I was able to get my rental car today.
I will not be getting my trailer back when the truck is finished. It has a lot of structural problems and a lot of the support braces have rusted badly. It also has to be rewired. So, I'll get a different one later. They are working on my truck now. Still have no idea when it will be done,
Left real early this morning and drove the rest of the way to Carlisle. Got there first thing this morning. I have absolutely no idea how long I'll be here. Have a rental car ordered but Enterprise didn't have any available today, maybe tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm using the old beat-up Daily pick-up truck that has no air conditioning. It's amazing that it even runs!! It has over 300,000 miles on it. I also checked into the hotel. On my way to get dinner tonight, I drove through downtown Carlisle. There is always something going on there. Today that have a Farmers Market set up on the town square.
Carlisle has a very vibrant downtown. There are no vacant storefronts there. Always lots of activity. That's about all there is for now.
Checked out really early this morning. Had to go get fuel before I did anything. Put in 183 gallons, $805. Then went over and picked up my trailer. From there I headed for Carlisle. Drove 517 miles to the Hampton Inn in Pitsburg, PA for the night. I'll head out early again in order to get to Carlisle first thing in the morning.
At about noon CDT today my truck was ready. I walked to the International shop to get it. As usual, there was a problem with payment. It took over 3 hours to get it resolved. I finally got out of there and drove to the hotel. Next had to get the right front tire replaced.
Since I had a lot of free time I decided to go over to see where the opening scene from "The Blues Brothers" was shot. I was only about 7 miles away. Early Sunday morning was a good time to go, no traffic.
Joliet Correctional Center has been closed for a long time. It is now a tourist attraction with guided tours. This is what it looks like now.
The gate Jake walks through is on the east side of the prison, as seen below.
This morning the other Daily truck came to pick up the tractor. It just happened to be a good friend of mine that came. I met him at the exit from the Interstate and led him to the towing yard where the trailer was. We worked together and got the actor off my trailer and onto his. He left and headed toward Baltimore and I went back to my hotel room.
I left this morning to time it so that I got to Illinois right at a half hour before sunrise. Things were going pretty good. Made it through Chicago to the south side on I-294 at mile marker 9 when things went sour. Here is what happened.
I saw the car at the same time you see it in the video. We were the only vehicles involved, fortunately. The two occupants of the car were transported to the hospital by ambulance. Here is the damage to their car.
Left early this morning and drove to Bartonville, Illinois, and delivered the large genset when they opened. Then I took the remaining two over to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and delivered them. My next load was way over in Racine, Wisconsin. Went there and loaded a Case T25 tractor that is going to the Port of Baltimore. It's going on an ocean cruise to Holland.
Left there and went to the Petro truck stop in Racine for the night. 574 miles today.
As soon as my 10 hours were up, I left. Driving through Atlanta and Nashville at night is the best way to do it!!! Drove 657 uneventful miles today. Stopped for the rest of the weekend at a small truck stop in Farmersville, Illinois.
This morning I went to Savannah and loaded three Caterpillar Generators. One is going to Bartonville, Illinois. The other two are going to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Left Jacksonville at about 2:45 AM EDT and drove to Tampa and delivered the wheel loader. Last night I got an email that said my truck was due for an oil change so after I left Tampa I stopped at the 75 Chrome Shop in Wildwood, FL, and got it done. From there I drove up to the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill, Georgia for the night. I have a 10 AM loading appointment tomorrow at a warehouse in Savannah.
I left at about 2:30 AM EDT and drove to the Jacksonville, FL terminal. I'll be here a couple days then deliver Thursday morning in Tampa.
Delivered the wheel loader first thing this morning. Next load was back in Shippensburg, PA. Went there and loaded a Volvo L90H Wheel Loader that is going to Tampa, Florida.
Left there and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Fort Chiswell, Virginia for the night.
Drove the rest of the way to Sellersville, PA this morning. I'll be staying in their parking lot until Monday morning. I'll unload as soon as they get here.
Left a half hour before sunrise this morning. Very slow day! Permit loads can only go 55 mph in Ohio. Very stupid!! It took over 6 hours to get to Pennsylvania!! Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Milesburg, Pennsylvania.
Boy did I sleep good last night!! This morning I drove to Davenport, Iowa, and was first in line to load. When they opened, loaded a John Deere 644 Wheel Loader that is going to Sellersville, Pennsylvania.
Left there and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Spiceland, Indiana.
Even though I went to bed last night, I couldn't sleep. The tire guy returned with the tire and put it back on the trailer. Doing that bounced the truck around a bit. Have you ever been so tired that you couldn't sleep? Well, that was me last night. At 1:30 AM EDT when my 10 hours were up, I left. Drove for about three and a half hours then used my 30-minute break to take a nap. This time I slept. An hour and a half later I got up and was back on the road again. My permit route today was stupid!!! Here is Indiana...
Illinois was worse!!! Google was correct. It did take every bit of that hour and twenty minutes to go 38 miles. Lots of heavy Chicago suburb traffic with stop lights galore!!! Of course, I had to stop for about 90% of them. Some I had to stop for twice!!
But I finally got there and delivered the Gradall. My next load is tomorrow morning in Davenport, Iowa. I started off that way. Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in LaSalle, Illinois. 495 difficult miles today. Now I'm gonna get some real sleep.
Left at sunrise this morning. Drove to Columbus, Ohio, and delivered the dozer. My next load was back in New Philadelphia, Ohio. Drove there to the Gradall plant and loaded a Gradall XL 4100 Excavator that is going to Burr Ridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
Left there and drove to the Flying J truck stop in Millersport, Ohio. While doing my post-trip inspection found a trailer tire that was very low on air. Had road service come out to fix it.
When he got the tire off found it had a bad valve stem, so he replaced it.
Close up.
Put the tire back on the rim, aired it up, and it was still leaking air. Couldn't find the leak here so he took it back to the shop to find it and repair it. I went to bed. I'll finish the saga tomorrow. Good night.
Left Carlisle at 2 AM EDT and drove to the Port of Baltimore. When they opened I loaded a Liebherr PR726 Dozer that is going to Columbus, Ohio.
Left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Wheeling, West Virginia for the night.
