Curious

1)Tried to turn around in one of the "spacious" Laredo hook&drop yards-receivers- shippers- parking lots. Jack knifed so much I had to get a friend of mine to move another trl to complete the turn around Miss-judged the space a "little" some drivers were peed off while others were laughing

2)In my very first trip Toronto-Seattle, I managed to get 2 tickets at a scale in Nebraska. Almost got arrested at that same scale for not being able to pay on the spot(had to call a friend for a credit card #) and at Windsor scale (same trip) ran through the scale at 40 klicks an hour was told to park and come in for an inspection. Almost got a 500$ ticket for not having a check mark in the pre-trip box, but got away with a lecture since they saw I had a temporary license and was new to trucking

Oh and almost forgot, my first employer(had 4 trucks) wasn't willing to pay me and the other three drivers( one of the scum bags in this business) until I went to the ministry of labour and they got our checks in a month


But all that happened at the beginning of my career as truck driver...very valuable experience. Beginnings can be rough

I can laugh now

Cheers

 

Laredo, Tx. At a forwarding agent. Their trailers were so close together, you couldn't put your arm between them. I had to back into an empty hole on the dock, next to another otr truck. Not bad you might say? But, on the other side of the yard was another facility. With one trailer backed up to the dock. And people of ALL ages wondering around. And, I had to get within an inch of the other truck and turn my trailer around his bumper to get in the hole. All the while, trying to work my tractor around the trailer poking out from the other dock, and not running over any of people who were just standing around.
Oh, how I was a nervous wreck! But, I got it in there!

 

I will tell a couple. In the 70's I used to deliver to a furniture store next to Cleveland. The door we delivered to was about four feet lower than the upper door. There was pavement, a rail, a bolck wall, a four foot drop off, and the delivery door situated very close to the wall and rail.

We had 45' trailers back then. The distance from the dock door to the fence was appx 49 feet, and you could only blind back, as the doors were on the left side of the building, and you came in from the front.

You had to pass the rail, swing in as close to the building as possible, and swing back quickly, for the lot wasn't very deep either. Then you had to line up and try to hit the hole without having to follow up the trailer, or the bumper would catch the chain link fence. When at the dock the truck was at a 90 degree angle to the trailer, and there was barely enough room between the fence and truck to open the door.

It was murder when dry, but almost impossible when snowing. I caught the front bumper backing up there one morning during a snow storm. I pushed it back in place by bumping a telephone pole, then had it straightened the rest of the way and the crack welded when I got back.

Another time I was pulling doubles, and dispatch wanted the front pup on the rear dock. The rear dock had a fence without a lot of space like the place I mentioned above, but that was OK, I could still get around that. The trouble was the door they wanted it at had 48' trailers backed in on either side of the open hole, and this was a very tight dock, and my trailer was 27'.

When I got to the dock I was dead center of my lane, but it was so tight on either side I had to crawl out the window to get out of the tractor to unhook, and crawl back in the window to leave.

Also, I'm sure there are some people on here who have been to Corey's Warehouse in Elizabeth NJ that could tell some tales. I don't know if it is still around, been remoleded or what. But I do know what it was like in the 70's. It was built for straight trucks.

 

There a ware house in Houston TX straight trucks should only go to, yet they were loading 53' trailers out of. If you pull up to far your in a ditch that would swallowed the entire truck.

I had a lite load going up into Republic, Maryland, no phone number to call to get directions. The City was not clearly marked and I arrived around midnight into the general area. I followed the signs to the city, but never saw it. I ended up at a dead end into a Lake. Had to back out 2 miles on a curvy road in the dark.

March I was up in Kinston NC Again no working number for Directions, and the address did not show on my program. I stopped and ask a few guys in a shop where the place was located at, which they tried to tell me. I ended up going down the wrong road by listening to them and ended up going as far as I could go. So only choice I had was call in the Police. I got correct Directions and Traffic stopped so I could back out of the small street.

 

Morton salt in Ohio

 

Hmm... reminds me of Morton Salt in Detroit. The first time I picked up there when I was driving for NTB, I smashed in the roll-up door on the trailer.

I had gotten quite used to backing in first, then going inside to roll up the door. Well... not here! They had those automatic dock plates that lift up and extend when you bump the dock. And that's what it did... right through the door on my trailer! Oops! Lesson learned.

 

Where is this at in OHIO??