Left at 3 AM EDT and drove to Houston. Stopped got fuel and got the truck washed. Then over to the Daily terminal and dropped my trailer. From there I went and did laundry. When that was done I went back to the Daily yard and settled in for the rest of the day to watch a lot of college football. Just hope the Gators don't get killed too badly tonight.
I left at about 2:30 AM EDT (1:30 CDT) and drove the rest of the way to Killeen, TX. South of Dallas it started to rain. Thunderstorms most of the way. Texas people can't drive in the rain!!! There were wrecks everywhere!!! That caused traffic backups. Took forever to get there. When I got there, this was where I had to go to deliver. It had just stopped raining. Everything was wet.
I entered the gate off the busy roadway like this. Traffic stopped for me without any arguments from anyone.
The drive to the delivery site was not as good as it looks in these Google Maps photos. Anything that was not part of the driveway was soft mud. Getting in was not much of a problem. Had to finagle a little bit.
When backing out and making the turn at the "T" intersection my trailer tires went down into the mud causing the trailer to bottom out. That's when it broke. I almost got stuck there. I was able to get it unstuck and continued to maneuver the trailer around the corner backward on my blind side. It took a while, but I made it. Here is what broke on the trailer. The arrow points to the broken part. Compare it to the normal one on the other side.
I left at about 3 AM EDT and drove the rest of the way to Griffin, GA. On the way I had a truck pull out in front of me. Had to brake really hard to keep from hitting him broadside.
My loading appointment was for 8:30 but they didn't load me until 10. Loaded a Caterpillar Genset that is going to Killeen, Texas.
Left there saw a huge traffic back up south of Atlanta on I-75. I was able to go around it on side streets. In Alabama had a construction backup. Got through that and stopped for my 10 hours at the Love's truck stop in Toomsuba, Mississippi.
As soon as my 10 hours were up, I left. Delivered the excavator in Saint Rose, Louisiana when they opened. Saint Rose is right next to New Orleans. I really hate New Orleans. My next load was supposed to be in Montgomery, Alabama BUT something came up where they needed a truck in Griffin, Georgia for a load that required a crane. So I diverted toward Griffin. I ran out of hours for today and stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Montgomery, Alabama. 664 miles today. Felt good to be back moving again!!!
Drove the rest of the way to Pooler, GA, and was a tad early for my 7:30 AM EDT loading appointment. Loaded a Volvo ECR145EL Excavator that is going to Saint Rose, Louisiana.
Delivered the wheel loader first thing this morning. My next load is in Pooler, Georgia tomorrow morning. I drove to the TA truck stop in Brunswick, Georgia for the night.
I left a half hour before sunrise this morning. While traveling south on I-95 south of Daytona Beach I saw the Atlas 5 rocket launch from the Kenedy Space Center. Unfortunately, the photos do not do it justice. The gold flame from the rocket, which you can't see in the photo, is a beautiful gold that doesn't reproduce well at all on film or video. It is one of those things that you have to see in person to appreciate.
About 10 minutes after the launch, this is what it looks like.
Drove down to a private truck parking lot in Pompano, Beach for the night.
I left at sunrise this morning and drove to the Daily Yard in Jacksonville, Florida. Now it's time for some college football.
The Gators looked great!!! But they played a powder puff team. Next week is against Tennessee. They are gonna get killed! :(
My permits didn't start to come in until 10:00 AM EDT. I left at 10:30. Traffic wasn't too bad in Baltimore or Washington DC. North of Richmond I got in a few miles of slow-n'-go traffic. The last 25 miles today were the most interesting. I could see the thunderstorm ahead of me. Radar showed it to be a good one, although not real big. As we (meaning all the traffic around me) approached it we drove through what appeared to be the start of a small tornado. It was pretty cool!!! Glad I was heavy!!! Made it through the storm and stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Kenly, North Carolina. Thought you might like to see who's driving the wheel loader...
He gets a lot of attention from passing cars and trucks.
Left at 8:30 AM EDT. Had some bumper-to-bumper traffic in Washington DC. Continued on up to Harrisburg, PA, and delivered the wheel loader. Then drove to the Keen yard in Carlisle, PA, and loaded a Volvo L180H Wheel Loader that is going to Davie, Florida.
I left at sunrise this morning. Sat for about an hour on stop-and-go traffic (mostly stop) about 25 miles south of North Carolina because of construction and a wreck in the construction zone. Because of that and the flat tire yesterday, I couldn't get as far as I wanted to today. I was not able to get through the northern Virginia curfew area so I had to stop very early. Stopped at the Flying J truck stop in Ruther Glen, Virginia. Won't be able to start until 8:30 tomorrow because of the curfew.
Left early this morning and delivered the wheel loader just when they opened. My next load was up in Pooler, Georgia (next to Savannah). I drove up there and loaded a Caterpillar 950 Wheel Loader that is going to Harrisburg, PA.
Not a very good way to start off the football season. Florida was not good at all. My hopes of a good year have pretty much disappeared.
This morning we went to Harrisburg, PA, and picked up my truck from the International dealer's Body Shop and brought it back to Carlisle. Our shop still had a few things to do with it. While they did their thing, I took the shop truck and went back to the Volvo plant in Shippensburg and loaded a Volvo L70H Wheel Loader, and brought it back to the Daily yard.
This morning I used the "shop" truck and my new (to me) trailer and drove to the Volvo plant in Shippensburg, PA. Loaded a Volvo L90H Wheel Loader. Took it back to the Daily Yard in Carlisle.
After unloading it I went back for another one. This time it was a little smaller. A Volvo L60H Wheel Loader. Took it to Carlisle.
I took a little trip over to Gettysburg, the Civil War Battlefield.
I checked out of my hotel this morning because they were full until Monday because of a hugely popular Corvette show that was in town at the Carlisle Event Center this weekend. My truck was finished at Thermo King and we brought it back to Daily. Then it went up to International in Harrisburg to get the bodywork repaired. The photo below shows what needs to be repaired.
Yesterday the parts came in for my truck so they were supposed to work on it today. Don't know if they did. Yesterday I had the trailer shop add 10 "D" rings and some other stuff to the trailer that I'm getting. Today I moved all my stuff over to it. That is a lot of work. I have a lot of heavy stuff!!! But I'm ready to go when I get the truck back. Tomorrow I will be teaching a newbie how to use an RGN trailer. Then going down the street to teach him to properly secure his load. Glad to be doing something!!! This sitting is driving me crazy!!!!!
