June 16-18, 2021

At about 2 PM we parked at the weight station near Des Moines because the site contact didn’t want us on site for the survey until tomorrow at 8 AM. We figured we would have to park there for the night. Because their site is changing daily, the idea is for us to drive the truck onto the site, to the unloading locations. We know I will have to steer him, but we want to know if it is even possible to get through the turns because the first load is due to deliver there on Tuesday. The last thing we need is to show up fully loaded, and realize we can not get in!

Before we reserved hotel rooms, my driver decided that we should run down to the site today in my van and at least get a good look from the outside, without going through the gate. We were so glad we did that!

We saw that they were closing off the old dirt road we have been using. They have already covered it over with a bull dozer, and have concrete forms up for the new entrance. So the truck could not get in today – or tomorrow for that matter! It would have been a wasted trip for the truck. The GC was there, so gave my driver a walk-in to the site, and he was able to determine that once the concrete is poured and cured, we would be able to get in to deliver. The problem will be that the concrete will not be poured and cured by next Tuesday! But we will let the managers figure that one out, along with who will pay for the cranes that were scheduled to set up Monday!

As a result, we husseled back to the truck, and hit the road! This will save us a full day, because we can now run today into MN and be at the shop by noon tomorrow, instead of leaving here at about noon tomorrow.

We made it to a rest area near Clear Lake Iowa and parked there for the night.

Since it was nearly 9 PM by that point, we had to buy some fried chicken from a truck stop for supper because restaurants and even fast food joints were already closed. We found a hotel just a few miles away.

Wednesday, June16, 2021

We met at my van at about 7:30 and drove back to the rest area to get ready to roll. We left at about 8, and were at the shop by 10. We parked him in the wash bay with my van right behind him. I washed my van, made out my invoices, and recorded receipts while he washed the front half of the truck and trailer.

Then I washed the back half while he went to hunt up the rails and cross members for our replacement trailer section. We need to take this 15′ section out and replace it with a 25′ section so we will have an additional 10′ of cargo space.

 

We can not get into a shop bay until tomorrow, so we helped the driver who was in that bay working by himself. He had worked for the last few weeks taking an entire trailer apart, had it sand blasted, repainted, and put it back together with new bushings and bolts and a new pony motor. He was just about finished, but needed to take it tomorrow to go pick up a generator. So we gave him the boost he needed to get back on schedule. That’s a great feeling!!

We finished just in time for me to go unplug my van, and take it to Pizza Ranch for supper before they closed. I was back, plugged in and in my own bed by 10 PM.

Thursday, June 17, 2021

I was up and eating some of Annalou’s excellent Keto Granola when my driver called and said he wouldn’t be there til 8:30. So I did some writing in this blog, and some book work, and then went out and puttered with the trailer til he arrived.

A company steerman I have worked with several times was in between jobs, and joined in to help us. We brought the new 25′ section rails over to our truck with a fork lift, connected two cross members to it, and took it inside the shop bay. I then steered him back inside, and then had to leave. They will use the inside crane to pull the 15′ section out, and replace it with the 25′ section while I go to my 11 AM appointment at Discount Tire to have my tires replaced.

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Woohoo! What a difference these Michelin tires make! I had the same ones on my last van, and have endured the Continental tires Ford had on this one long enough! Feels like I just put springs on! No more rattles and bangs as I drive down the road!! And flats are fixed free, and damaged tires replaced for $40 for as long as I own them!

When I got back, they had the sections swapped out, and the cross members in place, and were installing the 16 bolts on the ends of each cross member. I joined right in to help them finish. We got them secured, moved two cross members on the front section, ran the hydraulic lines, air lines, and brake lines to the back, shrunk up the trailer, squared it, added the proper shims, put the flags back on, and blocked the towers. We are just about ready ro roll Saturday, and will finish a few things before we leave, so we can both have tomorrow off.

 

It was about 7 PM so I took a shower and went to a restaurant for supper.

Friday, June 18, 2021

I was up at 7, skipped breakfast, took my visor emergency lights down, and my front dash camera, removed my tablet mount, and went to drop my van off at the glass shop for a new windshield. I should have taken a picture before they did the job. I had over 8 feet of cracks in it, and well over 15 dings from the size of a pin head to the size of a golf ball. So if I called Safelite for every ding like you see on the commercial, I’d average a call a week! LOL

They gave me a loaner, so I then went and did my laundry. I got a phone call there. There is a problem back at our RV park. I told you it is a mobile home park being turned into a campground. Well there was a problem with permits, and the Town Board decided to force all the existing campers off the property. There are 4 of us. So our RV has to be off the site by July 15.

Annalou located the only other RV park nearby that had an available spot, and secured their last site through september. So I talked with my dispatch, who is the owner’s son, and discussed the issue. When could I squeezed in a few days to run home and move the RV without messing up the schedule? Well, he definitely does not want to replace me as steerman for this driver for this next 4 weeks or so. BUT, we are taking this load to Florida, then going to KY and taking one to Illinois, then back to KY to take another to Illinois.  At some point we will get shut down for 2 days because of the July 4 holiday, and we estimate we will be in KY, and only 8 hours from our RV. The plan is for me to drive through the night after we get shut down, move the trailer across town, and spend a day getting Annalou settled, thwn drive through the night to get back in time to roll the next day. Let’s see how that all works!! LOL.

I did my grocery shopping at Sam’s Club, got my oil changed, got new windshield wipers, had supper, stopped at a grocery store, filled up my vanwith fuel, took the drone up for a sunset picture, put away my laundry, took a shower while my new drone footage from the last month copied to the company server for their use, and now it is 11:44, and I’m going to bed!

Tomorrow we head for Harlan Kansas where we hope to arrive on site Sunday afternoon, and load Monday. It will be a 62′ vessel, and we will be taking it near Tallahassee Florida to deliver Friday.