I was picking up this deadly hazmat load and ....

I used to haul three vessels of Nitro on slings in a reefer. If something goes wrong, you will never know. 40 mph at night only. If it goes boom, your good for 2 miles. Guess I did it right. Did it for a week.

 

So no armed and dangerous scenes for you I take it? Lol

 

Remember that the Cuyahoga River caught fire up in Ohio back in 1969 due to all the chemicals, trash and other stuff in it..

So "YES WATER BURNS" lol

 

Yeah, if you're reading this, you did it right.

I haul Trinitro Propane for making det cord. I dont have to go at night or 40 mph but probably should. People assume it must be nerve wracking but really its nice to know that I'd be vapor in less than 1/1000th of a second if something went wrong. No suffering being laid up in a burn center for years like when something goes wrong hauling diesel or gasoline.
The DHS escort guys are paranoid and talk to me like Im suicidal. I always invite them to ride along with me, no takers so far. If one of them ever does say yes I'll probably assume he is the suicidal one.

 

This thread is worthless.

 

Ducks............

 

Nah there are useful bits of information. Like the post from saddletramp. There is no such thing as a useless post.

 

A looong time ago (late 70s), I spent a summer working and hitchhiking around NC. Used to be common then to thumb and get picked up. Had a bad road to go home every night, 2 lane out in the middle of nothing. Many nights no traffic to get a ride and 30 miles or so from my bed. Couldn't sleep next to the road in the tall grass because of snakes.

One late night a trucker pulled over to give me a ride. As I ran up along his truck, it seemed like he had placards every 4 feet, and was covered with reflective tape. Got into his day cab and said thanks. After a mile or two, I asked him what he had on, and he just said "You don't want to know."

Couple more miles, and he said he had on a load of glycerine, which was half of what was used to make nitroglycerine. He was running from Wilmington NC to Augusta GA. Said they were dispatched one load at a time from Wilmington, He had to call back when he reached Augusta before the next load could leave. If by chance, he met a truck loaded with nitro, and they somehow collided, said it would create a crater about 10 miles across. Never knew if he was just BS ing me or not. All of the placards suggested to me that he wasn't.

He said to get the job, he had a spotless 20 year driving record and references, and the job paid more than he had ever made trucking. Also said if they knew he had picked me up, he would be terminated on the spot. He just felt sorry for me because he had seen me waiting along that dark stretch on other nights.

Whoever you were, thanks again for the ride.

 

I think they may have all been weeded out by now, but some welders used to blow oxygen into their clothes to cool off.

 

Did he give you a dime to buy a cup of coffee?