Saturday, July 6, 2013

Finished driving the rest of the way in to Baltimore.  Relaxing drive, traffic was very light.  Stopped at the TA truck stop until Monday.  Deliver a couple miles from here.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Early this morning drove in to Massillion, OH and loaded a big box.  Was first one there.  I'm not really sure what the thing is but it is going to Baltimore, MD and then on a boat to Saudi Arabia.

Good day on the road.  Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Haggerstown, MD for the night.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

My truck is all better now!!   Here is the culprit, the input shaft in the transmission.  I put a Mt Dew can next to it as a size reference.

My next load is in Massillon, Ohio and loads Friday morning.  Drove over to the TA truck stop in North Canton, Ohio to sit until then.  So nice to be back in my truck!!!!!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Daily sent a company truck over here with my trailer.  We swapped trailers and he took my load on to it's destination because it needed to get there.  Other than that, not much news on my truck yet.  Got the  estimate, $2700 so far.  Don't know when it will be ready.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Went over and loaded a load inverter first thing this morning in Lancaster, PA.

Loaded and tarped real fast and was out of there and on the road in great time.  Everything was going great until I got on I-80.  At mile marker 71.2 something let loose in the transmission.  I had no clutch and could not move.  Coasted it off to the shoulder of the road and waited for the wrecker to arrive.  Of course it was raining.  

The wrecker arrived and hooked up a chain and pulled me off the interstate to the next exit where there was a large parking lot.  Much safer there to hook up to tow.  

And off we went.

Fortunately there was a Mack dealer in Shippenville, PA that could look at it today.  Had it towed there.  From there they drove me to a hotel for the night.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

This morning drove up to the "home office" in  Carlisle, PA and dropped off my trailer.  It needs some major repairs done to it that will take a few days.  In the mean time I swapped into a 3 axle, stretch step deck trailer.  

Of course, there was a problem with the lights so I had to have them fixed before I could go.  When they finally finished, I went down the road to the Petro truck stop and took a shower.   Load Monday in Lancaster, PA, so I drove back to the diner in Lancaster where I will be for the rest of the weekend.

Friday, June 28, 2013

We left the diner this morning and made fantastic time in to Philadelphia.  So good, in fact, we were too early and had to pull off the road and wait for curfew to be over at 9 am.  When we were able to move again we drove to the Walt Whitman bridge and stopped in the "Permit Load Waiting Area" and waited for the cops to arrive to take us across the bridge.   Once he arrived we were on the move again.  He blocked traffic and we had the east bound side of the bridge all to ourselves as we crossed.  On the NJ side he dropped off and we were back on our own.  As we followed the assigned route to the port we came across a bit of an error.  Do you see the problem?

  

If you thought the overpass was too low, you were correct.  Fortunately I was at this port last week and knew a way around this.  Arrived at the port and unloaded the machine with only a minor (to us) glitch.  The crane that they were going to use to unload me was struck by lightening last night.  They didn't know that until they started it up and started to move it.  It bucked and bounced a bit and then stopped working all together.  It was a bit unnerving to be right under a monster crane as it bucks and bounces.  I was able to get a photo of the crane from Google Maps.

We ended up moving down the dock to another crane just like that one.  Once empty I drove over to the TA truck stop in Paulsboro, NJ.  Arrived there just before noon. First thing went over and got a pizza for lunch!!  After that, shower and get in bed.  My back aches a lot!!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Easy day today!!  After the fog lifted enough to drive, we drove down to a little diner on the east side of Lancaster, PA.  Will wait here until tomorrow morning.  Then we can get through Philadelphia after curfew.  Have to have a police escort over the Walt Whitman Bridge going across into NJ.  That is scheduled for tomorrow morning too.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Went back to load again at 8:30 am.  They were working on my machine.  This is what it looked like.

They finally finished and then they shrink wrapped it.

After that was done it was finally time to load it on my trailer.

After that the tarps had to go on top.  Then pull it outside to finish securing everything.  Finally got everything done.

My escorts were there all day waiting with me.

Pulled out of there at 2:30 pm.  This is the route we have to take.

Had two escorts in Ohio.  Only one (the grey pick up truck) for the rest of the trip.  In Pennsylvania we had to take back roads off the interstate.  The first half of that semi circle south from I-80 and back up to I-80 was not too bad.  From Butler back up to I-80 was really something!!  Narrow, winding, two lane roads that go up and down A LOT and through the middle of small towns.  This load is 14 feet, 8 inches wide and my gross weight is about 100,000 pounds.  Was a lot of fun!!  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Milesburg, PA.  That is at I-80, exit 158, for those of you keeping score.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Got my next load.  It is over in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  That is over near Cleveland.  My load appointment was for 2 pm today.  I drove over there and got there early.  Arrived at 12:30.  The thing I am getting was not ready yet.  It is called a vibrating screen and it is going over to the port in Gloucester City, NJ. (Yup, just left there last week)  There are several of them going, six I think.  From there they are all going to China.  They had just finished loading the truck that arrived yesterday.  I will be loading sometime tomorrow morning.  This is not going to be a fun load.  After assisting the other driver in securing his load, I dropped my trailer in the back parking lot and drove down the road to a shopping center that is half empty.  Parked around back for the night.  

Monday, June 24, 2013

Went in to Cranberry, PA first thing this morning and delivered the machine.  Don't have another load yet, so I went back to the Pilot truck stop in Portersville, PA to wait.  Was back there before 8 am. Nothing today.  Hopefully something tomorrow.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Half day today!  Got started at sun rise this morning and drove across Pennsylvania to the Pilot truck stop in Portersville, PA for the rest of the weekend.  Deliver Monday morning about a half hour from here.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Slept in this morning then got the truck washed.  It looks so good when it's clean!!  At about 11:30 was told that my load was ready at the port in Newark, NJ.  Drove up there and loaded a Unidachs 400L.  It is going to Cranberry Township, PA.  That is over near Pittsburgh. 

Hit a lot of bumper to bumper traffic getting out of there.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Columbia, NJ at the Delaware Water Gap.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Got up early and drove in to the port in Glouster City, NJ.  Unfortunately I didn't leave early enough because I got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic going through Philadelphia.  Even so, I got in and delivered the boxes and then over to the TA truck stop in Paulsboro, NJ before noon.  Ate, took a shower, and got in bed.  My back is still very sore.  Slept all afternoon and it felt great!!  Really helped a lot.

There is a pizza place across the street from here.  If you know me, you know that I could eat pizza 7 days a week.  So you know where I ate dinner tonight!!  It was good too.

My next load is supposed to be an excavator up in Newark but, as of 4:30,  it is still not ready yet.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Got up early this morning and drove up to Olean, NY for my next load.  Loaded two boxes of machine parts that are going down to Gloucester City, NJ.  That is just outside of Philadelphia.  Of course they had to be tarped.

I drove down to the TA truck stop in Bloomsburg, PA and stopped a little early for the night. Didn't get much sleep last night and my back really hurts.  Need to rest.

Tuesday, June 18. 2013

First thing this morning had the fuel leak fixed and while they were in there had the oil changed too.  Then went to the "Home Office" of Daily Express in Carlisle, PA and had my 90 day inspection done on the truck and trailer.  Also had the bad tire changed.  Found an air leak in an air line behind the engine.  

Went to Kenworth and had that fixed.  Also tried to find the electrical problem with the windshield washer.  Still couldn't find it.  Got out of Kenworth at 11:30 pm and went back to the Daily Express yard in Carlisle for the night.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Left New Paris, Ohio just before sun up this morning and drove straight through to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and delivered the track loader.  

My generator has had a fuel leak all weekend so after delivering I went across the street to the Cummins dealer to get it fixed in the morning.  Was able to park in their parking lot and plug in to electricity for the night.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Left Oak Grove, MO just before sun up.  Good day on the road.  Traffic was light all day.  As I was getting toward Indianapolis, IN I saw a lot of black smoke.  Initially I thought an airliner went down because it started out looking like it was near the airport.  As I got closer I realized that it was not near the airport.  It was on the west side of the city.  

I basically went around it on the highway but didn't get close enough to see what was burning. 

Found out later that it was a warehouse on fire.  Click below for video.

Click Here For Video

Stopped for the rest of the weekend at the Petro truck stop in New Paris, Ohio.  That is right on the Indiana / Ohio line.  Couldn't go any further because my Ohio permit does not start until Monday.

Friday, June 14, 2013

The day started off great and went downhill from there.  Drove in to Wichita and delivered the excavator first thing.  Was in and out of there real fast.  Drove 16 miles up to Park City, KS and loaded a Caterpillar 973C track loader that is going to Harrisburg, PA.  My gross is 108,000 pounds.

When loading the machine it went over one of the air lines and cut it in half.  Spent several hours getting that fixed.  Also noticed a few cracks in one of the trailer tires.

After the air line was replaced I went down the road to a truck stop, scaled up and then waited for my Kansas permit.  It finally arrived at 12:30 local time and I got on the road. 

When I got to Kansas City I had to stop again and wait until  6 pm local time for curfew to be over. Then I drove to the Petro in Oak Grove, Missouri for the night.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Left Jackson, TN just before sun up this morning. Great day on the road.  Weather was great too, just a little windy.  Drove 612 miles to a convenience store with a little bit of truck parking in Leon, Kansas.  Will deliver in the morning in Wichita, KS.