Amusing factual stories - real life experiences in trucking

[classicxl]

I had one of those experiences DOC it is kind of scary and calming at the same time

[Windwalker]

I was working for WH Transportation out of Wausau, WI. The trucks they had were Cornbinders with Cummins L-10. Not much there. I had a load that delivered in NJ and I-78 was a sheet of ice. I guess NJ ran out of salt, if they ever had any in the first place.

I delivered my load and they had me go to the marine terminal to pick up a load of plywood for Menard's in Eau Claire, WI. Dispatch said it came over on a ship from India and be sure to scale it before I run with it. I got word that there was a severe snow storm in PA, so I was going to try to go below it. If you remember that winter, the truck scales at Paulsboro and Pedricktown were iced up and useless. I got all the way down to Perryville, MD before I found the cat scale at the pilot in working order.

I don't know if they brought it over in the ship or behind it. A load that should have weighed forty-two thousand was more like fifty-two. I started looking at my atlas to see how I could get around the scales and be home for at least part of the weekend instead of waiting for Monday to get the load adjusted. I don't remember now, just what roads I was going to take, but the Fredrick Scale on I-70 was the only one I was worried about. Perryville was not open, so I headed down to Baltimore.

Going around the circle, about half way to the get-off for I-70, I started talking with a lady driver going the same way. "Bring it on up here, we'll run together. I can use the conversation." I told her that with the truck I had and the load I had, that was not likely to happen. She said she would slow down and I would be able to catch up. Well, I passed three Hum-Vees (weekend warriors out for a stroll) and there she was directly in front of them. "Bring it up front. I'm having a hard time with the hills". So I did. As I passed her, her truck (a Marmom) did not sound like it had a "little cummins" in it.

We headed west on I-70 and kept a running conversation, then as we got close to the scale, I was going to get off and go around. "Why? They're closed." What do you mean, they're closed? "I come this way all the time. They're never open before eight o'clock in the morning. This is Saturday and they may not open all day."

We got to the scale and they were waiting with wide-open arms. You know the routine. The guy comes out to the truck, "LOGBOOK". Hand it to him and he says to pull in around back and bring in my paperwork. I pull around back and as I'm looking for all my paperwork, I see her pull alongside me with a great big smile on her face. Then I see a Hum-Vee park on the left corner of my trailer. Through the mirror, I see the grill of another one parked behind both of us. Look in the left mirror again and see four men get out with weapons.

"I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL SOMEONE TELLS ME WHAT'S GOING ON!!! The plywood came from India. I'm seeing these guys tearing my load apart looking for hollows that contain who knows what. I look at the scale-house knowing that the guy inside is waiting on me and I see a military uniform go inside. Ten seconds later, he's coming back out with a logbook in each hand. He hands one to me, the other one to her, and disappears around the front of her truck. She smiles and waves me to lead out.

Okay. I know what just happened here. I just got a free ride at a scale and I'm not going to blow it. I waited till we got more than fifteen miles down the road before I talked about it with her. I don't know what you've got in there, AND I DON'T WANT TO KNOW, but I sure would like to know what it's got to do with me. "It's really not any real secret. The Navy lost a plane in the middle-east and they want to know why. There's not a lot of the plane in there, but you should see the crating. I was three thousand over gross before I put on three hundred gallons of fuel. I've been driving long enough to have paid a whole bunch of dues at these places, now it's time to collect some dividends. And these guys have just enough of a sense of humor to go along with it."

It was a Navy Captain that went into the scale house and demanded that his CARGO be released immediately. The weigh-master looked out the window and saw armed men behind both trucks, didn't say one word, and handed up both logbooks. I never crossed another scale all the way to Wisconsin. But when I got there, the sides of the trailer, just above the tandems, were beginning to curl down because of the weight. That trailer never hauled another load. The company parked it and used it to store parts in.

[MACK]

Hey Doc could you tell me what page the story is on were you helped save the little girl from getting hurt by her mothers boy friend.

[Doctor Who]

Check this: This Just In.....

It is posted in Current Trucking Events on page 2 about half way or so down the page...

[poannua]

Now I am a new driver so I don't have many stories yet but this one happened to my co-driver. We were traveling west thru St. Louis just as the sun was beginning to set. The heavy commuter traffic coupled with the sun in our face made seeing the road difficult. The lane was going away so my co-driver had to change lanes. The wonderful road designers decided that this was also the optimum place for an on ramp. (you will see the significance of this soon) With the blinker on we slowly started to change to the right lane. About 3 miles down the road we see this white four-wheeler weaving in front of us like a crazy person. We started thinking, hijacker, guy on drugs, what? We changed lanes to get around this nut when we noticed a big dent on the side of his car that looked exactly like a tandem tire. :shock: We pulled over and the guys starts screaming you hit my car!!! In a few minutes the local police show up and directed us to a safer place to park. It seems that when we went to change lanes this guy came up the ramp, moved up to our tandems and stayed there. I have yet to figure out why he did not brake when he saw us moving into his lane. Our tandems were slid to the back and he only had to back off about 3-4 feet to keep from getting hit! No tickets were issued, (we actually had the right of way) and WE went happily on our way. The other driver wasn't so lucky since his wife was in the car. From the looks she was giving him, life was going to be very unpleasent for a long time. :twisted:

[stanger35120]

he was probly one of them guys that thought he saw oppertunity knocking to make a quick buck...trhought he'd be able to sue ya and get big bucks... speaking of sueing and making big bucks....anyone see that guy on headline news????the dad of the girl that got hurt by the light the balloon knocked down in the macy's parade.....he said(i have no intent on suing accidents happen this was an accident ) translated that probly means...(i have already received a large check and a larger one is not needed at this time ...i was glad to see everyone is ok....just some bruises....but poor red and yellow m&m's those guys never get a break....

thats just my 2 cents....after taxes i'll owe a nickle

[Doctor Who]

Loading asphalt and a high wind

Back around October one of the 14 named storms paid a call on the coast of NC. I believe the name was Ophelia or, was it Oprah? Sorry!

I was dispatched to load asphalt in Wilmington, NC and transport it to Oxford, NC. Really not a bad paying load and it was a rather easy run on most occasions.

1900 arrival time and the named storm had yet to make its full presence felt as I pulled my wagon under the rack. The driver behind me was questioning all reason as to why anyone would load in a high wind, I told him it was part of the job description.

The rain was coming down horizontal as I set the meter and started loading. I will add here that the wind was strong enough to blow the dome lid back up. I got back on top of the tank to secure the lid when, a HUGE gust of wind attacked. I grabbed the safety rail to keep from becoming a human kite. The other driver swore he saw legs sticking straight out and that I looked like laundry on a clothes line.

When all had settled the control room operator came on the PA and informed me that the gust was 75mph. Real comforting, not too mention the rattling of the well frayed nerves!!

Both trucks loaded the ride to Oxford was not bad once we got away from Wilmington.
The Hurricane did hit the coast the next day with very little damage...

[Doctor Who]

Did you set the brakes???

On the ride to Oxford the driver following me asked if I had thought about grabbing the fill pipe when the gust came up. I told him no, the thought of grabbing something that was 300 degrees was not my idea of fun however, I did tell him about a driver who grabbed a fill pipe as his truck rolled away:

Many years back I was sent to load Acetone to deliver somewhere in Pennsylvania. I pulled up behind a truck from Langer at GATX in Carteret, NJ. I will add here that the Langer driver was bound and determined to get in front of everyone, nothing new, I just finished up last minute paperwork and wrote a few more paragraphs in journal number 5.
I was just about finished with my creative writing when I heard a loud scream, I looked up and saw the Langer truck rolling away from the rack and the driver hanging on to the fill pipe. The driver waiting behind me and myself jumped out and went to help the hapless driver. I shut the emergency valve off while the other driver retrieved the runaway Mack.
GATX personnel came running and helped the poor driver off the fill pipe. Fortunately he was not hurt, he did piss his pants however!

It sure made for a fun day, didn't get to load, didn't have my camera but got to watch a major spill and what happens when a driver gets too impatient! It sure would have made a great safety film.

[yoopr]

reminds me of what happened to me at a truck stop at the bottom of a Colorado mtn. Pass but I'm keeping it within for a bit longer

[proffit]

while doc, magician i gotta thank ya for the good reading. think in the last few days ive fallen off my chair at least twice. Your stories make me consider doing otr instead doing regininal log run, Honestly thiers not many funny stories for what i do. best i would say is a nother guy who i work with once working about 24 hours straight ( not shure it was his 4th trip thou) and he ended up hitting a deer, while for a good laugh and since thier no such thing as cellular phones around here, he called us on the cb, while i showed up and asked what the problem was, as i saw him sitting on the ground having a power snooze, he turns aroudn and says he had a slight problem and to walk aorund the truck and take a look. As im walking around the truck (by the way its about 02:30) I walk around the frohnt of the truck expecting the somewhat normal damage broken light or something along those lines, when i walked around the front i litterly fell over laughing. while our boss paid some good money for bush guards (or as we call them cow catchers) and here as i stared at the truck all 4 hoofs of the deer planted thru the rad. i swear to god that it looked as thou the deer tried jumping off the truck. i approached dave and asked him wtf happened how fast were you going? he says witha perfectly straight face 40mph and makes a statement of now gonna give me a ride. later that afternoon witha full load and with my new co passenger we got back to the yard to inform the boss. sounds like a long time ( but takes on average 60 miuntes to load and still had 20 miles of bush road to cover before i got to the logging site. where im located is litterly in the middle of nowhere) while thats my 2 cents for a story, i thank ya for all the great laughs and looking forward to whenever the book comes out.

[Doctor Who]

Hey Magician we finally broke 70,000!!!!

Gas Hauling Snippets or, better known as disconnected thoughts

CAN YOU WAIT TO UNLOAD???

A few years back I pulled into a convenience store lot and set up to unload. I was ready to pull the first handle when a lady dressed in fine attire came to me and demanded that I wait until she finished pumping gas. I watched her walk back to her Jaguar and start pumping the fuel, I waited about 2 minutes and let the liquid fly.

I HATE GAS HAULERS

This little tidbit was told to me the other day by another gas hauler.

The driver pulled into a store lot set up to unload when a woman pulled her car up to the driver and yelled that she hated gas haulers. She also was raising Hell about the pumps being shut off due to the storage tanks were pretty much EMPTY!!!
The woman kept up the ranting by telling the driver she was going to rip the plastic bags off of the pump handles and start pumping gas. The driver told her to knock herself out.
The irate woman proceeded to tear the bag off of a pump as the local constabulary arrived and put an end to the entertainment.

I will add that the driver is rather new to the world of gas hauling and asked if what he experienced was normal. I told him that was a mild day!!

[poannua]

This is another drivers story so I can't attest to its veracity.

It happened, I believe back in the '70's. The driver was the lead truck in a convoy of about 10 trucks going triple digits in Texas I think. She was familiar with the area so she gets on the CB and says, "I going to drop it back a bit, this is Officer Bob's area and I don't want to piss him off." A voice comes on the CB, "Don't worry Hon, I got your back door." The voice sounds familiar. :? Again she gets on the CB, "No, Officer Bob is a good guy, and this is his area, we don't want to piss him off." The voice comes back, "Hon, this IS Officer Bob, and I got your back door." :shock: She picks up her jaw and replies, "Officer Bob, what are you doing on my back door?" He replies, "Well, my daughter is having our first Grandchild and I intend to be there!"

[Doctor Who]

Is the storage tank supposed to have an echo??

Not long ago I had to take a full trailer load, 9000 gallons, of 87 octane gas to a store in Wilmington, NC. Really not bad, 2 hour ride down, 30 minute unload, 2 hours back. It made for an easy night plus, it paid good.
I will add that the store in need was not on our list of customers, the Wilmington drivers could not get the gas to load.

I pulled into the lot and got set up to unload I then walked into the store to get the Veeder-Root reading. The Veeder-Root is an electronic measuring device that lets the store employees know how much fuel is in the storage tanks. I pulled the printout and found that the 87 octane tank had only 6 inches of liquid in it and the 93 octane tank was fairly full. This store blended its own 89 octane gas. One other point to make here is that the gas pumps will shut down when the liquid level goes below 12 inches, not to mention that at the time this happened 93 octane gas was at or, above the $3.00 a gallon mark.

The manager followed me back out to the truck, I pulled the measuring stick out to verify the tank reading. I dropped the stick and when it hit the bottom there was an echo. "Is that supposed to happen?" The manager asked.
I shook my head and told her no as I hooked the hose up and let the product fly. Just got to love gravity unload!!!

Needless to say, the motorists were a bit perturbed as the pumps stayed off while the product flowed into the thirsty storage tank. More than a few came up asking if they could fuel their vehicles. I just told them to talk to the manager and that pumping the fuel would be at their own risk since the tank was damn near empty.

The good deed done, I wandered back into the store had the papers signed and told the clerk he could turn the pumps back on, he just had a sly grin and said he wasn't in any big hurry.
I just laughed and said that he shouldn't be that way since it was Saturday night in a town near the beach..

[Doctor Who]

...And yet another empty UST tale!!!

Another night and another ride to Wilmington to fill an empty tank. Not bad but it did make the night a bit longer than usual.
The ride down I-40 was uneventful, more like boring would be apt.

The store in dire need is set on a very narrow strip of asphalt and concrete which, makes it rather tight for a truck to pull in. The truck has to pull between the pumps and the store, if there's a vehicle at a pump, oh well it is time to wait and hope that the patron gets in and out in a hurry.

I went inside, said hello to the cashier lady person, got the printout and wandered back to the truck to perform the unloading ceremony. The first compartment had just begun emptying when I looked back and saw a line of cars on both sides of the pump islands. I then realized the cashier lady person had called her friends and neighbours to let them know the "CHEAP" gas had arrived. Got to love Wilmington folk!

With the unloading ceremony complete, a check of the "after" printout and the signing of the life away party over, the cashier lady person bought me a very large ice cold refreshing beverage (Pepsi) and what ever quick food she had available. It sure did make the ride back a little bit more enjoyable....



AH yes GAS HAULING a 24/7 ordeal. Driving during the day a driver has to contend with aggressive commuters and the such. Driving at night a driver still has to contend with the aggressive commuters but also has to deal with the BAR crowd and the fun that comes with it....

As always MORE TO COME!!

[Doctor Who]

A Christmas gas hauling story

Some time ago on a cold and wet Christmas Eve I had to work, couldn't argue too much I was low person on the dreaded "LIST!!!"

Anyway, battling with the last minute gift getter's, freezing rain and the often miserable store clerks, I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn't going to be a fun night. Oh, and yes I did have to work Christmas also.

It was just about 1900 when a very distraught young lady pulled up along side my truck and asked if she could get some gas off the trailer. Of course the answer was no and she started crying. I asked her what her problem was and she managed to tell me through the tears she had run out of money and needed to get to a shelter so she and her child could be safe and warm.

At first I thought it was a scam but something kept telling me to put some trust in this woman. I dug into my pocket and handed her a $20 bill which, was all I had, and told her to fill the gas tank and get the child something hot to eat. She did argue a bit but realized I would not take "NO" for an answer. She did promise to pay me back but I figured I would never see her again.


After the excitement settled down and the trailer finished unloading I wandered into the store for the signature. The clerk had witnessed the scene and told me I was crazy for doing what I did. I just told him he had no Christmas SPIRIT and it would come back and bite him one day. I will also add here that he wouldn't let me get a free cup of coffee which, was customary, for the store clerks to do when a gas delivery was made.
I just thanked the clerk, wandered back to my truck and headed off for the next load....

Flash forward 5 years!!!

Another Christmas Eve, more gas loads and another unfestive night.
I was at my third stop when a Mustang pulled up along side the truck and a young woman stepped out handed me a bag from Burger King, and a cold drink. Not really appropriate on a cold night but it was welcomed just the same. The lady did notice my confused expression and she asked if I remembered her. The obvious answer was no. She went on to say that she didn't forget the night I had given her the $20 and when she saw me she wanted to repay my act of kindness. She did repay the $20 and did say that her and her daughter were doing well.

Needless to say, I was stunned by the whole scene plus, the unfestive night started to look a wee bit brighter!!!

Enjoy the Christmas season!!!

[bullhauler]

hi what a read man 44 pages sat up two whole nights felt like know time
great stuff got a few stories for you.
First love my job drive a IH eagle pulling a 53 foot tri axle cowcar.

Got to love dispatchers.

Hunters in the wrong lane.

Right road wrong farm.

Lie rs and thieves.

Got to love dispatchers.

Wednesday night in yorkton for seven pm sale should be over, WRONG.
Sale ends at ten pm, great only two cars in front of me, loaded gone in a
hour, wait wait wait lets see whats wrong, O right the girl that sorts from the sale ring did not sort the steers from the heifers and has gone home, the boys left to do the job, all four of them have not got a grade ten between them, give up go help sort the load in front of me and my load get loaded and out by one am. no worries only a hour and a half to moosamen climb in the bunk get some zzs hand over to the weekend driver home to see momma done my ten on got four off .
Nine next morning meet the boss the weekend driver has not showed up yet no worries load not booked out till eleven, so go put straw in car and weigh ready to load, sit in line to load, still no weekend driver boss can not reach him looks like he fell in a crack in the ground and disappeared.
Help boss load for Ontario still no weekend driver so boss says looks like you are going to Iowa. Great momas going to love this but what the. this is a money run who cares right, so load and weigh, wait to heavy take three steers off re weigh great good to go, get the paper work and get told the border closes at four pm it is now one pm this will be tight off we go down the road o rats the coop is open all trucks both ways roll up to scale, young pup d o t wants all my paper work weigh then come in office roll over scale hope those boys got the weight right ye all green lights in to the office, young pup wants to know who my mother was why she married my father try to explain on tight schedule to the border with a sealed load he thinks this is fun, got lucky his boss knows two off my nabours get the papers back on the road now late thinking what happens if vet on border has gone home to momma come on eagle baby fly.
South of Brandon on the ten two lane black top ruff as a cow trail got thirteen gears and the peddle all the way to the floor 97000lb gross
then you guessed it the phone rings and this soft sweet female voice says where are you? I reply forty minutes from the border she says you know it(the border) closes in thirty minutes, I say yes looks like I am going to be late. OK says the soft sweet voice I will tell them you will be there in twenty now hurry please hurry. You got to love dispatchers

OK try this for starters but this day is not over yet still to come hunters in the wrong lane

[Doctor Who]

PANIC IN THE YEAR00!!

The year? 1999 the two most popular songs playing It's The End Of The World As We Know It by REM and 1999 by Prince. Not to mention the prognosticators* claiming all Hell was going to break loose and yes, even Art Bell was spinning tales of DOOM and GLOOM!

Now the story begins: New Years Eve 1999 found me hauling gas loads so the holiday revelers could get tanked up on the way back from the Acorn drop in Raleigh. I had just finished with my third load and was heading back to get load number 4. I kept the T-800 wound tight so I could make it to the Exxon terminal by MIDNIGHT and as luck would have it I did with 10 minutes to spare. I wheeled the truck under the rack, stepped out to hook up all the necessary equipment when, the terminal operator came running out yelling at me to stop. I will add that three more trucks had pulled in. The operator had us go into the control room to witness the arrival of the dreaded 00, not the millennium as everyone claimed, that would not happen until 2001, another tale for another day....

As the fateful hour approached discussions turned to the electronics that were supposedly affected by the dreaded 00 and did it also include "electronic" trucks. More conspiracy theories abound as some of the drivers in the room planned for a shut down to demand more money. Great plan, use the 00 bug to ask for a raise....

Well 0000 came, Dick Clark proclaimed it was the year 2000. I got up, looked out the window and didn't see a "MUSHROOM" cloud emanating from the tank farm, the lights didn't go out, the computers in the control room didn't wreak havoc on the humans in the room and from what I could tell the Earth didn't spin off its axis and plunge headlong into Jupiter.
Damn, I was really disappointed but soon got over the feeling, wandered back out to my truck started the loading procedure, without incident, I may add, but couldn't resist having a bit of fun at the terminal operator's expense. I pretended I couldn't get the T-800 started and said something about the bloody computer under the hood. The operator was not pleased one bit!!!

I left Exxon on my way to stop number 4 and counted how many trucks that weren't broken down due to the "DEADLY" 00
BUG. I was also really tempted to call Art Bell and tell him he was full of **** but resisted the urge!!

Oh for what it is worth, the clerk at stop 4 did have a problem with the cash register. She swore it was due to 00. I told her hit it with a hammer and it would start working again. She hit it with her hand and the bloody thing cranked right back up....


*I often wondered about the doom and gloom prognosticators.
Are these the same people who caught Hell in high school and college for being GEEKS and all the DOOM, GLOOM, HATE and DISCONTENT predictions are their way of getting revenge???

[Night Rider]

Hey Doc!!!
When are you going to get that book done and when did you get back into hauling gas???

I did see your brother the other day and he said your health is not very good, is that true and just what has happened????
This old tired driver is getting a bit worried!!!

[Doctor Who]

Originally Posted by Night Rider

Hey Doc!!!
When are you going to get that book done and when did you get back into hauling gas???

I did see your brother the other day and he said your health is not very good, is that true and just what has happened????
This old tired driver is getting a bit worried!!!

First Mick, the book is progressing ever so slowly and I went back to my first love: Tanker Yanking!
You knew that I had a huge passion for dangerous loads that went BOOOM!

The second item: Yes, the down side is, the health is deteriorating and the medical professionals(?) are having a time trying to figure out why it is happening.
I zipped you an e-mail filling all the missing details...

[proffit]

eh doc, ya already made a book of short stories.... all ya gotta do is cut and paste to a word document, take it off the forum, use your stories and make a subsection for other peoples stories, ya got my full permission, and hell even thou i did read them all once before i would be willing to read them again, it would be 1 of those books ya always want around, full of short amusing stories....