Saturday, May 5, 2012

Left Effingham, Illinois a half hour before sun up.  Followed a real pretty thunderstorm for a while.  Lots of lightening.  I finally caught up to it in Paducah, Kentucky.  Drove out of it after a little bit then after a while it cleared up nicely.  Stopped once all day and that was at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-65 to use "the facilities".  491 miles today.  Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the Flying J truck stop in Birmingham, Alabama.  Deliver Monday morning not too far from here.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Left Council Bluffs, IA very early this morning and drove to Bettendorf, Iowa and loaded a John Deere 644 Wheel Loader.  It is going to Trussville, Alabama.  Had a problem reattaching the trailer so it took forever!! to get out of there. 

Finally got on the road and drove down to Effingham, Illinois to the TA truck stop for the night.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Got on the road a half hour before sun up and drove to the Iowa 80 truck stop.  Picked up some extra supplies of some of the stuff that gets used a lot that I can't find at any other truck stops.  Also the fluorescent lights in the bunk were shot and I desperately needed to replace them.  Then drove to Council Bluffs, Iowa and delivered the excavator.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop that was 4 blocks from where I delivered. 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Got a very good nights sleep last night.  Woke up still a bit stiff and sore but a whole lot better than last night.  Got on the road at sun up.  Harrisburg curfew was from 7:30 am to 9 am and sun up was at 6:06 am.  That gave me about an hour and a half to get through Harrisburg.  Smooth sailing all day.  Great day to be on the road.  Drove pretty much all day non stop.  Ran out of hours so I stopped for the night at a truck stop in Grovertown, Indiana.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Went over to the shop to see if they had worked on my trailer yesterday evening.  Nope.  It was still sitting in the yard.  New crew in there today.  The boss was back.  He had me hook up to it and bring it into one of the bays.  Four guys started right in on it.  They also did an inspection too.  Found a bunch of stuff wrong with it.  While two guys worked on replacing the bad, and broken wood on the back deck another replaced the two bad tires.  Another was underneath inspecting.  He found that the front axle driver's side breaks were low and needed replacing.  Also found a wheel seal blown on that side.  That was a real dangerous one.  Could have left me stranded.  On the passenger's side, front axle, the breaks were not even working!  New pads on it and never been used!!  The guy that replaced the two bad tires found another tire that was bad too and replaced it.  Then he took the wheels off the front axle and replaced the breaks and wheel seal.  The guy underneath greased it and worked on the break that wasn't working.  When all that was done they started to replace the wood on the bottom deck.  When they took the old wood off they found several very serious frame defects.  The boss was summoned and he looked at them and placed the trailer out of service indefinitely.  So I ended up getting a different trailer.  Fortunately it was a lot newer.  The broken one was a 1993 model.  The one I got to replace it is a 2010 model.  Much better shape!!  It is longer than the other one too.  Pulled the broken trailer out to the yard and dropped it.  Hooked up to my new trailer and swapped all my stuff over to it.  It was now after lunch time. 

Headed over to pick up my next load - the one I was supposed to pick up yesterday.  Loaded a Hyundai 290 Excavator.  My gross weight with this is 110,840 pounds and I am 10 feet, 6 inches wide.  It's a biggie.  It is going to Council Bluffs, Iowa. 

 

By the time I finished I didn't have enough time to beat the Harrisburg curfew so I went back to the Petro truck stop in Carlisle, PA for the night.  By the time I got there I felt like I was run over by my truck.  My back was aching as well as everything else!  Took a long hot shower, that helped.  Then went to bed very early!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Got started real early this morning and delivered the wheel loader first thing in North Syracuse, NY.  Then drove down to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA.  Needed to get a little work done on the trailer.  Most important was that it needed two rear tires replaced.  Also needed to get some work done on the truck.  I needed two new shocks in the rear and a new rear tire.  Dropped the trailer off at the shop.  They said that they couldn't get to it until second shift.  I went to the tire shop and got a real deal on a tire.  I replaced the bad tire with a used one that was almost a perfect match.  So instead of spending about $900.00 on tires I only spent $125.00.   Then I went and got the shocks replaced.  I can feel the difference.  Spent the night at the Petro truck stop.  Hope my trailer is ready in the morning so I can pick up my next load.  Fortunately it is only about 2 miles down the street from here.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Left Fayette, Ohio early this morning and stayed on US-20 all day.  Mostly a two lane road through every small town in Ohio and New York.  I went from red light to red light all day long!!  Out of several hundred traffic lights between Ohio and New York I got about a dozen of them green.  All the rest would change as soon as I got close.  I think I need new brakes!!  Aside from that, I enjoyed the small towns.  Most were quite quaint.  Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the Petro truck stop in Waterloo, New York. 

Friday, April 27, 2012

Left Clearwater, Minnesota before sun up.  Beat the Twin Cities rush hour traffic.  In Indiana I got on US-20 instead of paying the toll on I-80.  Drove through a very heavy Amish area.  I just don't understand their "life style".  With all the great technology around them and they still live like that, and wear stupid clothing, and not use deodorant and smell real bad.  You can try to explain it to me but it won't do any good.  I just don't understand it, and never will.

Stopped for the night at a restaurant parking lot in Fayette, Ohio.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Got on the road early this morning from Portage, WI and drove into Burnsville, Minnesota and delivered the wheel loader.  My next load was in Fargo, North Dakota so off I went.  Arrived in Fargo and loaded a Case 621 Wheel Loader.  It is going to North Syracuse, NY. 

Got back on the road and drove to the Petro truck stop in Clearwater, MN for the night. Drove 696 miles today.  Not too shabby!!!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Got on the road early this morning.  The engine problem that I thought I had fixed came back again but this time worse. Stopped at Peterbilt in Bloomington, Illinois this afternoon and got it fixed.  He attached the computer to the truck and ran some diagnostics on it.  Found that there was a problem of low power to the number 4 injector.  Took off the valve cover and the problem was obvious! 

Here is a closer look.

Normally the entire wiring harness would have to be replaced.  They don't make individual sections, its all or nothing. That job takes about 8 hours.  Fortunately the mechanic had a good section from another harness and was able to splice in what I needed.  It worked great!!

Also found out that my number 2 injector is starting to go.  Will have to do that someday.  I was back on the road very quickly! 

Just north of Janesville, Wisconsin I passed a roadside Bar-B-Q.  It used to be a mini van.

That was in the middle of a five mile back up from a semi truck being towed out of the median.  The fire made a traffic mess even worse.  Glad I was going the other way. 

Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Portage, Wisconsin.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

At 9 am I left Baltimore and drove all day stopping only briefly to check the load periodically.  I think I got a bad batch of fuel someplace.  The truck was not running right when it was really pulling hard going up the mountains in western Maryland.  As long as it wasn't working real hard it ran fine.  When I stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in New Paris, Ohio I went straight for the shop and had my fuel filters changed.  That should take care of the problem - I hope.  Didn't finish dinner tonight until after 10 pm. 

Monday, April; 23, 2012

Went in to the Port this morning and unloaded the crusher screen.  My next load was not ready yet so I went back to the TA truck stop to wait.  A few hours later I got word that it was ready.  Went back to the Port to load.  Went in and checked in.  Then went and found the machine that I was to load.  Got the truck ready and went over to get the machine and it would not start.  Dead as a stump!! They had left the battery on and the key on.  I sat there for two hours waiting for them to come over and jump start the thing.  Of course it started right up.  I drove it over to the trailer and loaded it up.  I left it running while I secured it to the trailer.  It is a Volvo L180G Wheel Loader.  It is going to Burnsville, Minnesota.

 

Went back to the TA truck stop in Baltimore for the night because it was too late to go anywhere.  I'll get started tomorrow morning after 9 am.

I know you have seen those CAT Scales at truck stops and wondered what the paperwork looks like (OK maybe you didn't wonder - just humor me!!) Here is what a scale ticket looks like from one of them.  I scaled up when I got to the TA tonight with the loader on board.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Nothing even remotely exciting today.  Drove in to the TA truck stop in Baltimore this morning.  I'll be here until Monday.  Unload at the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk Monday morning.  My next load is at the Port also.  Not sure whether it loads Monday or Tuesday.  Will find out Monday when I get empty. It is another good load!!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Left Whitestone, IN a half hour before sun up.  Nothing at all exciting today, just a nice drive and good weather.  Stopped for the night in Haggerstown, MD at the Pilot truck stop.  Mitt Romney's campaign bus is parked just down the street at the Holiday Inn Express.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Finally got another load.  It was up in Mequon, Wisconsin, that's just north of Milwaukee.  Loaded a crusher screen.  It is going to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, MD.  From there it is going on a boat to Australia.

As I was taking the photos it started to rain and the tornado sirens were blaring.  Pretty good time to be leaving.  Got on the road and got stuck in a lot of bumper to bumper traffic going through Chicago. Ended up spending the night in Whitestown, Indiana.  That's about 20 miles from Indianapolis.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Went in to Rockford, IL this morning and delivered the dump truck.  Don't have a load yet so I went to a truck stop in Rockford to wait. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Nothing much exciting today.  Got on the road as soon as the sun came up.  This load is really top heavy!!  It likes to sway.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Bloomington, Illinois for the night.  Replaced a burned out headlight and changed the air filter in my APU after I had dinner. There is always something to fix!!!  I'll deliver tomorrow morning in Rockford, IL

Monday, April 16, 2012

Went in to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, MD this morning and loaded a Volvo A40F dump truck.  It is an articulating truck.  Have not driven an articulating vehicle in a very long time.  Just like riding a bike, came right back to me.  Still lots of fun to drive!!!

It weighs 69,335 pounds.  Makes my gross weight almost 110,000 pounds.  After I got it secured, got on the road.  Didn't get very far.  A container truck rolled over on the ramp that all the oversize trucks have to take to get to I-95. 

The only thing blocking the ramp was the cops!!  We (about a dozen oversize trucks) sat there for about 45 minutes blocking a lot of traffic before the idiot cops figured out that if they moved their cars we could all get past.  DUH!!!!!

Finally got on the Interstate and got out of town.  Slow going west on I-70 and I-68.  Lots of up and down.  My truck really gets a workout on those two highways.  Stopped for the night at the Petro:2 truck stop in Claysville, PA on I-70 just before West Virginia.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Had the truck serviced this morning.  Oil changed, air filter changed, and chassis greased.  When that was done I drove down to the TA truck stop in Baltimore for the rest of the weekend.

Friday, April, 13, 2012

Went in to Murrysville, PA this morning.  The way the stupid State had me routed it took an hour and a half to go 45 miles.  Two lane roads for some of it. Steep up and steep (the warning signs said they were 20% grades!!) down and full of curves.  Full of stop lights too - of course I got almost all of them red!!!   Delivered the dozer.  Then drove over to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA and picked up a couple more heavy chains and binders.  Spent the night at the Petro truck stop in Carlisle.  My next load is a real good one!!  Really looking forward to it!!  Loads Monday morning in Baltimore.