I left at sunrise this morning. Lots of heavy and bumper-to-bumper traffic in Charlotte, NC as I got there in the middle of rush hour. Once I got through that mess I made it to Concord, NC, and delivered the dump truck. My next load was in Clayton, NC. I drove over there and loaded a Caterpillar 930 Wheel Loader that is going to Bloomingburg, New York.
Left there and drove to the Petro truck stop in Kenly, NC for my ten hours.
I was at the Port of Jacksonville first thing this morning and loaded a Volvo A30G Articulating Dump Truck that is going to Concord, North Carolina.
They did pretty good but ran out of gas in the second half.
Blog readers for the past 7 days...
Here in Jacksonville, we got very little of the hurricane. It moved further south than predicted, which was good!! We got rain and wind but no big deal here.
This morning I left at 3 AM EDT and drove down to Riverview, FL. I got there just before they opened and delivered the telehandler. My next load is back at the Port of Jacksonville on Monday morning. I drove back to where I started from at the Daily Terminal in Jacksonville. I'll be there until Monday morning. Now I can settle in for a good weekend of SEC college football. GO GATORS!!!!
I left at midnight and drove to the Daily Terminal in Jacksonville. The storm was still quite a ways away so no real effects from it yet. It is moving a bit farther south than initially forecast. Here is what it looks like now.
I left at midnight and drove 583 miles to the Flying J truck stop in St. George, South Carolina. No traffic issues. Lots of power trucks and tree removal convoys heading south on I-95.
I drove the rest of the way to Elkridge, MD this morning and was there when they opened. I got unloaded pretty quickly and left for my next load. Drove to McConnellsburg, PA, and loaded a Caterpillar TL1255 Telahandler that is going to Riverview, Florida. Heading back into another hurricane!! Riverview is just outside of Tampa.
Left there and drove back to the AC&T truck stop in Hagerstown, MD, right back where I started this morning. Had to stop way early today because I ran out of hours on my 70-hour clock.
I left a little after midnight and drove to the AC&T truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland. Will deliver in the morning.
I was able to get loaded first thing this morning!! Loaded a Caterpillar C175 Genset that is going to Elkridge, Maryland.
Then it had to be tarped!!
My next load is in Lafayette, Indiana. I left at about 11:30 AM CDT and continued on to the Love's truck stop in Lafayette, Indiana. 585 miles today. My loading appointment is at 11 AM EDT tomorrow morning.
I left at about 3 AM CT and drove to West Fargo, North Dakota in time for my 9 AM unloading appointment. Delivered the thing. I didn't have another load yet so my dispatcher told me to head for Minneapolis so I drove to the Petro truck stop in Clearwater, Minnesota. Had to have their prime rib again. It is so good!!! Couldn't wait to get there!!!!
I ate every bit of it too!!!!
I left last night at about 9:30 PM CDT when my 10 hours were up and drove 662 miles to the Flying J truck stop in Roberts, Wisconsin. No problems at all today.
I left at about 12:30 AM EDT. There were still widespread power outages along I-16 to Macon. After passing through Macon I didn't see any more outages. No traffic problems in Atlanta or Chatanooga but I got to Nashville right at rush hour. There I had a lot of slow n' go and bumper-to-bumper traffic. Once I cleared that it was smooth sailing the rest of the day. Drove 648 miles to the Love's truck stop in Marion, Illinois for my 10 hours.
I left at about 3:45 AM EDT and drove to Savannah, Georgia where I had a 6:30 AM delivery appointment. I delivered the stuff. My next load was down at the Port in Brunswick. I drove there. I had to wait an hour and forty-five minutes for my dispatcher to get me the paperwork I needed to load, which I should have received last week. When I got it I went and checked in. They had no electricity and had set up outside using portable generators. There were power poles down all around the Port. I loaded something that Caterpillar calls a wheel. I have no idea what it is or what it is for. It is going to West Fargo, North Dakota.
Yesterday morning when I arrived at the truck stop there was no power and it was still windy and raining. I went to sleep. When I woke up yesterday afternoon the rain and wind had stopped and it was sunny. The power had been restored. There was a line of cars over a mile long waiting to get gas. I learned that I-40 in North Carolina, south of the Tennessee state line, in "the gorge" was gone. It was washed away. Same thing for I-26 in Ashville. Both will be closed indefinitely. I'm so glad I got through there before any of that happened. Part of those areas was shown in the video from yesterday.
I-40 when I went through...
I-40 after I went through...
My 10 hours were up at about 7:10 PM EDT. and I left. I had no problems at all driving. The downed trees had been cleared from the travel lanes of the Interstate. I could see that the power was still out in most places along the way. I drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville and got there just before 2 AM. I'll be there for the weekend. We have power in Jacksonville and no storm damage here, other than the usual tree droppings.
I left at about 1:15 AM EDT in the rain. I didn't get ahead of the hurricane, instead of going west it went east. That meant I drove right into it. It rained the whole time I drove today. The storm's most powerful wind and rain and I met in North Carolina south of Ashville. By that time it had downgraded to a tropical storm. Heavy rain and strong winds. Trees were down all over the place. I sat still in traffic for an hour and a half while crews opened at least one lane for all of us to pass through. I put together a video of what it was like driving through Tropical Storm Helene.
I stopped for my 10 hours a bit earlier than I had wanted to because the Interstate ahead was still a mess with downed trees. Stopped at a truck stop in Inman, South Carolina. When my 10 hours are up I'll check the road conditions, and if they are ok, I'll go.
I went back to load this morning and sat there waiting all morning. Finally loaded a Caterpillar 3512 Engine and 6 boxes going to Savannah, Georgia.
I left there and drove to the Love's truck stop in Waddy, Kentucky for my 10 hours. Going to try to stay ahead of the hurricane.
I left at about 2:30 AM EDT and drove the rest of the way to Lafayette, Indiana. Delivered the engine. My next load is right there but not until tomorrow. It wasn't ready yet today. So I went over to the Love's truck stop that was just a few miles away. I'll be there until tomorrow.
I left this morning at about 1:30 AM EDT. No traffic problems in Atlanta or Chatanooga this morning. Not so lucky in Nashville. Quite a bit of bumper-to-bumper traffic there. After that, I continued to the Petro truck stop in Glendale, Kentucky for the night. 562 miles today.
Blog readers for the past week...
Went to St. Augustine Caterpillar and delivered the telehandler when they opened this morning. After that drove back to the daily terminal in Jacksonville to wait for my next load. Didn't take long to get it. I drove to Ocala and loaded a Caterpillar 3516 Engine that is going to Lafayette, Indiana. Then it had to be tarped! 93 degrees, no shade, and no breeze. HOT!!!
I left at about 1:45 AM EDT and drove 620 miles to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, Florida. I'll be here until Monday morning. Now it is time for an afternoon of great SEC football!!! GO GATORS!!!
This morning we took the Daily truck off my trailer. Then I went to McConnellsburg, PA, and loaded a Caterpillar LT943 Telahandler that is going to St Augustine, Florida.
Left there and drove to the Flyig J truck stop in Ruther Glen, Virginia. Lots of bumper-to-bumper traffic in Washington DC, Fredericksburg, and Quantico.
They didn't start to unload me until after 9 AM EDT. I finally got the container emptied. Then I had to return the container back to the Port. I went back and dropped off the empty container. Then had to reload another one. The paperwork was screwed up so I had to wait again. Got that straightened out and loaded another container that is going back to the same place in Manassas, Virginia except I only took it as far as the oversize lot at the TA truck stop in Baltimore. Someone else will be taking it from there.
We were supposed to leave this morning at 9 AM EDT when the curfew was over. My pole car got stuck in heavy rush hour traffic and was an hour late getting back to me.
Sat all morning waiting for permits. They finally came in and I went back to the Port, hooked to my trailer, and left. Here is the first half of my Maryland permit route.
