This is the route I will take to SLC and Lompoc. Now, I've got to get off and get some sleep. 

Looking south. 

This was a great place. I climbed way up and could see for miles.  

Oregon 

This rivals Big Sur, Ca. 

Oregon coast. There are sea lions down there but they didn't show up in this shot 

Look how far the dunes are from the ocean. 

I dropped a trailer in Coos Bay, Oregon and I had all day to run up the coast as I didn't pick up my next trailer til the next day in Portland, Or. I stopped a few places and took these shots. Its a beautiful area. The first is my Saltire, which has been on this truck since I got it new in '99. It has 724,000 miles on it.I have a new Saltire but I hate to change anything, cause my luck might not hold. If you can notice the warp in the grill and the crinkle in the bumper, that is from an Elk that I hit in Cortez, Colorado a few years back.

Ellis, a friend of mine, and I taken in Sydney, Nebraska.The silver truck is mine. Notice the call sign on the front of his bumper. Also, notice the huge bumper. He is really paranoid about hitting a deer.

On the Road Again...

Well, not quite, but I'll be leaving friday evening sometime. I have to be in Salt Lake City, Ut. on monday and then Lompoc,Ca. on tuesday.I loaded today so I'm ready,or at least the truck is ready,I'll have to get myself ready now. I'm carrying a load of paper bags going to bagging plants. Only around 32000 lbs so that'll help the fuel mileage. I'll have to watch the weather pretty close once I get north a bit as I don't carry chains and there has been some bad weather.I've got some pictures of a trip in the Dually out to Oregon that I'll post tonight.

This is my log book which is in my laptop. It shows part of my last trip on the way back east. Keeping my logbook in my computer is way better than the old paper logbook. I have to keep it backed up in case of a hard drive failure, but I use a little USB Flash Drive and its a snap to use.

Sunrise in Punta Gorda,Florida on my last trip. 

Looks like a parking lot. In the foreground my wifes Jeep, then the Dodge Dually, and then my pride and joy; 1986 Dodge Ramcharger,and then a Chevy Astro van that I'm hoping somebody will buy. Waiting patiently in the back is my home away from home. Probably feeling a bit neglected. That could change today. If I don't leave today I guess I'd better take down the Christmas lights.

'Tis the night before...

Just under 8 hours til Christmas morning. There will be a house full tomorrow; 3 of my "kids", 4 grandkids, and 1 great grand kid who will arrive around may. The clan is growing Grandfather. And none lost in war since Grandfather came to this country. Not bad considering. After me no one will remember where we came from. The kids laugh at me and my story's of how my Grandfather snuck into this country. Of how my Grandmother came over with my Mom and Dad. Grandfather came at a time when they used to put signs in the windows of businesses that said "NINA". No Irish Need Apply. Having a brough was enough to qualify as Irish. They didn't care really, they could of just said no Celts. But after me that will all be forgotten. No more Scots, just Americans. No longing for a home never seen or family never met. Ahh well, maybe the great grandson. LOL. Must be the Christmas Spirit. Or more probably, I've been off the road to long. I'll fix that next week. Well I've a few things to sneak into the house so, Merry Christmas to any who read this.

SNOW!!!

Good God, They're talking about snow here in the panhandle of Florida on friday. Must be this global warming. Could be a white Christmas! WOW!

Porky is in the freezer!

Well, the piggy is in the freezer. We had a good hunt. My brother- in- law and my god son each got a hog also. No pictures because I forgot my camera. And it was COLD. I was trying to load a picture of a hog that weighed over 1000 pounds, but it wouldn't work. I'll try it again tonight. Did I mention it was COLD? lol. A good time was had by all! We were hunting just outside of Alapaha, Ga. on the banks of the Alapaha River. I will definitely go back again.

My old ship The USS Saratoga. In the background is the USS Forrestal. Both decommisioned. Sara was supposed to be turned into a museum, but I haven't heard anything lately.This picture was taken in Rhode Island.

Sounds like a nice place. 

It's getting a little rough, but I think I'll use the premium. They'll be sorry. They don't know my first born!

For the doggy lovers. 

I couldn't get the scary one to load but here are the funnies. 

Home Sweet Home

Finished up my deliveries on tuesday and headed home. Got in wednesday morning. Unless I do something next week I'll be off 'til after Christmas. Thats a long time for me to be off the road, so I'm thinking I'll find something to do next week. Tomorrow I'm off to Georgia for a hog hunt. Should be interestig as the cold weather is here and They're calling for 19 degrees F on monday. That'll be good for the old bones. I'm putting up a few pictures this morning , some are funny, and one is scary. After that I've got to get busy loading up the Dually for the trip. Enjoy your week-end.

Half Done!

Got 5 stops off today; Gainesville, Clermont, Orlando,Tampa & St. Petersburg. All in Florida. Tomorrow I'll have 4 stops; Ft Myers, Miami, Oakland Park & Margate, Florida. And then Home! I'm not sure what will happen between now and the end of the year. I do have a 1 day hog hunt week-end next and another hunt starting Jan 3rd thru the 5th. That will be for whitetail and hogs. Don't know about work tho. I'm sure I'll find something to do tho. I'm off to my bunk, Gnite.

Headed East

I'm in Pecos,Tx. this morning ,on the way back to Florida. I have 8 stops, all in Florida, starting monday morning in Gainesville, Fl. I should be home late tonight or early in the morning. Couldn't get on line all week in LA. I've posted a couple of pictures using a little Logitech camera. Not very good quality, but a little something.

This is near palm springs. Notice the line of trucks in the rear view mirror.100 miles to LA. 

Ahh, Monday morning in LA. The car in the background either hit the bridge rail or another car.
I didn't see another vehicle stopped tho. The white car was just passing as I snapped the picture. You can see the bumper off the wrecked car just to the left. Mondays are always interesting in LA.

Perchance to Dream...

Forgot my link; http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kg4fzp-14
Nighty-Nite

Links

By the way ,I managed to mess up my links section so here is the link to my truck and a couple of my friends.
John AB8JL-http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?AB8JL-14
Tony KD1ZV-http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?KD1ZV
Dan KE4SLC-http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kE4SLC-14
Ellis-N9EH-http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?N9EH-14

California here I come...

I'll be on my way in just a little bit. I have two pickups this morning, Gonzelez,Fl and Loxley,Al. Probably about 43,000 lbs of crude rubber going to Walnut,Ca, for monday morning at 10 am. Nice hard run. This will be the one to watch(if anybody is watching). I will be in the freightliner so I will have the radio and APRS going. Will post more this evening if I can.

On my way in the AM..

I'll be on my way in the morning. Two pickups, one, Gonzalez,Fl and the other Loxley,Al. Have to deliver Monday 10 am in Walnut, Ca. I'll be in the freightliner so I'll have the radio going and anybody reading this can follow me across country. This trip will be all hard running, so I'll have to stay right with it. Or Hammer Down as the rookies say. If you watch it will be plain to you that I don't speed much, I'll be right around 71 miles an hour till I get to New Mexico where the speed limit is 75, and then I'll set her on 72. This truck just doesn't get the fuel mileage that some of the new ones do if you get over 72. I'll be grossing about 78 or 79 thousand pounds so fuel mileage is hard to come by. Should be a good round. I'm ready to go. I'll start loading at 7am so I'm headed for my easy chair and a cup of great coffee. See ya in the morning.

Home

The Porta Potty is all safe and delivered and I'm back home. The Dodge has to go to the shop tomorrow for some work, so I'll be home at least a day. Maybe I'll get time to figure out the rest off this blog thing. Need to get the links working and maybe a guest book or a counter. I'll try to get some more pictures up too. So much to learn so little time. 25 days til Christmas, 56 days til Burns day!

Here are the 2 trucks that I run. The trailer behind the Dodge is a Porta Potty. You can see the paint missing on the top of the Freightliner from Hurricane Ivan. 

Home Again

Home Again. I had trouble with the Dodge on wednesday and couldn't get any body to work on it 'til friday. I checked on Turbo Diesel Register(http://www.turbodieselregister.com/) and this seems to be a common problem with the Cummins Diesel in the Dodges. So I got to spend Thanksgiving in Marion, Illinois, in a motel with no Wi-Fi. Got home last night about 10 PM and had my Thanksgiving Dinner. Life is good! I'll leave tonight on the way down to Ellenton,Florida to deliver another Porta Potty. And then home for a day or two...

Home Again

I'm home ,but just long enough for a shower and shave. I'm on my way to pick up a port-a-pottie from Little Rock,Ar. going to Lockport, Il. Then I will pick up another one going to Florida and then home. The one in Arkansas was used at the dedication of the Clinton Library. Hope there are no left over interns. I'll be stopping today to get a antenna for the radio, so I shpould be showing up live this afternoon. I'm gone..

I'm outta here!

Well, I'm off in my Dodge Dually to Goshen,In. to pick up a FEMA(Federal Emergency Management) trailer going to Ft. Myers, Fl for monday. A lot of miles in a short time. About 2100 miles I think. Didn't get the radio hooked up, but I'll have it with me, so maybe I can get it going along the way. Well, I'm out the door. Will update by Wi-Fi when I can.

Labor Day '02 Nebraska Hamtruckers Picnic 

Home and Hearth

Just got in around 7am, finished out the paper work and sent it in, and I'm ready for a little R&R. I'll try to fix this thing up a little bit if I can this evening. Must try to find the cord for the camera so I can up load some pictures. I will probably get back on the road tomorrow or friday. I won't be in the big truck, I'll be in my Dodge Dually hauling fifth wheel campers out of Indiana. I'll explain this when I have more time. That's all for now I'm going to kick back and relax.

2 Down & 3 to go

Well, 2 stops off yesterday and I'll get 3 off today. Tried to post this last night but wi-fi was blocked where I had parked. I'm off now for Miami.

Location of KG4FZP-14 (Andy)

Well, lets see if I can put a link in here. http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kg4fzp-14
OK, there you go.

In The Beginning...

Hello, my name is Andy and I thought I'd try this and see how it turns out. It might seem boring to most, but I love what I do and maybe I can open a window for others. We'll see. And I see that like Dinisen I have gotten ahead of myself. I am a long haul trucker that operates in the lower 48 states. I operate a 1999 Freightliner Classic with a 53 foot trailer, hauling general freight from the Florida area to the west coast. On the trip back I haul LTL(less than load) , with stops all over Florida. The trip I'm on now will finish in Riviera Beach,Fl. after 4 other stops. I will probably dead head (run empty) home from my last stop. I live just outside Milton,Fl., In the panhandle or as we put it LA(lower Alabama). I'm going to try to put a link on here that will usually show my location. I'll also be trying to put some pictures up. I'll have to dust off the old digital camera, so it might be a few days.