Left a little before sunrise this morning and went to the John Deere dealer in Houston to unload. It was pretty busy in there so I had to wait a bit to get a place to unload. I finally did after not too long of a wait. My next load was not too far away. Drove over to the Port of Houston and loaded a Caterpillar 150 AWD Motor Grader that is going to Bismark, North Dakota.
Nothing exciting today. Just a nice uneventful day on the road. Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Baytown, Texas. Will deliver in the morning.
Left this morning and wasn't on the road a half hour before I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic. A 2 1/2 mile back-up from a wreck and construction. Three lanes down to one. Took about a half-hour to get through that. From there on it was pretty much smooth sailing the rest of the day. I stopped a little early tonight because there was another traffic back-up about 20 miles ahead. I'll wait until tomorrow to go through there. Should be all better by then. Stopped at the Flying J truck stop in Gulfport, Mississippi.
This morning I loaded, in the rain, a John Deere 210 Excavator that is going to Houston, Texas.
Rained all day. The crane was supposed to be here at 7 AM. They didn't show up until after 9.
It took a while for them to set up. While they were setting up a problem was noticed.
They ordered a dump truck of stone to be delivered to fill the new mud hole that developed when the crane went in.
Then the building came in.
This is how far his trailer was stretched.
Then the bathrooms came in.
After they were lifted off it was my turn.
I was finally empty and leaving there after 2 PM. I load tomorrow in Kernersville, North Carolina. I drove down there. Spent the night at the John Deere / Hitachi plant in Kernersville. There are 2 trucks ahead of me in the morning.
I left the yard in Jacksonville at 12:30 this morning. Drove straight through to Zion Crossroads, Virginia. 646 miles. I have the air conditioning units for a new Checkers restaurant. The three sections of buildings are also coming. Two of the three are already here. We are at a truck stop on the opposite side of I-64 from the job site. The crane is not due here until tomorrow. Here is an overview of where we are going.
Here is where we are parked in relation to the job site...
What is going to be interesting is the main building (on another truck) is 16 feet wide and is stretched to 90 feet long. PLUS there is a slight hump in the road leading up to the job site. Just enough to bottom out the trailer. Tomorrow will be interesting.
My next load arrived here at the Daily yard this afternoon on another truck. I used a telehandler to unload the other truck and load my truck with two air conditioner units and a small pallet of parts. They are going to Zion Crossroads, Virginia.
I will leave here around midnight.
Left this morning to arrive in Jacksonville when they opened. Delivered the wheel loader. Then went to the Daily yard in Jacksonville. Will be here for a few days. Have a couple doctor's appointments next week. Should be back at it again on Wednesday.
I left the Daily yard this morning at about 2:30. Great day on the road. No traffic issues anywhere. Drove 656 miles to the Love's truck stop in Yemassee, South Carolina for the night. I'll deliver first thing tomorrow morning.
Left Maybrook, NY early this morning and drove the rest of the way to Wallingford, Connecticut, and delivered one of the excavators and the two extra buckets. Then drove to Plainfield, CT, and delivered the other excavator. From there I drove back to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to the Daily yard and loaded a Volvo L90H Wheel Loader that is going to Jacksonville, Florida.
I stayed in the Daily yard for the night. I'm exhausted!!! Heavy traffic all day. 510 miles of it!!! Good night.
I was on the road at 1:30 AM. Light snow almost all day. In the first 120 miles of Pennsylvania on I-80 I passed 14 semi truck crashes. About 1/3 of them were not upright. Most of them had been there a while. Others just happened. Didn't see any car crashes, only semi trucks. I stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Maybrook, New York.
Got some more snow yesterday. Left this morning and it was snowing. Went to AIS in Grand Rapids, MI, and loaded a John Deere 75G Excavator that is going to Wallingford, Connecticut.
Then went to Michigan Cat and loaded a John Deere 85G Excavator and three buckets that are going to Plainfield, Connecticut.
Left there, still snowing hard at times. Passed a lot of cars spun out in the median and off the side of the road. Passed a few semi-trucks jackknifed off the road and one on its side. Continued on to the Middle Ridge Service Plaza on I-80 in Amhurst, Ohio for my 10 hours.
Drove the rest of the way to Grand Rapids, Michigan this morning. Started snowing hard about 20 miles east of Grand Rapids.
Parked for the rest of the weekend at a truck stop in Byron Center, MI. Still snowing. They have a good restaurant. I load a few miles from here Monday morning.
Fortunately, the snow stopped and there was no accumulation. I left at about 2 AM and drove to the Kentucky / Ohio state line on I-275. Had to get ahead of the Cincinnati curfew that started at 7 AM but couldn't go into Ohio until a half-hour before sunrise. That was at about 7:25 AM. Then I was back driving again. Drove to Perrysburg, Ohio, and delivered the wheel loader. My next load is Monday (because I didn't have enough hours left to get there today) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I started off that way and stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Milan, Michigan.
Left a half hour after sunrise this morning. Traffic was heavy today. No problems going around Atlanta. But had an 11 mile back up of bumper to bumper traffic from a wreck in Cartersville, GA. Stopped for my 10 hours at the Perto truck stop in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hope to start again at about 1 AM, however it started snowing while I was eating dinner. So, I may not be going anywhere. We'll see.
Late this morning I got my next load and left to go get it. Drove up to the Port of Savannah, Georgia, and loaded a Caterpillar 950GC Wheel Loader that is going to Perrysburg, Ohio.
Left there but didn't get very far. Stopped for the night at Grady's Truck Stop in Pulaski, Georgia.
Got up early and drove to Richie Brothers in Davenport and delivered the motor grader. Didn't have another load so I went to the Daily yard in Jacksonville. They have a few crappy loads but nothing worth taking. Hopefully, something better will pop up tomorrow. In the meantime, I did 3 loads of laundry, then went to Wal-Mart and restocked. Very productive day. Now I'm going to watch the rocket launch from the Kenedy Space Center in Titusville tonight. Should be able to see it real good from here. The sky is very clear tonight.
Jan 18, 2022 07:04 PMLC-39ASpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 4-6
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Was over at the Caterpillar dealer in Austell before they opened. As soon as the opened I delivered the "C" frame. Didn't have another load yet so I found a place to park and waited for 8 am when the office folks came into work. Finally got my next load and went over to McDonnough, Georgia to load a used Caterpillar 12M Moror Grader that is going to Rickie Brothers Auction in Davenport, Florida.
Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Lake City, Florida for the night.
Left as soon as my 10 hours were up. That was about 1 am. As soon as I pulled out on the Interstate one of my headlights burned out. Stopped at the next truck stop and replaced it. Always something!! As I got n the bridge going into Kentucky it started to snow. Was in snow, sleet, snow/rain mix and rain all the way to Atlanta. It was all rain south of Nashville. Stopped at the Petro truck stop in Atlanta, still raining. The place was full at 8am!! I was lucky to get a spot. I'll deliver a few miles from here tomorrow morning.
As soon as my 10 hours were up I left. It was still very windy and now it was snowing. The snow was the fine powdery kind of snow that the skiers love. It was blowing horizontally. The roads were fine to start off but rapidly deteriorated.
After I drove through Kansas City I decided to stop and let the system pass. Stopped at the Petro truck stop in Oak Grove, Missouri. I'll check the weather later after I wake up and see if it is better.
I slept for a couple hours and decided to get back on the road. The weather had not gotten any better. By the time I got to Topeka it had improved some. Missouri did a much better job than Kansas in keeping the roads clear. It continued to get better the further I went. By the time I got to Illinois the snow was gone, just a light mist that went away too. There was no snow on the ground. I stopped at the TA in Mt. Vernon, Illinois after driving 600.3 miles today. Going to watch the replay of the Alabama / Georgia national championship game on ESPN and get some very much needed sleep. Phone is off. Good night.
Left real early this morning and arrived in Aurora, Colorado a little before they opened. delivered the compactor then loaded a "C" frame for a D8 Dozer. It is going to Austell, Georgia.
Left there in real good time. Heading east on I-70 the crosswind was horrendous!! At least 40 to 50 MPH crosswind. I was very happy that my load had a low center of gravity. The other semis were having a hard time holding their lane. I had no problem, although the wind did bounce me around a lot. Expand the video below to full screen to see how the wind affected a pick-up truck pulling a trailer. Also, you have to look real close to see it, look at the debris blowing across the road and how fast it is blowing.
I stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Ellis, Kansas. The wind is bouncing the truck A LOT!!! Supposed to get snow later on tonight. We'll see.
I had a reset coming up very soon so I decided to get it over with now. I'll be leaving here to deliver tomorrow morning.
Yesterday late afternoon my truck was fixed!! They sent a car over to the hotel and picked me up. After getting my truck I went back to the hotel and checked out. Then back over to Thermo King and picked up my trailer. Once that was done I hit the road. Drove all night, 638 miles, and stopped when I ran out of hours at the Flying J truck stop in Big Spring, Nebraska.
Left real early this morning. Stopped at the Petro in Albert Lea, Minnisota to get an air leak fixed on the trailer. An hour later it was fixed and I was back on the road again. Drove up to Bloomington and delivered the wheel loader. My next load was not too far away. It was up in Elk River, Minnesota. Went there and loaded a Caterpillar CP56B Compactor that is going to Aurora, Colorado.
Left there and started off to Colorado. Didn't get very far. The "Low Coolant" light came on. I stopped at the TA truck stop and added a gallon and a half of coolant. Found the leak. The TA shop said they would not be able to fix it. After a lot of phone calls, figured out where to go for repairs. I drove to the Thermo King in Albert Lea, Minnisota and left the truck there. I'm at the Holiday Inn Express until it is fixed. They said that they wouldn't be able to start on it until Wednesday, but MIGHT be able to squeeze it in tomorrow afternoon. We'll see.
Another really good day on the road. Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning. No traffic issues at all today. Drove to the Flying J truck stop in des Moines, Iowa for the night.
Stopped at a rest area this afternoon. This guy was parked next to me. He had two HUGE basset hounds. Had a ramp for them to get in and out of the truck.
Left Jackson, Georgia a half hour after sunrise this morning. Much to my surprise, the traffic going around Atlanta was light. I can't remember when I have seen so little traffic in Atlanat. It was GREAT!! The road construction is finished in Chatanooga so there were no problems there either. Then came Nashville. Again, no traffic problems there. WOW!! It was great day on the road. Weather was perfect until I go to Kentucky. Then it was heavy overcast. Once I entered Illinois the rain came. Sometimes hard too. Just before I stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois the rain stopped. Felt so good to be moving!! 535 miles today.
Left real early this mornning and drove to Summerville, SC and delivered the dozer. Then drove back down to the Port of Savannah and loaded a Caterpillar 950 Wheel Loader that is going up to Bloomington, Minnesota.
Left there and drove to the Love's truck stop in Jackson, Georgia for the night.
Went over to Thermo King this morning and got my APU fixed. Then went back to Daily yard and got my trailer. After that, I went over to the Port of Jacksonville and loaded a Caterpillar D5 dozer and blade that is going up to Summerville, South Carolina.
Then I drove up to the Pilot truck stop in Hardyville, South Carolina for the night. Feels good to be moving again!!
Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning and drove to Ocala and delivered the dump truck. Here is a video of me unloading it.
After that, I drove back to the Daily Yard in Jacksonville. Have a few more doctor's appointments then Thursday to Thermo King (again) to get my APU fixed.
Got a quickie load to do between doctor's appointments. Drove up to the Port of Savanah, Georgia this afternoon and loaded a Caterpillar 725 Articulating Dump Truck that is going to Ocala, Florida.
Left there and drove back to the Daily yard in Jacksonville, FL until Monday. Everything is closed for the holiday. AND once again, my APU air conditioner quit working!!! Always on a holiday weekend!
