Tachoblog» Amishtrucker Archives – The Tacho Blog

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 23.7.10

Tachoblog — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:55:50 +0000

Tachoblog’s been a bit quiet this week, but we haven’t forgotten about View From The Cab.

Before we look at this week’s Views, Tachoblog would like to invite any driver to join in if they’d like to. All you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com or send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog – please do include a line or wo of text that says, if nothing else, where the picture was taken. Have a look at this week’s Views and you’ll get the idea in no time.

Anyway, let’s see what the Tachoblog Tribe have sent in this week. We start with Amishtrucker who you won’t have seen in last weeks VFTC. Thanks to the wonders (ahem) of technology we didn’t receive them when he first sent them and thanks to Tachoblog’s incompetence we didn’t add them to the post once he’d resent them, so we’ve a bumper crop from him this week which kicks off when we ride ‘along in coastal south Texas near Bay City fixing to go underneath the power lines that come north from the South Texas Nuclear Project’…

Click below for the rest of Amishtrucker’s Views and all the others from the Tachoblog Tribe…

…Now Amishtrucker is ‘sitting at the red light at Corn Products Road in Corpus Christi. A left turn here and I am at one of my favorite restaurants after a day or working the city. Corn Products Road is sort of an interesting name but I don’t know the history behind it. Will have to do some research’…

.Speaking of corn products, this field of corn (and many more like them) are to be seen all around my part of Texas these days. This particular field is close to Markham, Texas…

…Lastly this is his View of a marker near Cararina, Texas on US hwy 83 that he says he’s passed ‘many times, too busy to stop. But this time I had time to stop and read, and I am glad I did. The Camino Real, the King’s Highway, also known as the Old San Antonio road, ran through Louisiana and Texas and on to Mexico City. I don’t think that there is a road today that follows the old El Camino Real along the whole way but parts of different highways today follow the original route.

More information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_San_Antonio_Road

And that is my VFTC this week! Wishing everyone a good week!’

TheNose100 was ‘waiting to get into alley for delvery in Akron, Ohio’…

…He says ‘this thing here is called a Wash Ball. You drop it inside a tanker trailer to wash it out with hot water’…

…Hey!! I got past the gate and am now UnLoading 48k of smooth, slippery, sticky sugary, sweet stuff’.

From Germany Rainerri1967 sent us hist first View (and possibly his first picture) with his new iPhone4. He was in Ettenheim and unloading his trailer.

McNabbtransport says that ‘today’s a good day to be in a boat’.

Darkstaff sent us two Views, this one is ‘Detroit from Ambassador’s Bridge, the Canadian side’…

…And this one of a ‘strange orange glow seen over greater Chicago area…No wait. It’s just the sun’.

Finally for this week we catch up with SurfingTrucker. We’re sorry to hear that he’s ‘still healing from bone fusion’, but pleased that he’s ‘back in the saddle this week’…

…This is him ‘crossing the Merrimac river in Lawrence, Massachusetts at dawn’.

Tachoblogs thanks to the Tachoblog Tribe for their Views, without them this would be a very dull feature!

For those of you missing your Views of New Zealand, you’ll be pleased to know that Vic H is alive and well, just on holiday! We received an email from him today and he says that he’s back at work next week, so we can look forward to some Views then.

That’s all from Tachoblog for this week, we’ll be back on Monday.

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 9.7.10

Tachoblog — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:34:25 +0000

Friday again so it’s time for you to join Tachoblog on the whistle stop tour of the world that we call View From The Cab.

The idea’s simple, the Tachoblog Tribe send in a picture (and sometimes more than one) of what they can see through their windscreen, Tachoblog edits them together and the end result is this – View From The Cab. As always, Tachoblog is very grateful to all of the Tachoblog Tribe that sent in their Views. If you’d like to join in – and we have a new member of the Tribe this week – then all the details you need are at the end of the post.

That’s enough of Tachoblog, let’s get started with this View of morning in Tennessee from Darkstaff.

In New Zealand Vic H ‘had a trip down to Hastings and back yesterday, about 850km return, and there was heavy rain for a lot of the way as you can see in this photo taken as I was climbing out of the Waipunga Gorge to the top of the Tarawera Hill on the Napier-Taupo Road…

Click below for more Views from Vic and the rest of this week’s View From The Cab…

…’It rained all the time I was loading the wine in Hastings and the road in and out of the vineyard was a bit muddy’…

…’However the rain stopped as I got back closer to Auckland and the clouds started to clear; it was a bit hard driving straight into the setting sun’…

…’but the sky looked quite spectacular’…

…’Then when I got onto the Auckland motorway the roads were dry and the stars were out which was a relief as I didn’t really fancy a 50km motorbike ride from work to home in the rain.’

Back in America we find Amishtrucker taking ‘a nice early morning stroll over Lake Texana on Texas 111 near Edna Texas. During our drought last summer this lake was really low but now it has filled up nice again. Have a good week everyone!’

In Germany, Rainerri1967 was at German Pellets in Wismar.

Returning to the USA, we say hello to One Girl Trucking, the newest member of the Tachoblog Tribe. She sent us this beautiful View of Rosie (her truck) and the sky somewhere in Nebraska or Kansas – if you like this View as much as Tachoblog does, you’ll be glad to know that it’s available, full size on our Wallpaper Page…

…And this one from Highway 54 in New Mexico.

Much, much closer to Tachoblog, LorryDay was passing the Duxford War Museum which is in Cambridgeshire, England.

Finally we go back to the Southern Hemisphere and we find TwoCrowsDown somewhere in Australia…

…A View OF his Cab…

…And this one he simply entitles ‘Bloody mud!’ – we can see why.

That’s all from View From The Cab for this week, all that remains is for Tachoblog to thank the Tachoblog Tribe for sending in their Views. If you’d like to join in, all you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com or send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 28.6.10

Tachoblog — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:54:59 +0000

As previously mentioned, Tachoblog couldn’t post View From The Cab last Friday but we can today – and normal service has again been resumed so we’ll be back on Friday with this week’s post too! So forget about the World Cup for a moment (those of us in England would certainly like to today!) and enjoy some Views from around the world thanks to the Tachoblog Tribe.

We start in New Zealand so that means we’re riding with Vic H. Vic’s sent ‘a couple of photos taken on the way back from the South Island this week. In the first one, taken at some roadworks on the way north I saw this rather smart Peterbilt water tanker watering the road; something a bit different from the usual worn-out TK Bedfords and D-Series Fords that are normally used for this type of work’…

…’Then a bit further north, near Matamata, I liked the way the sun was just starting to break through the clouds after a bit of rain.’

Click below for the rest of the Views…

Heydriver and Goldie awoke to ‘the burning fireball. Summer has started and today is going to be a scorcher. Air Conditioning don’t fail me now!’…

…Heydriver’s still in an arty mood (see Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 11.6.10) as he’s also sent this View which is entitled ‘Peterbilt dahsboard in retro’. Heydriver says this is – unsurprisingly – the ‘main dash panel on Goldie. Reworked in Paint Shop Pro v.9. Aged newspaper set to 67 yrs. Just playing around on a Sunday Morning.’

In Germany, Rainerri1967 says that it’s too hot this week.

Back in America, Amishtrucker sent this ‘typical view of a nice avenue in Laredo with a skyline view of the downtown area of Laredo in the background. And as you peer into the background of this photo, you are looking into Mexico’…

…And also this picture of ‘traffic on a nice summer day rolling north out of Laredo headed to San Antonio. I like the clouds. As you can see in the median, the grass is turning brown and a good rain would be welcome throughout much of south and central Texas’…

…His final View is ‘from IH35 NB looking towards downtown San Antonio. The historical part of the city which includes the Tower of the Americas is just to the right of this photo and didn’t get it in this shot. Another typical day with a typical drive from Laredo to San Antonio and then on to my warehouse north of the city or to my home east of the city’.

Finally this week we catch up with TheNose100 who was Eastbound on I-90 in Ashtabula, Ohio. He says ”Sunshine in my eyeballs makes me… Blind’. Circa – John Denver’.

Tachoblog’s thanks to the Tachoblog Tribe for sending in their Views. Don’t forget that if you’d like to join in, all you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com or send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 24.5.10

Tachoblog — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:23:33 +0000

Before we get stuck into the Views, a couple of quick things from Tachoblog.

Firstly as you’ll have no doubt noticed, View From The Cab wasn’t up on Friday but it is today. Secondly, don’t worry but Tachoblog is off on a jaunt for the next couple of weeks so there won’t be any new posts from us until Monday 7th June. To make sure we get back into the swing of things, the first post will be a View From The Cab using all of the Views that the Tachoblog Tribe send in between now and then – you will send some won’t you Tachoblog Tribe…

Anyway, let’s get started with the Views that we have, as always Tachoblog is vey grateful to all that have sent them in this week.

We start in Uganda with Jerry B (and the Uganda Crew). Jerry B has sent in this Views of ‘old, bonneted Benz’s are seen on the streets of the capital recently’…

…’In a variety of axle and chassis configurations, and cargo guises’…

Click below for more from Jerry B and the rest of this week’s Views…

…’The youngest of these must be getting on for 30 years old and for machinery in Africa, that really is a lifetime’…

…’They built ‘em proper in them there days!’…

…’And these old girls were progenitors for the spawning of various copies’…

…’Including these Tata 1210SE water tankers, seen here waiting for custom following the effects of the latest water supply shortages around town.’

Over in Amercia, TheNose100 sent in this View of ‘Vineyards along hwy 5 near Portland, New York with their fresh spring leaves’…

…And this View from I-90 EB near Painsville, Ohio

From New Zealand, Vic H says ‘it was round in a big circle on Wednesday and Thursday this week, Auckland to Gisborne to Napier to Auckland. Not all that far, really, about 1100km but with loading and unloading it takes about 20 hours because of lots of hilly and winding roads’…

…’On the way to Gisborne the road goes through the Waioeka Gorge, where the road follows the river for about 60 km’…

…’To Matawai, and there’s this great bit of road between there and Te Karaka’…

…’Just past Gisborne there is this view of Cape Kidnappers, named by Captain Cook who was that Pommy fellow who is said to have discovered New Zealand in 1769. That is rubbish, of course as it is more likely to have been discovered by a fellow called Kupe about 800 years earlier. Kupe didn’t land anywhere near Cape Kidnappers either, his first landing point was in the Hokianga Harbour near the top of the west coast of the North Island’…

…’Anyway, that’s enough NZ history so on to a couple of photos on the road near Wairoa’…

…’Lots of hills and corners as you can see. ‘Then still another winding hill coming down towards Napier’.

Amishtrucker provided this of the colourful main entrance to the Laredo Public Library in (unsurprisingly) Laredo, Texas. He says he ‘shot the pic with my phone through the side window, therefore the images of cars on the building. Hispanic art and construction seen throughout Laredo is usually colorful’…

He also sent this picture of the ‘side street next to the HEB grocery store in south Laredo. Looking down this street you can see the barrier which is there in front of the river and behind it….Mexico. The river at this point is not all that big and around Laredo it has a lot of brush and trees growing all around it.’ He signs off by saying that are his ‘contribution this week to the wonderful VFTC world. Wishing everyone a great week ahead and lots of good coffee! Life is too short to drink bad coffee!’

Darkstaff’s been all over the place (again). His first View is from Arkansas where he’s ‘heading east on I-40 around the 193 mile marker. Going to be a pretty day!’…

…The he shows us Cincinatti, Ohio as seen from Kentucky on I-71/75 going north…

…’And here’s a view of downtown Cincinatti’…

…Lastly he brings us this of the Pennsylvania Welcomes You sign that he sees when ‘crossing the border from Ohio to Pennsylvania on I-90.’

Heydriver and Goldie have been out and about too, they start with ‘a fine ride on US 460 E near Lafayette, Virginia’. Heydriver says ‘why run the Interstates if you don’t have too? Whenever I visit my Mom in Christiansburg, VA, I take US 460 back into Salem, Va for my delivery. On I-81 there is a steep set of hills to drop down on heading into Salem, Va. Many wrecks happen in this area. So, when traveling along I-81 I try to pay attention to the overhead warning signs and use US 460 and US 11 to get around these backups. Something I learned when I was working for UPS many years ago. “Know your route!” I always try to have a plan B. You never know when you’ll need it’…

…Then we find them ‘heading east on I-80 near Clearfield, Pennsylvania. Chasing the front. On a two day run through the Wilds of Pennsylvania. Descending from the highest elevation on I-80 East of the Mississippi River. Just an interesting view of the clouds and forest’…

…Lastly from them this week they’re ‘crossing the Susquehanna River at day break. US Rte 30 W. Near Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. Crossing the Susquehanna on yet another trip to Norfolk area of Virgina. Instead of a front shot, I took one looking up river out the right side of the cab.’

Finally for this week’s Views we catch up with TruckerDesiree and Karma the Wonderdog ‘from the Land of Enchantment’…

…TruckerDesiree says that ‘the Beauty of the Southwest makes my imagination go Wild.’

That’s all from View From The Cab, don’t forget that if you’d like to join in with View From The Cab, all you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com or send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 7.5.10

Tachoblog — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:31:15 +0000

One week into May already, so hopefully this means none of the Tachoblog Tribe have seen any snow this week – unlike Darkstaff last week – (and no ‘saving the post disasters’ for Tachoblog!) but the only way we’ll find out is by having a look at the Views they’ve sent in.

We start this week in America with Amishtrucker who’s asked that Tachoblog tells ‘everyone that I really enjoy their views every week and to keep them coming. There is enough bad news in the world every day, let’s celebrate by looking at the interesting and good every chance we get!’. Tachoblog should add our thanks to the Tachoblog Tribe for sending in their Views, it’s thanks to you that View From The Cab is as good as it is!

Amishtrucker’s first View is ‘northbound on US288 looking at the Houston skyline. This is just past the Loop 610 interchange’…

…Now her takes us to ‘US 59 near downtown where 59 is sunk down (to eliminate noise in the neighborhoods, I would imagine). Those arch overpasses are unique to this highway, at least in Houston. Haven’t seen a lot of car haulers since the recession but here is one. But it doesn’t look like he has a full load’…

Click below for one more from Amishtrucker and the rest of this week’s Views…

Amishtrucker’s final View is from near Houston, heading north on US288, he says ‘I saw this guy pulling this little, well it looks like a cook shack with the pit on the porch there. He probably goes to cookouts which are very popular in Texas, especially this time of the year. If I had one I could pull it out in the woods near the creek somewhere and just cookout and live there for a while!’

Now we head to Wisconsin to join TruckerDesiree and Karma the wonderdog who sent in this View.

To New Zealand now where Vic H was ‘in the South Island again’…

…’Here are a few photos taken along the Kaikoura coast’…

…’Where State Highway 1′…

…’Together with the railway line, runs very close to the coastline. On windy days spray blows continuously across the road so vehicles get covered with salt and it is difficult to keep the windscreen clean enough to see through so big containers of washer liquid are required!’…

…’Kaikoura means means crayfish meal (kai = food; koura = crayfish) and stalls selling cooked crayfish are common along this coast. In NZ, what we call crayfish, or koura, are also known as NZ rock lobster and they are nothing like the small freshwater crustaceans known as crayfish in many other countries; there is a good meal of absolutely delicious meat in one crayfish.’

We catch up with TheNose100 ‘stopped at the WB rest area on I-90 in Ohio’ he adds that this is an energy efficient designed building…

…Now we find him at Maple Heights in Ohio where he’s on a nice day out and ‘backed in. In spite of the problem dumpster’…

…This is a ‘view from the top’. TheNose100 says it ‘looks funky to back into, but not that hard’…

…All loaded and he (well his trailer of course) is ‘full. Looking for the bottom of the tank’…

…And ‘these are some test / samples of the juice they make here’. TheNose100 signs off by saying ‘ya’ll have a good week!’.

In Germany, Rainerri1967 wasn’t driving today as there was work being done on his truck so he had to ‘stay in the garage at Kehl.’

Did Darkstaff find any snow this week, well there’s none in his first view of early morning Montana. He says that he’d ‘already been driving 4 hours when I took this pic’…

…Here’s a view OF the cab as he takes ‘a break, again in Montana, watching the clouds, a very relaxing way to pass the time’…

…Finally, and from the North Dakota Badlands, he says that they ‘might be hard to see, but the two brown lumps by the horizon are wild bison.’

In England LorryDay saw Cadbury World which is ‘in a Birmingham district called Bourneville.’

Heydriver and Goldie were having a ‘fantastic day’ when they took this first View, ‘Bright sun and a great view of lower Manhattan. Riding along on the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). The height markings on the BQE are a bit misleading. Posted as 12′ 4″, the warning signs may cause a newbie driver to freak out. But, New York measures height from the curb and not the road deck. And, also the measurement is from the lowest point above the curbing. So, never fear my fellow travelers. In the State of NY you can hammer right under that 12′ 8″ over pass with nary a thought. Ahem! Unless the warning sign says “ACTUAL” Then slam the binders and wait for the 4 wheelers to start honking their horns’…

Their second View is of ‘the east tower of the Verazzano Narrows Bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn on I-278 W heading back towards Staten Island.’ Heydriver says that you’re ‘not supposed to take pics on the bridge. But, sometimes I’s can’t help it.’

Lastly for this week we catch up with SurfingTrucker who was ‘In Waltham, Massachusetts heading home for weekend when I spotted DOT hard at work.’

And, all too quickly, that’s all from View From The Cab, don’t forget that if you’d like to join in all you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com, or (for those of you that Twitter) send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 30.4.10

Tachoblog — Tue, 04 May 2010 09:17:25 +0000

This View From The Cab was meant to be the last post of last week and last month but, as Tachoblog knows you’ve realised, it wasn’t. Now we all, especially Tachoblog(!), should know how important it is to ‘save’ your work as you go along, but how often do you do that? We don’t, well didn’t (we will from now on), and met with the consequences when, having finished this post, clicked the save button and Tachoblog’s computer said no!

But, with lesson learnt, we bring you this / last week’s View From The Cab – looking on the bright side, Tachoblog thinks there can’t be a better way to start the week.

Thanks to the Tachoblog Tribe sending in their Views, you can join Tachoblog as head off from the United Kingdom to circle the world (with a few hops back to America) to end up back in the UK again. There are loads of Views this week, and this View From The Cab has to be our best yet – Tachoblog thinks so at any rate!

So, let’s start with Rizzo101 who spotted this heavy load on the M6 near Manchester.

Now we head to America to join SurfingTrucker who was getting his truck washed in Milford, Connecticut…

Click below for more from SurfingTrucker and the rest of the Tachoblog Tribe…

…He says it ‘looked good sitting in traffic on the Cross Bronx in New York City’…

…and when he ‘crossed from New York into New Jersey on the George Washington Bridge.’

Back to Europe now to catch up with Rainerri1967 who was loading in Lahr Blackforest, Germany…

…A little while later he was empty and, for him at least, it was the weekend!

Jumping back to the USA, we meet Heydriver and Goldie who were on US Route 30 in Abbotstown, Pennsylvania. Heydriver says that this is ‘a wonderful mural here in Abbotstown. I’ve been wanting to capture this and today was the day!’…

…Now it’s ‘sun and highlights – Sun behind cloud on I-70 E near Triadelphia, West Virginia, approaching the Dallas Pike exit on I-70. This is my view out of my office window and, the view is always changing. For me this beats a suit and tie any day’…

…This is US Cold Storage in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania…

…He didn’t say where this was taken, but the news is that Heydriver’s ‘retiring an old and trusted phone. My LG Voyager will now sit up on the shelf in my office until my wife destroys her phone!’…

…From Near Binghamton, New York they he sent his first pic posted with his new HTC Incredible. Heydriver says, ‘I’m all fumble fingers.Wow! What a difference a new device makes. I’m relearning everything here’.

Staying in America we join TheNose100 who was ‘getting ready to roll out of Cleveland, Ohio. Sun peaking out’…

… Here we find him in Lancaster (Buffalo), New York and ‘looking at another tanker (soy oil) with a bright Reflection while I unload corn syrup. The plant makes cake frostings. Some days you can really smell the lemon or chocolate flavorings’…

…And then a ‘View of Lake Erie from Highway 5 in Sheridan, New York’ TheNose100 is ‘headed back to Ohio’.

Halfway round the world (for Tachoblog anyway) and we’re in New Zealand with Vic H who says, ‘I have spent the last 10 days or so in the South Island without being able to get to a computer, but here are a few photos taken on one of the days of the view from the cab on part of State Highway 1 called ‘the Hundalees”…

…’This stretch of highway is steep and winding’…

…’Always an interesting drive in a truck’…

…’And an even better one on a motorbike!’…

‘The last photo shows an Iveco Stralis B-train which didn’t quite make one of the corners.’ Vic has told Tachoblog that whilst the driver was ok, he suspects that his boss won’t be!

We bounce back to the USA to see Darkstaff who can see ‘snow in Wyoming, just west of Sundance. Seriously, snow. Geez’…

…His second View is from ‘outside the cab. In Rocker, Montana. Very beautiful.’

To Uganda now and that can only mean we’re joining Jerry B (and the Uganda Crew). Jerry says that ‘from the last couple of days or driving around, there seems to have been a significant ‘Indian flavour’ to the lighter, town-based truck transport. Tata 1210SE’s for Africa, from water bowsers quietly waiting for custom’…

…’To 4×4 honey suckers, cargos etc etc’…

…’Including the unfortunately slightly out-of-focus shot of the chap unloading the small SUV using the Series 111 recovery vehicle. I didn’t capture the whole thing regrettably but just after this shot of the vehicle hung up on the tailgate of the Tata was shot, the car fell off quite violently, taking off its chin spoiler. As the strain came off the LR tow rope, it lurched forwards, the rope strained, then broke and flicked backwards breaking the rear window of the little SUV. Whether the car then ran back down the slope into the rear of the truck, I know not as I had already passed by. Not one of his finer moments though methinks, for the LR driver!’…

…’And in a suspiciously quiet shot (where was the usual nightmare traffic this mid-morning?) an Ashok Leyland grinds up the hill ready to disgorge its load of Readymix’.

In America again and McNabbTransport was ‘two-lane truckin, headed out to Charlottesville, Virginia.’

Moving south we arrive in Texas with Amishtrucker who sent this View ‘from the Bay Bridge looking over the south shore just before heading out across the bay on the causeway and away from Corpus Christi, looking towards the bay and Portland’…

…’That’s a nice clean gravel bucket being pulled by a really good looking Pete on US 71 near Smithville. The clouds in the picture, well weather started out cloudy and windy but turned sunny and nice later’.

Finally we arrive back in England and find LorryDay’looking for a human to talk to in this print shop in country life in Wakefield, Yorkshire’…

…He ‘found this in Stan Robinson’s yard in Stafford , they have a collection of older tucks they’ve ran in the past’…

…This is ‘a very crowded very hot , Camden Lock in London’…

…And lastly for this week,’A very colourful trailor always brings a smile to my face. This was on the M5 going north I think.’

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 23.4.10

Tachoblog — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:52:03 +0000

Outside Tachoblog Towers the sun’s shining and the forecast for the weekend is even better. But what’s it like around the globe? Thankfully, as they do every week, the Tachoblog Tribe have been sending in their pictures of what they can see from their cabs, so we can all see what it’s like where they are.

As you’ll see, there seems to be something of an Ohio theme to this week’s View From The Cab, but we start our journey this week in Australia where we catch up with TwoCrowsDown who was about 2hrs drive north of Newman in the Pilbara, at the start of the Yandicoogina access road.

Click below to see the rest of this week’s Views…

We join Heydriver and Goldie ‘at the split. US 15 N to the left. PA 14 N. to the right. Near Williamsport, Pennsylvania – Entering into the climb up to the top of Bloss Mountain and the Allegheny Summit we turn left into Rose Valley and then up into the Steam Valley. US Route 15 (Future Interstate 99) is under heavy construction to improve the road way from two lane to four lane limited access highway. They sure have been working on it a long time. Enjoy the ride and be sure to check out Mansfield, Pennsylvania’…

…In this View we start our Ohio theme as they cross ‘the Ohio River. Pittsburgh skyline. West End Bridge. – Trying to get across Pittsburgh during rush hour is time consuming at the least. A crawl is perhaps too generous for today’s traffic. Heading east on the Parkway West (I-379 E) the traffic between Green Tree hill and the Ft. Pitt Tunnel was stopped for the most part. Finally made my way down to Route 51 and headed off to the West End Bridge. It is a fine ride that way now that the construction is mostly done. Here we see the Pittsburgh skyline and the confluence of the Monongahela and the Allegheny Rivers. There the Great and Mighty Ohio River begins.’

Darkstaff was ‘crossing the Ohio River on US60′…

…The he was ‘driving through Dayton, Ohio on US35′…

…And finally we join him as he leaves Ohio on I-70.

Not in Ohio, but Aalen Ostalb in Germany Rainerri1967 had only one load and was then going to be driving home.

Amishtrucker sent this ‘quick shot of crops growing along Texas 36 near Guy, Texas’…

…As well as this View of ‘the main rail line into Laredo, Texas and the Mexico border runs along I35. At exit 13, rail traffic blocks access to the Pilot Truck Stop whenever they come by. and often they are moving slow here. You can get out by going around the back way and over the bridge. This view is from the bridge over the railroad looking back towards the Flying J, TA and Pilot at Exit 13. The trailers parked at the right of the picture are in a commercial lot.’

Finally for this week we join TheNose100 who, like last week (see ‘Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 19.4.10‘) is still in reflective mood at the WB toll booth on I-90, Buffalo, New York. Here he’s on his ‘way back to Cleveland, after making a delivery to a factory that makes frostings for cakes’…

…Now we find him picking up a trailer from the shop, at Superior Tank & Trl Beach City in, wait for it, Ohio!

Tachoblog’s thanks to the Tachoblog Tribe for sending in their Views – without them this would be a very dull post!

Please remember that if you’d like to join in with View From The Cab you’re more than welcome. All you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com or send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog We’ll have another View From The Cab next Friday.

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 19.4.10

Tachoblog — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:49:41 +0000

What with Tachoblog being away for most of last week, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there’d be no View From The Cab, but you’d be wrong!

The Tachoblog Tribe have ridden (shouldn’t that be driven?) to your rescue and sent Tachoblog their Views as they do every week – and we’re very grateful that they do.

We start in New Zealand with Vic H who says that ‘We are well into autumn here now, the days are getting shorter and colder but the weather is beautiful. The other day I was returning from the South Island and the sun was just breaking through the mist as I drove across the Whirikino Trestle, a very long bridge built across farmland which is prone to flooding’…

…’Then a short time afterwards near Ohingaiti the leaves on the poplar trees are starting to change to their autumn colours’…

Click below for more from Vic H and the other Views the Tachoblog Tribe have sent…

…’It must be getting colder, as Mt Ruapehu which has been bare for the last few months now has some snow near the summit’…

…’Then heading towards Lake Taupo again before heading for Auckland.’

SurfingTrucker was in North Andover, Massachusetts…

…Where he remarks that there ‘seems to be a lot of rail traffic here.’

Jerry B (and the Uganda Crew) sent us these Views starting with two from Jerry ‘Wow, that a thrilling photo I hear you howl, a 40ft box on a flat bed trailer! Don’t see many of those around, after all……..However, as I have told you before, the bus and truck drivers here love a chirpy tag-line on the back of their vehicles and here’s another to add to the burgeoning collection of wit and repartie’…

…’I guess this chap was having a bad day when he added this mix of gangsta-rap and pessimism to the back of his flat bed trailer’…

…Jerry also sent this View in saying, ‘you may remember the pictures taken around Wau in S.Sudan recently over the top of a Nissan Patrol, of the wet/dry or storm/fine weather interfaces as they rolled in. Well, back in Uganda and though the windscreen of a Land Cruiser (with the side windows done up I imagine, as it was taken by one of our managers Paul Volrath!), this was taken today of a monster bit of ill humour in-coming. This is a drill pad being constructed by us for a client in the west of the country. This will make the old MAN water bowser somewhat redundant just now methinks.’

Back to America now and we join Darkstaff who notes that there’s ‘still snow on the ground in Wyoming’…

…Darkstaff’s next View is of The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument over I-80 in Nebraska. He says that he’s ‘been told it’s interesting’…

…For this View, he originally sent this comment ‘The only tunnel (from NJ to CA) on I-80 in Green’ but then later added ‘Correction on the tunnel pic. This is actually one of three sets of tunnels over it’s 2,900 mile length’…

…Next Darkstaff was in ‘Salt Lake City, Utah’…

…And for his final View he shows us the ‘Great Salt Lake in Utah as seen from I-80.’

McNabbTransport was experiencing ‘Northern Virginia traffic in the rain. Double joy.’

Meanwhile his brother Heydriver (along with Goldie) had this View from I-476 N (North East Extension of the PA Turnpike) Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania which he called ‘Burning off the fog’…

…He also sent this from ‘Route 301 Plaza, aka Money’s Truck Stop. US Rte 301 Middletown, Delaware. A classic’.

In Germany, Rainerri1967 was at Lahr in the Blackforest.

To America again to join Amishtrucker who sent this View of ‘Lake Texana along US 59 near Edna, Texas’…

…’Beautiful downtown Edna, Texas. Edna, established 1882, is the gateway to beautiful Lake Texana’…

…’Fishing boats on Lavaca Bay between Port Lavaca and Point Comfort on the Texas coast.’

Finally for this week we join TheNose100 in Wheeling, West Virginia where he was ‘parked on street making a delivery’…

…He was obviously bored as he was ‘feeling a bit reflective. Like a fun house mirror.’

Don’t forget that if you’d like to join in with View From The Cab, all you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com or send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog We’ll have another View From The Cab on Friday.

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 9.4.10

Tachoblog — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:01:39 +0000

What a lucky lot you are! Only two days since the last View From The Cab and here’s Tachoblog with another one for you.

Ok, we’re overstating things aren’t we as you didn’t get a post last Friday thanks to Easter, but we’re back on track now. Once again the Tachoblog Tribe have been sending in their pictures of what they can see out of their windscreens and Tachoblog’s very grateful that they have. But enough of Tachoblog, let’s get on with the Views…

We start our globetrotting in America this week and catch up with TheNose100 who ‘was done with my first stop in Dunkirk, New York. Its of their water reclamation plant in the foreground, and power plant, in the back, with the pile of coal’…

…Now we find him ‘parked next to this old smokestack. Wassit say? Heinz? Yup. As in ketchup. Smells like it too. Did you know that the American pioneers thought that tomatoes were poisonous? And that ketchup was another term back in the day for ‘sauce’? Yup. Tis true. Do a Wiki on it. This stack is located in Fremont, Ohio.’ Tachoblog likes the ketchup coincidence with our earlier post today ‘Ketchup From Volkswagen – This Is No April Fool Says Tachoblog‘

Click below to continue your journey round the world with Tachoblog…

Rainerri1967 was in Marckolsheim, France.

Back to America from where Amishtrucker sent ‘another view of the I35-Loop 20 interchange in Laredo, Texas. I came though here a couple of days ago. Note the truck on the top there’…

…’Then yesterday I was coming down TX 36 and this is the view of the countryside just past Brazoria. Flat flat flat’

To Australia now and TwoCrowsDown was ‘on the causeway across Lake Lefroy, Kambalda heading to the St Ives gold mine.’

Bouncing back to the States we find Heydriver and Goldie looking at a New Jersey farm on Route 57 Near Washington New Jersey. Heydriver says, ‘New Jersey, the garbage state? Not on the “Jersey” roads I travel on’…

…They’ve called this View ‘The greening of the Trail’ and sent it from US 29 in Virginia. ‘This is my most favorite road to drive on in Virginia. The Good ole Seminole Trail. Spring has arrived on the trail and everything is turning green’…

…Finally there’s this View entitled ‘Pull’ from I-81 N near Lexington, Virginia, after the Buffalo Creek. According to Heydriver, ‘this little hill makes for a hard pull. Fully loaded I can only get Goldie to top the hill at 55mph in 9 gear. I’ve seen many truckers pull out to pass a slower truck and get hung out as gravitational forces beat horsepower into submission.’

Much closer to Tachoblog Towers we find Rizzo101 on the M6 at Lancaster, England.

Back to the USA again and SurfingTrucker’s having ‘a rainy, foggy morning on I-290 in Northboro, Massachusetts’…

…’After a quick turnaround, back through Northboro going the other direction.’

Our last Views for this week come from Jerry B (and the Uganda Crew) which means that we must be in Uganda. Jerry says, ‘following on from last week, after a recent road trip around the west of the country, a locally-fabricated and now slightly weather-beaten sign on the outskirts of a game park warns errant matatus (minibus taxis) about the dangers of picking a fight with elephants on the road. And it does happen’…

…’Last week one of the pix showed how domestic and wild animals are being forced together due to human pressures, this one illustrates how technology also now affects and invades every aspect of our lives and the world at large. Personally, I go to unspoiled game parks to get AWAY from that infernal interwebnet nonsence!’…

…’A bit further up the road and an ancient Fiat wagon and drag gently ticks itself cool, as the driver disappears off for purposes unknown’…

…’To finish off with, a couple of shots of two small boys standing on the equator sign’…

…’And the Congo road junction, near Kasese town in the west of the country, with the cotton wool-like clouds behind shrouding the peaks of fabled Rwenzori Mountains (otherwise known as the Mountains of the Moon), which demarcate the border between Uganda and the Congo.’

And that’s all for this week. Don’t forget that if you’d like to join in with View From The Cab, all you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com or send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 7.4.10

Tachoblog — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:24:19 +0000

As it was the long Easter weekend, we weren’t able to bring you View From The Cab last Friday, but that didn’t stop the Tachoblog Tribe from sending in their Views so here they are. We meant to post these yesterday, but the wonders of internet connections prevented that!

We begin with the welcome return of Darkstaff who, as always, seems to have got almost everywhere in America. His first View is of a ‘rainy day in Nashville, Tennessee’…

…Next we find him ‘toolin’ down I-135 in Wichita, Kansas’…

Click below for more from Darkstaff and the rest of this week’s Views…

…Darkstaff sent this View from Texas 35 between Aransas Bay and Copario Bay…

…Finally we find him in Albuquerque, New Mexico on I-40 east bound, on the west side of town.

In Germany, Rainerri1967 was in Ehingen, ‘home of the Liebherr Crane’…

…But ’50km later winter is back at the Black Forest’.

Heydriver and Goldie spent time ‘Heading east across the Delaware River into New Jersey on The Commodore Barry Bridge…

…They also got to Cleveland, Ohio and saw ‘the Skyline at the Mistake by the Lake’ What is the mistake? Tachoblog doesn’t know, perhaps someone will enlighten us…

…’In Hubbard, Ohio, Goldie gets her bonnet cleaned for Easter’…

…Finally, ‘Goldie spots a quarry and Tonka toys in Avondale, Pennsylvania’

In New Zealand, Vic H sent ‘a bit of a mixed bag this week as I’ve been around the countryside a bit, but all in the North Island for a change. Firstly, stuck in a bit of a traffic jam caused by a minor accident north of Taupo I was stopped behind this Ford Prefect with the number plate 2INCHS. I’m not sure if it was because of the wife’s opinion of her husband or if it was owned by a Mr and Mrs Inch!’…

…’Then on the way down to Napier I saw this old Kenworth still hard at work helping with some road reconstruction’…

…’Not all our roads here are motorways, in fact very few of them are, so driving around some of the roads through the vineyards at Matakana, north of Auckland, leaves you hoping that no one is coming around the corners towards you’…

…’Here is a view OF the cab while stopped for a break on this lonely bit of road near Gisborne’.

TruckerDesiree and Karma the Wonderdog were ‘watching an Egret out the truck window at a truck stop in Texas’.

In Uganda, Jerry B (and the Uganda Crew) were on a road trip to Kampala, ‘And we all know what went into Noah’s Ark don’t we, two by two………not for me to pass comment! As seen on the road today near Mbarara, south western Uganda. It being Good Friday, the great and the good are all heading out of town back home “to the village”, a very African custom for city dwellers on public holidays. As a result, we must have passed 100 or more of these buses as we headed back from a road trip back into Kampala’…

…’Just off the tarmac, and some fellow road users who were not keen to share their roadspace. The impressively-horned Ankole cow makes its position clear!’…

…’And but two minutes later, again seen over the bonnet of the Fortuner, showing how wild and domesticated animals are now mixing the world over as human pressures bring them ever closer together, a young African elephant tucks in to the succulent new growth at the top of this bush on the roadside following the onset of the rains. Had we been in the old Cruiser we might have tried to nip past – in a modern lightweight 4wd with lots of expensive plastic add-ons, better to wait a few minutes until the blockage removed itself!’…

…’And the last one for today as seen through the windscreen – one of probably a dozen similar sights seen on the 500km journey undertaken today. 15 tonnes of green plantain banana loaded on a 6 tonne truck with 16” tyres, and a driver that wonders why his axle/wheel rim/tyre/spring/chassis (delete as appropriate) has failed. Can think why meself, either………Only In Africa!’

Back in America, Amishtrucker saw ‘miles of flowers on I35 Laredo – San Antonio in Texas’…

…And ‘Wildflowers and countryside near Shiner, Texas’…

…He tells us that this truck was approaching the scales on 77 near Refugio, Texas. ‘They were closed and he could just drive on by,which is what I was doing.’

TexasTrucker was enjoying a ‘nice day on Fancy Gap at the Virginia & North Carolina border’.

Finally for this week, TheNose100 said it was ‘time for an oil change in Austinburg, Ohio. The sun is out, and the shorts are on’. Depending on your point of view, the fact that he didn’t send a View Of The Driver could be a good thing…

We’ll be back with View From The Cab on Friday as usual. Don’t forget that if you’d like to join in with View From The Cab, all you have to do is email your Views to vftc@tachoblog.com or send a tweet starting #vftc to @tachoblog

Tachoblog» Amishtrucker Archives – The Tacho Blog

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 23.7.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 9.7.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 28.6.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 24.5.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 7.5.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 30.4.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 23.4.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 19.4.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 9.4.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…

Tachoblog’s View From The Cab – 7.4.10

Related Articles and Blog Posts…