Most Memorable Load?

I was hauling a tracked chipper on a 7-axle setup, grossing around 154,000 (yeah, I was a teensy bit over the 140k I was permitted for, but the jobsite was just too tight to get into with my spreader and stinger axle)
The job was in a rural area, where the roads were 2-lane, barely 15' wide total . I have to make a right turn into this landowners property with a dirt driveway maybe 10' wide, and a 2-3' deep culvert on each side, leading to a gate that's maybe 14' wide (the chipper is 12'.
So we call the boss (my partner is hauling a JD 270 excavator) and tell him it's not going to work and we need to unload on the blacktop (not only because of the width problems, but the machine rides off-center and is quite top heavy) -
this is the machine in question, but NOT the jobsite...


NOPE! He insisted that it had to be inside the jobsite, and pulled his famous "I know I could do it" bs line (he had never hauled anything bigger than a JD 544 loader)....he said he didn't care how, just get it done!

By this time I was a tad pissed off, so I told my buddy to get out of the way.... I got in and just hammered down lol. Swung as wide as I could, then cut as hard as I could. I fully expected to take out one of the fence posts, or dump it in the culvert, or both.....

Anyway, after the dust settled my partner came up all wide eyed. When I asked him what was the matter, he said he had no idea HOW that machine stayed on the trailer (turns out I had STRETCHED out two 1/2" chains!), nor how the trailer made it thru the culvert, nor how I didn't tear out part of the fence or gate!!

I just smiled and said "I got skills son!".....

Then I snuck off and changed my soiled shorts.....lol

 

Divine Intervention

 

I remember a set of directions, stop at a rail crossing, turn left onto paved tracks until forest. Turn right at leaf pile.

I found the series of directions and went deep into the woods with the truck in interlock. Then I sit there wondering what in the world have I gotten into. Which leaf pile? (This was autumn, after the rain)

 

About 15 years ago, long before I had a cdl, I owned a small sawmill company. Well one Sunday, the guy that sells me logs, his boom truck driver didn't show up so he told me if I wanted the logs today, I'd have to drive it there and back and he'd drive his 18 wheeler.

Man did I have a hard time getting from 5th to 6th gear, I just couldn't get it in there after pushing the selector. Well I didn't know how to find a lower gear either at the time, probably only ever drove a standard car twice before. (One of those times was when I borrowed my cousins Iron and stalled it in the middle of a two lane road sideways, trying to do a 3 point turn).

Anyways, drove it to the bush no problem. Well once it was loaded, he didn't warn me about how a loaded log truck was top heavy and you have to slow down on corners.

I'm cruising along and I FINALLY GET IT INTO 6TH GEAR. Now I'm rocking & rolling. Well I go around a corner and UH OH my wheels are lifting off the ground! Mac get slow down you fool! Man I didn't #### myself but I limped the rest of the way back in 5th gear lol.

I was lucky could have hurt myself real bad.

 

Changed my mind,.. lets see if my groupies break my balls here.

1) Best madman run.

This was still as a company driver. I was in a 386 Pete,.. CAT C15 with the notorious DPF system. Picked up a load in Newark, NJ that needed to be at border in NM. Had an appt time with a crane that would be waiting to transfer the load over to another carrier that was going to carry the load the rest of the way into Mexico. I was about an hour east of Lexington, Ky and sure as the sun comes up, my check engine light comes on and the manual regen light comes on. Limped it over to Peterbilt in Louisville. They couldnt look at the truck till the next day,.. then took them all day to replace the igniter and one of the sensers. By the time they were done and I was back on the road, I had roughly 28 hours to make 1500 mi to meet the crane. If I did not make it on time they were going to charge my carrier by the hour until I arrived. I was actually fine up until the last 2 hours, and thats when I was contemplating on crying uncle and going to sleep. I stopped at a Pilot. Slammed 2 Redline energy drinks. Jogged around the parking lot for about 20 mins to get some blood moving. Got back in and made delivery with 15 mins to spare. Carrier gave me a $500 bonus on my check that week. And has pretty much gone out of his way to make sure I have always been taken care of ever since.


2) Most money earned.
That depends,.. as a company driver doing RGN I was paid a flat $3000 a week. As an O/O my best week I grossed $14,900 between 2 loads. My net was just over $10k.

3) Least money earned.
Dead headed 310 mi for a load that was paying $1900 to go roughly 400mi only to be denied entry to the base because I have a felony record from 1991. Base commander said no. So besides not being able to get the load,.. I lost money from the fuel I spent getting there.

4) Most terrifying.
Had a load of these laminated sheets. I couldnt cinch the straps down too tight with out damaging the boards. So I found what I felt was a happy median. About 250 mi from deliver I was coming down a hill with a curved bridge at the bottom. The front edge of the bridge was a mad bump. I looked in the mirror and saw 2 of the top bundles had slid half way off toward the edge. Another inch and they would have hit the ground for sure. I pull over on the shoulder,.. set my triangles out. Ended up taking 2 4x4's in an upright position and then a 3rd 4x4 across them both and set up pretty much the same thing on the other side (Not easy to do when your by yourself with 70mph traffic wizzing by 1 - 2 ft from your feet). I managed to get both bundles back on enough to where I felt safe enough to continue. Took my sweet time in the right lane the rest of the way.

5) Best female companion.

My wife of course!


Hurst

 

That's awesome. Definitely my idea of a fun load.

My favorite load was a missile tube. Obviously it wasn't armed or even loaded with the explosive insides, but it was still a very fun trip. Nobody tail gated me the whole way.

 

Man, that reminds me of some loads I took out of, well I don't know for sure, middle of nowhere New Mexico.

directions to the site were take 40 east to exit something (can't remember, about 2/3 to Tucumcari from Albuquerque)
take the road north about 45 miles to the reservoir sign, turn left on that road take that to the fire dept building, it's a metal garage. Did I mention having to drive over the reservoir? take the right road follow that on, go through the two green cattle gates, then a red one then a silver one, one more green one, then look for the flags on the road to the left, turn down that road and go all the way to end. you will see a shed, blow the air horn and wait. some one will be down soon.

I forgot to add, the cattle that was wandering around. a few walked up to the trucks grill and started eating all the bugs off of it. had to shoo them away after I finished securing the load so i could leave.


I ended up finding the place. seems that was rare, they usually had to send out search party for lost trucks.
Because I was able to find the place, I ended up loading quite a few times from that place. have to admit, loads paid good.

 

I'm thinking the same thing! What size of deck was that?

Albeit a much smaller piece of equipment, but similar situation. Had to park a dead soldier Volvo G990 on a 96" wide deck awhile back. That was not fun being 50k in the bush without cell phone reception had something gone wrong!

 

Not particularly interesting, challenging, etc, but it's one of my go to 'Back when I was truckin' stories I tell my IT friends who never worked a job that wasn't 9-5 in a cubicle.

Drove from Gary, IN to a drop in the Pittsburgh area, get told to head up towards Titusville for a reload either that night or the next morning. Never heard back from dispatch so I get the last spot at the TA and ask what they want me to do. I'm filthy, wanting a shower and a hot meal but like a good solider I press on so I can GTFO PA first thing the next morning. The ride up to Titusville sucked- dark, tiny, mountainey roads.

I got there at about 9PM (which is pretty much where my clock ran out)... Get loaded... start tarping... ####in metal strap the top bundle is sticking out, slices my arm up good. I was on top of the load and it didn't feel too bad so I kept on rolling out the tarps so the dude who loaded me could leave. I tried to clean it up but it wasn't going to stop bleeding while I was working so I just let it go. Ended up bleeding all over the load, my tarps, the trailer, ruined my favorite 'work' shirt and shorts, had to tie the shirt around my arm while I wandered around looking for a first aid kit and a bathroom to wash up in.

The guy who came in the next morning said he thought he was looking for a wounded deer.

Moral of the story: if you think you have a big enough band-aid or enough gauze or whatever, get some something bigger just in case. Also don't tarp in the dark. Oh, and if you're going to flatbed, always have a way to clean yourself up if a shower isn't near. Bottled water, baby wipes, 'wetones', whatever.

 

Israeli chinook combat dressings will take care of the bad ones. Anything worse if the blood is bright red requires a tourniquet and find thy surgeon in a few hours max.

Ive bled. I know now that people can withstand injury when that steel bites back with a thousand cuts. However, People have had bad fortune now and then and they don't always make it.

Do what you can and let go of the rest.