This Is Not Looking Good

I started driving for Werner in 1985. I think they had about 500 trucks or so at that time. I quit there around 2001. Sometime in the early to mid 90's, Werner started a driver training program for students. I trained many students for several years. Sometime in I believe my 3rd year, I picked up a driver at the Lithia Springs, GA terminal. Not sure about the dates. It was a long time ago and so I may be off a year or two. He was coming to the end of his training and required about 2 more weeks of training to test out. During the initial contact and general briefing I told him that I was tired and opted to rest in the truck for a night. However, this student just got done spending several days in a hotel waiting for another trainer and was anxious to get moving again. I decided that it would be ok to roll.

I remember that we had to grab an empty, head to a customer not too far away and drop and hook. It was not too long before we were Northbound on I-75 heading toward TN. I continued to observe his driving and determined that he was doing a great job. Back then, once a driver was capable of handling the rig himself, we would get long loads and would drive 4 on and 4 off like a team operation. This was before the DOT rules changed. I decided that I was going to get some sleep. I let him know as I did all my students that if they needed me not to hesitate to yell for me because that's what I was there for.. He had made note that he wanted to stop at a fuel stop to grab a soda pop and snack. I told him that I had no problem with that and to keep up the good job he was doing. When I was training, I had a tendency to sleep with one eye open and was a very light sleeper. We might have gotten about 30 minutes down the road when I could sense that he was making that pit stop we talked about. I continued to lay there. The truck made a couple turns and came to a stop.

Moments later I was being called out of the bunk to assess the situation. On our left was a tiny fuel stop and we were sitting at the exit drive for that stop. All fuel lanes were full and turning in was not an option. Small fuel stops have one way in and one way out. I told him that he should have paid attention to which way the trucks were facing before turning down the service road. But it was too late now. Then he utters "I think you had better drive." I said ok. Right about that time a semi truck was coming from the other direction and I said "look, here comes a truck. There must be a trucking company down here with a place to turn around so keep driving." He drove for awhile and we saw the trucking company but the gate was closed and locked. He asked, "do you want to drive? I said maybe I'd better."

So here I am driving this rig with only my T- shirt and boxers too by the way because I had to react quickly to the situation. As I drove, the road kept getting narrower, tree branches were getting lower and we started to encounter some hills and winding roads. Not too much longer we encounter an intimidating sign that reads "Dam One Mile Ahead." I'm thinking to myself, this is not looking good and we are going to be in real trouble this time. I wasn't sure what I was going to find at the end of this road. Then we came across a sign that reads, Road Ends At Dam/25 MPH. So I slow down, we come around the final curve and the road comes to and end. I couldn't have been more shocked if I had seen Michael from the movie Halloween. Straight ahead of me is this giant lake. I look around and there is a parking lot with curbs to the right of me that probably could have held about 10 cars or so. Between this parking lot and water was this very tall cliff looking thing that may have been the dam. I'm not sure. To the left was this small little gravel spot with 2 picnic tables chained to a pole. At this point, I just wanted to pack my bags and get out of trucking for good.

This place was in no way designed for a long vehicle. I started having visions of being lifted out by helicopters and making front page news. The student looked at me and said "What are you going to do?" I said "The first thing I need to do is put my clothes back on." We went outside and assessed the situation. The widest place in this whole area was between the table and that cliff. We actually got out and measured it by walking. It wasn't long enough for the entire length of the semi but it was long enough if I could 90 degree it. The first thing I did was slide the tandems all the way forward. It took me some time but I got the trailer wheels in between the 2 picnic tables without falling into the water and left enough room so that I could drop the trailer at a 90 degree angle. This took some time of pulling up and backing up while turning the wheels. Once the trailer was out of the way, I was able to back the truck up between the trailer and the cliff and get the tractor turned around to where I could back into the trailer from the other side. Once I got the trailer connected, I knew that the worst part was over.

As we started to roll the driver said to me "Man you are good!" I thought to myself "No, I am just very lucky. Just when you think you have seen it all and done it all, Whammo! We got to the Interstate and started heading Northbound. I pulled into the first truck stop I saw, back her into a hole and parked.
The student asked me what my plans were. I replied, "Parking for the night."
He graciously replied, "Yes sir!"

Lessons learned:

No matter how good you are, no matter how long you've been doing it, "IT" can happen to you.

This is a true story and an extreme case. From my experience, Georgia roads are traditionally full of surprises. It may start out as asphalt or concrete but you never know what you will encounter.

In hindsight, I probably should have had the student get out and I should have backed into the fuel stop.

I also should have listened to my instincts the first time and parked until morning.

 

Not sure. That was a long time ago.

 

Yeah, the general public has no clue what we go through to move America do they?