Saturday, September 23, 2023

 At about 6:30 this morning I unloaded the machine and parked it.  While I was doing that a couple of the mechanics came in and went to work on a dozer inside the shop.  They offered to accept the machine so I could go.  That was great!!!!   Didn't expect that at all.  I went to Walmart and restocked a bunch of stuff.  When I got back I reattached to my trailer and headed for Savannah.  Don't have another load yet, but Savannah is the most likely place I'll load again.  Once in Savannah, I settled in for a great day of college football!!!   Go Gators and SEC teams!!!!

Friday, September 22, 2023

 My pilot escort car was late this morning. When he arrived we left.  Had no problems today until about 20 miles before we got to Waycross my dash went bezerk! 

First, it did this...

Then it did this....

Arrived at the Caterpillar dealer a little after 6 PM EDT. Long after they closed for the weekend.  524 miles today.  I shut everything down and let it sit for a while.  Then I started the truck and everything went back to normal.  It all reset.  Everything was fine.  I'm going to try to go to Wal-Mart tomorrow morning so we'll see if it stays that way.

Thursday, September 21, 2023

 There were not a lot of choices for hotels last night.  I chose what appeared to be the better of the two choices. It wasn't that great!  At least I got a good shower.  This morning I checked out and went back to get my trailer.  Got it all hooked up and ready to go.  My escort car finally arrived and we left.  Nothing exciting after that.  Drove to the Petro truck stop in Jackson, Mississippi for the night.  I'll get a different escort car tomorrow. He should be here by 6:30 AM CDT.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

 As soon as my 10 hours were up I left and headed to De Queen, Arkansas for my next load. Drove 345 miles to get there and it started raining about 2 miles before I arrived.  Loaded a Weiler S450 Skidder that is going to Waycross, Georgia.

Because the machine is 12 feet, 6 inches wide I need an escort car in Arkansas.  It was supposed to be all arranged but the car didn't show up.  After a few phone calls, I'll have one here tomorrow morning.  I left my trailer there and went to a hotel for the night.  There is no place to park a truck around here.  I was soaked through to the skin and needed a shower and dry clothes. 

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

 Let at sunrise this morning and as soon as I approached the railroad tracks the lights came on and the gates came down.  Sat there for 10 minutes waiting for it to pass.  Once I got past that I got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic from a wreck.  3 of the 5 lanes were shut down.  It took 2 hours to get past Houston this morning!!   It was smooth sailing the rest of the day.  I arrived in Jackson, Mississippi and delivered just before they closed for the day.  Then went to the Petro truck stop in Jackson for my 10 hours.

Monday, September 18, 2023

 It took most of the morning to get my trailer fixed.  When it was done I drove down to Galveston and got there right when they went to lunch.  So I sat there until 1 PM CDT when they came back.  Then I loaded a Volvo A25G Articulating Dump Truck that is going to Jackson, Mississippi.  Got it up there perfectly the first time with no spotter.

I didn't go very far after loading.  Parked across the street from the Port entrance for the night.  This heat really beats me down.  I'm exhausted!!!!!

Sunday, September 17, 2023

 What a huge surprise!!!   I am so happy to be wrong!!!!

Saturday, September 16, 2023

 Left at 3 AM EDT and drove to Houston. Stopped got fuel and got the truck washed.  Then over to the Daily terminal and dropped my trailer.  From there I went and did laundry.  When that was done I went back to the Daily yard and settled in for the rest of the day to watch a lot of college football.  Just hope the Gators don't get killed too badly tonight. 

Friday, September 15, 2023

 I left at about 2:30 AM EDT (1:30 CDT) and drove the rest of the way to Killeen, TX.  South of Dallas it started to rain.  Thunderstorms most of the way.  Texas people can't drive in the rain!!!  There were wrecks everywhere!!! That caused traffic backups.  Took forever to get there.    When I got there, this was where I had to go to deliver.  It had just stopped raining.  Everything was wet.  

I entered the gate off the busy roadway like this.  Traffic stopped for me without any arguments from anyone.

The drive to the delivery site was not as good as it looks in these Google Maps photos.  Anything that was not part of the driveway was soft mud.   Getting in was not much of a problem.  Had to finagle a little bit.

Once I got empty I had to back out.  That was not easy.  Almost got stuck and broke the trailer in the process.

When backing out and making the turn at the "T" intersection my trailer tires went down into the mud causing the trailer to bottom out.  That's when it broke.  I almost got stuck there.  I was able to get it unstuck and continued to maneuver the trailer around the corner backward on my blind side.  It took a while, but I made it.  Here is what broke on the trailer.  The arrow points to the broken part.  Compare it to the normal one on the other side.

When I got straight on the driveway  I made a temporary "fix" to get me to the Houston terminal so the mechanic there can fix it Monday morning.

I left there and drove to the Love's truck stop in Troy, Texas for a much-needed shower and SLEEP.  Drove 690 miles today.  Not too shabby, 991 miles in about 27 hours.

Thursday, September 14, 2023

I left at about 3 AM EDT and drove the rest of the way to Griffin, GA.  On the way I had a truck pull out in front of me.  Had to brake really hard to keep from hitting him broadside.  

My loading appointment was for 8:30 but they didn't load me until 10.   Loaded a Caterpillar Genset that is going to Killeen, Texas.  

Left there saw a huge traffic back up south of Atlanta on I-75.  I was able to go around it on side streets.  In Alabama had a construction backup.  Got through that and stopped for my 10 hours at the Love's truck stop in Toomsuba, Mississippi.

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

 As soon as my 10 hours were up, I left.  Delivered the excavator in Saint Rose, Louisiana when they opened.  Saint Rose is right next to New Orleans.  I really hate New Orleans.  My next load was supposed to be in Montgomery, Alabama BUT something came up where they needed a truck in Griffin, Georgia for a load that required a crane.  So I diverted toward Griffin.  I ran out of hours for today and stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Montgomery, Alabama.  664 miles today.  Felt good to be back moving again!!!

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

 Drove the rest of the way to Pooler, GA, and was a tad early for my 7:30 AM EDT loading appointment.  Loaded a Volvo ECR145EL Excavator that is going to Saint Rose, Louisiana. 

Left there and headed that way.  Driving west on I-10 through the 'Big Bend" area of Florida I went through the area hit by Hurricane Idalia.  I-10 is at least an hour north of the Gulf of Mexico Coast.  There was a lot of tree damage. A lot of the road signs were also broken off or gone.  Here are a few photos of what it looks like along I-10 two weeks after the storm.

That is just a small sample.  I didn't think about getting photos until I had past the worst of it.  The damage was worst in about a 25-mile stretch along I-10.  For those that have seen tornado damage, think about a tornado 25 miles wide.  That was what this looked like. I stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Mariana, Florida.

Monday, September 11, 2023

 

Delivered the wheel loader first thing this morning.  My next load is in Pooler, Georgia tomorrow morning.  I drove to the TA truck stop in Brunswick, Georgia for the night.

Sunday, September 10, 2023

 I left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  While traveling south on I-95 south of Daytona Beach I saw the Atlas 5 rocket launch from the Kenedy Space Center.  Unfortunately, the photos do not do it justice.  The gold flame from the rocket, which you can't see in the photo, is a beautiful gold that doesn't reproduce well at all on film or video.  It is one of those things that you have to see in person to appreciate.

About 10 minutes after the launch, this is what it looks like.

 Drove down to a private truck parking lot in Pompano, Beach for the night.

Saturday, September 9, 2023

 I left at sunrise this morning and drove to the Daily Yard in Jacksonville, Florida.  Now it's time for some college football.

The Gators looked great!!!  But they played a powder puff team.  Next week is against Tennessee.  They are gonna get killed! :(

And Alabama went down!!!!!!   Wow!!!!!!

Friday, September 8, 2023

 My permits didn't start to come in until 10:00 AM EDT.  I left at 10:30.  Traffic wasn't too bad in Baltimore or Washington DC.  North of Richmond I got in a few miles of slow-n'-go traffic.  The last 25 miles today were the most interesting.  I could see the thunderstorm ahead of me.  Radar showed it to be a good one, although not real big.  As we (meaning all the traffic around me) approached it we drove through what appeared to be the start of a small tornado.  It was pretty cool!!!  Glad I was heavy!!!  Made it through the storm and stopped for the night at the Petro truck stop in Kenly, North Carolina.  Thought you might like to see who's driving the wheel loader...

He gets a lot of attention from passing cars and trucks.

Thursday, September 7, 2023

 Left at 8:30 AM EDT.  Had some bumper-to-bumper traffic in Washington DC.  Continued on up to Harrisburg, PA, and delivered the wheel loader.  Then drove to the Keen yard in Carlisle, PA, and loaded a Volvo L180H Wheel Loader that is going to Davie, Florida.

Left there and went a mile down the street to the Flying J truck stop for the night.  Can't leave tomorrow until my permits come in.  My "on the ball" dispatcher didn't order them until late this afternoon.

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

 I left at sunrise this morning.  Sat for about an hour on stop-and-go traffic (mostly stop) about 25 miles south of North Carolina because of construction and a wreck in the construction zone.  Because of that and the flat tire yesterday, I couldn't get as far as I wanted to today.  I was not able to get through the northern Virginia curfew area so I had to stop very early.  Stopped at the Flying J truck stop in Ruther Glen, Virginia. Won't be able to start until 8:30 tomorrow because of the curfew.  

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

 Left early this morning and delivered the wheel loader just when they opened.  My next load was up in Pooler, Georgia (next to Savannah).  I drove up there and loaded a Caterpillar 950 Wheel Loader that is going to Harrisburg, PA.

Left there and headed that way.  About 4 miles north of Manning, SC a tire on my trailer blew up.  I turned around and limped back to the TA truck stop in Manning, SC to get it fixed.

As it turned out, I needed three tires and a rim.  It took 4 hours to change all of them out!!  Then I stayed there for the night.

Friday, September 1, 2023

 Not a very good way to start off the football season.  Florida was not good at all.  My hopes of a good year have pretty much disappeared. 

I wasn't able to get any sleep so I decided to go get on the road.  I left Carlisle at 9:30 last night.  No traffic problems at all.  Stopped at South of the Border in South Carolina because I got too sleepy to continue.  After my 10 hours were up I drove the rest of the way to Jacksonville, FL.  I deliver on Tuesday morning.