We have been busier than ever the past week. The runs have been back to back and that's okay. It's a good time of the year to work hard. If there has to be a slowdown, I prefer it be in the winter.
A load we did this week was unlike any others we've ever done before. Everytime we do an oversize load, we always say we will NEVER do another. There are permits to get for every state and each state you drive thru has different regulations as to when you can drive and on which roads you must drive. In general, it's just more trouble than it's worth, in our opinion. In another "what were we thinking" moment, we agreed to take this oversized load from Topeka, Kansas down to Houston, Texas. It was not our normal oversized load, however. This one was nearly 13 feet wide while our trailer is only 8 and a half feet wide. We went to a Goodyear plant and they loaded two huge tires, weighing 25,000 lbs., onto our trailer. Their destination was eventually Chile, but our mission was to get them to the port in Houston. We could barely see around them in the mirrors but off we went to Texas on a wing and a prayer. When we got to the Oklahoma border, the rules say we must have a pilot car travel with us if the load is over 12 feet. We met our driver just north of the Kansas/Oklahoma border and she tagged along with us all the way to the Texas border. For whatever reason, the state of Oklahoma did not want us to ride on the interstates with this load. They had given us a route that took us winding thru many small towns and on the curvy backroads without shoulders. It was all Jorge could do to keep from knocking down mailboxes along the route. Taking up two lanes of traffic all the way there, we finally made it safe and sound to deliver it. The first words out of our mouths after delivery... "NEVER AGAIN!!"
From there we were off to Dallas, Texas to get part of our next load. We picked up at the DFW airport where we loaded some of those little tractors they use to pull the baggage carts. A couple more were loaded on the next day at the Bentonville, Arkansas airport. Off we went to deliver them to both the Dayton, Ohio and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania airports. We thought we were going to miss the leftover rains from hurricane Isaac this week but as it turns out, we drove right thru them all the way from Arkansas to Ohio. We were not pressed for time so we were able to stop and sleep while the worst of it went thru. However because of the rain, we were not able to stop at our storage trailer in Ohio to get rid of all these summer clothes we have in the truck now. I'm sure we'll get back that way soon anyway.
You know you've been trucking a long time when you pass people on the road in random places around the country. We were even able to stop and have dinner with old friends who were west bound while we were east bound in Ohio this week. It was fun to cross paths and visit for awhile before hitting the road again. We run around the country like most people move around a town a city.
We have another trip planned for Tuesday that picks up about an hour south of here in a little town called Kutztown, Pennsylvania. We have to deliver it the next day in northern Iowa. We don't know where we'll go from there. Our coordinator, Tom, who usually helps us find our loads, is on vacation this week so it will be interesting to see how things go for us working with someone else.
A load we did this week was unlike any others we've ever done before. Everytime we do an oversize load, we always say we will NEVER do another. There are permits to get for every state and each state you drive thru has different regulations as to when you can drive and on which roads you must drive. In general, it's just more trouble than it's worth, in our opinion. In another "what were we thinking" moment, we agreed to take this oversized load from Topeka, Kansas down to Houston, Texas. It was not our normal oversized load, however. This one was nearly 13 feet wide while our trailer is only 8 and a half feet wide. We went to a Goodyear plant and they loaded two huge tires, weighing 25,000 lbs., onto our trailer. Their destination was eventually Chile, but our mission was to get them to the port in Houston. We could barely see around them in the mirrors but off we went to Texas on a wing and a prayer. When we got to the Oklahoma border, the rules say we must have a pilot car travel with us if the load is over 12 feet. We met our driver just north of the Kansas/Oklahoma border and she tagged along with us all the way to the Texas border. For whatever reason, the state of Oklahoma did not want us to ride on the interstates with this load. They had given us a route that took us winding thru many small towns and on the curvy backroads without shoulders. It was all Jorge could do to keep from knocking down mailboxes along the route. Taking up two lanes of traffic all the way there, we finally made it safe and sound to deliver it. The first words out of our mouths after delivery... "NEVER AGAIN!!"
From there we were off to Dallas, Texas to get part of our next load. We picked up at the DFW airport where we loaded some of those little tractors they use to pull the baggage carts. A couple more were loaded on the next day at the Bentonville, Arkansas airport. Off we went to deliver them to both the Dayton, Ohio and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania airports. We thought we were going to miss the leftover rains from hurricane Isaac this week but as it turns out, we drove right thru them all the way from Arkansas to Ohio. We were not pressed for time so we were able to stop and sleep while the worst of it went thru. However because of the rain, we were not able to stop at our storage trailer in Ohio to get rid of all these summer clothes we have in the truck now. I'm sure we'll get back that way soon anyway.
You know you've been trucking a long time when you pass people on the road in random places around the country. We were even able to stop and have dinner with old friends who were west bound while we were east bound in Ohio this week. It was fun to cross paths and visit for awhile before hitting the road again. We run around the country like most people move around a town a city.
We have another trip planned for Tuesday that picks up about an hour south of here in a little town called Kutztown, Pennsylvania. We have to deliver it the next day in northern Iowa. We don't know where we'll go from there. Our coordinator, Tom, who usually helps us find our loads, is on vacation this week so it will be interesting to see how things go for us working with someone else.