Saturday, April 20, 2013

Had a light dusting of snow last night.  It is still cold!  Did a little sightseeing this morning.  This area is mostly Amish.  There are buggy's everywhere.  Walked through a few of the local  Amish stores.  For some additional information on Shipshewana, click here:      http://www.shipshewana.org

Here is an Amish parking lot

I even saw an Amish race car!!

I'll never understand that way of life.  To me, it's just dumb to live that way.  To each their own.  That's what makes this country great.  We can all live side-by-side and accept each others way of life with no problems.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Went in to Greenwood, IN to deliver this morning.  The place was in a residential area with narrow roads.  Had to go real slow while oncoming traffic had to go half way off the road to get around me.  Of course this was happening when everyone was going to work and the school buses were picking up kids.  When they showed me where the place was and the way in I knew right away that there was no way I was going to get in there.  Also it had been raining there a lot!  The ground was saturated.  The rivers, streams, and creeks were all overflowing.  Any tire off road would immediately sink in the mud.  I pulled off to the side at a bridge, the only wide place on the road.

It is hard to see in the next photo, but there is about a two (or more) feet drop off on the other side of the road.  No wiggle room at all.

When the rest of the crew arrived it became apparent that they had already made plans to unload me in a different location.  I had to turn around and go back to a golf course parking lot about a half mile up the road.  The crane was going to set up there and I was going to be off loaded.  The building was going to be put on a much smaller trailer with a much smaller truck so it could get in there.

Here is the crane setting up.  The truck next to the crane in the next photo is the truck that had the crane rigging, not the one to be used to transport the building.

Here is my truck parked next to the smaller truck.

When they finished rigging the crane I backed up next to the crane.  They lifted the building up and I pulled out.  Then the smaller truck backed under the building and they set it down.

When that was done I left there and drove up to ARI in Shipshewana, IN.  That is where my sleeper was made.  I have an appointment Monday morning to have a few things fixed.  When I got there they were super nice.  I was able to refill my water tanks and I had a place to plug in so I didn't have to run the generator.  They even gave me a car to use for the weekend!!  I will make very good use of that!!  Went to Wal-Mart right away!!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

At 11 am my Indiana permit finally arrived!  It had just started to rain.  I got on the road quickly and drove out of it.  Didn't go very far.  Stopped for the rest of the day at the TA truck stop in Clayton, Indiana.  Now the bad weather can catch up with me again.  Will deliver tomorrow morning in Greenwood, IN.  That is just south of Indianapolis.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Good day on the road.  Perfect weather!!  Drove to an abandon Walmart, a very small one, in Marshall, Illinois.  Couldn't go any further because I still don't have an Indiana permit.  Don't know why it is taking so long.....oh, yes I do..... Government!!!   I'm only a few miles from Indiana.   

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Went over and loaded a building that is for AT&T going to Greenwood, Indiana.  I gross at about 101,000 pounds.

 While I was securing it to the trailer I found a small hole in one of the trailer tires. 

 After I was all done I drove back to the small truck stop I stayed at last night.  There was no shop there.  Road service came out and fixed the tire.  

Once he got the tire off the hole was a lot bigger on the inside.

He also found the culprit!!

Once that was done I got on the road. Arkansas routed me all over the place!  I zig-zagged all the way through the farm country of Arkansas, mostly on 2 lane roads.  Took all day to get up to Memphis.  Finally made it to the Petro truck stop in West Memphis, Arkansas for the night.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Had the worlds largest BBQ grill park across from me last night.  I have seen this truck on TV before.  It's pretty cool!!  The entire trailer is the grill.

Went over and delivered the crane this morning.  Took most of the morning to get it unloaded.  Lots of security stuff to go through to get into the chemical plant.

Next load is in Minden, LA tomorrow morning.  Drove up to a small truck stop just down the road from where I load in the morning.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Got on the road at sun up.  Great day to be on the road, the weather was perfect.  In Texas a Swift truck in front of me in the right lane had a trailer tire explode.  I got it on video but it is (again) difficult to see.  The explosion was loud enough for me to hear in my truck.

Stopped for the weekend at the TA Truck Stop in Baytown, Texas.  Deliver Monday morning just down the road from here.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Yesterday was another exhausting day!  Glad it is over.  Today I went over to the other side of Jacksonville and loaded a Grove 540 Crane that is going to Baytown, Texas.

Got on the road and drove out to the TA truck stop west of Mobile, Alabama for the night. My gross weight is 109,420 pounds.  This truck pulls that weight so much better than the other one did.  Drove through that cold front.  Lots of heavy rain and a lot of wind!  Glad I was heavy.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Got on the road just before sun up and drove in to the Port of Miami.  All the cruise ships were gone.  Lots of bumper to bumper traffic this morning.  After  delivering drove back  to the Daily yard in Jacksonville.  Next load is Thursday in Jax.  

Monday, April 8, 2013

Left Jacksonville this afternoon and drove down to the TA truck stop in Vero Beach for the night. Deliver in Miami tomorrow.

Took a few more photos of my truck for you.  Hope you like them as much as I do.

Here is the lettering that was done up in Carlisle.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Got a lot done today, still lots more to do.  I'm exhausted.  Need to go back to work to relax!!

Friday, April 5, 2013

Loaded a John Deere 180 GL Excavator this morning.

Made good time.  Was first in and out today.  This machine is going to the port in Miami, FL.  Got on the road and drove straight home to Jacksonville, FL.  Have a TON of stuff to do tomorrow!!    Very nice day on the road.  Decided to give you a little video again.  Here are few of  the stupid people that changed lanes in front of me a little too close today.  This is a normal, everyday occurrence.  But when there is a crash, its always the evil truck driver that is at fault.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Finally got everything done in Carlisle, PA.  There was a lot to do.  This morning was ready for a load, but none available.  So I waited.  At about noon I got one.  Loads down in Kernersville, NC tomorrow morning.  Got on the road and drove down that way.  On I-81 in Virginia just south of I-64 it started to snow. 

Rapidly it got worse...    Like the view from the cab?

...and worse...

...and worse, as it started to stick to the road...

And started to cover the road....

Only saw two plows/sanders so far, but they were on the other side.  Big difference from further north where they know how to keep roads open in snow like this.

Finally a plow.

After I turned south on I-77 it changed over to rain  Drove for a little over 100 miles in that stuff.  

Stopped for the night at the John Deere Plant in Kernersville, NC where I load in the morning. Yes, it's still raining.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Drove in to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, MD and delivered the axle.  After that drove up to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA.  Will be here for a couple days getting some stuff done.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

When I was at the truck show last week I entered a drawing for a CB radio while visiting the TA / Petro Truck Stop pavilion   I was totally floored when I put my TA card in the kiosk and found out that I had won it!!  Picked it up last night.

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!!