coolest thing you've expeerienced while a driver

I cant say i have expereinced that while trucking, that is cool.
One of my all time favourites was when i was a little younger than i am now.. i looked like i was all of 15.
Picture a grocery warehouse with fingerdocks along one wall. docks are inside the building so its like backing into a large garage about 4" wider than the truck..
i have witnessed so many guys that struggle to slot their trucks into the holes using all the concrete area that its not funny anymore.

i dragged my trailer along the wall ( not litterally) then propped it at about a 45 degree angle to the dock i was given, then slotted it straight in with one move.

the funny part was there were a few older guys that were moaning about how hard it was to get in, so when i walked up onto the dock, one guy was having a good go about younger drivers, that is untill i tapped him on the shoulder and informed him of my presence. He was telling everyone how the driver of my rig must have been old and experienced..

funny part was, the look on his face when i told him i was 22.. absolutley Classic, i wish i had a camera..

 

I could say a lot on this subject but will keep it short and simple...

The coolest thing I have experienced as a truck driver is when drivers actually work together . All being courteous to each other and making sure each other was safe in doing their jobs.. The moments I experienced when all in that area was doing as such really made me feel good about driving a truck..

 

I would guess that when you were 22 you looked like you were about 11..LOL

 

"southbound '53 at the nevada hairpin"

that's what you're s'posta holler on the c.b. at the approach to the hoover dam. it was a pain in the butt, tight turns and heavy traffic. but i always got a big charge out of crossing the dam in a big truck.

i got to cross it 10 times before they closed it to commercial traffic on 9-11

 

To bad you can't do that anymore.....

 

The YL and I were coming across Pennsylvania, we got off I-80 in Dubois and drove through the Elk preserve. We were driving along and came upon a herd of elk walking down the field toward the road. I stopped the truck and shut down the engine, holding my foot on the brake so I wouldn't have to pull the parking brake. This herd of elk just walked across the road in front of us, taking their sweet ##### time, stopping to look at us, and walked down to another field to graze where some guy was mowing on a tractor. We sat there in the road for about 20 minutes while they walked across the road, stopping to look at us from time to time.

 

Had to think about that one for a while, there's been many wonderful experiences. But, I can remember a trip to Chihuahua, Mexico. I was hauling a load of donated goods to a church and an outreach program - both of them were going to give the stuff away to people they knew that needed it the most. I was a truckin' missionary at the time.
My first stop was the border. They didn't want to let me in with it because I didn't have "proper clearances". I had governement issued clearances, but they didn't want to accept it. I had spent SO much time at that border, that several higher ups knew who I was and what I was doing there. I had spent several hours there arguing my paperwork and my case.

My case was simply that this entire load of goods was to be GIVEN away to THEIR people. And it was good stuff, too, we had taken the best of the best of the donations and had stuffed that trailer full from front to back, floor to ceiling. There was NO junk in that thing. It took something like 6 hours. The head of operations took my side and was arguing violently against the chief about letting me through. It went back and forth, and then ended. He took me aside and just told me to be patient and wait. Well, I had nothing else to do, I was all for it. He would go back to this chief every half hour and start up with him again. I wasn't going anywhere - unless they forced me to.

The chief finally buckled to the persistence of the head of ops, and I was issued the "proper" paperwork to get through the second stop. Getting into the border cities was easy, I don't know if it is now or not. You could take a truck in there without ANY clearances, but you definitely would not make it through the second stop - outside of the city on the other side going deep into the country - without proper clearances on paper, with seals. And we ain't talking animals, either. Honestly? Bribes work too. I didn't bribe, but many people did, and probably still do.

So, I'm trucking along, get to the second stop, was detained there for quite a while, but eventually let through. It really isn't too terribly far to Chihuahua. Their version of roads, however, are quite treacherous. Some of their methods of driving are plain lunatic.

Regardless, when I got there, I had to call to actually find the place. Umm, Mexican cities are not based on grid plans. Someone found me and I followed them to a church.

Remember that 2 different entities were hungry for whatever was on that truck. I got to the church, got out and started talking to the pastor. He was very happy at my arrival. I went and took the lock off the trailer door - the man - well drooling is a good descriptor of his take on the material that was inside that trailer. A few minutes later, another vehicle arrived. A man got out and started talking to the pastor. At the time, I didn't understand much Spanish, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out when 2 people are arguing.

The argument became very heated, they were yelling at each other, and were throwing their hands around. I asked the man that had escorted me there what they were arguing about? "They argue about who is getting the things inside of your truck". For 2 Christian leaders to be arguing like that, to me, was outrageous. I closed the doors on the trailer, put the lock back on the truck, got in and started it up.

I was no stranger to Mexico, I could go find an orphanage or another church anywhere and they would GLADLY take what was in it. The arguing suddenly stopped as they looked in shock at me, in the truck, and this escort fervently asking me what I was doing. I flatly told him that these 2 Christians - a pastor and a founder of a widely respected outreach program - were arguing to the point that it appeared they were going to get into a fistfight over what was in MY truck.

I had total authority over what to do with the materials in that trailer. There was no BOL, there was no Packing List, this was mine to do with as I pleased, but I thought in terms of the Lord's, with which He could do whatever He pleased. I told the escort to tell them - my long story short - get over it or lose ALL of it. I was very descriptive of what I wanted him to tell those 2 men, who were acting like juveniles. He took several minutes to relay my message, so I hoped he had been thorough.

They both looked at each other, got very strange looks on their faces, started shaking hands violently and then hugging each other. They both came to me and apologized vigorously for their behavior and confirmed that they would work with each other on who gets what.

I oversaw the entire operation. It turned out to be one of the best trips I had ever made to Mexico, and I have made a lot of them. They all treated me like family, fed me their best food. I have experienced in Mexico common people literally giving the shirts off of their backs. People giving me THEIR bedroom to sleep in while they slept on the couch. This was, however, one of about 10 of the most memorable experiences in trucking.

 

That was a good story and I thank you for sharing it with us....