Saturday, February 3, 2024

 I left a half hour before sunrise this morning.  There were two cruise ships in port this morning.  I like to see those.  They are much nicer to look at compared to the freighters I usually see. Galveston really floods out quickly!!  Just an average thunderstorm had the roads ponding with a lot of water.  I'd hate to see what they are like during a hurricane.  Had rain most of the morning.  I drove to the TA truck stop in Kilgore, Texas for the rest of the weekend.  I'll deliver a few miles from here on Monday morning.

Friday, February 2, 2024

 I left at about 3 AM EST and drove the rest of the way to the Daily terminal in Houston.  I dropped my trailer and went to Baytown to make my deposit in the cup.  When that was done, I went back and got my trailer. My next load was in Galveston at the Port.  I went there and loaded a Caterpillar D6 Dozer that is going to Longview, Texas. A long journey!!

After loading, I went across the street from the Port entrance and parked for the night.  I'll leave in the morning.

Thursday, February 1, 2024

 Last night I started at 11 PM CST when my 10 hours were up.  Had no problems with traffic.  Drove straight through Dallas and Ft. Worth without difficulty.  Drove the rest of the way to Lubbock and delivered the wheel loader right when they opened.  Don't have another load yet, but they said to head toward Houston. So, off I went.  After driving 675 miles I stopped for my 10 hours at the Petro truck stop in Weatherford, Texas, that's about 25 miles west of Ft. Worth on I-20.  While there, Carlisle called and said my name came up on the list for a random drug/alcohol test.  So tomorrow I'll go to the Houston yard, drop my trailer, and go pee in a cup at the test collection place they are sending me to. In the meantime, I'm going to sleep.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

 When my 10 houyrs were up I left.  I didn't get quite as far as I would have liked.  The Dallas / Ft. Worth area roads were a sea of bumper to bumper traffic this morning.  I really didn't want to get stuck in that mess so I stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Caddo Mills, Texas.  I'll go through Dallas in the middle of the night when, hopefully, the traffic will be flowing better.

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

 At about 1:45 Am EST, when my 10 hours were up, I left.  Very nice uneventful day on the road.  Drove 641 miles to the Love's truck stop in Jackson, Tennessee.  I'll be back at it when my 10 hours are up again.

Monday, January 29, 2024

 I waited for my 34-hour reset to be finished before I left Carlisle. At about 10:45 AM EST, I left and drove to Shippensburg, PA, and loaded a Volvo L90H Wheel Loader that is going to Lubbock, Texas.

I left there and drove to the Petro truck stop in Raphine, Virginia for my 10 hours.

Sunday, January 28, 2024

 When my 10 hours were up, I left.  That was at about 8:30 PM EST.  I drove the rest of the way to Carlisle, PA.  It rained the whole way.  I got there at about 1 AM EST. I was going to unload the truck when I got there but decided to wait until morning when the rain stopped.  At about 9 AM I unloaded the truck.  Later on, I went to Walmart and restocked some stuff.  Then I did a few loads of laundry.  Now I'm done and will relax for the rest of the day.  I'll load tomorrow afternoon when my reset is completed.

Saturday, January 27, 2024

 I left last night at 11:30 pm EST.  Very nice, uneventful night on the road.  Drove 562 miles to the Flying J truck stop in Ruther Glen, Virginia for my 10 hours.

Friday, January 26, 2024

 Drove the rest of the way to Lake City, FL, and delivered the dozer this morning.  From there I drove to the Jacksonville terminal to get my trainer lights fixed.  I also need a new printer.  I had to order it.  This afternoon my printer arrived and works great!  The mechanic fixed my trailer lights, so I'm good to go.

This evening I loaded a Daily truck on my trailer.  The driver that had it quit and the truck needed to go back to Carlisle.

I'll get a bit of sleep then leave in the middle of the night.

Thursday, January 25, 2024

 I left very early this morning so that I would arrive in Trussville, AL just before they opened.  Started off in heavy fog.  After a little while it changed to rain.  Of course, it was raining hard when I was loading a John Deere 650K Dozer that is going to Lake City, Florida.  

I was soaked through to the skin everywhere.  Even my jacket soaked through.  Left there and headed south.  Had a very good day, even though it rained most of it.  By the time I stopped for the night at the Pilot truck stop in Valdosta, Georgia it had stopped raining.  I thought I would be able to deliver today but I was a little too short on hours.  552 miles today

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

 Yesterday on I-294 in Chicago, about 20 miles from where the car crashed into me last August, I Had another "episode".  I was in the far right lane (the construction zone used the shoulder as the lane), there was a truck 2 lanes over from me.  He decided to change lanes without looking and almost hit the truck that was passing me.  Fortunately, no one got hit.  Enjoy the video.

That was yesterday.

This morning I left a half hour before sunrise.  Rained all day.  Made very good time and drove all the way to Greenwood, Mississippi, and delivered the tractor.  My next load is in Trussville, Alabama.  I started off that way.  Stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Winona, Mississippi for the night.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

 We got the ice storm that was predicted.  That meant I couldn't leave.  The pink in the radar picture below is ice.  The green is rain. I was where the blue dot is.

The Illinois website for traffic conditions looked like this.

Things got better by 11:30 AM CST.  That's when I left. Once I got on the road I had no problems.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Effingham, Illinois for the night.

Monday, January 22, 2024

 This morning I checked out of the hotel, returned the rental car, and was dropped off at my truck at the International dealer.  My truck was fixed!!!  I left there and drove to the Petro truck stop in Racine, WI to wait for my next load.  I didn't have to wait long.  My next load was in Sturtevant, WI, about 10 miles away. I went there and loaded a Case Magnum 380 tractor, 4 tires, and 2 boxes of stuff.  All that is going to Greenwood, Mississippi.  

As I'm ready to leave I see that half of my trailer lights had stopped working. Just great!!!  I left there and drove to the Love's truck stop in Wadsworth, Illinois.  That is right at the Wisconsin / Illinois state line.  Spent over 5 hours there getting them fixed.  I stayed there for the night since it was after sunset when it was finally fixed.  The weather is not supposed to be very good tomorrow morning so I may be here a little longer than I want to be.  We shall see.

Monday, January 15, 2024

 It was a very cold weekend here in the parking lot of the Caterpillar dealer in Milwaukee, WI.  This morning it was -4 F (-20 C).  I tried to take the wheel loader off the trailer yesterday but the machine was frozen and wouldn't run.  This morning when they arrived for work I told them about it and they sent a service technician over to fix it.  To make a long story short, it took 6 hours of him working on it to finally get it off my trailer.  In the meantime, my truck started to act up.  The "Check Engine" light came on.  Then the "Water in Fuel" light came on.  Then last but not least the truck was about to derate.  If it derates it would need to be towed.  

Fortunately, there was an International repair shop about 1/4 mile from the Caterpillar place.  I was able to get there.  Dropped the truck off and they gave me a ride to the hotel just down the street.  I have no idea how long I'll be here.  A couple days for sure.

Saturday, January 13, 2024

The local news said that the crash that for hours shut down both north and southbound bound lanes of I-57 in Ina, Illinois yesterday was caused by two cars and a semi-truck colliding and catching fire.  There were injuries, but according to the newscast, no fatalities.  At 9 PM last night, the northbound side was open but the southbound side was still closed.

 I left a half hour before sunrise this morning. That mess had been cleaned up and I didn't see any signs of it.  It was windy with blowing snow today.  Blue skies above.  Roads were pretty good until the northern part of Illinois.  North of Bloomington The crosswind was very, very strong.  Lots of blowing snow from west to east.  Between I-80 and I-88 on I-57, the road was very icy to go along with the severe crosswinds and blowing snow.  There were wrecks everywhere!!  Made it through there and continued on the the Caterpillar dealer in Milwaukee where I'll deliver Monday morning.  They are still plowing the parking lot here.  Hard to tell exactly how much snow is on the ground here, but it is at least a foot.

Friday, January 12, 2024

 I left a half hour after sunrise this morning.  Heavy wind to start the day.  Didn't start raining hard until I got to Tennessee.  Then it rained hard all the way through.  Surprisingly, I didn't have any traffic issues all day, not even through Nashville. Made it all the way up into Illinois.  Then I had to stop earlier than I wanted to because it looked like I-57 was shut down in Ina, Illinois.  Have no idea why, but I didn't want to get stuck in that,

I stopped for the night at the  Love's truck stop in Marion, Illinois.

Thursday, January 11, 2024

 I was a little later getting back to work because of a battle with the flu.  I'm over it now and back at it again.

This morning I drove up to Pooler, Georgia, and loaded a Caterpillar 950GC Wheel Loader that is going up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I left there in pretty good time.  Had about 5 miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic just north of Atlanta but that was all.  Made it a lot farther than I thought I would today.  Stopped for the night at the TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia.

January 1, 2024

 

December 25, 2023

 

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

 Left at about 3:30 AM EST and drove the rest of the way to Morrow, GA, and delivered the drill.  I was out of there before 8 AM.  From there I drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, Florida.  Will be home for the holidays.  See you next year.