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  1. other dog
    ...so,after I went to Cranberry,Pa. and back to Lynchburg I went to Fremont,Oh. Last time I was there was during the great blizzard,this time it was water everywhere,rain,rain,and more rain. Lot of the fields looked like small lakes.Too bad we couldn't get some of that rain around here,we need it.
    Brought another load of steel from Pittsburgh to Lynchburg,and was hoping i'd be done for the week,but I had to go back to that jobsite in the mud by the river in Point Marion,Pa. I should have some more pictures later today,after I go to the film developing place.Had to go to Butler,Pa.and loaded at AK Steel going to Chesapeake,Va.to unload Monday. Not much time off at all for the Easter weekend,which really made me...well,let's just say somewhat grouchy.Probably a good thing though,today I paid the electricity bill,phone bill,Visa card,Directv,and pickup payments. Plus an eye drop prescription,the film developing,gas,Wal-Mart,..who knows what else.
    Never did get the dump valve on the trailer and would have had a tough time at Point Marion,with the hole,and the fence,and the dog-leg,but there's a button on top of the valve that you can push to dump the air. It's spring loaded and pops right back out when you let go,but I solved that by finding a stick and cutting it the right length with my pocket knife to wedge up under the trailer floor and hold the button down. Backed in easier than last time,and they didn't even have to get the dozer to pull me out this time.
    These are more bigger better pictures from the Point Marion jobsite,showing how you had to back-up straight towards the tree,then cut the trailer over towards the crane,(to the right in the picture) with the fence and the hole to deal with.When I left I crossed the bridge,which was built in 1927. Had my eyes closed all the way across... must've made it...
  2. other dog

    Saturday Again

    By other dog,

    Made the trip to Nazareth,Pa. I passed right by the Nazareth Speedway going in,never seen that before. I drove the truck to Rockingham,N.C. to races a couple of times,and stopped and looked at the race tracks in Daytona,Talledega, and Darlington,and have passed by Bristol,Dover,North Wilkesboro,Atlanta,Michigan, maybe a couple more. Used to go to Charlotte,Richmond,and Martinsville every year,but it just got so expensive,and the traffic got so bad,and the cops in N.C. got so hateful I quit going. Nazareth looked kind of grown over,even for the off-season. I don't know if they still have races there or not,it might have gone the way of North Wilkesboro and Rockingham. I know they didn't have cup races there anyway,but didn't they run Busch races there at one time? I don't remember what kind of races they have there.
    Anyway, back in the real world I went down to Baltimore from Nazareth and loaded coils at Worthington Steel for Metalsa in Roanoke-the truck frame plant.Then over to Moneta and picked up treated lumber going to Fairmont,W.V. It rained in West Virginia Tuesday night. It was about 38-40 degrees went I went to bed.But Wednesday morning in Fairmont it was well below freezing,and the parking lot at 84 Lumber was like a skating rink,completely glazed over with a sheet of ice. I couldn't get turned around and backed in the gate 'til about 10 or 10:30 I think it was.When I finally got unloaded I had to go to Pittsburgh to load,so I just stayed on U.S.rt. 19 North thru town until I got back to I-79 at Morgantown. I saw several old trucks going that way,some old Autocars,and one place where you could look down below you and see lots of old iron,including at least one H-model in the woods. The road through there is narrow anyway,and there's no place to pull over and look,or take pictures,but i'd like to.I wish I could take a picture of every old truck I see. Kinda makes ya wonder just what might still be found parked in the woods to rust across the country,and forgotten.
    But,back to the real world,it's work,work,work.I loaded in Pittsburgh for Franklin,Va. It was an N.B.Handy load,but it went straight to the customer.Should have been on a straight truck,their yard was so tiny. When I got that off Thursday morning I went to Dillwyn and picked up a load of Kyanite going to Orville,Oh.It was bright and sunny when I left the shop,but by the time I got to Lewisburg,W.V. it was snowing so hard you couldn't see. I was pretty much out of the snow by the time I got to Charleston,but it was about 2 degrees in Orville Friday morning.Folding tarps is about like trying to fold a piece of plywood when it's that cold. Then over to Macedonia to reload coils at I.D.S. for Metalsa in Roanoke. Unloaded there this morning,and got home around lunch time. I see I got a "Wheels of Time" and a "Double Clutch" this week,so it's time to check them out now. Hmm...used to be that would be the first thing I checked out,wonder what's up with that?
  3. other dog

    Saturday Update

    By other dog,

    Wow,Bernie Mac passed away-he was 2 years younger than me! Don't get to watch much TV,but I saw the Bernie Mac show a few times,and it was great! He always thought the kids were trying to get over on him,and he'd outsmart 'em,and the kids always thought he was tryin' to get over on them...sad to hear anyway.
    Took some pictures yesterday-I went down to the apple tree to pick some apples. They're not ripe yet,but Jo wanted to try cooking some.I managed to pick 4 or 5 before I had to run for my life-hornets everywhere! Eating all the apples! And this pear tree was loaded-it had so many pears on it they broke the top of the tree off,along with several limbs. Now you can hardly find a pear. But those hot peppers and tomatoes are doing well,eh? (that's Canadian)
  4. other dog
    Went back up the road to Orville,Oh. Thursday. Reloaded at Brookfield,Oh. to Roanoke and unloaded there tonight. Now i'm home.
    Here's a couple of pictures of one of the Freightliners I used to drive-one at home,the other is at Pharo's truckstop in Shippensburg,Pa. with a load of joists. I also ran across an old article about Jeff's beginning in the trucking business. He started out with a B-model I see. He's come a long way since then.
    Talked to Joe today about scrap metal,and what it's bringing. I have bought and driven cars for what they're getting for scrap prices now. That probably means old parts will be even harder to find because everybody will be digging their old stuff out of the woods and selling it for junk. I saw an old tractor on a trailer behind a ton truck headed to Shredded Products one day this week. I'm pretty sure the tractor was going to be scrapped too because the truck was piled up with junk and there was more junk around the tractor. The tractor was very old,but new enough to have rubber tires,completely rusty,but it appeared to have all the sheet metal and it didn't look beat up or dented at all. I don't know what kind of tractor it was but it was a tricycle type with the steering shaft going all the way down alongside the hood to the steering box right over the front wheels. Some of the old tractor restorers would probably have loved to have it just for the sheet metal if nothing else.
    ...shoulda' planted that corn last weekend...
  5. other dog

    Secret Mission

    By other dog,

    Several years ago I was talking to one of P.L.Duncan's drivers in Sparrows Point,Md. I was telling him about my old cement mixer and my love of old trucks, and he told me about all the old trucks Mr. Duncan had, some packed in a building so tight you could hardly walk between them. He said they were all old, and most of them were running. I told myself then, "self, you need to get down there and take a look at those trucks". Well, after about 5 or 6 years, I finally did Friday. It was a great trip. I called Mr. Duncan before I went, and he told me to come on down. He's a very nice man, and when I got there I saw that his driver I talked to was understating if anything- he has all kinds of antique trucks, stuck everywhere! I took some pictures, then stopped to see an old friend of mine before I went to see mom and dad, and he owns the old 860 GMC that was a wrecker at the garage I worked at in Cumberland when I first got out of high school, in 1974. It was great! You can still see "Cumberland Auto Service" on the doors. Always loved that truck- 6-71 Detroit, 5 speed, with 2 speed rear. Just wish I could have driven it again! But, it was a great day!
    p.s- the wrecker body and winch that used to be on the 860 is now on this 9500 GMC, still in use to this day!
    Here's some random pictures...
  6. other dog
    Still running like a scalded dog-guess that's good,but I was highly pissed off when I had to go back out Thursday-4th. of July weekend-after running 2 Ohio loads already.
    I picked up a big long round thing-no,no,no,it was a roll shell-at the paper mill in Riverville last Friday and left Sunday going to Sandusky,Ohio. Got unloaded early Monday morning and went to Oak Harbor to the nucular (George Bush) pear plant to pick up 3 air compressors and 2 drying towers to take back to Ingersoll Rand in Richmond,Va. Had to go through the whole "search the truck" process twice going in because the compressors were just inside the secure area-like about 50' inside the secure area. After going through the metal detective,taking my steel toed boots off and emptying my pockets first,I went in with an escort.The escort just sat his fat ass in the passenger seat and read his book while I got loaded and strapped the load down.For all 50' of the trip.Prolly makes 3 times what I do anually.
    Anyhow,I turned the truck off while I was getting loaded-I wasn't about to leave it running with the AC on for him.
    After I finished strapping the load down I started the truck to leave and go back through the "truck trap", but Mr. Escort's door wouldn't shut properly. The passenger door won't shut sometimes,probably because it's only been opened a few times in the last 5 years.I got out and went around to the passenger side and was fooling with his door when I heard something rattling. Went back to the drivers side and pushed the clutch pedal in,thinking maybe it was the throwout bearing...no change...checked the tool box and battery box covers,because that's what it sounded like,a loose cover vibrating on something...all secure...then I saw a little wisp of smoke come from under the hood and thought "awww f#@K-it's the @#$%&*ing starter!!"
    By the time I got the engine shut off smoke was rolling out from under the hood. Mr. Escort even got out of the truck-he was on his 2 way communicator "uh...truck on fire...smoking bad-think the summich is gonna burn up-no rush,it's just a Peterbilt...over".
    So a crowd of big shots came over and were standing around looking while I opened the hood. I let it cool off a few minutes and tried to start it and couldn't even get a click out of it. I said "y'all got anything that will pull it?" So all the engineers thought about the situation and came up with a plan. "We'll take this big ass fork lift,pull you backwards so we can get this big truck out,and give you a pull with this big ass truck".
    So I says "uh...why don't you just pull me with the fork lift-shouldn't take but a few feets to start it". So all the engineers and geniouses huddled up again and said "uh...OK!"
    So I got a chain and they pulled me a couple of feet and I got it started and didn't cut it off anymore until I got to the shop in Concord,Va. Tuesday,after I unloaded in Richmond.
    After I got a new starter -in fact,the "old" starter hadn't been on but a few months-I got a load of pipes going to Harmony,Pa,near Zelienople. Then I went to Alliance,Oh. and picked up a load of firebrick coming back to Madison Heights,Va.
    Unloaded in Madison Heights early Thursday morning happy as hell,thinking I was done for the week-already had 2 good rounds in. So I called headquarters to see what I might load to deliver Tuesday and Jeff said "go to Griffin Pipe and pick up a load of duck-tile iron pipes going to Conyers,Georgia". So I says "is that to deliver Tuesday?" He says "hell no,have your ass there in the morning".
    And that's what I did.
    Unloaded early Friday morning in Conyers,Ga.
    Called headquarters.
    They said "go to Barnesville,Ga. and pick up a load of lumber for Moneta,Va."
    So I go to Barnesville,Ga. to Jordan Lumber and they said "we're closed,you idiot-come back Monday".
    So I called headquarters...they said "are you serious?"...yeah,they're closed-it's 4th. of July weekend...so they said "arrrrright then...mmmm-hmmmm....well,go to Marietta,Ga. and load these coils going to Orange,Va."
    And that's what I did-fighting all that traffic through Atlanta to get there.
    Made it home a little before midnight last night-still cooked some chicken breastesess,hot wings,corn dawgs,and bubber burgers on the grill today.My oldest son and my grandchildren came over and we had a great time.
    All is well.
  7. other dog

    Slick Boards

    By other dog,

    Unloaded that steel in Wilmington this morning and went up to Plymouth,N.C. to load a load of lumber,16' 2x10s.Had to weigh in and out,and where I loaded was a good ways from the scales,so I threw 2 straps across each stack of lumber to go weigh out.The weight was OK, so I just eased on out to the truckstop across the road to finish strapping down.It was about a half mile away,and there's a stop light at the end of the road,truckstop's straight across.When I got parked I saw that the inside boards on the top bundle of the front stack had already started to slide out of the bundle,so I went in the store and bought 2- 3 liter bottles of Mountain Dew. I poured the Mountain Dew on the boards that were sliding out, shoved them back in by hand, then poured the rest all over the top of the whole load. Put about 3 more straps on each stack and tightened them as tight as I could get 'em,and didn't have any more trouble-even when I had to brake hard to keep from running over that van that was doing about 40 mph in a 70 and a car was beside me...it's the sugar.
  8. other dog

    Slow,slow,slow

    By other dog,

    Only got in one trip this week, was supposed to go to Negley, Ohio monday but went to Fremont instead. Had to untarp one pallet at a time in the pouring rain so it wouldn't get any wetter than it already was. Then I went to Brookfield to load and there was 4 trucks ahead of me at door 12. Got there at 3 o'clock and left at 8. Didn't really matter though. I unloaded about noon Wednesday in Roanoke and was done for the week until I went to Moneta today and loaded treated lumber for Erie, Pa. I wouldn't leave until late Sunday, or maybe Monday morning, because of the Cumberland county Christmas parade, but it's so slow i'm just gonna have to miss it this year and get on up to Erie. First one i've missed since I've had the mixer, and won a trophy every time. But times are tight, gotta go-can't eat those trophies!
    And speaking of the mixer, I started it Wednesday and it looked like there was a piece of clear plastic laying on the hood. I got out to get it off and unfortunately it was not a piece of plastic but the clear-coat peeling off in big sheets. My theory is that when I waxed it I waxed through the clear coat and a little moisture seeped in, then it froze and pulled it loose from the base coat. Never had any problem 'til I waxed it, so I assume that's what happened. Looks terrible now anyway. Might try to peel the clear-coat off and wax it, if that doesn't work too good I might have to repaint the hood. Someday, that is-right now I couldn't afford a can of krylon.
  9. other dog

    Smoked

    By other dog,

    Done smoked that turkey-kind of blackened,but delicious. Hated to break in a new oven on the Thanksgiving turkey,but I didn't have much choice.This gas oven has a single bottom,where my old electric unit had two bottom panels,with an empty space in between. These pictures show the finished product,plus some extra drum sticks,the fire box,oven smoking, and plattered turkey.The sweet potater pies were delicious too,some of the best i've ever tasted-wait,is this the food forum,or trucks ? Oh...never mind. guess I should've resized my pictures too.
  10. other dog

    Smokin'(a Turkey)

    By other dog,

    I hauled a load of pipeline pipe from Tightsqueeze to Anderson,S.C. Monday,and one Tuesday-3 pieces per load,it was 42" pipe 40' long. I was supposed to do it again today,but they didn't work in Anderson so I came in last night and loaded a load of kyanite going to Fremont,Oh. for Monday delivery.I was kind of glad because the traffic was as bad yesterday as I expected it to be today.There was a cop on every ramp and behind every bush in North Carolina too.I didn't get any Captain Morgan's so I bought some rum flavoring at Food Lion for the sweet potato pies,and i'm gonna start smoking a turkey early in the morning.I threw my old electric smoker oven away,and cleaned out and leveled up my new gas smoker oven that I found by the dumpster a while back.I know that sounds bad,but that's where I got it.It's in really good shape,and the old electric one was just worn out and burned out.I've cleaned it out,though it looked pretty clean to start with.I just put some charcoal in the bottom,and as it burns down I keep adding wood until the turkey's done-the longer you can cook it without burning it the better.I'll let you know how it turns out-dumpster oven smoked turkey!
  11. other dog

    So-so Week

    By other dog,

    I left here Monday and had to go to Petersburg to load a Roxana, Il. load. That makes a long day. It's about 100 miles east to Petersburg. I didn't get to Roxana until about 3 o'clock Tuesday evening, and didn't get unloaded until Wednesday morning. At least I got a return load out of Granite City, only a few miles from Roxana. Bad part was it was going to Baltimore, scheduled for Friday morning delivery. Then I had a load to pick up in Sparrows Point, about 2 miles from where I unloaded. Good load too, 2 coils going to Lynchburg. Then I could deliver that tomorrow, but...they screwed around so long unloading me in Baltimore it was too late to load it and I had to come home empty and pick up a 2 stop load of lumber at the yard going to Ohio. The stops are nowhere near each other either, one's near Marion and the other's near Akron. So i'm leaving today.
    And, on top of that the tool box door on my trailer decided to come open on the way home Friday and I lost most of my beveled wood, coil racks, a roll of plastic, some corner protectors, and i'm not sure what else was in there. Usually it took a jackhammer and a crowbar to get it open, but this time it just came open on it's own. Couldn't say for sure that somebody didn't check it out to see if there was anything in there worth stealing and then didn't fasten the doors good when they saw there wasn't, but who knows.
    Got a few pictures this week too-
    the capital building in Charleston,W.V.
    driving piling in Roxana
    locomotive in Roxana
    some old tractors in Illinois by I-70
    the cut in Sideling mountain on I-68 in Maryland
    closer view of the cut
    Baltimore,from the Key Bridge
  12. other dog
    Just a few pictures I took on the last Florida trip-load of sheets I took down, red & black Mack dump parked in front of N.B. Handy in Boca Raton, N.B.Handy trailer, a nocluejoe unloader machine with rubber tracks, the load of lumber I brought back, and an old GMC dump truck trying to hide a b-model Mack on rt.301 in South Caolina.
  13. other dog

    Some Random Photos

    By other dog,

    Florida pictures-here's that palm tree I promised, and from snowy Ohio to all the green trees and grass in Florida,one week later. Oh,and one bikini...on a billboard.
    And a new straw hat-bought it on e-bay. And A train loaded down with containers full of American products in the heartland of America,just south of Norwalk,Ohio-oh...China?..never mind then.
    Sometimes I have a tendency to post the same picture more than once-I should either write them down as I go,or quit drinking.Guess i'll start writing them down.
  15. other dog

    Started

    By other dog,

    Don't worry guys-I know everybody was loading their jumper cables to come over and get me started this morning,but it fired right up.Now I gotta go to Lynchburg and unload then to the shop for fuel and some new batteries,then to Dillwyn to load Kyanite going to Fremont,Oh. So I'm off like A herd of turtles as Bill would say.
  16. other dog
    if everything works here,these are a couple of hills that a truck driver can appreciate as being very,very,steep and the pictures show it. The Kenworth is the original one used in the "Moving On" tv series. So,what's that got to do with 36 degree banking? Bristol has 36 degree banking in the turns,and that's steep too...Besides,Paul was getting annoyed that I was taking all the good blog entry titles, a.k.a. whatever day of the week it was. It gets harder and harder to come up with a new and catchy title all the time you know.
    And another thing-I've been known to criticise drivers who graduate from "truck driving school" and hit the road already having forgotten more than myself or most everybody else has ever known about driving on this blog,and today when I was anylizing my new "Wheels of Time" I came across the article about Joe Becker. This entire issue is about drivers and companies who recieved golden achievement awards,with 50 or more years in the trucking industry. Joe Becker is 79 and still trucking. In the mid 70's he started a truck driving school in Minnesota.He offered a 6 month, 1,200 hour course for interstate drivers and a 4 month 900 hour course for intrastate drivers. You had to log 5,000 miles with an instructor to graduate,but I guarantee you those drivers knew what they were doing when they hit the road. He eventually closed down his training school when others offered shorter courses. I know they say there's a driver shortage,but the "new breed" attitude of these guys coming out now is something else.Not all,but a lot of drivers are so hateful and arrogant-nothing like the commaradorie-oh forget it,i'll never be able to spell comaraderie-that there used to be. Where drivers used to be quick to help each other,now they're quick to cuss each other out for the least little thing. Unreal...what happened?
  17. other dog

    Stewed Out

    By other dog,

    The stew went well,it was delicious and everyone seemed to have a good time. Had a little bit left over,but not a lot.There was enough where some people took some home with them though.I'm tired as a dog,and tomorrow i've got to boil the pot out again,clean it,and reseason it,but i'm gonna call it a day now and go to bed.
  18. other dog

    Stewing

    By other dog,

    Got the stew on and bubbling away.Had to go to Avon,Oh. Thursday,but I got unloaded and reloaded pretty quick,unloaded in Roanoke last night,and came home and cut up meat,potatoes,and onions until after 1am.Got that cooking now-that's the hardest part,the raw ingredients.After they're done it's just a matter of opening cans and dumping them in.Gotta go now,don't wanna let the pot boil dry or burn anything,or i'll have to go buy 300 cans of Dinty Moore before anybody gets here.
  20. other dog
    A few more random photos from the road...the very narrow street in Wheeling,W.V. I delivered a load of 60' beams on, a big Mack truck, Summit racing in Tallmadge,Oh, a B-model near Zelienople,Pa, A yellow fire truck near Sharon,Pa. (it's for sale!), a huge oversize load, a Swift truck that pulled over on the shoulder-except there was no shoulder there, and the old KB-5 that sat in front of the truckstop in Hubbard,Oh. Now it's parked across the road with a "for sale" sign in the window-$7500.
  21. other dog

    Still Slow

    By other dog,

    not much freight to be moved this week either.Unloaded in Emporia Monday,went to Petersburg and loaded A load of beams for Chattanooga,Tn. and had to deadhead to Birmingham to reload.Got a load of 55' beams going to South Plainfield,N.J. but we unloaded them at the shop today because they didn't want them in N.J. yet.That's OK with me,I don't like going to New Jersey anyway.
  22. other dog

    Still Trucking Around

    By other dog,

    Guess I should catch up a little. I went to Chesapeake Monday and came back up to Petersburg and loaded another load for Roxana,Il. Delivered there Tuesday evening and loaded in Pittsboro, In. Wednesday morning for Petersburg, Va. Hit snow in Charleston, W.V. coming back, but the turnpike was pretty clear. When I got off on 64 east at Beckley it was a different story. Completely covered. I waited on top of Sandstone mountain for a couple of hours, hoping the snow would stop...and a plow truck would come by. I think there was one truck working the mountain, and it's 5 miles down it, 7%. I got caught in the snow a couple of times there last winter, and why they don't try to keep it clear I do not know.
    Sandstone is as long, and a lot steeper, than any of the mountain passes I crossed going to Puyallup. I know they might measure snowfall out there in feet instead of inches, but when Sandstone is completely covered, not even 2 tracks clear, it can be pretty intense going down it. I finally eased on down about 15-20 mph. and made it OK.
    I unloaded in Petersburg Thursday, then reloaded for Roxana again with a 60' load this time. It delivers Tuesday.
  23. other dog

    Stir Crazy

    By other dog,

    Sat home again today.Called Jeff this morning and he told me to stay by the phone,he'd call me back as soon as he found out something about the truck. That was the last I heard from him. I called the shop about 4:00 and Neal said Jeff had already gone home. The truck IS supposed to be ready tomorrow though.
    I even took Jo out to the Chinese buffet in Altavista because I was driving her crazy,and that's a short trip for her. The orange stuff on a stick was pretty good. Actually everything was good,even if I couldn't identify most of it.
  24. other dog
    I went to LaCrosse and unloaded Monday morning and when I called in empty Todd said to go home and pick up a van load Tuesday evening in Lynchburg at 4:00pm going to Port St. Lucie, FL. So I did, except they called Tuesday evening and said it would be ready at 6:00 instead of 4:00. Had to be in Florida with it Thursday morning, so I had plenty of time to get there. I dropped the trailer at a power plant Thursday morning, and bobtailed all the way back. Good paying load too.
    Now i've got a load of treated lumber at the shop going to Fairview or Fairfield, Pa. Jeff said it was near Erie, and it was Fair-something or other...went in one ear and out the other.
    This computer has about driven me crazy since nocluejoe broke my webcam . I tried to uninstall and reinstall it, but it still wouldn't work...tried a different usb port-nothing. So I figured it must be the camera itself and bought another one, but it still wouldn't work. Re-uninstalled it and tried downloading the latest updated driver direct from Logitech-nothing. What gets me is the little icon at the bottom of the monitor says "your device is ready to use" but QuickCam says ""your camera is not plugged in, or is not working properly" . Well, duh! It's connected to a usb port, and obviously the %$&* thing ain't working properly ! I fooled with it half a day, control panel, device manager, programs and features, windows trouble shooting- i've been to 'em all...but it still wouldn't work
    ...wonder if Barry knows anything about computers?
  25. other dog

    Stories

    By other dog,

    Barry,this is great! I really like Ray's blog-if I could type with more than one finger (I actually have many more) I could tell many more stories.Somebody will come up with something and it just triggers memories I'd long forgotten,but you never know,somebody out there might find it interesting.

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