Saturday, May 9, 2020

They finally came by to unload us late this morning.  After the nacelle was unloaded it was my turn.  I pulled up next to the crane once again to the edge of the hole for the tower substructure.  This is what it looks like before they pour the concrete.

Once empty I drove to the Petro in Salina, KS for the night.

Friday, May 8, 2020

At about 7:45 this morning we were told that one of the members of the unloading crew (there are two crews) has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.   Both crews are on "stand down".

A short time later we were told that they have a crew together to unload us today.  They brought in a tower section and 3 blades to join us in the staging area.

They started off with the tower section.  He started in towards the pad.  His rear steer person apparently didn't do a very good job and put it in the ditch.

They brought in a crane to lift it out.  He was sunk in the mud to the frame.

They got him unstuck then brought in another tower section followed by the 3 blades.  Then it was our turn.  It was 4:30 pm CDT.   I followed the nacelle in to the pad where we were to unload.  And there we sat.  Nobody there to unload us.  At 6 pm found out that we were there for the night.  I dropped my trailer there.  A friend followed me as we went into town for dinner.  The restaurant was finally opened for dine in food.  I had a big steak.  It was delicious!!!!   So good to have real food again.  Then went back, re-connected to my trailer, and settled in for the night.

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Drove the rest of the way back to the staging area at the Sac & Fox Truck Stop.  Took a nap.  Got a call saying to follow the nacelle in.  At 2:45 we left and drove to another staging area very close to the delivery site.  We were going to wait there for the night.  I took the tarp off, rolled it up, and put it away.   I dropped my trailer and went into town and picked up dinner.  Returned and hooked back up to my trailer and settled in for the night.   

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Was over to load at 7 am CDT.  I haven't been here for many years.  It really has grown!!  Here is what it looks like from Google Satellite. 

Went in and went over to where my hub was and waited for them to load me.

Once all that was done, I was out of there at noon CDT.  Started back toward Goff, KS.  Stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Salina, KS.  They have good showers here.  Also needed to do a load of laundry.  My back was doing pretty good tonight until I started carrying that laundry around.  Of course I'm parked in the back of the parking lot so its quite a hike to the building. Now it is hurting pretty good.  I'm sure it will feel better in the morning.  Laying down always helps.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Early this morning I went back and hooked up to my trailer and waited.  The had to bring the tower in first - he was blocking the way in.  Once he got in to unload they brought the crane over and I pulled in to unload.  The tower section didn't need the crane.  The trailer he had is one where he can unload himself.  Didn't get stuck today.  The ground was a bit firmer.  

Once again the front of my truck was right at the edge of the hole where the substructure of the tower was.  This is the part you normally don't see.

Once empty I drove down to Garden City, Kansas.  I load there in the morning.  Another hub going back up to Goff.  

Monday, May 4, 2020

Followed a tower section in this morning.  We left at about 7 am CDT.  It takes about an hour to get to the pad from here.  Got to the pad when we got the word that operations were suspended due to lightening in the area.  Not really the best of ideas to be working with a crane when there is lightening all around.  

I hurried up and got the tarp off and everything put away as it was sprinkling. Shortly after that they shut everything down for the day.  I dropped my trailer there and went back to the truck stop.  Try again tomorrow.

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning in a thunderstorm.  After a while I drove out of it and eventually it became sunny.  Made it up to the staging area in Powhattan, KS before 10 am CDT.  Still didn't feel very good so I went to sleep.  Woke up mid afternoon and felt better. This evening, after dinner,  I got a call from the guy up here.  I'm going in to unload first thing in the morning.  Excellent!!!!!  

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Saw this truck parked at the truck stop this morning.  Now that is a real heavy haul truck!!  

Went back to get my trailer at 8 CDT.  They started loading me at 11:45.  Loaded another Wind Energy Hub that is going to Goff, Kansas.

My escort car was waiting for me as I left.  At the Kansas state line she dropped off and I continued on.  Drove to the Newell Truck Stop in Newton, Kansas.  I'm exhausted.  Those damn tarps are so hard on my back.  Hard to move.  Another night on the heating pad.  

Friday, May 1, 2020

This morning I was at the loading area at 7 am CDT.  At about 9 am I moved over to where my hub was and waited.  They were going to load a nacelle first then come over and load me.  At about 11 am they told me that the wind had increased too much to load anything and that they were going to see if it dies down enough to load after lunch.  At 2 pm CDT I got a phone call telling me that they were shut down for the remainder of the weekend.  Operations would resume Monday morning.  I dropped my trailer there and went over to the Love's truck stop in Enid for the rest of the weekend.  A little after 3 pm CDT they called me again and said that they would like me there at 10:30 tomorrow morning.  They would try to load me then.  Hope the wind dies down!!  The saga continues!

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Met the repair guy this morning and he followed me back to where the trailer was.  I hooked up to it and he fixed it.  Here are a couple pictures to show where I unloaded yesterday.

Didn't take long and I was out of there.  Headed back to Enid, OK to pick up another hub.  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Billings, Oklahoma.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Well today didn't go as planned.  Didn't go in to unload until noon CDT.  Had to follow a nacelle from the truck stop in to the site.  The site is way back in the middle of nowhere!!!  The road in wasn't too bad, but at the pad it was a mess!!  Once the "good" part ended they had to put down crane mats for us to drive on to get up to the crane.  Then waited for 3 hours before they started to unload me.

View of the Pad

They brought in another crane and put down crane mats for me to drive on.  I pulled up on the crane mats and the trailer bottomed out on the crane mats.  Had to be pushed to get unstuck.  Finally got unloaded.  When I backed out found that a drain valve on an air tank on the trailer got knocked off.  This caused the brakes to lock on on the front trailer axle.  

Air Tank on the Trailer

Hole Where the Drain Valve Was

Was able to get it out of the way and dropped the trailer there.  By now it is well after hours and Daily couldn't find anyone to come out because they were closed for the day.  They will try again in the morning.  I left the trailer there and went back to the truck stop, my home away from home.  

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Well today wasn't the day.  He tells me that I'll be unloaded in the morning. We'll see.

Monday, April 27, 2020

The parking lot cleared out pretty good today.  I think I will get unloaded tomorrow.  Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Saturday when we had the cook out one of the other drivers had a drone up and took some photos.  Thought you would like to see a few.

Looking South

These photos were taken before it rained.

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Yesterday evening, while they were setting up for the cook out, three blades arrived.  Thought you would like to watch them back in to the parking area here.  I sped up the video so you wouldn't get bored.

As soon as everything was set up for the cook out it started to rain.  Had a brief shower.  Just enough to soak everything.

After the rain passed we had our cook out.

Other than that, I slept a lot today.  Nothing else going on.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Drove to the staging area in Powhattan, Kansas.  It is a small truck stop at the Sac and Fox Casino.  No food here.  Have to go get it.  There are a lot of trucks here already waiting to unload.  3 tower sections, 2 nacelles, and 3 more hubs. Talked to the guy that is responsible for getting us unloaded. He said I might not get unloaded until Thursday. Another reason I hate hubs!!!  Oh well.  The guy that is responsible for unloading us is having a cook out for us here tonight.  That will be nice.  

Friday, April 24, 2020

In Enid, Oklahoma GE has a huge yard with hundreds of wind energy blades, nacelles, and hubs. I was there at 7 am CDT to load.  They had me position next to the crane.  And there I sat.

Just before 11 am CDT they came back and started to load the hub on my trailer.

After it was on my trailer and chained down came the "fun" part, tarping the thing.

When that was done I left with my Oklahoma escort car.  To make a long (a very long) story short we had to stop 12 times to add more bungie cords to keep the damn thing from flapping.  And that still didn't work.  When I got to Kansas my escort car dropped off and I continued on.  Had to stop again on the north side of Wichita because the entire back half of the tarp flung all the bungies off and was flapping like a huge flag.  Re-secured the damn thing again.  Continued on to a truck stop in Newell, Kansas.  My back is so sore tonight it is hard to walk.  Took a long hot shower and that didn't help.  Sleeping on my heating pad again.  Good night.  By the way, this thing is going to a wind farm project in Goff, Kansas.

Thursday, April 23, 2020

As soon as my 10 hours was up I left.  Drove the rest of the way to Enid, Oklahoma.  Stopped for the rest of the day and night at a convenience store with truck parking in Enid.  Load just a few miles from here Friday morning.

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  Had to stop and wait for 2 hours at the Texas / New Mexico state line for my pilot escort car to arrive.  When he arrived we were on our way.  Made it way back off the road in an oil well field outside of Jal, New Mexico.  There were hundreds, if not thousands, of oil wells in there.  It was like the Saudi Arabia of America in there.  Once the crane was set up they unloaded me.

Left there and started off for my next load in Enid, Oklahoma.  Stopped for the night at a convenience store with truck parking in Brownfield, Texas.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Went back to the Caterpillar dealer this morning and got my trailer.  A Caterpillar Genset going to Jal, New Mexico.

Left at 8:45 CDT to time it so that I arrived at the curfew area at 9 AM when the curfew ended.  Was doing real good until I heard a trailer tire blow out.  For a change I actually heard it this time.  Looked in the mirror and saw the rubber flinging everywhere.  Pulled over to the shoulder and went back and checked it out.  Decided that I could drive to a safe place to stop.  On the shoulder my load was sticking out into the travel lane.  Not safe.  I drove slowly about 4 miles to a place that was wide enough for me to stop safely and also safe for the guy that was coming to fix it.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the guy showed up and changed the tire.

Got back on the road again.  Obviously I didn't get as far as I wanted today.  Stopped at the TA truck stop in Big Spring, Texas for the night.  I'll still deliver tomorrow, just not as early as I wanted to.

Monday, April 20, 2020

This morning I drove to the Caterpillar dealer in Irving, TX to load.  Had to wait for the crane to get there.  It arrived sometime after 1 pm CDT.  After they got all set up they loaded a Caterpillar Genset on my trailer.  By the time they finished, and I got the thing secured in the trailer, it was too late to go anywhere.  Fort Worth has a curfew from 4 to 6 pm.  I dropped my trailer there for the night and bobtailed to the TA truck stop on the south side of Dallas for the night.