The journey begins - purchased a truck.

Yes - it's true. And photos to prove it.

Look guys. This flatbed thing ain't worth it. There's no money in trucking anymore. Here's where it's at - Groceries.





Nah just kidding. Had to show these lads how to slam a 53 van over some curbs and forget to close my doors.

Below is where it started . . . 13'2" out to Charleston, SC , loaded it Tuesday . . .

Wait, Hurricane who???

 

That's an absolute negative there driver !

 

Good Lord ! I hope I was behaving - no that's right - I remember now . . . .

So, safely escorted through Tennessee by a very capable man, who managed to not only grab every lane I needed, but I came to realize was somehow looking further ahead than I was at times, and was familiar with the territory to pre-advise on lanes to catch when necessary, railing heights, pillar widths etc.

Sadly, Georgia doesn't require an escort for 13'2"wide. @Old Man warned me about this one. So down the 75, around the 285, and out on 20 we go - unprecedented levels of driver stupidity abound. Advised to just 'run the zipper' in the 2 right lanes where 3 or 4 existed, I found myself as my own pilot car. Ashamed to admit - no, wait - I had to grab 1-2, 2-3, and 3 and 4 at times to navigate through.

Radical abandonment of the CB by drivers, rampant cellphone use, and increasing stupidity/(Me getting older) provided it's fair share of sheepskin vacuumed by rectum moments - but we made it through.

So -hope I looked like I was behaving myself at the time @kwswan !!

 

How I ended up as a lowly grocery delivery driver -

Well planned I thought, was the 13'2" wide load out to the coast. The ONLY thing I disregarded was the weather. Loaded and travelling on Tuesday, I set a delivery appointment for 10am Thursday - and a few hours after doing so, I got the call that SC was reversing traffic flow on I-26 at 3pm Wednesday, and thus, the facility was closing up until Monday am at least. Therefore - no delivery, stuck under the load. Save me, oh save me - Landstar system (not the people themselves, they abandoned Jacksonville like toddlers running from a Michael Jackson concert on Thursday, flailing their arms like windmills and screaming something about Matthew, whoever that dude is.)

So, parked east of Atlanta at 5pm on Wednesday, I set up load alerts for POWR/TOWY (Power only, pull customer equipment) loads in a 100 mile radius. I missed a goodie that night - pick up a trailer, 3 stops in NC, return empty, for Walgreens, full driver unload (don't bother me), for $4000 board revenue on 1100 miles. I dithered for 3 minutes - agent had a driver booking it on the line when I called. Nash Dabbit.

Thursday I played like a retired guy and walked around Lowes for 2 hours, and bought some black spray paint and a wire wheel lfor the cordless drill. Polished my wheels, chipped and cleaned rust, then painted the rear frame in a few spots that had been bugging me. I realized that this game was going to get old fairly quickly - and luckily the load alert popped up.

"Go west young man. Feed the hungry. Meet the blind. Discuss trucking with them and try to help them see. Do this for 3 days and 3 nights, not exceeding the DOT HOS, and mighty rains of dollar bills shall fall, Eight Hundred and Seventy Six of them, to be precise (plus fuel surcharge for the pitiful miles ye shall run), for this will save ye from the enduring punishment of buffing your tractor till the paint is removed from boredom"

I signed up for 3 days of fun. Paid the ever helpful Pilot for 2 days of reserved parking and backed the wide load in (Like a rookie - can't see past the bloody thing), and bobtailed off to the great metropolis of Atlanta for an exciting adventure.