Saturday, May 9, 2026

 I left half an hour before sunrise this morning.  Drove 517 miles nonstop to Amarillo, Texas.  Dropped my trailer at the Caterpillar dealer where I am delivering on Monday morning.  Then I went straight over to the Big Texan to eat. 

It was fairly crowded today.  There was one guy doing the 72-oz Steak Challenge.  Unfortunately for him, time ran out before he could finish.  I had the 16-oz prime rib.  I ate it all, plus a salad and 2 rolls (not pictured).  It was delicious!! 

I waddled back to the truck and drove back to the Caterpillar dealer to sit with my trailer for the night.  Gonna sleep good tonight!!!!!

Friday, May 8, 2026

 I left a half-hour before sunrise this morning.  Good day on the road.  Only a small amount of bumper-to-bumper traffic today.  Drove 600 miles to the TA truck stop in Kilgore, Texas, for the night.

Thursday, May 7, 2026

 Well, I'm back to work again.  Feels good to be moving!!  Went up to Brunswick, Georgia, and loaded a Caterpillar 320 Excavator that is going to Amarillo, Texas.

Left there and got a lot farther today than I thought I would, despite all the bumper-to-bumper traffic in Atlanta.  Stopped for the night at a convenience store with truck parking in Heflin, Alabama.  436 miles today.

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

 This morning, I went over to the Port in Jacksonville.  What a screwed-up Port that is!!!  Brunswick is a very well-run Port, Jacksonville is not!! Anyway, I loaded a Caterpillar 950 Wheel  Loader.

I left there and drove to Ocala, Florida, and delivered it.  From there, I went back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, stopping to get the truck washed along the way.  I'll be here for a little while, taking care of a medical issue.

Monday, April 27, 2026

 This morning, I went to the Port in Brunswick, Georgia, and loaded a Caterpillar 320 Excavator.

Left there and drove to Ocala, Florida, and delivered it.  From there, I drove back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville.

Friday, April 24, 2026

 I drove to the Keen yard in Brunswick, Georgia.  It is across the street from the Port.  Their computers went down, and they were working to fix them.  Sat there for over an hour waiting.  I was the 8th truck in line, and there were many lined up behind me.

When I finally got checked in and in to load, they sent me to the wrong place in there, SO I had to go to another area.  Finally got loaded with a Caterpillar 330 undercarriage that is going to CZM in Ellabell, Georgia.  That is just west of Savannah.  

Left and drove up there.  Got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic at I-95 and I-16.  The geniuses in the road department thought it was a good idea to bring 4 lanes of traffic to one in the daytime to fix a guard rail.  Finally made it and delivered.  From there, I drove back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville for the weekend.

Thursday, April 23, 2026

 I left at about 1:30 AM EDT and drove to Ocala, Florida, and delivered the wheel loader.  Then drove back to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

 I left at sunrise this morning and drove the rest of the way to Charlotte, North Carolina.  Got stuck in some slow-n'-go rush hour traffic in Charlotte.  Delivered the dozer.  The next load was back in Clayton, NC.  Drove there and loaded a Caterpillar 938 Wheel Loader that is going to Ocala, Florida.

Left there and drove to the Pilot truck stop in Dunn, North Carolina for the night.

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

 I left Carlisle at about 4:30 AM EDT and drove to the Port of Baltimore.  Loaded a Caterpillar D5 Dozer that is going to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Left there is pretty good time, unfortunately got stuck in a lot of slow-n'-go and bumper-to-bumper traffic going around Baltimore and Washington D.C. After that, it was pretty smooth sailing.  Drove to the Petro truck stop in Mebane, North Carolina, for the night.  475 miles today.

Monday, April 20, 2026

 Went over to the Caterpillar dealer in Perrysburg and delivered the excavator.  In the process of unloading, one of the air lines got cut when the excavator ran over it. 

Fortunately, they were able to fix it there by applying a splice.

My next load is tomorrow morning, back at the Port of Baltimore.  I left there and drove to the "home office" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  Took my trailer to the shop and had the air line replaced.  I'll leave here in the morning.

Saturday, April 18, 2026

 I left at about 1 AM EDT when my ten hours were up.  Drove to the TA truck stop in Perrysburg, Ohio.  Will deliver on Monday morning.

Blog readers for the past week...

Friday, April 17, 2026

 I drove to the Port of Baltimore this morning.  Was there before they opened.  After checking in, I loaded a Caterpillar 313 Excavator that is going to Perrysburg, Ohio.

This machine is exactly 8 feet, 6 inches wide, so it had to be perfect on the trailer so that nothing hung over the side.  I left there and drove to the TA truck stop in Wheeling, West Virginia, for my ten hours.

Thursday, April 16, 2026

 Drove over to Clear Brook, Virginia, this morning and delivered the remaining excavator when they opened.  From there drove up to the "home office" in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  They wanted to do a little more work on my truck.  Spent all day there.  I'll load tomorrow morning in Baltimore

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

 I left at 1:30 AM EDT when my 10 hours were up.  Drove to Annapolis, Maryland, and delivered one of the excavators.  From there, I went over to the TA truck stop in Jessup, MD.  This place is really bad.  I  avoid this TA as much as possible.  They charge $35 a night to park here.  Everything else is way overpriced, too.  Horrible place!!!!  The only reason I'm here now is that I didn't have enough hours left to go anywhere else.

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

 I took a nice ride over to Athens, Georgia, this morning to load.  One of the machines I was to load was broken, and they had to fix it.  I sat there for over an hour waiting. Finally loaded two Caterpillar 306 Excavators.  One is going to Annapolis, Maryland, and the other is going to Clear Brook, Virginia.

Just as I was ready to check out, they went to lunch.  SO, I had to wait again!!!!  Once they came back from lunch, it took another 45 minutes for them to finish their paperwork so I could leave.  I finally got out of there and drove in heavy traffic to the TA truck stop in Cowpens, South Carolina, for my 10 hours.

Monday, April 13, 2026

 This morning I went to the Port in Brunswick, Georgia, and loaded a Caterpillar 323 Excavator.

Left there and drove to Macon, Georgia, and delivered it.  Stopped at the Love's truck stop in Macon for the night.  Load tomorrow morning in Athens, GA.  10:30 AM Loading appointment.

Thursday, April 9, 2026

 This morning I delivered the wheel loader in Ocala, Florida.  Returned to the Daily yard in Jacksonville.

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

 I went back to Clayton, NC, and loaded a Caterpillar 938 Wheel Loader that is going to Ocala, Florida.

Left there and headed south.  In North Carolina, I got stuck in stop-n'-go traffic.  It took 2 1/2 hours to go three miles.   Finally got through it and drove to the Daily terminal in Jacksonville, Florida.

Blog readers in the past 7 days...

Monday, April 6, 2026

 I left Carlisle at midnight.  Drove to Clayton, North Carolina, to load.  They didn't make an appointment last week, so I wasn't able to load today.  My appointment is now for tomorrow morning.  I went back to the Petro truck stop in Kenly, NC, to wait until tomorrow.

Friday, April 3, 2026

 They didn't have another load for me today, BUT much to my surprise, my new truck was ready for me to move into.  It is a 2027 Kenworth 680.  I like it a lot!!!

I spent the rest of the day swapping all my stuff into it.  Took my mattress pad and blankets to the laundry also.  I'm about 3/4 of the way finished moving everything.  I'll do the rest tomorrow.