Friday, March 27, 2026

 This morning, I drove down to Ocala, FL, and delivered the excavator.  Then I drove back to the Port in Brunswick, GA, and loaded a Caterpillar 313 Excavator that is also going to Ocala, FL.  

While I was loading, this went by...

When I finished, I stopped by the crane that was lifting it.  Do you know who's airplane that is?

Here it is when it was parked at his house in Ocala.

He donated it to a museum in Australia.  It is no longer able to fly, so it was disassembled and is being sent there by ship.  Anyway, after I finished, I drove back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, FL, for the rest of the weekend.

Thursday, March 26, 2026

 I left at midnight-30 this morning.  Drove to the Caterpillar dealer in Ocala, Florida.  Delivered the wheel loader.  My next load was at the Port in Brunswick, Georgia.  I drove up there and loaded a Caterpillar 315 Excavator that is also going to Ocala, Florida.

I left there and drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, FL, for the night.  574 miles today.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

 I left early this morning and drove the rest of the way to the Caterpillar dealer in Greensboro.  Delivered the excavator.  Left there and drove over to Clayton, North Carolina.  Very heavy traffic all the way over there, with about a half hour's worth of bumper-to-bumper too.  Once I got there, I loaded a Caterpillar 926 Wheel Loader that is going to Ocala, Florida.

I left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Manning, South Carolina, for the night.  Only 359 miles today.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

 I'm finally back on the road!!!!   Was at the Port of Baltimore this morning before they opened.  When they opened, I loaded a Caterpillar 317 Excavator that was going to Greensboro, North Carolina.

  Left there in pretty good time.  Had a bunch of slow-n'-go traffic going around Baltimore.  Amazingly, I had a smooth ride through Washington DC.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Greensboro, NC, for the night.  500 miles today.

Monday, March 23, 2026

 Well, my trailer wasn't finished this morning.  At about 2:30 this afternoon, they finished it.  Much too late to load today, so I'll load tomorrow morning.  At least everything is finally finished!!!

Friday, March 20, 2026

 They finally finished working on my truck at International in Harrisburg, PA, so this morning I went up there and brought it back to Carlisle.  My trailer is not doing as well.  It is still in pieces in the shop.

They tell me it should be finished on Monday morning.  

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

 My truck is finished in the Daily shop, but it had to go to International in Harrisburg.  They have not started on it yet.  My trailer is in the Daily shop with all the wheels off.  It needs a bunch of stuff done to it.  I'm in a hotel.  Have no idea how long I'll be here.

Thursday, March 12, 2026

 I left at 3 AM EDT and drove to the Port of Baltimore in Dundalk, Maryland.  I-70 was closed in the Hagerstown area, and had to follow a detour that took about an hour to get through. Also, it rained all the way in.  Delivered the tractor.  After that, I drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  My truck is due for maintenance, and my trailer needs a few tires.  Hand more rain on the way.  In the area of the MD / PA state line, the rain changed to snow.  It had all stopped by the time I got to Carlisle.

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

 I  left half an hour before sunrise this morning.  All that bad weather in the Midwest that you heard about on the news today, I drove through several times.  Periods of heavy rain, wind, and pea-sized hail. Made it safely to a small truck stop in Grantsville, Maryland, for the night.

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

 I left at 2 AM EDT and drove to Sturdavant, Wisconsin, and loaded a Case 70325 Tractor that is going to the Port of Baltimore, and then it's going on a big boat to Romania.

I left there and drove to the TA Express truck stop in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for the night.

Monday, March 9, 2026

 I drove the rest of the way to Shelby, Michigan, and delivered the wheel loader.  My next load is in Sturdevant, Wisconsin.  I started off that way, but had to stop at the TA truck stop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to get a flat tire repaired.  Stayed there for my 10 hours.

Saturday, March 7, 2026

 I left Hagerstown, MD, at about 4 AM EST.  Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Toledo, Ohio.  I'll be here until Monday morning.

Friday, March 6, 2026

 I left at 4 AM EST and drove the rest of the way to Mount Joy, Pennsylvania.  Unloaded the genset.  Then drove to the Port of Baltimore and loaded a Caterpillar 950 Wheel Loader that is going to Shelby, Michigan.  

I left there and drove to the AC&T truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland.  I stopped a little early today because I was very tired, hungry, and I'd had enough of heavy traffic!!!  

Blog readers for the past 7 days...

Thursday, March 5, 2026

 I started off at 4 AM EST and quickly realized that the fog was way too heavy for a permit load to continue.  I stopped at the next truck stop, a Flying J, in New Haven, Indiana, and waited for it to clear up.  About two and a half hours later, the fog lifted enough to go.  Even so, it rained all day again.  My original permit route through Pennsylvania was really stupid!! This is where they were sending me...

Is that the dumbest thing????  Routing me way out of the way right through the middle of Pittsburgh!!!!  Good grief!!!!!   What the heck were they thinking????? 

I had a discussion (that is putting it nicely) with my dispatcher about it.  A new permit was ordered with a better route...

I should have never been routed this way to start with, but at least this one was better than the first one. I drove to the Sapp Brothers truck stop in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, for the night. 

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

 I delivered the dozer in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was out of there by 7:15 AM EST.  Then drove up to Lafayette, Indiana, and loaded a Caterpillar Genset that is going to Mount Joy, Pennsylvania.

Left there and went the wrong way.  I didn't know it was a permit load until I scaled. I'm overweight.  My Permit route had me going a totally different way.  I was going the way that makes sense!  So I went back and got on the stupid permit route.  That put me way behind schedule.  Stopped for the night at the Love's Truck stop in Huntington, Indiana for the night.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

 I left this morning, timing it so that I would arrive at the West Virginia state line at sunrise.  I did good, I was only 5 minutes early.  It rained all day.  After driving 561 miles, I stopped at the Petro truck stop in New Paris, Ohio, for the night.

Monday, March 2, 2026

 I checked in at the Port of Baltimore when they opened this morning.  They told me that they won't be able to get me unloaded until after lunch.  So I parked and waited. At 1 PM EST, they brought me over to where I was going to unload.  They were not going to put the tires on today.  They lifted the compactor off with a crane.  When I was empty, I went over to the other side of the Port and loaded a Caterpillar D5 Dozer that was going to Indianapolis, Indiana.  It was snowing.

I left there and drove over to the TA truck stop in Baltimore for the night.

Saturday, February 28, 2026

 I left at sunrise this morning.  Drove to the AC&T truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland.  Will be here until Monday morning.

Friday, February 27, 2026

 I left half an hour before sunrise this morning.  When I stopped for fuel and a shower at the TA truck stop in Wheeling, West Virginia, I decided to stay here for the rest of the day.  Since I don't deliver until Monday, there is no hurry.

Thursday, February 26, 2026

 I left this morning and had to time it so that I didn't get to Illinois before a half an hour before sunrise. I did good.  I crossed into Illinois right on time!  Drove 570 miles today and stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Eaton, Ohio for the night.