Saturday, September 14, 2024

 I left the Flying J last night at about 10:00 PM EDT.  Lost about an hour in construction bumper-to-bumper traffic in Washington DC.  Drove up to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and dropped my trailer in the Daily yard.  Took the securement stuff off the load and put it on my truck.  Then drove bobtail to the Daily Terminal in Baltimore, Maryland.  Monday morning I'll attach to a stretch trailer for my next load.  I'll be here until Monday morning.  Finished all that before 4:30 AM EDT.  Now it's time for a nap and then a day of great college football!!!  There are some really good games scheduled today.

Friday, September 13, 2024

 I left Jacksonville last night at about 10:30 PM EDT.  Drove 654 miles to the Flying J truck stop in Ruther Glen, Virginia for my 10 hours.

Tomorrow...

It ain't gonna be pretty!!!

Wednesday, September 11, 2011

 

I left at 1:30 AM CDT.  Drove the rest of the way to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, Florida.  Lots of convoys of power trucks, tree trimming trucks, portable toilets, portable showers, and food bank trucks heading west.  

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

 This morning I loaded a Daily truck that has been sitting at the Houston Terminal since March.  It is going back to Carlisle, PA but I'm routing through Jacksonville because I have a couple things to take care of at home. It wasn't easy loading.  The batteries were stone-cold dead. Had help from another driver.  Together we got the battery charger out of the shop (there is no mechanic there right now)  and charged the batteries. After getting it started, found that there was a large air leak.  The tanks could fill enough to release the brakes but not enough to raise the suspension airbags.  Then when we tried to move it, one of the brake shoes was stuck and wouldn't release.  Finally broke that free and went to put it on my trailer.  Was only able to get it halfway on.  Had to get the big forklift, raise the back of the truck, and then push it the rest of the way on.  It was quite an ordeal that took a good chunk of the morning to accomplish.

There is a hurricane heading toward Louisiana, but I'll be well into Florida before it gets there.

I drove 305 miles to the Petro truck stop in Hammond, Louisiana for my 10 hours.  

Monday, September 9, 2024

 I left early to beat the rush hour traffic.  Not too far from the Daily terminal, I came across this...

Glad I was paying attention!! I was early when I arrived at the Port so I got in line with the rest of the trucks waiting to get in. I was about 12th in line. When the Port opened I went in.  Checked in at 8 AM CDT.  Then waited.  To make a very long and frustrating story short, I finally got empty at noon.  I left there, got fuel, and then went back to the Daily terminal to wait for my next load.

Sunday, September 8, 2024

 

Enjoy it while it lasts.  Their one and only win this year.

Saturday, September 7, 2024

 I was going to leave a lot earlier than I did. I got up at about 2 AM CDT and did three loads of laundry.  When that was done, I left.  Drove 501 miles to the Daily terminal in Houston, Texas.  Arrived at about noon CDT.  I'll be here until Monday morning.  Now it is time to settle in for the rest of the day watching a lot of football!!!!  Hopefully, the Gators will get their one and only win this season this evening.

Friday, September 6, 2024

 I left at about 11 PM CDT last night.  Drove  662 miles today to the Petro truck stop in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Thursday, September 5, 2024

 I left at about midnight CDT and drove the rest of the way to South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I got there at about 7 AM CDT.  The part that I was loading was not quite ready, so I waited.  When it was ready, they loaded it on my trailer.  It is a Power Module for a Caterpillar 7495. It weighs over 47,000 pounds. It is going to the Port in Huston. From there it and the rest of the machine go on a sea cruise to Chile.

It makes this move in and out.

I left there and drove to the Petro truck stop in Rochelle, Illinois for my 10 hours. 510 miles today.  I'm pretty tired this afternoon.  Phone is off.  Good night.

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

I left at about 1 AM EDT.  Continued on my eastbound treck.  When I was about an hour into Iowa my dispatcher called and said that he had a load for me in Ames, Nebraska.  That is just northwest of Omaha.   I turned around and drove back.  I stopped at a truck stop in the area of Ames and had breakfast while waiting for the information about the load.  My dispatcher called and said that the load fell through and we didn't have it.  BUT he had another one for me that loads tomorrow in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I drove back that way.  I stopped at the Love's truck stop in DeMoines, Iowa when I ran out of hours.  When I stopped I had 15 minutes left on my clock for today.  I drove 645 miles today.

Tuesday September 3, 2024

 I left at about 2:30 AM MDT and drove the rest of the way to Colorado Springs, where I delivered the boom list when they opened at 7 AM MDT. Since I didn't have another load yet, my dispatcher said to head east via Nebraska, so I did. I stopped for my 10 hours at the TA truck stop in Ogallala, Nebraska. 495 Miles today.

Sunday, September 1, 2024

 I left last night at about 11:30 PM EDT.  Very good night on the road.  Drove 628 miles to the Petro truck stop in Colby, Kansas.  I'll be here until Tuesday morning because of the holiday.

Saturday, August 31, 2024

 I left at 1 AM EDT.  Drove 645 miles to the Flying J truck stop in Pontoon Beach, Illinois for my 10 hours. Then settled in for an afternoon of college football.  SEC football is the best!!!  I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!!!!

Well from the looks of things, the Gators have not improved much since last year.  It is going to be another very long season for them.  It doesn't matter; I still love them!!  I have a feeling they will be looking for another new coach next year.

Friday, August 30, 2024

 I was at JLG in Shippensburg, PA at 6 AM EDT to load this morning.  They have no record of the machine I was to load.  Had to wait until 8 AM for the folks at Daily to get to work and figure out what went wrong with the paperwork.  Great way to start the day!!

At 8 AM my dispatcher called and said that my machine was at the yard in Carlisle.  He also wanted me to go to McConnellsburg, PA, pick up a Caterpillar Telehandler, bring it to the yard in Carlisle, and then load my machine.  So nice when the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing!!!  So I drove to McConnellsburg and loaded a Caterpillar TL1055 Telehandler.

When I got to Carlisle I unloaded it and then loaded the JLG 660SJ Boom Lift that is going to Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Left there but didn't get very far today.  Stopped for my 10 hours at the Somerset Service Plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset, PA.

I'll be stopping early tomorrow. It is the first full weekend of college football. 

Thursday, August 29, 2024

 My truck is all finished with routine maintenance.  My trailer is going to stay here.  I got a brand-new trailer instead.  It came in yesterday.   After the shop finished doing what they do with new trailers and adding the 6 new "D" rings that I requested, they brought it out for me to swap into.  Of course, just as I started to move all my equipment over to the new trailer it started to rain.  It has been sunny the entire time I have been here and the moment I start to work on my trailer it rains!!

When I finished I was soaked through to the skin.  Went and showered.  I will load tomorrow morning in Shippensburg, PA.

Tuesday, Au27, 2024gust

 They finished all the work on my truck this afternoon.  My trailer is another story.  They brought it into the shop this afternoon.  Still don't know what they are going to do with it.  They offered me a hotel room tonight so I took them up on the offer.  We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Monday, August 26, 2024

 I left this morning at about 2:30 AM EDT and drove the rest of the way to Bear, Delaware.  No traffic issues at all.  Delivered the skid steers and went to the "home office" in Carlisle, PA.  Dropped my trailer in the parking lot.  It wasn't too long before they brought my truck into the truck shop and got to work on it.  Meanwhile, I got a car and did a few errands.  They got a lot of the routine maintenance done to the truck.  Still have to replace the windshield and a few other things.  

Found a problem with my trailer too.  It could potentially be a major one.  They will look into it further in the morning.  The picture will mean nothing to you, but here it is anyway.

Tonight I'm picking up another driver at the Harrisburg International Airport.  He is flying in from Dallas.  His flight was supposed to arrive at 11:23 PM EDT but has been delayed to 11:43 (so far). I'm going to take a nap now.

Sunday, August 25, 2024

 My blog readers for the past week...

Saturday, August 24, 2024

 After a long off-season...

The first game of the college football season is today in Dublin, Ireland...

Nick Saban joins the ESPN College Game Day crew!!  Great addition!!!

I love this time of year!!!!!!

 

Friday, August 23, 2024

 I left at about 2 AM EDT.  Shortly after getting started I realized that I didn't have enough hours left on my 70-hour clock to make it to deliver today as hoped.  So instead of going through Washington DC and Baltimore at rush hour today, I decided to stop at the Flying J truck stop in Ruther Glen, Virginia. There is a Golden Coral restaurant there.  I'll leave early enough Monday morning to beat rush hour.