Saturday, November 21, 2020

 Left at sunrise this morning.  Couldn't waste any time today.  I have to get through Virginia today because permit loads can't operate on Sunday in Virginia.  Just another stupid unnecessary regulation.  Anyway, I did good.  Made it to the Flying J truck stop in Mt. Airy, North Carolina for the night.  When I got here I had to replace a burned-out headlight, add coolant to the engine, and replace a bunch of Bungie cords that had flung off the tarp during the day.  Then went in to eat at the restaurant and had my usual lousy service and half of my meal was cold. Par for the course!!  

Friday, November 20, 2020

 Went over to the place I was loading this morning.  It was in a residential area of Erie.  Very difficult to get into with a big truck.  Fortunately, the weather cooperated, except for the wind.  This is what I was transporting plus two other skids of stuff.  It weighs 27,000 pounds.

Here is how they got it out of the building.

Then the crane on one side and the forklift on the other side put it on my trailer.  It was too heavy for the crane alone.  Also had to watch out for the power lines.

After the other two skids were loaded the fun began.  All three had to be tarped - in the wind.

By the time I finished, I was exhausted.  Then I had to make my way back out of there to I-79.  That was fun being 12 feet wide!!!!   It took a while but I made it with no damage to anything.  Then I drove to the Pilot truck stop in Portersville, PA for the night.

Thursday, November 19, 2020

 This morning I made the 380 mile trip up to Erie, Pennsylvania.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Harborcreek, PA.  I load in the morning about 10 miles from here.

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

 Left VERY early this morning in the snow.  Had lake effect snow for quite a while this morning.  Only accumulated in a few places.  Salt trucks were doing a great job.  Drove down to Mechanicsburg, PA.  The weather was fine there.  Got there before they opened.  Fortunately, the gate was open and I went in and unloaded the wheel loader before they got there.  After they got there and I got my paperwork signed off, I went over to the "home office" in Carlisle.  Last night I got an email that said my truck was due for routine maintenance.  Sent an email to the maintenance guy and he said to go to the shop in Carlisle.  So that's what I did.  They were way too busy to work on my truck so they made an appointment for 1 pm at a local shop.  I went and did three loads of laundry then went to the shop.  Got there at noon.  They took my truck in at 1 pm.  I didn't get out of there until 4 pm.  Since I had been up since midnight, I was pretty tired.  Went back to the Daily yard in Carlisle for the night.

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

 Left as soon as my 10 hours were up.  It was snowing pretty good.  After a while, it stopped.  There was no accumulation, just a dusting.  Had more snow starting before Acron, Ohio and it was still snowing when I stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Hubbard, Ohio.  The snow was building up a little on the grass, but not on the roads yet.  As soon as my 10 hours are up, I'll be back on the road.  I'll deliver tomorrow.

Monday, November 16, 2020

 Had a dusting of snow yesterday morning.  Last night we got about a quarter of an inch of snow.  Went over to the Case plant and loaded a Case 621G Wheel Loader that is going to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Left there and drove to the Petro truck stop in Portage, Wisconsin for the night.

Saturday, November 14, 2020

 As soon as my 10 hours was up, I left.  Almost hit a deer in South Dakota.  Drove up to the Petro truck stop in Fargo, North Dakota.  I stopped along the way at Wal Mart.  I was down to my last 8 cans of Mt. Dew.  Thats not good!!!!  But I'm all stocked up now.  Crisis averted!!!   I'll be here until Monday morning.

Friday, November 13, 2020

 Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning.  Drove to the Caterpillar dealer in Rapid City, South Dakota and delivered the wheel loader.  My next load is in Fargo, North Dakota Monday morning.  I started off that way.  Stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Murdo, South Dakota.  As soon as my 10 hours is up, I'll be back on the road to Fargo, don't ya know!!

Thursday, November 12, 2020

 Couldn't leave when I wanted to this morning.  Had to time it so that I didn't get to Wichita, Kansas before 9 am.  I think I did pretty good.  I entered Wichita at 9:03 am.  Other than that, nothing interesting today.  Drove to a small truck stop in Ansley, Nebraska for the night.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

 Stopped on the scale this morning shortly after I got started.  Couldn't find one yesterday.  My weights were wrong so I had to move the machine.  Then scaled again.  Still off.  Moved the machine again.  This time it was fine.  The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  No traffic issues in Fort Worth or Oklahoma City!  Stopped for the night at a truck stop in Billings, Oklahoma.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

 Late this morning I got my next load.  I drove down to the Port of Galveston and loaded a Caterpillar 966M Wheel Loader that is going to Rapid City, South Dakota.

While I was there I helped another driver.  He had not loaded a Motor Grader before.  They can be very intimidating.  The one he had was a very large one.  I loaded it for him.  He was very grateful.  

Once I finished securing my machine, I left.  Drove to a small truck stop in Normangee, Texas for the night.

Monday, November 9, 2020

 Left a little before sunrise this morning and drove the rest of the way to Corpus Cristi.  About 6 miles from delivery, while still on I-37, a trailer tire blew.  I pulled over to the side of the Interstate and determined that I could continue on without causing any further damage.  I drove slowly to the oil refinery where I was delivering.  While waiting for them to get set up in there, I had the tire guy come out to change both tires on the trailer.  He arrived and pulled the first tire off.  It was the outside tire. It was the one that did not blow.  It just had some really bad wear and needed replacing.

He was unable to get the inside tire, the blown tire, off.  Did everything possible to do there, but nothing worked.

I had him put it all back together and said I would go to his shop after they unloaded me.  Shortly after putting it back on, I went in to unload.  That only took a few minutes and I was on my way to the tire shop.

He used a forklift with a chain from the forklift around the tire to pull it off.   It put up quite a fight.  After several attempts to get it off, it finally came off.  

Two new tires were put on and I was out of there.  Don't have another load yet so I drove back to Houston to the Daily terminal to wait. 

Sunday, November 8, 2020

 Nothing exciting today.  Drove down to a truck stop in Refugio, Texas until tomorrow morning.

Saturday, November 7, 2020

 Left this morning a half-hour before sunrise in a thunderstorm.  Fortunately, it didn't last too long. After a while it cleared up and ended up being a beautiful day.  Another good day on the road.  All along I-10 in Mississippi and I-12 in Louisianna there is still a lot of damage visible from the hurricanes this year.  But it was worst in the Lake Charles area.  Lots of severe damage to the area.  "Blue roofs" are everywhere. Trees snapped in half, debris all over the place, lots of structural damage to homes and businesses.  It wasn't as bad as the damage from Hurricane Andrew in the Miami area, but this was still bad.  I stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Baytown, Texas.  Tomorrow will be a short day.

Friday, November 6, 2020

 Left the Jacksonville yard at 3 am and drove to Thomasville, Georgia.  Gott here a bit early and had to wait for them to open.  Once they opened they loaded a Cleaver-Brooks boiler that is going to Corpus Christi, Texas.  

Had to wait about a half-hour for my permits to come in. Then I left.  Drove to the Flying J truck stop in Gulf Port, Mississippi.  This area is still cleaning up after the hurricane.  There are a lot of signs along I-10 that are still blown over.  There was a section of I-10 that was closed to one lane while they were clearing a lot of downed trees. This truck stop is getting its roof replaced.  All the eves around the building are gone too.  Very tired again tonight.  Going to sleep now.  See ya!!!!

FYI... My Blog readers from the past 7 days.  

Thursday, November 5, 2020

 Left a half-hour after sunrise this morning.  Had several areas of bumper to bumper traffic in the Atlanta area.  Had to wait for about a half-hour for my Florida pilot escort car before entering Florida.  I made good use of the time and got fuel.  When he arrived we continued on to the Port of Jacksonville.  I delivered the chassis.  My trailer had some serious repair issues that needed attention so I went to the Daily yard.  I ended up swapping out of my trailer to another one.  Have a load tomorrow in Thomasville, Georgia.  Will leave real early in the morning.  I'm exhausted!!!!!   Good night.

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Left a half-hour before sunrise this morning.  Had to have an escort car in Kentucky, and two for the first detour just because I am 12 feet, 6 inches wide. Met both at the state line.  After we finished the first detour, which was very short, One of the cars dropped off and the two of us continued on.  Once we passed into Tennessee the other escort car dropped off and I continued on "flying solo".  

On the north side of Nashville, on the Briley Parkway, right at I-65 a semi dump truck crashed spilling his full load of dirt all over the place.  He ended up laying on its side blocking the entire road.  Fortunately for me, it happened on the other side and didn't affect me.

In Georgia, I passed a Swift truck in its natural habitat, crashed off the road.

Stopped at the TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia for the night.

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

 Left real early this morning and drove to Decatur.  Was first in line except my dispatcher didn't send me the right paperwork. Had to wait till he came to work for him to send it to me.  So instead of being first, I was 7th.  About five and a half hours later they loaded a Caterpillar 789D Dump Truck Chassis on my trailer.  It is going to the port in Jacksonville, Florida.  It will eventually end up in Mumbai, India.

After securing it and scaling, I left.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois for the night.  This is what the truck looks like when it is all put together.

Monday, November 2, 2020

 Nothing all day.  Then late this afternoon I got my next load.  Loads tomorrow in Decatur, Illinois.  I'll go over there in the morning.

Saturday, October 31, 2020

 I left Knoxville a little after midnight.  I got to Illinois a little too soon so I stopped and took a nap until I could go again.  Had to wait until a half-hour before sunrise before I could enter Illinois.  Then I continued on to St. Louis, Missouri to the International Airport.  Delivered the wheel loader there.  It is a new addition to their snow removal fleet.  From there I drove over to the TA truck stop in Troy, Illinois.  Will be here for the rest of the weekend.  Drove 548 miles today.  Will find out Monday where my next adventure starts.