I left Carlisle, Pennsylvania at about 4:30 AM EDT when my 10 hours were up. Excellent day on the road today. Rained most of the day too. Nothing exciting or interesting. I ran out of hours so I stopped for the rest of the weekend at the Pilot truck stop in Rising Fawn, Georgia. Yes, that really is a town name. 664 miles today. It was nice to see the GATORS get a win for a nice change!!
Left the TA in Erie, PA at sunrise this morning. Drove the rest of the way to Lockport, New York. Mostly back roads today with a lot of small towns and stoplights!! Delivered the excavator. My next load was waiting for me at the Daily yard in Carlisle, PA. I drove down there and loaded a Volvo L60H Wheel Loader that is going to Montgomery, Alabama.
After I finished I stayed there for the night. I'll hit the road when my 10 hours are up. I'm tired and my back really needs a rest. Good night.
Left real early this morning. Had to get through Lexington, KY, and the Kentucky side of Cincinnati before 7 AM EDT to beat the curfew. Otherwise, I would have had to wait until 9 AM EDT to get through. BUT I couldn't go into Ohio before a half-hour before sunrise. Just across the river at the State line, there was a parking area for oversized loads.
I got there at about 6 AM. Sunrise was at 8:07 AM. I sat there and took a nap until it was time to go again. Drove the rest of the day, 584 miles, to the TA truck stop in Erie, Pennsylvania. I'll be here until sunrise tomorrow morning.
Went the rest of the way to Peachtree City and got there just before they opened. Once the opened I loaded a Sany SY215 Excavator that is going up to Lockport, New York. That is right next to Buffalo. While loading the Blue Angels were doing some training flights from the airport that is right next to where I was. When they were coming in to land they were just over the top of the building. I could see every detail on the bottom of the aircraft. It was really cool. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any photos of that.
A half-hour after sunrise this morning I left and drove the rest of the way to Garden City, GA. When I got there they didn't have a booking number and had to email someone to get it. So I waited. Then it was lunchtime so I had to wait until 1 PM when they returned. Finally unloaded the motorgrader. My next load is in Peachtree City, GA. I started off that way but only got as far as where I started from this morning, the TA truck stop in Jackson, GA.
Left at sunrise this morning. Good day on the road. Only problems were on the south side of Atlanta. A bit of slow-n'-go traffic. Didn't get as far as I wanted to today. Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Jackson, Georgia.
Went to North Little Rock, Arkansas this morning to load at 7 AM CDT. Loaded a Caterpillar 14 Motorgrader that is going to Garden City, Georgia. Eventually, it will end up in Viet Nam.
Left there and went to a scale. I was fine on the weight but I didn't like how it road so I moved it back a little. Road much better after that. Couldn't go into Mississippi or Alabama on Sunday, so I stopped for the rest of the day at the Petro truck stop in West Memphis, AR. I'll start at sunrise in the morning.
As soon as my 10 hours were up I left. Drove the rest of the way to Baton Rouge and delivered the excavator. My next load is up in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Got started that way. Supposed to load Saturday morning. That got pushed back a day to Sunday morning. That is a good thing! I can get a reset done Saturday. I made it to about 30 minutes away from where I load when I ran out of hours. Stopped at a convenience store that has a restaurant in Redfield, Arkansas. Put 643 miles behind me today and had 14 minutes left on my clock when I stopped. Now it is time for some good college football!! Except the Gators are playing Georgia tomorrow. They are gonna get creamed, unfortunately. But there are some other matchups that will be good. The Jacksonville terminal manager flew up to Pennsylvania today so he could go to the Ohio State at Penn State game. That ought to be a good one.
Left the Daily yard in Jacksonville early this morning and timed it so that I arrived to load in Pooler, Georgia just before they opened. I was first in line. Then loaded a Volvo ECR145EL Excavator that is going to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Left there and drove to the Love's truck stop in DeFuniak Springs, Florida for my 10 hours.
Left real early this morning and went the rest of the way to Brunswick, GA and delivered the truck. They were so excited to get it. From there I drove to the Daily yard in Jacksonville. Had a few errands to take care of.
Went to Midlothian first thing this morning and got there just before they opened. When they got there I loaded a Mack Truck that is going down to Brunswick, Georgia.
Left there and headed south. Passed a semi truck in Petersburg, Virginia that had just started to burn. No one there yet.
Left very early this morning and drove the rest of the way into the Port of Baltimore. The place was packed. Took over a half hour just to get a parking place in order to go check-in. Once I finally got checked in, I unloaded the tractor. Those things are so much fun to drive!!! You can really feel the power that they have.
After that, I went to a different area and loaded a Caterpillar 320 Excavator that was going to Mechanicsville, Virginia.
Left there and drove to Mechanicsville and delivered the excavator. My next load is at 8:30 tomorrow morning in Midlothian, Virginia. I went to the TA truck stop in Ashland, VA for the night.
Left a half hour before sunrise this morning. Extremely uneventful day on the road. Stopped for the night at the Sunoco truck stop in Grantsville, Maryland.
Left the yard in Bettendorf a half hour before sunrise this morning. Nice uneventful day until Indianapolis. Had about 3 miles of stop-and-go traffic that put me over a half hour behind. Aside from that, nothing else interesting today. Stopped at the Petro truck stop in New Paris, Ohio. Will be here until Sunday morning. I ran out of hours so have to do a reset.
Left this morning and timed it so that I got to Altoona, IA when they opened. Delivered the motorgrader. Then drove up to Waterloo. When I got there the place was packed!! There were about 20 trucks ahead of me to get loaded, so I waited. After waiting over 3 hours I loaded a John Deere 8RX 370 Tractor that is going to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland.
As soon as my ten hours were up, I left. That was about 1:30 CDT. Went straight through the middle of Dallas. At that hour it was a breeze!! No problems in Kansas City either. All the scales were closed too!! Stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Eagleville, Missouri. I'll deliver first thing in the morning in Altoona, IA then up to Waterloo for my next load.
Last night I got an email that said my truck was due for routine maintenance. This morning, at 2:30 CDT, I went over to the TA truck stop in Baytown, TX, and had it done. From there I went to the Port of Galveston. I was early so I waited for the Port to open. Once it opened I loaded a Caterpillar 150 Motorgrader that initially was going to Sioux City, Iowa. That changed. Now It's going to Altoona, Iowa. They are so much fun to drive!!! Everything is controlled by two joy sticks, no steering wheel.
Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Dallas, Texas for the night. I'll leave as soon as my ten hours are up.
Left at about 4 AM CDT and drove the rest of the way to Irving, Texas, and delivered the Genset. As you can see from the photos below, the shrink wrap didn't make it.
My next load is at the Port of Galveston. I headed that way. Stopped at the Daily terminal in Houston, had to have a little work done to the truck and trailer. Once that was finished I stayed there for the night. Will get an early start in the morning.
I left at about 12:30 AM CDT. Had a very good uneventful day on the road. The shrink wrap on the genset started to shred, as I expected it would. Had to stop four different times and cut the shredded parts off. There isn't much of it left. After driving 620 miles today, I stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
Went to Lafayette, IN this morning and loaded a Caterpillar 3516 Genset and a parts box going to Irving, Texas.
I left at 3 AM EDT and drove over to New Philidelphia, Ohio. I timed it perfectly and got there as they opened. Loaded a Gradall XL4100 Excavator that was going to Indianapolis, Indiana.
Left at sunrise this morning and drove to Indianapolis, IN, and delivered the excavator. Next load is back in New Philadelphia, Ohio. Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in New Paris, Ohio. Fall colors are looking good up here. Nice to see all the farmers out in the fields working their combines.
Left the Daily yard at 5 AM this morning and drove over to the Port of Baltimore and got in line to get in. Glad I left when I did. The container traffic into the port was backed up for over a mile. It only got worse as the morning progressed. At 7 AM they opened and I was able to unload in pretty good time. Then went to the other area of the Port to check in to get my next load. The line was all the way out the door and wrapped around the building. So I waited. Once I got checked in, I loaded a caterpillar 320 Excavator that is going to Indianapolis, Indiana.
At about 1 AM EDT I left and drove to the Daily terminal in Baltimore, Maryland. Can't deliver this thing until Tuesday because of the holiday, so here I'll sit.
As soon as my ten hours were up I left. That was about 1 AM EDT. Nothing interesting on the road today. Stopped at the Petro truck stop in Raphine, Virginia. I'll be here until Sunday morning.
Left at about 1 AM CDT and drove the rest of the way to North Little Rock, Arkansas, and loaded a ripper for a motor grader that is going to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland.
Talk about an easy load!!!! I love it!!! Left there and drove to a "mom & pop" truck stop in Lebanon, Tennessee. I try to stop in these kinds of places when I can find them. The food is usually better in them, and it was here. I ate in their restaurant and it was pretty good. 670 miles today.
I left at about 12:30 AM CDT and drove to Irvine, TX, and delivered the Engines. After getting two of them off the fork lift broke. After a while they brought over another fork lift and unloaded the rest of it. What normally would have taken 30 minutes took an hour and a half.
My next load is in North Little Rock, Arkansas. I started off that way but didn't get very far. Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Rockwall, Texas. Had some good Texas BBQ ribs for dinner. 562 miles today.
Felt a lot better today. This morning I drove over to Griffin, GA, and loaded five Caterpillar engines and five parts boxes. They are all going to Irvine, Texas.
Left there and had a pretty good day on the road. No traffic issues going around Atlanta. There was a big traffic back-up in Alabama but I was able to go around it and didn't lose any time. Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Meridian, Mississippi.
In the middle of the night last night I woke up very sick. Started at about 2 AM. This morning I changed my loading appointment until tomorrow morning. I have been sick all day but, I think I'm getting better. Will try to load tomorrow. Not taking any phone calls.
I have a loading appointment for 8 AM Monday morning in Griffin, Georgia. This morning I drove to the TA truck stop in Jackson, GA. Got the truck washed (finally) when I got here.
We have had daily thunderstorms worse than this storm. Thats a very good thing!! Other parts of the state were not so lucky. We had wind and periods of rain, but that's all. Here is what it looks like right now.
So far not much impact from the hurricane. It was windy all day with some light rain, that's all. The track has changed again. Now they say it is going to be east of me when it gets here. Thats a good thing. This is what it looks like now.
My trailer has more problems and it is taking longer to fix them. Instead of loading tomorrow somewhere, I decided to stay here and ride out the storm. Plus I don't want to be on the road with all the evacuation traffic. We shouldn't get much here. I expect that we will get a lot of rain and a good breeze with occasional gusts. This is what it looks like as of right now. The eye is forecast to go right over me as a tropical storm. That will probably change, it usually does.
Left a half hour before sunrise this morning and drove the rest of the way to Chiefland and delivered the tractor. After that, drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville. My trailer needed more repairs. I'll be here until Wednesday morning. Getting ready for the "big blow" heading this way. Passed dozens and dozens of power truck convoys heading into Florida today.
