Friday, December 13, 2024

 When my 10 hours were up, I left.  That was a little after 1 AM EST.  Drove to Claxton, Georgia, and delivered the rollers.  It took a while to get the dead one off the trailer, but they finally did it.  My next load is at the Daily Terminal in Jacksonville, Florida.  I headed that way.  At mile marker 12 in Georgia, traffic came to a stop because of a wreck ahead.  Took 45 minutes to get to exit 3.  Made my way to the terminal.  A driver had brought his company truck to the terminal and quit.  The truck and trailer needed to go to Carlisle.  I dropped the step deck trailer and hooked up to the other trailer, Loaded the truck on it, and settled in for my 10 hours.  That truck is an automatic transmission.  I didn't know we had any of those.  It was weird to drive, don't like it.  I kept trying to step on the clutch pedal that wasn't there.

I'll get started when my 10 hours are up.

Thursday, December 12, 2024

 This morning I went back to the Port.  Fortunately, the sun was out today!! We, myself and the guys from the Port, tried to get the machine started.  It wouldn't start no matter what they did.  They brought over a big fork lift, picked it up, and sat it down on my trailer.  I secured it and left. Don't ever buy one of these thing.  Apparently, they always have problems with them. Both of them are going to Claxton, Georgia.

Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Stony Creek, Virginia for my 10 hours.

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Wednesday, December 11, 2024

 Last night after sleeping for about 5 hours I got up and went back to continue working on my truck.  That was at about 11 PM.  Worked on it until 2 AM and went back to the hotel and slept until 7 AM.  All of that was in the rain. Went back and finished.  It is a new International but the color is horrible!!!!

Got a step deck trailer and left for the Port of Baltimore. I was supposed to load two rollers.  I loaded the first one, no problem. 

Still raining, but now the heavens opened up!!  The second one wouldn't start.  The guys from the Port came over and after an hour of trying to get it to run, they gave up.  It was now quitting time for them.  So I left and went to the TA truck stop in Baltimore.  Told Daily about the problems.  They said to go back in the morning and have them put it on the trailer with a forklift.  After a while at the truck stop my APU, my brand new APU, was not working properly.  The perfect ending to a really crappy day.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

 Went over to the Daily yard and started swapping into my new truck.  Worked on it all day in the rain.  Still not done.  Going back early in the morning to finish it.

Monday, December 9, 2024

 Not a good day today.  Didn't feel very well.  Aches and pains all over.  Stayed in bed most of the day. My replacement truck was ready this afternoon and I'll start moving into it tomorrow.

Sunday, December 8, 2024

 This morning I drove back to West Alexander, PA to get my truck.  I couldn't load the truck until payment was made to the wrecker company.  That took several hours.  Not easy to get someone on a Sunday during hunting season.  But payment was finally made and I loaded the truck on the trailer.  Had a lot of difficulty reattaching the trailer.  It is so old !!  After 45 minutes of struggling with it, I got it and left.  I drove back to Carlisle and unloaded the truck.  Had more difficulty reattaching but it didn't take as long this time.  I parked both trucks, got in my rental car, got dinner, and returned to the hotel.  I'm exhausted!!!  Good night.

Saturday, December 7, 2024

 I left this morning and drove to the Towing yard in West Alexander, PA  with my temporary truck and trailer to get the damaged trailer. 

Loaded the trailer on my trailer. They lifted it up and I backed under it.

Left there and drove back to the the Daily yard in Carlisle.  Dropped the trailer there and hooked up to the trailer I'm taking back tomorrow morning to get the truck.  From there I took my rental car and got dinner then back to the hotel to spend the rest of the night watching college football conference championship games.

Friday, December 6, 2024

 I checked out of the hotel this morning around 6 or 7 and drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA.  I made the rounds in all the different offices and talked to everyone.  They still have not decided on what truck to put me in.  It seems that a lot of the "decision-makers" took the day off to go hunting.  While they figured out what they wanted to do I went and checked into the hotel.  I like this place, they know me by name and even put me in the room I like without asking for it.  After taking one of the mechanics to Harrisburg to pick up a truck at International they finally figured out which truck I was going to use to make the 2 trips to West Virginia.  I hooked it up to a step deck trailer and left it there in the yard.  Then I went to dinner and back to the hotel for the night.  Tomorrow I'll make my first trip to West Virginia to get the trailer.

Thursday, December 5, 2024

 I left when my 10 hours were up.  That was about 1:45 AM EST.  Not too long after I was on I-70 the weather changer abruptly.  I drove into a wall of snow and wind.

The weather got a LOT worse in Allegany and Garrett Counties in Maryland. Maryland did pretty good with the roads but it was coming down too fast for them to keep up with it.

West Virginia, on the other hand, did not have enough trucks and the roads got VERY BAD.  Here is where I almost got stuck going uphill.

After the weather cleared in West Virginia, it was smooth sailing until I got to about the 12-mile marker in I-70, westbound just before the Wheeling TA truck stop.  The traffic came to a stop for a crash up ahead.

WHAMO!  I was struck from behind.  He didn't even slow down.  He hit me at full speed.  My first thought was to get off the road so that we don't get hit again, so I pulled my truck to the shoulder dragging the truck that hit me.  I was not injured.  He was not so fortunate.  When I first looked at it I thought he was probably dead.  Fortunately, he was not.  He dislocated his shoulder and broke his collarbone. There was another pickup truck next to him and he struck it too forcing it to sideswipe the guardrail.  That driver was not injured.

The cops, the fire dept., and an ambulance all showed up.  Shut the westbound side down for at least three hours.  

Two roll-off wreckers, a small wrecker and a big wrecker, arrived. It took a while to separate the two vehicles. They removed the trailer from the truck that hit me.

Then they yanked and pulled on the white truck until it finally separated.

They loaded them on the two roll-offs.

Then it was my turn.  The wrecker guys were able to make it so that the trailer would move.  I drove to the TA truck stop that was just ahead.  The impact was so hard that I think my truck frame was bent.  I could not shift higher than 4th gear which only allowed me to go 8 miles an hour.  At the TA  I separated from my trailer and the wrecker company sent another truck to tow the trailer.  The big wrecker came over and towed me to their yard.   Enterprise Rent-A-Car came over from Wheeling and picked me up.  From there I went to the Best Western Hotel in Saint Clairsville, Ohio. Tomorrow I'll leave here and drive back to Carlisle, PA.  The plan right now is for me to get another truck and trailer and go back and get my trailer and take it to Carlisle.  Then go back and get my truck.  Now I'm going to sleep.  Good night.

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

 I left a half hour before sunrise this morning and drove the rest of the way to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland.  Delivered the tractor.  My next load is way back in New Albany, Ohio.  I left the Port and went to the TA truck stop in Baltimore for my 10 hours.

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

 I left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  No snow today except for a few flurries in the afternoon.  I didn't get as far as I wanted to today.  Only 466 miles.  Stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Zanesville, Ohio just after completing a construction re-route.

Monday, December 2, 2024

 This morning, I drove to Cedar Rapids and got there just before they opened.  Lots of snow today.  Sticking to the roads this time.  Iowa was doing a great job of plowing and salting the roads.  Delivered the crate.  Then drove up to Waterloo, IA to the John Deere plant and loaded a John Deere R370 Tractor that is going to Dundalk, Maryland.

The snow had stopped by the time I was ready to go. I left there and drove to the Daily Terminal in Morton, Illinois. I dropped the trailer and made a quick trip to Walmart. I came back and reconnected to my trailer and settled in for the night.

Sunday, December 1, 2024

 

Saturday, November 30, 2024

 Game day!!!!

Friday, November 29, 2024

 This morning I drove to East Moline, Illinois, and delivered the dozer blade.  Snow flurries this morning and it was cold too!!  Temperatures in the teens.  The guy came in on his day off to unload me.  It was really nice of him to do that.  After that, I drove over to the "World Famous Iowa 80 Truck Stop".  I'll be here until Monday morning.  

Now I can watch the last weekend of the regular season of SEC college football.  

It's rivalry weekend!!!  Can't believe it is the last week of the regular season. Lordy, it went by so fast!!!

Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 28, 2024.

 

I left Carlisle, PA at 8 PM EST last night.  About halfway through Pennsylvania, it started to rain.   Had a brief rain/snow mix in the mountains of western PA.  In Ohio about 40 miles east of Cleveland it changed to snow.  Had a short spell of heavy snow, but it did not stick.  Ohio did a great job.  There were plow/sanders all over the place.  It changed back to rain before it stopped altogether.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Morris, Illinois for the night.  681 miles today.

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

 I left at about 5 AM EST and drove the rest of the way to Harrisburg, PA, and delivered the motor grader.  From there I went back to the "home office" in Carlisle and had a few repairs done to the APU.  My next load had a loading appointment at 12:30 at the Keen yard a couple miles down the road in Carlisle.  I sat there for two and a half hours before getting loaded.  20 minutes to load AND secure the load.  Loaded a dozer blade that is going to East Moline, Illinois, and a tailgate that is going to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Another 20 minutes to get the paperwork so I could leave!! 

After that, I went back to the Daily Yard to get some dinner and sleep. I'll leave at about 9 or 10 p.m. tonight.

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

 I left at sunrise this morning.  Pretty uneventful day.  Heavy traffic.  Some bumper-to-bumper traffic from a couple wrecks.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Winchester, Virginia. 577 miles today.

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Monday, November 25, 2024

 I was in Ocala when they opened this morning. I delivered the boom lift. After that, I drove back to Jacksonville, got rid of this trailer, and picked up my trailer. Then, I drove up to Pooler, Georgia, and loaded a Caterpillar 140 Motorgrader that is going to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Left there and drove to the Love's truck stop in Yemassee, South Carolina for the night.

Sunday, November 24, 2024

Last night when my 10 hours were up, I left.  That was just before 10 PM EST.  Drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, Florida.  Got there just before 1 AM.  Will deliver Monday morning.

Saturday, November 23, 2024

 I left at about 12:45 AM EST.  Had a good day on the road except for the last 5 miles.  Bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Have no idea why.  It cleared up just before my exit to the Love's truck stop in Yemassee, South Carolina.  Just in time for a great (I hope) afternoon of SEC college football.  596 miles today.

Friday, November 22, 2024

Got my first snowfall for the season today.   My truck was finished this morning.  Checked out of the hotel and went to the Daily yard.  I took a truck that had to go to International in Harrisburg and dropped it off.  Then got my truck and brought it back to Carlisle.  Then got another step deck trailer and went to JLG in Shippensburg and loaded a JLG Boomlift 860SJ that is going to Ocala, Florida.

I left there but didn't go very far.  Stopped for my 10 hours at the AC&T truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland.  Didn't really want to go through Washington DC at rush hour, in the snow on a Friday afternoon.  I'd rather do that in the middle of the night.

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

 The truck is still in the shop and I'm still in the hotel.

Monday, November 18, 2024

 This morning I drove the rest of the way to Taylor, PA, and delivered the crane stuff.  From there I drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA.  After being dragged around in the mud it knocked the front end way out of alignment.  It was so bad that it really chewed up my steer tires. See the steel cords starting to protrude?

When I got to Carlisle they took my truck in and started to work on it.  They said I'll be here for a few days because it also was due for a bunch of service.  I gathered my stuff and went to the hotel where I'll be for a couple days.

Sunday, November 17, 2024

 

This morning I drove to the Petro truck stop in Scranton, PA.  I'll deliver about 6 miles from here tomorrow.