[Doctor Who]

Another from Magicians archives....


Another incident involving inspection sheds....right after the 53' trailers made their appearance, and I latched onto one of them, I made the first trip into California with it. Sure enough as I crossed the scale at St. Onofre (On I-15) the scale master pulled me around. Well, I had the trailer slid all the way back and with my 285" wheelbase, was about 72 feet long. I started pulling into the shed and as I neared the other end, I checked the mirror and the scale master kept motioning me forward...Next thing I knew, most of the tractor was out of the shed. He finally motioned for me to stop. He walked up and looked at me, 'you're kinda long, aren't you?' - I looked down and smiled, remarking, 'no sir, your sheds just a wee bit short'....he laughed and proceeded with the inspection. Again, my philosophy of getting them laughing proved successful...To this date, that ole inspection guy remembers me and the last time I was crossing that scale, I walked in and volunteered for an inspection (which I received) and he merely checked my lights, air, turn signal, etc...Never bothered crawling under the truck to check the brakes, etc...And put a new sticker on the windshield, and trailer...

As an added note. in all my years of driving in California, I have yet to be really hassled by any DOT...there were several occasions which could have went in that direction, but because I had them laughing so quick, it turned out alright. That's my secret of handling the California DOT....

Reprinted with permission!!!!

Damn, I missed the anniversary time by 12 minutes......

[Doctor Who]

Still didn't make 9000 but the clock is still ticking!!!

Hey how did you get the lights to blink like that???

On a few of the chemical runs I was on I carried my HF Amateur radio so I could talk to folks all over the country and where ever else the signal reached out and touched.

On a run to Deep Water, NJ I had stopped at Toms Brook, VA for the obligatory 8 hour break. I was running a bit ahead of schedule so I ran a piece of modified coax to the trailer, so I could use it as an antenna. Yes, this does work with a tuner; I could use the trailer on a few different bands.
After a few hours nap I got up and tuned the radio for an evening schedule with some friends in Florida and Georgia and who ever else happened to wander in. As I was conversing I heard a few drivers talking on the 11 meter radio but not really paid much attention to it until a driver knocked on the driver side door. I rolled down the window and he asked me how I got the lights on my trailer to blink like they did. I wasn?t sure what he was talking about until I keyed up the radio again and talked watching the lights in the mirror; sure enough they blinked every time I said something and they were in perfect sync. I told the driver it took a lot of practice to get the lights to behave like that.
Did he believe me??? I don?t know but just for fun I switched to Morse code and really had fun, each dot and dash played out on the marker and clearance lights. The truck was the talk of the truck stop as I disconnected the coax and proceeded on to NJ.
No, the coax didn?t ride very well as I found out by trial and error... I also discovered that a full trailer actually worked better than an empty one. Ah yes one the many mysteries of radio!!!!

More to come.....

[magician_73]

1159 to go Doc!


Gee whiz, Doc - missed the anniversay by a day. Just couldn't find time/nor a working kiosk to check in.

Ain't no doubt in this ole fart's mind, we's gonna reach 10,000.....by the way, you didn't comment on the old suicide sleepers - crawling through that stupid hole head first or feet first !

And, speaking of mirage's - had a few of those in the good old days....
Once particular occasion, strolling across the bottom of Arizona, New Mexico on I-10, wee hours of the morning....look ahead and seen brake lights directly in front of me. Locked the ole gal up bigtime, damn near jack-knifed....finally stopped, and look ahead once more. No lights of any kind. Pulled off on the shoulder, got out and walked around looking in every possible direction for those brake lights...none to be found. I got back in headed for an off ramp and found a nice pulloff to take a well deserve nap. There were also occasions when I remember distinctly of being passed by elk, rabbits and trees....those occasions also prompted a quick nap. Or of looking at a mile sign, a town just 12 miles ahead, and next thing remembering I'm well past that town and haven't the slightest inkling of ever going through it....

One other item, meant to ask you - in your adventures way back when, did you have occasion to run across a driver from N.C. with the handle of 'Carolina Shaker'...an ole boy that had been around for years, years...?

[Doctor Who]

by the way, you didn't comment on the old suicide sleepers - crawling through that stupid hole head first or feet first !

I overlooked it. The W-900 had a squeeze through sleeper but it was a bit bigger than the 28" version. I still remember the steel hauler from Indiana who drove a Mack U-700 with a crawl through sleeper, now that took a lot of balls!!!!

One other item, meant to ask you - in your adventures way back when, did you have occasion to run across a driver from N.C. with the handle of 'Carolina Shaker'...an ole boy that had been around for years, years...?

I do remember Shaker, never did have the privilege of having coffee with him... There was one other character called the Peashooter, who used to drive for the Double Diamond (McLean, for the youngins) I know this guy real well......

[Doctor Who]

I had a load just recently that delivered in Orlando, Florida, not too bad I got to check out the tourists while I was riding to the delivery point.
I never really paid attention to the unloading point until the forklift driver dropped a crate and a big lizard arm fell out. ?What in hell is that?? I asked the driver. He said it was a dinosaur arm and it was going to be used in the new theme park. Of course my curiosity was peaked and after he finished unloading we went for a little walk through the back lot for Jurassic Park. Ah yes Universal Studios, Orlando and a tour of the back lot of Jurassic Park was in order, it was really cool and the best part it was FREE!!!!
I managed to spend a few hours before someone in dispatch realized the truck hadn?t moved. I got back in the truck and found I had 10 messages on the Qual-comm mostly asking what was I doing at the stop for an extended period of time?

I answered all 10 and headed off towards Saint Petersburg to make a pick up and ride on to Atlanta.

This is the Prequel to......

[Doctor Who]

It's been two years I guess it's safe to post this now!!!

The original was lost due to a board hiccup!!!

Beware the Lunatic Fringe

I finally made it to the Atlanta facility after making the pick up in Saint Pete and making a bunch around Atlanta. I walked into the dispatch den and overheard a heated argument between a dispatcher and a driver. I signed the board and asked what the problem was, the dispatcher said he had a load going to New York and the angry driver refused it. I said the driver lives in NJ but the driver still refused to go, I told the dispatcher I?d take it in the assumption I would get a load back towards the house.
I took my 8 and wandered into outbound dispatch and looked over the load, it had two stops in Queens, one stop in Brooklyn not bad $30 a stop plus the miles, sort of like going home?

I arrived at the 1st stop, a floor tile place on 55th Street about 07:30 Thursday morning. The establishment had an inside dock so always the one for a challenge I tried, in vain, to back the trailer into the dock and discovered the landing gear was one foot to long and got hung up. Instead of risking damage to the trailer, not to mention, losing the safety bonus I pulled back into the street, parked along the curb and waited for the forklift driver to come out. As I waited on the sidewalk I was watching the traffic in the street and was amused by a concrete mixer that was painted Carolina Blue with pink polka dots. The next thing I knew I was laying on the ground looking up at a Honda mini-van and the forklift driver looking over me saying ?Dude, you OK???? I asked what had just happened and he said you got hit by the van. The driver of the concrete truck came over and said ?That was some back flip you did!!!? ?I did??? was the only thing I could ask.
They helped me up in time to greet a NYPD officer, who, happened to be standing on the corner by a diner. I apologized to him for interrupting his donut break; he was not amused and proceeded to talk to the driver of the van. I will state for the record I understand a few foreign languages but the guy in the van I couldn?t understand it sounded for all the world like a poorly edited rap record. The cop turned to me and said ?I can?t understand a word he is saying!!? I looked at the cop and told him I couldn?t understand a thing he was saying. That should have been a clue something was wrong!
It seemed like forever before I could sort events out but from what little I did understand the van was stolen, had no insurance and the guy didn?t have a drivers? license and I think he was in the U.S. illegally?

For the record EMS was never called. I called dispatch and was told he had no one to come get me and I had to finish the run, the cop grabbed the phone and explained to the dispatcher what had transpired but alas to no avail. The guy who owned the tile company knew the guy at my next stop so, he called them and when I arrived 10 guys were there to unload their part of the load. As luck would have it the guy at stop #2 was the brother of the receiving manager at Kraft food in Brooklyn so, he called there and told me I was going to be backed around the trucks waiting. By the time I got to Kraft the adrenalin had pretty much worn off and the manager told me I looked like shit and he?d get me unloaded real quick and have me back on my way. He was good to his word.

I finally made my way back to the Cross Bronx Expressway, when I heard a NYPD dispatcher on my scanner tell cops in Manhattan that a building collapsed at 65th and Park Avenue. I was just about to the George Washington Bridge and I knew what was going to happen next. The bridge was shut down. I begged the cop to let me get across and explained what had happened. I also told him to check with the Queens precinct if he needed verification. He called and the next thing I knew I was getting an escort across the bridge.
Just as I got the truck parked at the Newark facility I was pulled from the cab and taken to the hospital, where the doctor had a fit because it took me so long to get any medical attention. He took a bunch of MRIs and he found my spine was twisted and my right knee was just about jelly?.

Obviously this isn?t very amusing but it is a memory that?ll last me well past retirement!!

Also this is what I get for never refusing a load, or "No good deed goes unpunished!!"

[magician_73]

1093 to go Doc. Yup, Clock is ticking!


Yup, won't be that long before the magical 10,000 arrives! I wonder what kind of celebration will be in order? HA :lol:

[Doctor Who]

1092

When are you getting to the east side again especially NC east of 95??

Not sure what kind of party will be thrown as you saw there wasn't much of a woopti doo during the two year anniversary... Oh well can't have the cake unless someone bakes it... Oh no it's beginning to sound like MacArthur Park!!!

I saw a blip on another site about cyclists getting fined for pissing in public. Hmm I have to dig up another story from the Dark Side about the "FLY" inspector, all 250 lbs of her!!!! :shock: :shock:

[magician_73]

Clock is ticking, I know!

Relating to 'Carolina Shaker', it's a shame you never had the opportunity to meet him. He was one 'character' to say the least. A renegade/outlaw in every sense of the word. I think at one point in time, every state between the Carolinas and LA had warrants out for running scales, speeding, etc... I know way back when I followed him through Los Cruces, NM to the Texas line and when we neared the NM port, he killed all his lights and floored it, and by the time they came out, he was long gone. I know ' Carolina Shaker' had one of the few trucks out there that could pass a Monfort. If memory serves me correctly, one particular truck he had, had a KT600(Cummins) in it with a 6 and a 4 two stick.

[magician_73]

Finally got off that 'blue' kick!

Anyway, remembering way back when, heading from Shiprock,NM over to Montcello and up to Moab, etc...and on the stretch between Shiprock and Montecello, a narrow windy two lane, it was misty rain, light fog and visibility not the best in the world. At one point, I noticed headlights coming up on my backdoor, and when the opportunity presented itself, eased over as far as possible and two 'chicken' trucks passed me like I was standing still with only perhaps three/four feet between them. I thought to myself, boy are they living dangerously. About ten miles down the road, I came up on a curve and looking staight ahead, there sat both 'chicken' trucks out in the field. The lead truck missed the curve in the fog and the one behind followed him right out into the field. I got on the radio and asked if they were alright (they were) and one quipped, 'the boss ain't gonna believe this when we call him'. I can well imagine the boss' reaction to having two of his trucks sitting in the corn field.