Most Interesting Load

It has been over 15 years ago..but I wanna say somewhere around chambersburg.. greenburg..pick the load up in east va...I just knew them guys in the black suv's was serious..but i never did see them out of the trucks...never seen them again after i pulled thru the gate..maybe after I pay my dues again an get some miles under my butt again..I will get some more cool loads... I do remember the first time i went to hell mich..Bill my dispatcher told me i was heading to hell..I was young an had never heard of it... I thought he was goofin with me.. lol

 

I was contracted to an air freight company in connecticut and just returned from a peddle run from jfk. The owner asked if I could make a quick delivery to old saybrook,ct. I arrived # the address,an old barn. a couple of guy's came out & we opened the trailer up. There was a formula 1 race car strapped to an airline pallet. The guy's climbed up and removed the strapping. I asked how we were going to get the car off. The guy in charge said watch,He pushed the car off the rear of the trailer onto the ground. Needless to say, I was freaking out. He say's relax, we're a repair shop..........LOL

 

I got a load outside of Portland Oregon, backed into the dock and by the time I got inside the warehouse the forklift driver was pulling the dock plate. I asked him if I was loaded, he said yes. Looked in the trailer, there sat three small pallets, I asked, Is that it? he said yup, all we can ship at one time insurance won't let us ship over 1.5 million per load. It was mother boards out of intel going to sac. Ca.

 

I drove part time for Wells Fargo for 8 yrs, When I drove the ten wheel feeder for them,we would to go to the Boston Federal Reserve.My biggest load was $14 Million dollars.

 

I think the most interesting load we've hauled was one of Dennis Oppenheim's art exhibits. The trailer was full of all these massive safety cones broken into sections. We hauled it from a little joint in the southeast to Seattle. We ended up sitting on the street right in front of the museum while they unloaded. Boy were the four-wheelers peeved.

http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/OSP/Media/conesvideo.htm

I think one of the most interesting places I ever delivered to was a maximum security prison in Oklahoma. Talk about security. First I had to turn over my cell and everything in the truck that could potentially become a weapon. Then I had to wait around forever while they tried to hunt up a female guard to frisk me. After about 30 minutes standing around outside the truck with two silent male guards in like 184 degree Oklahoma heat, I said, "Hey look guys if it's all the same to you it really doesn't matter to me -- can't one of you just frisk me so we can get on with this?" No they could not. Stupid rules and regulations.

After female guard finally showed up I actually got to drive into the prison. Weird feeling when those giant razor-wired doors clang shut behind your truck. Then I ended up standing on the dock next to the guard while the prisoners unloaded my floor-loaded trailer. No separation between us at all. Kinda unnerving.

 

Lots of big equipment D10, D9T complete, Cat 365 hoe, tracked seismic vibrators, 988G, 777 and 769 rock trucks. Hauled drums of fuel and bulk fuel to helicopters for transport into mines and exploration camps.

 

The three most interesting loads I've hauled were as follow.:

A Factory 5 Racing 1967 Cobra Kit car out of Wareham MA to Racine WI. It was still in kit form (crated) but I got to tour the factory with the two brothers that founded Factory 5 Racing.

A Freefall Motorized Lifeboat from the Port of Mobile to Frasier Shipyards in Superior WI. This lifeboat was similar to the one used by the pirates who overtook the Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia. 24 ft long, 9 ft wide. It had a 54 hp diesel engine on it.

A V-16 Detroit diesel god knows how many kilowatt generator from Either Kiel WI or Port Washington WI (I can't remember) to just outside Philadelphia PA.

 

The interesting part of this load wasn't the load itself, but the destination. I picked up a Park model, basically an overgrown camper, 12' W x 40' L x 14' H, small load for me, out to the desert, about 30 miles west of Las Vegas to what I thought was a campground. Turned out to be a nudist colony. Talk about surprised!

 

I didnt pull the load, but when I was in the Marines I was the trick chief for a few missile convoys. Lots of guns, lots of amour, helicopters above, security vechiles in front and back, plus head cars and tail end charlies. plus a rig with a 80 foot missle.

 

Unusual, but sad...

I got a brokered load in upstate NY. It was only 8 skids of dog food. It was going to MO. I figured that my company would book more ltl for the way. NO!
Broker bought the whole trailer, very, very clear that there was no additional freight to be loaded on the trailer. Turns out that it was the poison dog food that had killed so many beloved pets. This was a premium brand and the pet store whse manager who loaded me said that many more had died than was reported.

When I got to the manufacturer, they made a really big deal, had a whole quarantine area for it. I was glad that I was helping get it off the shelves, but it still broke my heart to haul it.