Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Went to Crescent City, FL and picked up my next load.  42 trees going to Nashville, TN

I left and headed for Nashville.  When I got up to the Cartersville, GA area on I-75 I had another driver tell me that my tail lights were not working.  I stopped at a TA truck stop to get them fixed.  While looking under the trailer we both saw that the rear plug for the lights was unplugged.  Also noticed that the line was real tight.  Continued to look around to see why the line was so tight all of a sudden and found that one of the cross members of the trailer had broken off and was hanging by the electrical line and the air lines to the trailer breaks.  That's not a good thing. They couldn't re-weld it there but told me about a place just down the road that could do it in the morning. Pushed it back up & zip tied it in place then plugged in the lights. I parked for the night there.

right (passenger's) side facing the rear

left (driver's) side facing the rear

Tuesday, September 7, 2101

Delivered the truck bodies in Deland.  My next load is tomorrow in Crescent City.  Its a truck load of trees.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Drove down to Seville, FL to our yard and parked the truck for the weekend. Mom met me there and I'm spending the weekend with her.  I deliver this load Tuesday morning in Deland.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Got my next load this morning.  Three truck old truck bodies that I'm taking to Deland, FL.

Then I drove 506 miles down to Kenly, NC for the night. Went over the Delaware Memorial Bridge on the way.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Had a broken front shock so I went and had both front shocks replaced.  Then I drove down to Shrewsbury, NJ where I'm picking up my next load tomorrow morning.  On the way I detoured through Kinnelon.  I stopped at Lakeside Deli and got lunch then stopped in the parking lot of Kinnelon Fire Dept. Company 2 (my old fire dept.) and ate it.  While I was there one of the firefighters stopped by so I went in and talked with him for a while.  The place is a mess. All run down, no one is really taking care of it.  The trucks still look great though.  He showed me the plans for the new station they are fixin' to build.  It will be gorgeous.  Two stories high and three bays. It will be built in the empty lot next to the current location.  When its finished they will tear down the old building and make a parking lot out of it.  Our old house looks great.  Wasn't able to get a photo unfortunately, no place to stop.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Got back on the road early.  Drove from Emporia, VA up to Norwich, CT (656 miles) and delivered the panels at a US Food Distributor warehouse. They are building an addition to the building.  I spent the night at the job site.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Delivered used insulated panels in the morning and reloaded right there with 4 brand new bundles going up to Norwich, CT. 

Had to get a DOT physical done before Sept. 3, when my current one expires, so I dropped the trailer after securing the load and tarping the load. Drove to Quick Care in Deland and got that done.  Then went and got my trailer and took off for Norwich.  It was about 2:30 in the afternoon when I left.  There were quite a few other trucks loading up for the same place when I loaded but they were all gone when I came back.

Drove up to Emporia, VA and stopped for the night after driving 655 miles.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Drove to Deland, FL.  Parked the truck where I was delivering Monday.  Mom met me and we spent Sunday afternoon together while I did my laundry. I really enjoy our time together.  Then went back to the truck for the night.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Left Dallas this morning and drove 620 miles to the Oasis Truck Stop in Robertsdale, Alabama.  That's almost to Florida.  Passed the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile on the way.

Friday, August 27,2010

Today I didn't go anywhere.  The Great American Truck Show was at the Dallas Convention Center so I spent the day at the convention. Free truck parking and free to get in.  Here is a photo of our booth at the show.

There was a lot of exhibits.  I looked at all of them.

There was (of course) a lot of gorgeous trucks!!  

Alex from Ice Road Truckers was there posing for photos and signing autographs.  I got a chance to talk with him a little bit.  Seems like a real nice guy.  Very "down to earth".

The guy took the picture before I was ready. I look funny!!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Picked up my next load in Wichita, Kansas.  A truck load of insulated panels that are going back to Deland, Florida to the manufacturer.  Drove down to Denton, Texas to spend the night at the TA truck stop.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Delivered the panel to a job site in Wichita where they are building a Quick Trip convenience store.


My next load is here in Wichita but doesn't load until tomorrow morning so I splurged and got a hotel room. Not anywhere near as nice as the one in Las Vegas.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Drove into Ft. Worth and delivered the bowling alley stuff without any further problems. Glad to get rid of that load!!

Then went a few miles down the road for my next load. It is one insulated panel going to Wichita, KS. One of the easiest and lightest loads I have ever had. After the last one, I really needed that!! The photos below are of the loading dock I backed into. I love those! They are a fun challenge to back into without hitting anything. Have to look close at the photos. Inside the sides of the loading dock come in toward the trailer leaving only 2 inches on either side of the trailer. That is so the fork lift can drive right to the edge of the trailer. Makes it much easier for them to center the load on the trailer. Of course I didn't hit anything.

On the way to Wichita I passed the Texas Motor Speedway.

Stopped for the night just south of Wichita, Kansas at a rest area on I-35.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Got an early start today. Everything was going great until I noticed that my load had shifted. The front part of the load had shifted toward the passenger side of the trailer. That caused the trailer to lean. I limped into a truck stop to fix it. 2 guys and a fork lift came out to help. So here I go again un-tarping, this time it was the front half, the blue tarp in front in the photo below. The whole stack had shifted. Had to take them off one at a time and then put them back on one at a time. Then re-strap and re-tarp. It was 104 degrees in west Texas when we did this. I was sure glad to have the help. Wasn't nearly as exhausted as I was Friday. Three hours and $235 later I was back on the road.

While driving I saw a dust devil.  Finally one close enough to get a photo of.

Drove 659 miles in spite of my difficulties and stopped for the night in Big Spring, Texas at the TA truck stop.

When I went in to eat I picked my booth and went to the salad bar.  When I returned and started eating this came in and sat right in front of me.  I could hardly keep from gaging while I ate.  Had to look around the room or down at my plate so I could eat.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Got back on the road this morning.  Only had 8.5 hours available to drive today before reset.  Drove to Tucson, AZ where I'll be until Monday morning.

Friday, August 20, 2010

I went over to pick up my next load.  It was bowling equipment in Chino, CA going to Ft. Worth,TX.  Was only a few miles from the truck stop I was at.  Basically it is stuff to build a bowling alley.  Got there at 9am local time. They started loading me shortly after I got there.  After I had the load on and secured they told me that there was a scale across the street so I could see if I was OK on my truck weight.  I was very happy to hear that and went and got on the scale.

 My gross, according to their scale, said that I was at 69,960. GREAT!!  So I went back across the street and tarped the load.  That took HOURS!!  The thermometer on my truck said 119 !!  It felt it too!! I was exhausted after finishing.

When I finished I started to drive off.  When I got out on the freeway the weight felt a lot heavier than 70,000 pounds so I went to the truck stop I had left in the morning.  Scaled up and sure enough I was overweight.  82,180 pounds.  I was over by 2,180 pounds.  It was now 4:45 pm local time.  I called them on the phone & told them my weight. They stayed over after closing to unload some of the cargo to get me "legal".  Have no idea why the other scale was so far off.

When I got there I had to take the rear tarp off, fold it up, then unstrap the cargo so they could unload. I got no help from them at all.  One guy stood there & watched me pull the tarp off, spread it out on the ground and fold it up.  Never offered to help or anything!!  And I still had not had lunch.  In the photo below, the bundle with the paper that says "medlite" was what they took off.  That bundle alone weighed 3,000 pounds.

Then I re-secured the load and re-tarped it again.  Of course after unloading that bundle they went home.  I finished at 7:15 local time.  Was so exhausted all I could do was go back to the truck stop.  I scaled up again.  This time I was legal, 79,020.  Parked, took a well deserved long shower, tried to eat something and fall in bed.

Thursday, August 19,2010

Delivered my load this morning in San Diego at a place in the southern most part of San Diego.  Real close to the Mexican border.  Then drove up to Carson, CA for my next load.  Thats when things went bad.

I arrived at the warehouse in Carson at 11:55 am local time. Checked in at the shipping desk. The guy at the desk said that they had just gone to lunch and would be back at 13:00 local time. I asked if I had to come back to the desk when they came back from lunch? He said no, just wait in your truck they will know that you are there. I said OK and returned to my truck and waited.
At about 15:00 local time I got tired of watching everyone else get loaded except me so I went back in to the shipping desk and asked again if I had to do anything else to get loaded? There was a different guy at the desk this time. He said no, just wait in your truck, he knows you are there. I, again, said OK and returned to my truck and waited.

Finally as the last truck (except for me) was being loaded at approximately 16:15 local time, I talked to the fork lift operator. He said that he didn't know anything about me. I gave him the slip of paper that security gave me when I arrived. He looked for my load and could not find it in his paperwork. He went inside and could not find it in there either. He said that the woman that handles the paperwork had gone for the day and there was nothing else he could do.

I left and drove 3 more hours in LA bumper to bumper traffic to get to the nearest truck stop in Ontario, CA which was 61 miles away. Needless to say, I'm not a "happy camper".

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Strarted off good.  Got through El Paso before the sun came up and missed all the traffic. Went through a Border Patrol check point on I-10 just west of El Paso.

Border Patrol Check Point on I-10 West of El Paso, Texas

Had some nice scenery on I- 10 as the sun came up.

I-10 east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Looks better in person, but you get the idea

Stopped for lunch in Eloy, Arizona.  Went back to the truck and it would not start.  Goodie!!  Fortunately I was at a TA truck stop.  Got them to bring the service truck over and jump start my truck.  I knew I had weak batteries and they finally gave out.  Put the truck in the service bay.  They checked out the batteries.  Two of the three were very bad.  Replaced all three.  They aint cheap!!  Then my sun glasses broke!!  Three hours later I was back on the road.

My nerdy sun glasses

Here is a photo of the US / Mexico border.  The "famous" border fence.

The fence is the black line under the power lines.

Just inside California on I-8 is the Imperial Sand Dunes.  Best place to ride an ATV.  Sand dunes just like the desert.

Went through another Border Patrol check point on I-8 in California.

Stopped for the night at the Golden Acorn Casino in Campo, California after driving 692 miles today.