Thursday, November 10, 2011

Went into the Port of Baltimore this morning.  I had to unload it myself then take it to a parking area.  After that my next load was from the same place, just a different area.  This was a new Caterpillar D6N Dozer and blade going to Springfield, Illinois. I had to load the dozer myself.  It took me a little bit to figure that one out.  Brought it over from it's parking stall, up the ramp, and onto the trailer. Chained it down and waited for the blade.  Of course by now it was lunch time.  Had to wait an hour for them to finish lunch.  Union shop.  That says all you need to know!!  They finally brought the blade and put it up on the trailer.  I tied it down and was finally on the road.

Went straight back to the TA truck stop, fueled, and scaled.  Everything was fine.  Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland for the night because I ran out of daylight.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Left the Pilot in Greenfield, IN early this morning in the rain.  It rained hard most of the morning.  Other than that, a nice day on the road.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Baltimore, MD.  Deliver this in the morning at the port.  It is going on a big boat to South America.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The crane arrived early this morning.  That was a good thing.  Since I was the first to arrive, I was the first to unload.  Drove around the new Federal Court House to deliver.  Here are some photos of the delivery.

As you are looking at these photos, think about this.... I had to back in off the road from the blind side.  The blind side is the passenger side.  When the trailer starts to turn you can't see the back of the trailer anymore.  Can't see anything at all.  Had to back up a slight muddy incline in the rain.  On the passenger's side of the trailer was the hole that the "box" was going to be set in.  On the driver's side of the trailer there was a small drop off.  AND the load was wider than the trailer so I couldn't see anything behind me except a black box.  Now that you have that in your mind, let me add one more thing.....the back of the trailer had to go in between the outriggers of the crane.  OK, who is ready to give that a try??

When I finished there I drove over to Dubuque, IA for my next load.  Picked up a John Deere bull dozer.  It is going to the port in Dundalk, Maryland - that's next to Baltimore.

Once that was tied down I got on the road and drove to Greenfield, Indiana, just east of Indianapolis to the Pilot truck stop for the night.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Left this morning in the rain.  Rained for a few hours then I drove out of it.  Stopped along the way and had my front shocks replaced.  Then drove in to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to a staging area. Getting unloaded tomorrow morning when the crane gets here.  There are several more trucks arriving with two more vaults and other trucks with the lids for them.  Hopefully it wont take too long tomorrow morning.  I'll spend the night here.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Left Raphine, Virginia as soon as the sun came up.  Nice pleasant day on the road.  Drove up to Crawfordsville, Indiana (that's north west of Indianapolis) for the rest of the weekend.  Will start again Monday morning when the sun comes up.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Drove in to Chesapeake, VA this morning and delivered the generators before the sun came up.  After that drove over to Harrisonburg, VA for my next load.  Picked up a 38,000 pound concrete vault.  It is going to a new courthouse being built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

After securing it to the trailer, I got on the road.  Didn't get very far.  There is a curfew in Charleston, West Virginia from 4 to 6 pm and no overnight parking on the WV Turnpike so I stopped at the Petro truck stop in Raphine, Virginia for the night,

Thursday, Movember 3, 2011

Today went a whole lot smoother than yesterday.  Left real early to beat the Atlanta rush hour traffic.  It worked!!  Got to Griffin, GA early and got loaded pretty quick.  Picked up 4 large generators.  They are going to Chesepeake, VA.

Got on the road and drove up to Emporia, VA to the Pilot truck stop for the night.  Deliver in the morning.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Got off to a good start this morning until we went through a construction area.  The right lane was closed for repaving.  As we went through the construction area the truck in front of me was oversize too.  He took out all the road cones.  One of them landed right in the road directly in front of my truck.  I couldn't stop in time and there was nowhere to go but right over the cone.  As it went under the truck it pulled off a small coolant line.  Didn't know it until the "Low Coolant" light came on and the temperature shot up.  We pulled over to the side of the road, quickly found the problem, and fixed it before all the coolant was all gone.  He had some extra coolant and water which we added to my truck.  That was just barely enough to get me to a truck stop where I added 2 gallons of coolant and a lot of water.  That worked.  From there on it was a nice drive down to Smyrna, TN to the Nissan plant.  Delivered the "things".  After that went over to Peterbilt and had my coolant drained (since it was mostly water) and refilled with coolant.  Also had them replace a fuel line check valve that has been bad for months.

My next load is down in Griffin, GA so I drove down to Atlanta to spend the night at the Petro truck stop.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Drove in to Columbus this morning and picked up my next load.  I have no idea what they are or what they are used for.  All I know is that they are going to a Nissan auto plant in Smyrna, TN. 

There was another Daily driver there picking up some much bigger "boxes" going to the same place.  You can see the front of his truck behind my truck in the top photo.  We both left together and are driving together down to Tennessee.  We didn't get very far today because it took all morning to load.  Stopped at the Petro truck stop in Glendale, Kentucky for the night.

Monday, October 31, 22011

Fortunately I didn't have to wait too long this morning for West Virginia to send me my permit.  I was on the road by 8:30.  Drove down to Belle, West Virginia and delivered the big bucket.  After that went back to Nitro, West Virginia and delivered the little excavator.  Think about this one!!  He drove it off my trailer without using ramps!!  He did good!! 

My next load picks up in Columbus, Ohio tomorrow morning.  I went up that way and stopped for the night at a small Pilot truck stop in Circleville, Ohio.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Nothing exciting today.  Nice pleasant drive.  Drove to Catlettsburg, Kentucky for the rest of the weekend.  West Virginia was very slow in getting my permit and I still don't have one.  I am just a mile or two from West Virginia at a Flying J truck stop.  Have to wait here Monday until WV decides to send the permit.  Hopefully it will be first thing Monday morning.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Drove into Wamego, Kansas this morning and picked up the rest of my load.  It is a bucket for a Caterpillar 993 Wheel Loader.  The bucket alone weighs 33,500 pounds.  The machine it attaches to weighs over 200,000 pounds!! Now my load is complete.  They are going to West Virginia.

Got on the road and drove to the Pilot truck stop (very small one) in Okawville, Illinois.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Drove into Irving, Texas this morning and delivered the engines.  After that my next load, actually my next two loads, are up in Kansas.  Drove up to Park City, Kansas and picked up the first half of the load.  It is a very small excavator.

The second half is up in Wamego, Kansas.  I started off that way.  Here is a little Kansas Autumn color.

Stopped for the night on a side street behind a Pizza Hut in Herington, Kansas.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Went into Griffin, GA this morning and picked up my next load. Four Caterpillar Marine Engines going to Irving, Texas.

Drove to Greenwood, Louisiana to the TA truck stop for the night. Will deliver these in the morning.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Beautiful day outside!!  Went over to Thermo King in Savannah and had some work done on my APU.  Had the AC ductwork re-routed.  Much better now!! Got info on my next three loads.  Next one loads tomorrow morning in Griffin, GA. 

Monday, October 24, 2011

Went into Fort Stewart this morning and delivered the skid steers.  After that drove to the TA truck stop in Savannah, GA to do a reset.  Will be here until Wednesday.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Very uneventful day.  Left Jasper, AL early this morning.  Got past Talladega Speedway before the race traffic.  The place was already full of RVs.  No bumper to bumper traffic in Atlanta either.  That's always a good thing.   Drove to a small truck stop in Pulaski, GA for the night.  Deliver in the morning.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Left Oklahoma City this morning and drove all the way to Jasper, Alabama. Very uneventful day but a pleasant drive, except Memphis, TN.  That is always unpleasant.  The roads there are not good.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Finally made it to Topeka, KS and delivered the excavator.  I backed it off the trailer and parked it.  I love playing with big "toys"!!  After that drove down to Wichita, KS for my next load.  Picked up 2 skid steers and 2 boxes of stuff for them.  They are going to Fort Smith, GA. 

Got back on the road and drove to the Petro truck stop in Oklahoma City, OK for the night.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Started this morning at 8:30 CDT and made it around Dallas without any bumper to bumper traffic.  Nice!!  Once I got into Oklahoma the route the state chose was ridiculous!!  They took me off a nice four lane highway to a bunch of back roads.  I zig-zagged through Oklahoma all day!!  Most of the day was on skinny two lane roads.  They even routed me over a bridge with a weight limit of 37 tons.  I am 41 tons!!  Some of the other bridges were not wide enough for me and a vehicle going the other direction to cross at the same time.  In case you don't know, when you have a permitted load the State tells you what route you must take.  No deviations allowed. I'm STILL in Oklahoma!!  Ran out of daylight and stopped at a truck stop in Big Cabin, Oklahoma.  I still have another hour or so in Oklahoma before I get to Kansas.  The route in Kansas is more direct.