Red Sox Truck Day is only a week away

Maybe 'Sled Day' would be more appropriate this year.
While the snow continues to pile up around these parts, a sure sign of spring really is right around the corner in Boston.
On Tuesday, Feb. 8, the Red Sox moving van will be loaded at Fenway Park for the 1,467-mile trek to the team's spring training complex on Edison Ave. in Fort Myers, Fla. And, yes, snow is in the long range forecast. The truck is expected to arrive in warm and sunny Fort Myers on Friday, Feb. 11.

Workers start the loading process. (Steve Silva / Boston.com)

Kevin Carson, from New England Household Moving & Storage, has been managing the Truck Day move for the last 13 years.
"It's like groundhog day," Carson said today. "It's the same thing every year... I'm sure somebody is going to ask us what's in the truck and all that."
Driver Al Hartz has been behind the wheel of the big rig for the last 13 years and will be rolling south down Rte. 95 again starting on Tuesday.
Tradition has it that the 18-wheeler will depart from Fenway Park at the players' parking lot entrance on Van Ness St., followed in procession by Fenway ambassadors, Red Sox staff, and Wally the Green Monster tossing soft baseballs to fans from a flat-bed truck.

2009 Truck Day (Globe Staff Photo / David L. Ryan)

To whet your appetite, here is our photo gallery of last year's Truck Day festivities, the 2009 Truck Day ceremony, 2008, and if you can't get enough, here's the '07 photos of the truck being loaded with bats, balls, and everything else the Sox need in Fort Myers (a motorcycle or two, perhaps?). And for those of you who really, really can’t get enough, we have photos of Truck Day way back in 2006 as well.
Planning on heading to Florida to catch the new-look Red Sox at spring training? Be sure to check out our guide to the Fort Myers area before you go.