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.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

This morning drove down to Galveston, TX to the port for my next load.  Picked up a brand new Caterpillar Excavator.  I had to load it, by myself, on my trailer.  Having never driven one of these before, I was really looking forward to doing that.  Backed up to the loading ramp then went searching for it. There were two long lines of excavators there. I got lucky and found it quickly. Got in, started it up, drove it over to the truck, up the ramp, and onto the trailer. No problem.  I forgot to mention that it was wider than my trailer.  It was FUN!!  I love this job!!  I get to play with the "big boy toys"!!  This is my first (of many) oversize loads with Daily Express.  Chained it down and got on the road.  Stopped at the scales and found out that I had too much weight on the trailer axles so I had to un-chain it and move it up a few feet. Re-chained it and got back on the scales again. This time it was OK. I am 82,500 pounds and 10' 6" wide. 

Got back on the road and drove to a small truck stop south of Dallas for the night.  I cannot drive through Dallas during rush hour so I had to stop early. Can't start tomorrow until 9 am CDT when Dallas rush hour is over.  I deliver this in Topeka, KS.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Drove on into Port Arthur, Texas first thing this morning. It took them forever to unload the trailer.  Finally got it emptied.  Then I went out to the Petro truck stop in Beaumont, TX.  I'll be here until Wednesday on a reset.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Left Knoxville, TN early this morning and drove down to Egan, Louisiana to the Petro truck stop. Will deliver first thing in the morning in Port Arthur, Texas.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Washed the truck this morning then went to Shady Grove, PA to a huge place that makes/builds all types of cranes.  I was there with four other trucks picking up parts of a crane going to Port Arthur, Texas.  We didn't get all the parts of the crane, there had to be a lot more trucks picking up sections of this crane.  It is a big one!  Here is what I got:

You wouldn't know that they are crane parts if I didn't tell you. Got on the road and headed toward Texas. Got to Knoxville, TN just as the LSU at Tennessee game was letting out.  Bumper to bumper traffic with a whole lot of depressed Tennessee fans. Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop west of Knoxville just in time to see the Gator game.

Friday, October 14, 2011

The crane unloaded the last piece from my trailer first thing this morning.  It was done in less than 10 minutes.  Then off to Shady Grove, PA for my next load.  While on the way they called and said that they were backed up and couldn't load me until tomorrow.  I stopped at the TA truck stop in Greencastle, PA for the rest of the day.  It is about one mile from where I get loaded tomorrow.  Made for a very short day today.  Really didn't mind 'cus it was still raining and I had a pretty bad headache.  Hope it is gone soon.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Went into Manassas, VA to the delivery location.  They unloaded the smaller stuff.  The crane came in this afternoon and got set up for tomorrows unloading.  The other two trucks arrived with the big stuff.  I'll get unloaded first in the morning. Hope the rain stops by then.  Then off to Pennsylvania for my next load.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The rain that Florida had has moved up the east coast.  I left this morning in the rain and didn't drive out of it.  Rained all day.  Tried to get some photos of the fall colors as I went through the West Virginia mountains.  Here are a few.

Since I have not put a video in here in a long time, here is a short (not very exciting) video of the fall colors in rainy West Virginia. 

Sorry that the photos aren't better but "Mother Nature" didn't cooperate very much today.

Stopped for the night at the Wilco Hess truck stop in Tom's Brook, Virginia.

Tuesday October 11, 2011

Drove into Edelstein, IL this morning and picked up the last two pieces of this load.

Somewhere between Minonk (where I slept last night) and Edelstein I got a flat tire on the trailer. Right front inside tire.

I drove to the Daily Express terminal in Morton, IL ( that's just west of Peoria, IL) because I wasn't too far from there.  Called the shop and they sent a guy over to change both tires.

Now I have two new trailer tires!!

After that two hour delay I got back on the road.  Really enjoying the fall tree colors.  Drove to Hebron, Ohio (just east of Columbus) to the TA truck stop for the night.

Monday, October 10, 2011

This morning went into Darien, WI to a place that makes HUGE Caterpillar generators.  There are two other trucks transporting the really big stuff that is going where I'm going.  I'm bringing the smaller stuff.  Got my stuff loaded after they loaded one of the other trucks. 

From here I have to go down to Edelstein, Illinois to pick up some more stuff for this load.  I get that in the morning.  Drove to a truck stop in Minonk, IL for the night.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

At least it wasn't a shutout.