Saturday, March 30, 2013

This morning started in on making some sense out of all this stuff in the truck.  Made great headway.  I can walk across the floor and get into the bathroom now.  That a major accomplishment!!  Installed a temporary amber beacon on the front so I will be legal totin' the big stuff.  Found my camera.  Here is my load.

My inaugural trip.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Yesterday morning started at 7 am at the Caterpillar dealer in Garner, North Carolina.  I traded in my Peterbilt for a new (to me) 2007 Kenworth W900 with an ARI Legacy Sleeper.  See their web site for more info on ARI     http://www.legacysleepers.com      The truck is in great condition and is absolutely perfect for me.  It even has a shower and toilet!

Started working on swapping over my stuff to the new truck right away.  Lots of things to move.  To make a very long day short, finished at 9:30 pm then drove an hour up to the Petro truck stop in Mebane, NC for the night.  I was totally exhausted!!  There is stuff in bags all over inside the truck.

Today, I drove over to Winston-Salem, NC and loaded an axle assembly for a Caterpillar 785C Dump Truck.  It is going to the Port of Baltimore.  Sorry I don't have photos.  Because everything in the truck is in bags all over the place, I have no idea where my camera is.  Got on the road and drove up to the TA Truck Stop in Jessup, Maryland for the rest of the weekend.  Going to bed.  Tomorrow the fun of putting all this stuff away.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Nothing new yet.  Tomorrow is the big day.  Stay tuned.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Still nothing.  Went to the SafeLite Auto Glass web site and punched in all the info on replacing my windshield.  Much to my pleasant surprise they were here in less than 2 hours replacing my windshield.  Couldn't believe how fast they were!  So now I have a new windshield.  

Something really great coming in a few days, stay tuned!!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Woke up this morning and the rain that started yesterday had turned to snow.  Fortunately it was a very wet snow and was melting as soon as it hit anything.  It is more like chunky rain. Went over to Huntington, WV this morning and delivered.  After that went to the TA truck stop in Greensboro, NC to wait for my next load. On the way, had a rock break my windshield.  Its always something!!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Went back to the truck show this morning for the last day.  Didn't stay very long, my back just couldn't take another day of it.  Left Louisville and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Catlettsburg, KY for the rest of the weekend.  Deliver Monday about 20 miles from here in West Virginia.  The weather is supposed to get worse tomorrow.  Might get some snow too.  

Friday, March 22, 2013

Another very full day at the truck show.  Still have not seen everything.  Attended a VIP, by invitation only, lunch given by TA and Petro truck stops.  Food was pretty good.  I enjoyed that a lot.  

Recognize her??

That is Lisa Kelly from Ice Road Truckers.

My feet hurt all the way to my hips!  My back is killing me!!  Just can't spend a long time on my feet anymore.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

After waiting a day in Seymour, IN I drove down to the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, Kentucky to attend the Mid-America Trucking Show.

It is the largest trucking show in the country. See the web site for details:     http://www.truckingshow.com

Got there when it opened this morning and spent all day in there.  Still have not seen everything.  The show is for three days so I'll have a chance to see most of it.  It is HUGE!!  Enjoying it a lot so far except my back is totally shot for today.  Hurts like crazy!!  

Recognize this guy??

Yup, the King of NASCAR, Richard Petty.

I dropped my trailer in the parking lot and went to dinner.  On the way back I drove around the world famous Churchill Downs.  Home of the Kentucky Derby.

 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Nothing for the first half of the day.  At about noon I accepted a partial load that will get me down to where I want to go.  Drove over to the Daily Express terminal in Morton, IL and loaded a Caterpillar D6 dozer blade, C frame, and a box of parts.  They are going to Huntington, West Virginia. 

From there drove down to the TA truck stop in Seymour, Indiana.  Interesting things in the days to come, stay tuned!!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Last night, after dinner, I drove over to the John Deere plant in Davenport, IA, where I was to unload, and spent the night there.  The weather report was for snow Monday morning so I wanted to be where I was to unload just in case there was a lot of snow.  First thing this morning I unloaded the excavator in the snow.    Fortunately it was not snowing hard and it was melting as soon as it hit the ground.  The excavator and my trailer had about a quarter of an inch of ice on it.  Made unloading pretty fun!!  Didn't have another load yet so I went over to the Flying J truck stop in Davenport to wait.  After the snow stopped it got very windy!!  This truck is really rockin' back and forth.

Nothing today.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Left Mt, Vernon, IL just before sun up this morning.  Drove to the world famous Iowa 80 Truck Stop in Wolcott, Iowa for the rest of the weekend.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Left Mocksville, NC at sun up this morning.  Another nice day on the road.  On I-24 in Kentucky almost to Illinois saw an almost crash.  Have it on video (below). In the video it is extremely difficult to see what is happening out in front of me because it is so far away.  Way out in front is a white Chevy Suburban pulling a long yellow box type trailer.  For some unknown reason it starts to fish tail.  It gets much worse and violently swings back and forth across the road.  It is absolutely amazing that the thing didn't flip over.  Somehow the driver gets control and pulls to the right side of the road and stops, probably to pry the seat from his or her butt!!  As I change lanes to go around you can see the black skid marks left on the road from the trailer swinging back and forth.  You will definitely have to expand the video to full screen to see anything, even at that it will be difficult to see.  Might have to view it a few times to see it.

Aside from that, nothing else exciting today.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.  

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Got on the road at sun up and drove down to Kinston, NC and delivered the tractor.  On the way I saw a car crash right in front of me.  This woman, going in the opposite direction from me, went off the side of the road, over corrected and shot back across her two lanes and  into the median. Dirt flying everywhere as she slid sideways into a street sign where she came to a stop.  As I went past I saw the look on her face.  Priceless!!  Her eyes were as big as dinner plates.   Anyway, my next load was back in Kernersville so off I went.  Arrived at Kernersville, NC and loaded another John Deere 250GL Excavator that is going to Davenport, Iowa. 

 Didn't get too far today.  Stopped at a truck stop in Mocksville, NC for the night.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Got on the road just before sun up.  Another good day on the road.  Nothing exciting at all.  Nice relaxing drive.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Mebane, North Carolina.  Will deliver tomorrow morning sometime.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Much better day today than yesterday!!  Even though I was 19th in line to get loaded this morning I was loaded and on the road by 9:30 local time.  Loaded a John Deere 8335 Tractor and tires.  It is going to Kinston, North Carolina.

Around Cedar Rapids, IA it started to snow. Cedar Rapids, IA has a large Quaker Oates factory there.  Every time I go through there it smells like oatmeal.  Smells really good!   By the time I got to I-80 it was really coming down hard.  Between Iowa City and Davenport it was heavy snow.  But then it stopped. 

 

The rest of the day was nice.  Drove non-stop, 647 miles, from Waterloo down to Oak Grove, Kentucky.  Stopped at the Pilot truck stop for the night.

Monday, March 11, 2013

After a very nice relaxing weekend, the week started off like crap!!  Went over and picked up my trailer first thing this morning and drove over to the place where I was to unload.  I arrived at 8 am local time and was taken to a staging area.  And there I sat.  Eventually there were nine trucks there with me.  We all sat there and watched about a dozen other trucks come in and get unloaded and leave.  No one even had the common decency  to us to explain what they were doing, or anything.  Just left us there to rot all day.  No food, no restroom, nothing.  We were all pretty pissed off!!  GE (General Electric) really SUCKS!!!!  It will be a long time before I do another one of these.  At 4:45 pm local time we were all brought back to where we were to unload.  Sat there until 5:35 when I finally got unloaded. Took only 5 minutes to get unloaded!!!!!

 

Next load is tomorrow morning in Waterloo, Iowa.   I went over to Iowa 80 truck stop for food and fuel and then on to Waterloo.  Stopped for the night at the staging area at the John Deere plant in Waterloo.  I am number 19 in line for loading tomorrow morning.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Went in to Davenport, IA and tried to deliver.  They were so backed up that they couldn't take me until Monday.  So I drove over to the Daily Express terminal in Bettendorf, Iowa and dropped the trailer.  Then I went over to Best Buy and bought a new lap top computer.  My old one was on its last legs.  After that went to a hotel for the rest of the weekend.  Spent the rest of the day transferring files and programs from the old to the new.  The hardest part is trying to figure out Windows 8. It is a lot different than Windows 7.  I have all the important stuff in the new one now so I'll be spending the next two days figuring the rest of this thing out.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Got on the road at sun up from Franklin, TN and drove non stop up to the Pilot truck stop in Woodhull, Illinois.  I am making way too good time!  Had to stop here for the night because my Iowa permit does not start until tomorrow.  I'm not scheduled to deliver until Monday anyway.  Going to try to deliver tomorrow.  Not sure if I can.  I called ahead and he said they were backed up because of the snow.  They were trying to get everything plowed but its a mess there.  Trucks getting stuck and stuff like that.  All I can do is try.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Surprise, surprise!!  I was loaded this morning and on the road by 11 am local time!!  Another wind energy hub going to Davenport, Iowa.

Had a great day on the road.  Because I got out of there so much faster than I thought I would, I was able to get all the way up to the TA truck stop in Franklin, TN.  That is just south of Nashville.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Drove in to the BNSF Rail yard in Birmingham, Alabama this morning and delivered the excavator.  After that went to Thermo King in Birmingham and had some minor A/C work done to my APU.  That didn't take too long.  Next load is tomorrow in Pensacola  FL.  Another wind energy hub.  Drove down there and stopped for the night in the truck staging area for GE in Pensacola.  Hopefully it won't take all day tomorrow.  Yah, right!!  I'm already 5th in line for tomorrow.  I'll be lucky to get out of here before 3 tomorrow afternoon!