Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Left real early and continued south.  Stopped and got the truck washed.  It was really needed.  Then drove home to Jacksonville, Florida for a couple days.  I'm supposed to load Friday, but that is in question right now.  So, we will know more tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Left at sunrise this morning and drove the rest of the way to Raleigh, NC and delivered the excavator.  My next load is Friday in Pembroke, Georgia.  I headed south and stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Saint George, South Carolina.

Monday, January 29, 2018

In Tennessee permit loads can run at night, so as soon as my ten hours was up I left.  At 3 am CST I was on the road.  Drove straight through, with no problems, to the Pilot truck stop in Conover, North Carolina.  I'll deliver tomorrow.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Had a very good day on the road.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Denmark, Tennessee for the night.  Will get a very early start in the morning.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Went back and hooked back up to my trailer at 6:30 this morning when they opened.  Waited for road service to come.  At 9 am when he still had not shown up, I called.  It seems that what the Daily shop told me yesterday was not true.  They had not set anything up so no one was coming yet.  SO, I made the arrangements and someone was on his way.  By 11 local time I was finally pulling out of there.

Needless to say, but I didn't get nearly as far as I wanted to today.  Stopped for the night at a convenience store with some truck parking in Jacksonville, Texas.

Friday, January 26, 2018

A half hour before sunrise this morning I left in the rain and fog.  Drove the rest of the way to Laredo to a trucking companies transfer station.  That area is full of those.  Almost all the larger trucking companies have a place down there for stuff going across to be transferred from American trucks to Mexican trucks, and vice versa.  I was right on the Mexican border.  It was just across the street.  Was imagining how that wall would look there.  Anyway, I delivered the dump truck.  It really is a lot of fun driving those trucks!!!  Its like driving a house.  My next load was up in Victoria, Texas.  That is about a four hour drive.  Got there and loaded a Caterpillar 336F Excavator that is going up to Raleigh, North Carolina.

I did a dumb thing too.  While separating the neck from the trailer, I forgot to unplug the air lines and the electrical line.  Ripped them right out!!  Everyone does it, now it was my turn!

The repair guy will be there tomorrow morning a little after 7 am.  I dropped my trailer there and went to the Love's truck stop in Enid, Texas for the night.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

I am happy to say that today was MUCH better than yesterday, although I started off with a few lights on the trailer that didn't work.  Spent an hour trying to track down the problem without success.  Had to have the mechanic from the TA truck stop repair shop come over.  Fortunately he found the problem and fixed it.  I then left and had a very uneventful day on the highways of Texas.  No problems getting out of Dallas.  No problems going around Austin, or San Antonio.  Stopped for the night at the Love's truck stop in Encinal, Texas.  Will deliver in the morning.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The morning started off great.  Timed it perfectly to get to Springfield as the curfew ended.  Continued on into Oklahoma.  Had a few detours because I was too big for the construction zones.  Other than that we did real good.  At the Oklahoma / Texas line my escort car dropped off.  Don't need one in Texas.  I had planned to stop fro the night before I got to Dallas BUT there was no place to stop along my permit route.  I was routed through residential areas all the way to Dallas.  Lots of heavy traffic and a zillion stop lights.  Well, Sundown came and went and I was still north of Dallas.  I continued on in a total panic.  Finally made it to I-635.  There was still nothing anywhere near me.  I continued on.  Somehow I missed a turn and got off my permit route and ended up going right through the heart of Dallas.  There were several overpasses that were very low.  One was 14'4" and another one was 14'3".  I slowed to a crawl and went under.  I am 14'2" high.  Talk about sweating bullets!!!  After sundown, off route, and low bridge!!  If I had been stopped I would have been so screwed!!!!   Got down to I-20 and went east to the TA truck stop for the night - still off route.  I can't believe I made it here!!!!!!  HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is going to take half the night to calm down!!!  Late start in the morning due to the Dallas curfew.  HOLY CRAP!!!!!

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Went back over to get my trailer and load early this morning.  Was waiting at the gate when they arrived for work.  Attached to my trailer, finished securing the load and left.

Made real good time this morning.  Have to have an escort car in Missouri and Oklahoma.  Stopped at the Flying J truck stop 17 miles from Missouri and waited for my escort to arrive.  Two hours later he got there and we were back on the road.  No traffic issues today.  Stopped at the TA truck stop in Stafford, Missouri.  Didn't beat the Springfield curfew.  Will start a bit later tomorrow morning because of that stupid curfew too.

Monday, January 22, 2018

Was on the road a half hour before sunrise this morning in the rain.  Had to wait at the Illinois Toll Road Toll Booth for my Toll Road Permit to come in.  $150  and two hours later I was back moving again.  Went to Chicago Ridge and delivered the excavator.  Next load was down in Decatur, Illinois.  I went down there and arrived 10 minutes before the cut off time.  Loaded a Caterpillar 770G Dump Truck that is going down to Laredo, Texas.

I left my trailer there for the night and bobtailed over to the Pilot truck stop just down the road.  Got a long hot shower, dinner, and going to bed.  My back hurts a lot tonight and I'm exhausted.   Good night.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Left this morning and drove up to the Petro truck stop in Gary, Indiana.  On the way Indiana sent me a little out of the way and I went past Purdue University. Other than that, another uneventful and short day on the road.  I like uneventful.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Very uneventful day today.  All I did was drive to the Pilot truck stop in Mount Comfort, Indiana.  Tomorrow will be a short day.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Went down the road a bit and loaded a Link Belt 350 Excavator that is going to Chicago, Illinois.  While loading, the machine slid sideways on the icy blocks and fell off.  Had to back it off and start over again.  Got it up there and chained down. She aint goin' nowhere!!

Left there and drove up to the TA truck stop in Barkeyville, Pennsylvania for the night.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

This morning both my trailer and truck went in the shop to have some work done.  They finished up this afternoon, but not early enough for me to go over and load.  I'll go over and load in the morning.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Left very early this morning and drove the rest of the way to Londonderry, New Hampshire and delivered the machine. Then started off for Carlisle, PA.  It was sunny when I left New Hampshire but that soon changed to overcast.  Made it all the way back to just west of the Hudson River in New York before it started to snow.  By the time I got to Scranton, PA it was coming down hard.  Fortunately up here they know how to keep the roads open.  They were ding a very good job with the salt trucks and plows.  I made it all the way back to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA.  About 4 inches (10 cm) so far and still snowing hard.  556 miles (895 km) today and I'm tired.  Good night.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Started off today in snow flurries.  Drove over to the Newburgh / Beacon Bridge that goes over the Hudson River on I-84 in New York.  Oversize permit loads can only cross that bridge at 10:30 am or 2 pm.  They close the road to other traffic and escort all of us over the bridge at about 25 mph.  Then they re-open the bridge.  They also charge us $100 plus the toll for the bridge.  I got there early and waited about an hour and a half .  Finally made it across the bridge.  Had to stop very early this afternoon because I can't go into New Hampshire on a holiday.  So I pulled into a very crappy Pilot truck stop in Sturbridge, Massachusetts for the night.  I can run at night in Massachusetts so I will start very early tomorrow.  Snow storm on the way.  They say it shouldn't start snowing until tomorrow afternoon.  Hope I can get in, deliver, and out before it gets too bad.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Went to the Daily Express's annual banquet last night.  Daily provides us with a hotel room for the night.  It was a pretty good event.  Food was good.  Wasn't real happy with the hotel room this year.  After all the speeches from the "big wigs" they had drawings for the door prizes.  They always have lots of very good door prizes.  Just about everyone gets one.  I had my eye on a pair of heavy shackles. I got lucky and my number was one of the first ones drawn so I got the shackles I wanted.  I know it doesn't look like much, but each one has a working load limit of 24,000 pounds.  Exactly what I wanted.  They are about $50 each.

This morning I checked out of the hotel real early, went back to the Daily yard and picked up my trailer.  At sunrise I left and headed toward New York.  Can't go into NY until tomorrow so I stopped at a truck stop on I-84 in Sterling, PA for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Left this morning heading north.  Had to have an escort in Maryland.  Met my escort at the West Virginia / Maryland state line. He followed me for the whopping 12 miles through Maryland then dropped off at the Maryland / Pennsylvania state line as I continued on.  Drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  I'll be here for a few days.  Have a few things to get accomplished while here.   Also Daily Express annual banquet is Saturday night and I'll go to that. Then back to work again Sunday or Monday.  I'll let the weather decide which day I'll leave here.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Nothing exciting today.  Left very early this morning in the rain.  By the time I stopped for the night is was bright, sunny sky.  Warming up nicely.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Clear Brook, Virginia. Tomorrow is a very short day.  

Monday, January 8, 2018

Was over at Caterpillar in La Grange, GA first thing this morning to load.  Loaded a Caterpillar 522B Forester that is going way up to Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Left there in pretty good time.  The weather was a concern today.  Ice storm was predicted for this morning.  It started to rain as I was loading.  Rained all day.  Had no difficulty getting around and past Atlanta!!  Amazing!  But from Atlanta north the State had shut down for the storm.  I stopped for lunch in Cartersville, GA.  While there heard that the Interstate north of there was closed due to a 40 car pile up that happened earlier this morning.  I did some research and found pout that they had just opened up the Interstate again and traffic was moving fine.  Whew!!  I continued on to the Petro truck stop in Knoxville, Tennessee for the night.

Tonight The College Football National Championship Game!!  Can't wait!!  

Doesn't matter who wins, the trophy is back in the SEC where it belongs!!  Ya baby!!