April 9 – 13, 2021

Friday, April 9, 2021

This picture reminds me of a few years ago when we had a team of 13 of us to move those huge generators up in northern Michigan! I love the big team!

We had our HP, our truck, me as steerman, 2nd HP, 2nd truck, 2nd steerman, 3rd HP, 3rd truck, 3rd steerman, and then 2 extra HPs to help lift lines and direct traffic because of our 17′ 4″ height, and size. We are each about 150′ long, 15′ wide, and weight about 230,000 lbs each.

We had a meeting to decide who was going to do what. It was decided that we would be the first truck, and all the HP cars would run up front, since we are all the same height. That way, they all can manage traffic and work together.

It was a great day! Nice weather, and a crew that all worked together well. I love it when there is no one trying to make themselves stand out, and we all just do our job. The front cars would run out ahead, find a low wire, lift it as well all went under, and then race by us to get in front again. They did the same with traffic control. At every intersection they would have all traffic stopped so we could pass right through, or make our turn. In Iowa, we must cross every bridge in the center because of our weight, so they would have oncoming traffic stopped before we got there.  It may seem selfish at first to ask everyone to wait for us, or get out of our way, but think of the dozens of people caught behind us! The line is sometimes several miles long! There is no place we can pull off, and no way we can let them by. So they are extremely happy to keep rolling.

We made a safe call, and stopped at a very small town in Iowa, at a large parking lot of a business that has told us we can park there when needed. We pulled in first, and drove left. Then I steered him back and out of the way for the 2nd truck to pull in and drive left. Then I steered ours out and to the left (which made a U-turn) so the 2nd truck could back up where we were. As the second truck pulled forward to complete his U-turn, I steered ours back and along the fence. The 3rd truck then pulled in to make his U-turn, and those two did the same dance until we were all three parked and ready to pull straight out in the morning.

I really enjoy steering back like that, and wish I’d have had the drone up filming this whole thing, because at one point, the trailer was actually going sideways as the driver and I got our dollies into place. It’s hard to describe!

I drove 6 miles to the nearest Casey’s gas station, filled with fuel, and made supper. I cooked up some hamburgers on my hot plate, and threw on everything I could find!

I didn’t give it a name, but it certainly was good!

Saturday, April 10, 2021

I got up at 5, and made sausage, eggs, and cheese for breakfast, and we all pulled out by 7:30. Because of the way we had parked last night, we were now the last truck today.

Now my job changed from just being steerman. When I’m in back, I consider myself kind of a public relations guy. As I pass all the cars and trucks who pulled off and parked on the shoulder to give us room to pass by, I wave to thank them. Also, as we pass under a wire that one of or guys is lifting, I slack off and stop to allow him to fold up his lifter, stow it, and drive out in front of me. I do that so he does not get caught 12 cars behind, and need to pass all of them as well as us to get back up front. That happened too many times yesterday! If we get to a low wire, and none of our guys are back up front to lift it, we have to stop and wait for one to get there.

We had a short detour to make to avoid a very low bridge, and I shot this as the 2nd truck was making the turn for that. Notice that if we didn’t turn off, we would come up to a bridge that is over 3 feet too low!

Here is a pic of that next left turn

You can see that we travel on some very small roads! There is no way oncoming traffic could even get out of our way. Even a small car would just have to back up. In anticipation of that, one of the front guys had gone ahead to this turn and stopped all traffic from coming our way, giving us the road to ourselves.

After just 250 miles, we made it just across the Iowa line into South Dakota well before sunset. We were ahead of schedule, and can not finish our trip until Monday when we meet the power company to lift the lines in Omaha, so split the distance to that point. We can make much better time now that the days are getting longer.

We seldom have to stop short to avoid breaking sunset curfew. It also makes the nights shorter for us, though. It is very difficult to stop, do our post trip inspections, eat supper, and get 8 hours of sleep before getting up early enough to eat breakfast, do our pre trip inspections, and get moving at sunrise. The only thing that forces us to stop is the driver’s logs, which do not allow them to drive more than 10 hours in a day. That’s why I get behind on these blogs. Our job really is our only life out here for the most part.

Tonight I had plenty of time, so parked next to a flat trailer someone left here, giving me a place to set my grill, and cook supper!

I spent the night there in my van.

Sunday, April 11, 2021

We left just as the sun was rising.

Because of the way we had parked last night, we were the first truck again.

Once again it was a 250 mile day to get us into Nebraska and to the tiny truck stop where we will meet the power company tomorrow. Lots of small roads, but a wonderful view. I love that the grass is turning green!

It makes a huge difference!

We arrived at the truck stop in Weston, NE early in the afternoon once again, and will meet the power company here at 9 AM. You can see in the next three picture just how small the truck stop is, and how we manage to park all three trucks in a way that does not block access, and others can still park there as well.

I took my drone out for a fun time, just flying it around that corn field, but also got some fun video shots!

Monday, April 12, 2021

I was up at dawn, but I don’t think anyone else was!

I made breakfast, did all my pre trip checks, and did some catch up on financial input in the computer, the last blog, and started this one. The power company arrived, but I didn’t have my radio on, and was too engrossed in writing to notice. Then I heard a knock on my driver’s door! I got up off my couch, and saw my driver there, saying “Dave, we are rolling!” YIKES! I put my notebook computer down, got out, and ran to my driver’s door. As I turned the engine on, I could see that all the road traffic was stopped, the 3rd truck was out in the road, and the other two trucks were all waiting for me! LOL I pulled out of the way, let my truck pass, fell in behind, and the other two followed. “Sorry guys, I didn’t realize my radio was off!” “No problem, Dave, nice to have you with us today!” LOL It was 9:30.

This part of the trip is just too intense for me to take pictures. There are lines to lift at almost every house along one stretch, tight corners to lift for to avoid scraping the curbs and grass, roads to shut down so we can turn into the wrong side of the road to avoid low street lights, lots of close lights and signs to inch under – including one bridge that we crawl under and clear by only a couple of inches.

We made the 51 miles to the site in record time today, arriving at 11:30. After about an hour, we were told that though today was too windy to operate the cranes, they will try to unload us as scheduled tomorrow morning. We shall see. . .

We left the trucks there, and all went to the same hotel nearby. As soon as I got checked in, I went to get my oil changed, and then came back and got caught up on this blog.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

We were all there at 7. Well, not all of us. Only the three drivers and their steermen. All the others had been cut loose yesterday.. The air was still, but we knew it would not last long.  The forecast predicted winds as high as yesterday, so we knew that if we were going to get unloaded, it was going to have to be soon. After about 30 minutes, we saw several trucks arrive with equipment for the crane. But the wind began to pick up.

That was good news! Then, shortly after that, we saw the tip of the crane above the building begin to turn as they began to rig it. More good news! So my driver and I decided to get our pre-check done. We noticed the wind increasing as we walked up to the check-in booth, and they read our temperatures and gave us the wrist band that allows us to enter the gate into the site.

Just a few minutes later the little ATV came up and told our driver that they wanted all three trucks to drive in at the same time, in order to be able to get them all unloaded before the wind got too high. Why don’t they always do this? Usually we wait hours between unloads! Since we were first, we led the parade through the construction site. Why do they build all the roads with beautiful curbs BEFORE they bring in the big trucks loaded with 50 ton generators? LOL Watch this video of our truck making a left and then a right turn. He is locked in self-steer, so I am not steering at all. It is being steered by the change in the 5th wheel. My drive maneuvers it perfectly, waiting to make the turn just long enough so that when the rear dolly gets the message to turn, it will be soon enough to make the turn, but not too soon so the rear tires run over the curb. Had he not done it perfectly, we would have stopped, backed up, and had me steer the back end through.

When we got to the next left turn, we had no choice. He pulled up to make the turn, and saw right away that the light pole on the inside was too close, and we would hit it. So he then backed up to let me steer, and I pulled the pin to put it into manual steer. That part of the video is sped up for time’s sake. Then you will see me steer us around that corner.

Once we pulled under the crane, removed the wire skidders on top, removed the chains, and the crane crew finished rigging, they lifted it off!

By the time we pulled out empty, parked in the lot, and shrank us back down to 12′ wide, the second truck pulled in empty. Once we did the same for him, the third truck pulled up, and we all helped him. Three trucks unloaded in just about 5 hours! That’s a new record for me! The office called with their new assignments, and since my driver was now heading straight back to WI to reload, and they already had another steerman up there to take over from that point, they switched me to steer for the second driver, because he is going straight back to the yard.

We left just before noon, and made it over 400 miles back to the yard in MN by dark. Amazing day! I parked in the lot after washing my van, and getting supper at my favorite hamburger joint. I am running out of food in my refrigerator, because I planned it that way!

Stay tuned for my next adventure!!