trailer and picked up a JLG Telehandler in McConnellsburg, PA, and brought it back to the Daily yard in Carlisle.

After dropping that off I drove to Shippensburg, PA to another JLG plant and picked up a JLG 800AJ Boom Lift and brought it back to Carlisle, PA.

After dropping that off I returned to Shippensburg, PA, and picked up a JLG 660SJ Boom Lift and brought it back to Carlisle, PA.

After that was all done, I dropped the trailer and parked the truck.  Then returned to my hotel for the night. They say my truck might be finished tomorrow.  I sure hope so. We shall see.

 

Saturday, September 18, 2021

 I decided to stop and get a hotel for the night.  Stopped in Smithfield, North Carolina. At about 2:00 AM I woke up and decided to get back on the road.  Was having a nice easy drive this morning until I got to mile marker 148, southbound, on I-95 in South Carolina.  Watch the video below and see what happened.

Here is what the car looked like afterward.

Had the Highway Patrol come out and make a report.  Was able to use a strap from my suitcase to tie up the front of the car until I could get to a place to get stuff to hold it better.  

Stopped at a truck stop and got some heavy zip ties and secured it better.

I continued on.  Stopped at the Enterprise Car Rental place at the Jacksonville International Airport and swapped into a different car. Never a dull moment.

Friday, September 17, 2021

 Well, they came up with a car around noon.  I loaded up and headed for home. Be there for at least a week and a half. Probably two.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

 At about 7:45 this morning I was finally brought into the shop to get the trailer tire replaced. 

When the tread flung off it wrapped around the axle.

He had to get in there and cut it off.

And here is what was wrapped around the axle.

Once he finished I was on the road.  Drove to the Port of Baltimore with a few places of bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Delivered the wheel loader.  Next drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA with a lot more bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way.  This truck is due for several services including a major recall.  They will have the truck for about two weeks (I'll bet it is longer than that) to do all the work. Daily had reserved a rental car for me but with all of the unforeseen delays, I was very late getting there.  Since I was not there to pick up the car when it was reserved for, they gave my car away.  They said that they won't have a car available until sometime tomorrow afternoon.  Great customer service!!  

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

 Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning.  Had a good day on the road right up until the end.  About 2 miles from the Ohio / West Virginia line on I-470 a trailer tire blew.  I was able to limp it to the TA truck stop in Wheeling, WV.  Checked in there to get it fixed.  They were so backed up that they wouldn't be able to get to it until about 8 AM tomorrow.  I parked the truck for the night.  My APU started up as it should but then shut off with a red engine warning light displayed.  Just great!!!  Have to idle the truck all night again.  Always an adventure!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

 Left Wheeling, WV at sunrise this morning.  Drove to East Peoria, Illinois, and delivered the Material Handler.  Then re-loaded a military Caterpillar 966H Wheel Loader that is going to the Port of Baltimore.  I guess Biden and the Democrats want to send the Taliban some more of our stuff.

Left there and drove over to the Daily yard in Morton, Illinois for the night.

Monday, September 13, 2021

 Went over to the Port of Baltimore this morning.  When I checked in to unload and to re-load they said that the machine I was to pick up had already been picked up in August.  Ok.  So I sent an email to my dispatcher in Carlile then went and unloaded the tractor.  I packed everything up to leave.  But something didn't seem right.  I decided I would drive around the Port and see if I could find the machine.  Lo and behold, I did.  I took a photo of it and the serial number and went back to the office.  They had to figure out what happened at their end. Once all the paperwork was straightened out, I went back to the machine and loaded it. It is a Caterpillar MH3026 Material Handler going to East Peoria, Illinois.

They can be a pain to load because the outriggers hit the trailer going on.  Have to build a small ramp for the tires to go up on before the trailer.  As you can see, it's up there with no problems.  Left there much later than I wanted to and drove to the TA truck stop in Wheeling, West Virginia for the night.

Also, someone stole my fuel cap over the weekend.  Had to replace it when I got here.

Saturday, September 11, 2021

 I left a half-hour before sunrise this morning.  Had a couple instances of bumper-to-bumper traffic, but nothing of any significance.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Baltimore. Will be here until Monday morning.

Gators did good today.  They should enjoy this because it won't be this good next week against Alabama.  They are gonna get creamed!!  Just hope they can at least hold their own like they did last year at the SEC Championship game.  

Friday, September 10, 2021

 I left a half-hour before sunrise this morning.  Nice day on the road.  Again, nothing exciting.  When I got to Morton, Illinois I stopped at the Daily yard, dropped my trailer, and went over to Wal Mart.  Had to re-stock on a few things.  Was getting to critically low Mt. Dew levels.  After that, I got my trailer again and was back on the road. Had a construction re-route in Illinois and Indiana.  Stopped for the night at the  TA truck stop in London, Ohio.

Thursday, September 9, 2021

 Drove the rest of the way into Davenport, IA. Was a bit early.   Unloaded the two alternators in a scrap yard that was very tight to maneuver in.  On the way out a piece of metal cut one of the trailer tires.  From there I drove over to Thermo King in Rock Island.  It was only 15 minutes away.  While they worked on my APU the tire guy was supposed to come out and change the tire but he didn't show up.  2 hours later, I ended up driving to their shop.  Once that was fixed, I went to Waterloo, Iowa and loaded a John Deere 9570 tractor that is going to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland.

Left there and drove to the world-famous Iowa 80 truck stop for the night.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

 As soon as my 10 hours were up I left.  Drove 641 miles to the Flying J truck stop in LaSalle, Illinois for the night.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

 Left early this morning and drove the rest of the way to Poughkeepsie, NY, and delivered the roller.  Next load was way over in Altoona, PA.  Drove over there to a Norfolk-Southern railroad yard.  Loaded two train alternators that had outlived their usefulness.  They are going to a scrapyard in Davenport, Iowa.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Milesburg, PA for my 10 hours.