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Trip: Belvidere, IL – Gary, IN – North Aurora, IL
Route: I-90, I-290, I-355, I-80, IN 912, IL 7, US 30, IL 59, I-88
Cargo to Gary: Sailboat fuel | Cargo to North Aurora: Starbucks merch displays
0:00 Belvidere, IL
19:10 Coffee stop at Speedway
26:50 Depart Speedway
56:00 Elgin, IL
1:01:40 Hoffman Estates, IL
1:13:30 Elk Grove Village, IL
1:18:40 Addison, IL
1:22:20 Lombard, IL
1:28:10 Downers Grove, IL
1:36:00 Bolingbrook, IL
1:42:10 Lockport, IL
1:56:30 Tinley Park, IL
2:03:00 Hazel Crest, IL
2:09:00 South Holland, IL
2:14:30 Entering Indiana
2:19:20 Gary, IN
2:28:00 Arrive at terminal
2:56:20 Depart terminal
3:13:15 Re-entering Illinois
3:16:30 South Holland, IL
3:22:10 Hazel Crest, IL
3:28:00 Tinley Park, IL
3:42:00 Lockport, IL
3:54:30 Romeoville, IL
3:59:00 Arrive at delivery
5:46:00 Depart receiver
5:53:10 Plainfield, IL
6:10:00 Naperville, IL
6:31:30 Aurora, IL
6:43:00 Arrive at shipper
Steve checks to see if the load is ready early (It isn’t)
7:06:00 Depart shipper
7:13:00 Mobil gas station (Steve ends the day)
Steve hosts a watch party after parking & meets 2 road crew members

BigRigSteve is an American truck driver that shares his daily routine and experiences while living his life out on the open road. Come explore the multilane interstates in the big cities to the two lane blacktop backroads of the small towns of America from the unique perspective from the windshield of his big rig. His website at http://bigrigtravels.com has all of the current trip information including dynamic GPS data fed to the website such as a speedometer, altimeter, weather at the truck’s location, interactive maps, blog & much more. There, you can also find information about past trips located in the Trip Journals section.

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#trucker #america #roadtrip #illinois #belvidere #indiana #gary

4 Comments

  1. The Season Premiere starts from some unknown area in Belvidere, IL via local streets to I-90. Then East on I-90 (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway) into the Chicago Metro Area to I-290. Then East on I-290 (Eisenhower Expy.) to I-355. Then South on I-355 (Veterans Memorial Tollway) around the Outer West Suburbs of Chicago to I-80. Then East on I-80 around the South Suburbs of Chicago (while merging with I-294 and I-94 in the process) into Indiana to IN-912. Then North on IN-912 (Cline Ave.) to the yard in Gary, IN for a trailer swap. Then South on IN-912 (Cline Ave.) to I-80/I-94. Then West on I-80/I-94 (Borman Expy./Kingery Expy.) back into Illinois to I-80/I-294. Then West/North on I-80/I-294 (Tri-State Tollway) to I-80. Then West on I-80 around the South Suburbs of Chicago to I-355. Then North on I-355 (Veterans Memorial Tollway) to local streets. Then on local streets to delivery in Romeoville, IL (Suburb of Chicago) for a live unload. Then back on local streets to I-88. Then West on I-88 (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) to the next shipper in North Aurora, IL (Suburb of Chicago) to drop an empty trailer. Then back on local streets to the Mobil 1 Gas Station in Aurora, IL (Suburb of Chicago) where Steve ends for the day and awaits the preloaded trailer to be ready and we have a watch party afterwards.

  2. The first stream of the "season", it ran from 5:49 UTC-5 to 17:44 UTC-5 (12:49 UTC+2 to 0:44 UTC+2 of Friday), it is entirely in NWS Chicago (LOT, based in Romeoville) county warning area and almost entirely in the Central Corn Belt Plains, with a bit of the Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains in between. The first chapter is Belvidere, IL. After some time off and the Belvidere Heritage Days Steve returns to his truck, unusually he starts the stream somewhere in town.
    5:55 (UTC-5, 12:55 UTC+2)
    10:18 elapsed time: 6:00 UTC-5, 13:00 UTC+2.
    15:02 elapsed time to 28:42 (except the time going from/to the truck stop): US 20, currently the longest US Route (according to some metrics). From 11:55 elapsed time it's actually Bus US 20.
    19:10: Coffee stop at Speedway chapter.
    19:13: First coffee of the "season" at the Speedway.
    26:50: Depart Speedway chapter.
    30:36: Entering I-90.
    36:40: Leaving Rockford IL MSA, entering Chicago/Naperville/Elgin IL MSA.
    56:00: Elgin, IL chapter.
    1:01:40: Hoffman Estates, IL chapter.
    1:10:18: 7:00 UTC-5, 14:00 UTC+2.
    1:12:00: Begin I-290.
    1:13:30: Elk Grove Village, IL chapter.
    1:16:21: 42nd Parallel North.
    1:18:18: Begin I-355. I-290 exits itself (a TOTSO).
    1:18:40: Addison, IL chapter.
    1:22:20: Lombard, IL chapter.
    1:26:16: Cheetos truck going the other direction. Another at 1:26:23, at 7 seconds the closest pair ever (so close, in fact I thought they were one and the same truck 😆)
    1:27:18: I-88 junction.
    1:28:10: Downers Grove, IL chapter.
    1:30:26: US 34, the highest US Route (although that section isn't open year-round).
    1:30:40: Construction zone.
    1:36:00: Bolingbrook, IL chapter.
    1:37:31: I-55 junction.
    1:42:10: 1st Lockport, IL chapter.
    1:46:35: 88th Meridian West.
    1:46:49: Yet another Cheetos truck going the other direction.
    1:49:33: End I-355, merge onto I-80.
    1:53:59: Another construction zone.
    1:56:30: 1st Tinley Park, IL chapter.
    2:00:35: Cheetos box truck going the other direction.
    2:02:00: I-57 junction.
    2:03:00: 1st Hazel Crest, IL chapter.
    2:06:16: Entering the Tri-State (I-294), I-80 won't make sense again until Elyria, Ohio.
    2:09:00: 1st South Holland, IL chapter.
    2:09:19: Love's (?) "coffee" truck going the other direction. It doesn't have the logo but the livery matches.
    2:10:20: 8:00 UTC-5, 15:00 UTC+2.
    2:10:59: End of the Tri-State (I-294), I-94 merges in to form the Kingery.
    2:13:07 to 2:19:09: US 6, the longest US Route ever but (according to some metrics) not currently.
    2:14:30: Entering Indiana and its chapter.
    2:15:32 to 2:16:39: US 41!!!
    2:18:33: The infamous construction zone along the Borman. This time we avoid it.
    2:19:20: Gary, IN chapter.
    2:21:00: Another construction zone, may not be related to the nearby one.
    2:24:00: I-90 (lack of) junction.
    2:25:48: Steve flips to selfie mode as he approaches the yard to drop the dry van he is carrying and get a loaded reefer due for delivery instead. He flicks back at 2:55:59.
    2:28:00: Arrive at terminal chapter.
    2:56:20: Depart terminal chapter.
    2:59:34: I-90 (lack of) junction.
    3:00:59: US 20, currently the longest US Route (according to some metrics).
    3:02:27: Construction zone.
    3:04:06: Entering I-80/94. We immediately hit slow traffic.
    3:05:11 to 3:15:23: US 6, the longest US Route ever but (according to some metrics) not currently.
    3:09:09 to 3:10:37: US 41!!!
    3:10:19: 9:00 UTC-5, 16:00 UTC+2.
    3:13:15: Re-entering Illinois chapter.
    3:13:15: Entering Illinois.
    3:14:48: I-94 leaves, start of the Tri-State (I-294).
    3:16:30: 2nd South Holland, IL chapter.
    3:22:10: 2nd Hazel Crest, IL chapter.
    3:22:46: Leaving the Tri-State, I-80 finally makes sense for the first time since Elyria, Ohio.
    3:26:13: I-57 junction.
    3:28:00: 2nd Tinley Park, IL chapter.
    3:35:02: Another construction zone.
    3:38:36: Cheetos truck going the other direction. It is hidden by a passing tanker.
    3:39:07: Begin I-355.
    3:42:00: 2nd Lockport, IL chapter.
    3:43:10: 88th Meridian West.
    3:44:38: Steve takes IL 7 to delivery
    3:54:30: Romeoville, IL chapter.
    3:59:00: Arrive at delivery chapter.
    3:59:22: End of the short run. Steve unloads at deliver.
    4:10:19: 10:00 UTC-5, 17:00 UTC+2.
    5:05:34: Steve mutes the stream due to the excessive noise. He unmutes it at 5:10:27.
    5:10:19: 11:00 UTC-5, 18:00 UTC+2.
    5:46:00: Depart receiver chapter.
    5:46:03: After unloading Steve departs for the next shipper. Next up is a classic "season" start trip, all the way to Utah.
    5:53:10: Plainfield, IL chapter.
    5:53:20: Passing over I-55 without a junction.
    5:55:51 to 6:02:30: US 30, the only US Route that has always gone coast to coast. A two-step transition to IL 59 starts at 5:58:14.
    6:10:00: Naperville, IL chapter.
    6:10:19: 12:00 UTC-5, 19:00 UTC+2.
    6:21:26: US 34, the highest US Route (although that section isn't open year-round)
    6:29:42: Entering I-88.
    6:31:30: Aurora, IL chapter.
    6:41:09: Steve flips to selfie mode and then mutes the stream at 6:43:17 as he approaches the shipper where he drops the trailer and check if the new one is loaded (it isn't ready yet). He unmutes the stream at 6:52:35 and flips back at 7:03:34.
    6:43:00: Arrive at shipper chapter. A further annotation reads "Steve checks to see if the load is ready early (It isn't)".
    7:06:00: Depart shipper chapter.
    7:10:19: 13:00 UTC-5, 20:00 UTC+2.
    7:11:00: I-88 junction.
    7:13:00: Mobil gas station (Steve ends the day) chapter. A further annotation reads "Steve hosts a watch party after parking & meets 2 road crew members"
    7:13:08: Mobil gas station on the West side of Aurora. Steve stops for the night (there's no full truck parking, he is bobtailing right now), he hosts a watch party and meets Road Crew member Joseph and his son.
    8:10:19: 14:00 UTC-5, 21:00 UTC+2.
    9:10:18: 15:00 UTC-5, 22:00 UTC+2.
    10:10:18: 16:00 UTC-5, 23:00 UTC+2.
    11:10:19: 17:00 UTC-5, 0:00 UTC+2. From this point on it was June 30 in my time zone.

  3. Today's #'s

    197 miles driven + 3 customer visits
    5 hrs 46 mins on 11 hour clock
    6 hrs 24 mins on 14 hour clock
    63 hrs 36 mins on 70 hour clock

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