Truck Driving Stories - Tales From The Road

[Gdjjr]

Let’s see if I remember this run-

So back as a company driver, couple months in, I’m sitting in the office fixing my log book or something. There’s 3 or 4 office staff chatting away in the other room.

“Can we send Bill?”

“Nah, his wife’s sick, he won’t go”

“Andrew?”

“Nope, he said never again, not up there”

“John?”

“Nope, not before Christmas he has a family”

Like in the movies all of them turned their head slowly and looked at me...in unison, slow motion and kind of creepily...

“What about the new guy?”



“Hey, new guy, wanna go to Labrador? You gotta deliver before Christmas”

Labrador? In winter?

Eh. **** it. Let’s go. Where am I going?

So, a senior driver starts giving me some pointers. The wooden bridges are fine to drive on, you’re not that heavy

Wooden bridges???

The caribou like to sleep on the pavement before you come into town, they like to lick the salt off the roads

Caribou???

Last fuel is in Baie Comeau in Quebec, that’s it for 1000 miles

Wait, what??

Also, the roads leading up to the dams are pretty steep and winding, you need to do....oh never mind, you’re driving a manual truck FORGET EVERYTHING I JUST SAID ABOUT AUTOMATIC trucks climbing hills in the winter

10-4! Consider it forgotten!!!

So. I’ve never driven a big horse in winter before. Not even snowflakes. I had a short run before leaving for Labrador, for some reason I ended up dropping the trailer and ran home bobtail in some fresh snow. I called a buddy of mine and we went out bobtail driving around in the snow and shifting just to see what I could learn before I left.

So now, I have some bobtail winter driving experience in the truck I’m taking up. New wiper blades. I have tire chains. I have food, water, a heater, stove, cold weather gear, my atlas, directions...let’s rock this butch!!!

I called the Labrador tourism board. Hey, is there anything I should see while I’m up there? Any attractions or touristy places?

No.

No? What do you mean no? You’re the tourism board for the whole stinking province?

Everything closes in September, sir


Alright cross that off the list...

So I think Christmas Eve was a Wednesday. I think I left on Saturday trying to get up there for Monday or Tuesday. I stopped Saturday night and saw some family, then hit the road nice and early on Sunday.

And the ****ing truck broke down by Brockville. Mobile guy said no way is that a quick roadside fix. Called the office, they said they’d send me another truck

I hit the road around 7 am, the other truck didn’t show up until almost 7 pm. Grabbed all my junk and threw it in the other truck....and found out it’s a ****ing automatic

Hey!! How do you move this ****ing thing??!

I think we got up around Quebec City that night and hit the rack. Got up the next morning and got hit with some slush that the wiper blades just smeared around so badly I pulled over to clean the windshield. Who the **** was driving this pile? I miss my other truck already

Trying to get a translator in Quebec to find wiper blades was annoying

So we got into Baie Comeau around 3 pm. Found wiper blades. Splashed fuel. Had a shower. Ate supper. Had a nap. Around 11 pm we hit the road again. This is now Monday night, Christmas is fast approaching.

I drove for a few hours, napped, drove, napped, drove, napped...all the way up there. I think I crawled in to town about 8 pm Tuesday night.

No cell service. No radio stations. No nothing. Luckily I could get CBC1 on AM for part of the ride. -30 to -40 the whole way. I think I threw in $2-300 worth of fuel along the way, out of pocket, just to play it safe.

Up at 7 am, went to the receivers.

Oh. We don’t know if we’ll get you empty today, its Christmas Eve.



Where do you want this stuff? I’M NOT SPENDING THE HOLIDAYS UP HERE!

So they sent out an old man and a young lad to help unload. They were moving slower than city workers. So, I started kicking product out in the parking lot. When the pile was too high I pulled the truck ahead and started a new pile. Use guys can put it away later, or not, I don’t care. Sign my bills and let me leave

10:05 am we was empty and heading for Christmas supper.

Good story!

 

[Electric Chicken]

Let’s see if I remember this run-

So back as a company driver, couple months in, I’m sitting in the office fixing my log book or something. There’s 3 or 4 office staff chatting away in the other room.

“Can we send Bill?”

“Nah, his wife’s sick, he won’t go”

“Andrew?”

“Nope, he said never again, not up there”

“John?”

“Nope, not before Christmas he has a family”

Like in the movies all of them turned their head slowly and looked at me...in unison, slow motion and kind of creepily...

“What about the new guy?”



“Hey, new guy, wanna go to Labrador? You gotta deliver before Christmas”

Labrador? In winter?

Eh. **** it. Let’s go. Where am I going?

So, a senior driver starts giving me some pointers. The wooden bridges are fine to drive on, you’re not that heavy

Wooden bridges???

The caribou like to sleep on the pavement before you come into town, they like to lick the salt off the roads

Caribou???

Last fuel is in Baie Comeau in Quebec, that’s it for 1000 miles

Wait, what??

Also, the roads leading up to the dams are pretty steep and winding, you need to do....oh never mind, you’re driving a manual truck FORGET EVERYTHING I JUST SAID ABOUT AUTOMATIC trucks climbing hills in the winter

10-4! Consider it forgotten!!!

So. I’ve never driven a big horse in winter before. Not even snowflakes. I had a short run before leaving for Labrador, for some reason I ended up dropping the trailer and ran home bobtail in some fresh snow. I called a buddy of mine and we went out bobtail driving around in the snow and shifting just to see what I could learn before I left.

So now, I have some bobtail winter driving experience in the truck I’m taking up. New wiper blades. I have tire chains. I have food, water, a heater, stove, cold weather gear, my atlas, directions...let’s rock this butch!!!

I called the Labrador tourism board. Hey, is there anything I should see while I’m up there? Any attractions or touristy places?

No.

No? What do you mean no? You’re the tourism board for the whole stinking province?

Everything closes in September, sir


Alright cross that off the list...

So I think Christmas Eve was a Wednesday. I think I left on Saturday trying to get up there for Monday or Tuesday. I stopped Saturday night and saw some family, then hit the road nice and early on Sunday.

And the ****ing truck broke down by Brockville. Mobile guy said no way is that a quick roadside fix. Called the office, they said they’d send me another truck

I hit the road around 7 am, the other truck didn’t show up until almost 7 pm. Grabbed all my junk and threw it in the other truck....and found out it’s a ****ing automatic

Hey!! How do you move this ****ing thing??!

I think we got up around Quebec City that night and hit the rack. Got up the next morning and got hit with some slush that the wiper blades just smeared around so badly I pulled over to clean the windshield. Who the **** was driving this pile? I miss my other truck already

Trying to get a translator in Quebec to find wiper blades was annoying

So we got into Baie Comeau around 3 pm. Found wiper blades. Splashed fuel. Had a shower. Ate supper. Had a nap. Around 11 pm we hit the road again. This is now Monday night, Christmas is fast approaching.

I drove for a few hours, napped, drove, napped, drove, napped...all the way up there. I think I crawled in to town about 8 pm Tuesday night.

No cell service. No radio stations. No nothing. Luckily I could get CBC1 on AM for part of the ride. -30 to -40 the whole way. I think I threw in $2-300 worth of fuel along the way, out of pocket, just to play it safe.

Up at 7 am, went to the receivers.

Oh. We don’t know if we’ll get you empty today, its Christmas Eve.



Where do you want this stuff? I’M NOT SPENDING THE HOLIDAYS UP HERE!

So they sent out an old man and a young lad to help unload. They were moving slower than city workers. So, I started kicking product out in the parking lot. When the pile was too high I pulled the truck ahead and started a new pile. Use guys can put it away later, or not, I don’t care. Sign my bills and let me leave

10:05 am we was empty and heading for Christmas supper.

Too bad that wasn't a pickup. You would have been a Labrador Retriever.

 

[quillcom]

Deja Vu. My car and truck too.

So I was just minding my own business going about my daily chores as a P & D
Ltl'r, went to make a left turn in my truck...

Hit the left turn signal lever...

Click click click click, twice as fast as normal. Get out to check and yep, front
directional blown.

Ohh well I said. Simple fix. At the end of the day drove it to A.B. got gas and they swapped out the blown bulb problem solved,
done deal, day over.

Hopped in my car went to make a right turn (yeah I should have lied and said left but it was right) and you guessed it....

Click click click twice as fast. I said your kidding me right! I kinda looked around to see if there was a practical joker lurking but to no avail.

Ohh well. Got out checked the lights all were working, replaced fuse at circuit box threw the signal lever, normal clicks, done deal.

Next day.

Climb back into truck, hit the road went to make a left....

Click click click, double time again. Same bulb. Bad batch I said. End of day swapped it out again, done deal.

Hopped into car ( I swear to you) went to turn....

Double time on the you know what. Figured it must be the relay, but that sucker to this day has not budged and is fast stucked in it's socket to this day. Alas,.....

 

[THBatMan8]

Use a crescent wrench or long nose needle pliers to get that relay out. Tap it with a rubber mallet too.

 

[ironpony]

Use a crescent wrench or long nose needle pliers to get that relay out. Tap it with a rubber mallet too.

Rubber mallets are for disciplining teenagers without leaving unsightly marks.

Now *this* is a tapper...

 

[THBatMan8]

Rubber mallets are for disciplining teenagers without leaving unsightly marks.

Now *this* is a tapper...

View attachment 51846

To this day I still for the life of me can't recall how I ended up with two Roadpro mallets. Same thing with strap wench winders. I got two of them also.

 

[THBatMan8]

Rubber mallets are for disciplining teenagers without leaving unsightly marks.

Now *this* is a tapper...

View attachment 51846

On a side note, those mallets have become my 'go to' tool to loosen up stubborn car parts that don't want to budge.

 

[R Perry]

I started driving shortly after getting out of the Navy, that was 1968. Yes I have had a few interesting experiences over the years, the ones with the girls that where hitchhiking back then are probably the best, and I'm not going to share them with you.

The ones that had the greatest effect on me though where the accidents I seen, each one I believe made me a little better driver, and made me a little more careful. Drove 46 years and no accidents. Retired now.

One thing I learned about truck stop stories, they were a lot like Sailors stories, and fairs tails, one starts off, once upon a time, the other starts off, this is no sh....

Cheers

 

[Railsplitter]

That's why photo documentation is good... video too, it separates the truth-tellers from the bull$hitters, LOL.

 

[Railsplitter]

BTW, I scored a gubmint job wrenching on golf carts, go figure... full benefits too, LOL. I've only been there for 5 weeks and I've already had 3 paid holidays... gubmint, baby, gubmint!!! Now, driving these E-Z-GO TXT Fleet "Golf Cars" is a bit different from driving a 90-m.p.h. rig, but I can STILL get sideways by backing off the governor and turning up each cart prior to "test drives." There's a dirt & gravel road which circles our barn-like Maintenance Shed, and I routinely "drift" round this loop like some chumpish Holywad actor in a globalist propaganda film featuring JapCrap 4-wheelers, LOL.

Seriously, drifting in a 13-hp gas-powered golf cart is utterly ridiculous, but it CAN be done if the cart is turned up all the way... moi, I prefer getting sideways in the big rig on slick-@$$ ice with a layer of meltwater on top, but that's just my personal preference. Somehow, that reminds me of the drunken golfers who ran their cart into a tree, bent the struts which support the roof and windshield, and broke the plastic windshield in the bargain... too many drinks off the Beverage Cart, no doubt. Meh, it's all job security, I already fixed that f/u cart by cannibalizing parts off the carts out back, so the drunks are golden... 19th-hole friggin' heroes, AYE???

I'M BACK TO MY COLD BEER AFTER WORK... TONIGHT I'LL DREAM OF ROLLING UP ON A D.O.T. SCALE IN A F#%NG GOLF CART, STEERING WITH MY FEET AND POUNDING A COLD BEER!!!

Make like that Brooklyn hand in "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" as I toss my empty and crack another cold one out of the cooler riding shotgun:

"HEY, @$$HOLE!!! YA WANNA CHECK MY COMIC BOOK??? HOW'S MY WEIGHT LOOKIN'??? OH, YEAH, TELL YOUR F#%NG MOTHER TO QUIT CALLING MY HOUSE!!!"

 

[Electric Chicken]

BTW, I scored a gubmint job wrenching on golf carts, go figure... full benefits too, LOL. I've only been there for 5 weeks and I've already had 3 paid holidays... gubmint, baby, gubmint!!! Now, driving these E-Z-GO TXT Fleet "Golf Cars" is a bit different from driving a 90-m.p.h. rig, but I can STILL get sideways by backing off the governor and turning up each cart prior to "test drives." There's a dirt & gravel road which circles our barn-like Maintenance Shed, and I routinely "drift" round this loop like some chumpish Holywad actor in a globalist propaganda film featuring JapCrap 4-wheelers, LOL.

Seriously, drifting in a 13-hp gas-powered golf cart is utterly ridiculous, but it CAN be done if the cart is turned up all the way... moi, I prefer getting sideways in the big rig on slick-@$$ ice with a layer of meltwater on top, but that's just my personal preference. Somehow, that reminds me of the drunken golfers who ran their cart into a tree, bent the struts which support the roof and windshield, and broke the plastic windshield in the bargain... too many drinks off the Beverage Cart, no doubt. Meh, it's all job security, I already fixed that f/u cart by cannibalizing parts off the carts out back, so the drunks are golden... 19th-hole friggin' heroes, AYE???

I'M BACK TO MY COLD BEER AFTER WORK... TONIGHT I'LL DREAM OF ROLLING UP ON A D.O.T. SCALE IN A F#%NG GOLF CART, STEERING WITH MY FEET AND POUNDING A COLD BEER!!!

Make like that Brooklyn hand in "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" as I toss my empty and crack another cold one out of the cooler riding shotgun:

"HEY, @$$HOLE!!! YA WANNA CHECK MY COMIC BOOK??? HOW'S MY WEIGHT LOOKIN'???"

You were saying....

That's why photo documentation is good... video too, it separates the truth-tellers from the bull$hitters, LOL.

 

[Railsplitter]

What, you want a shot of the carts? The shed? Meh, so be it...

 

[Railsplitter]

Hmm, only three pics per post... didn't get a good close-up of an E-Z-GO cart, those green carts are electric Yamahas. Lemme see:



Damn, can't waste any more time searching files, I gots beer to drink... those $hithouse white carts are the E-Z-GO TXT Fleet numbers, the other pics are of our Barn Kitty, she's a real sweetheart, LOL.

 

[Electric Chicken]

I'm more interested in the drifting.

 

[Railsplitter]

Oh, hell... and I donated my Hero Cam to those pesky skateboarders up in Show Low. Meh, maybe I can work out something with my Canon cam, it has a video button... but the golf cart drifting footage will be UGLY, it was always better in a big truck, LOL.

P.S. Sheeeeee-it, that's the best truck emoji at this so-called trucking site??? Pffffft... brokedicks.

 

[Duck]

Government golf carts? What a waste of taxpayer money.

 

[Railsplitter]

Whaddya expect from GUBMINT???

 

[Uncle Birchy]

About this forum:

Over the past few months, we have had some members offer up some very interesting accounts of their daily travels up and down the interstate. Whether it was an interesting day at the truck stop, a scary day out on some wet/icy roads, or just about anything else that may happen to a driver over the course of a 10 hour day, we felt that there should be a special place to post these stories for all to see.

Don't hesitate, start filling this forum up with some of your interesting stories today.

Thanks.. I shall be here

And "thanks for not completely punching my "Ticket"...

I love all ya and I'm gosh dang Gr8ful to be "Here"

 

[mndriver]

Weird loading.....


Got to the shipper today. Talking to my loader, Came in from "name of town."

No kidding... I'm used to live there. Where do you live.



Go north out of town, 2nd from the end on the right.

The "color" house.

Yop. That's the one.


No kidding. I grew up in that house back in the '80's. Names my cousin who gave me the elk antlers to bring back to Minnesota. "He used to live across the street from me.*

I mention his son.

Yop. Knew him too" Graduated with another one of my cousins. Starts talking details about the house I've lived in for the past twelve years.

Flash forward to the afternoon. Stop in on business with the local bank.

Mention the chance crossing to the banker....


Yeah, I know the guy. (Names him). Grew up in town. Names things off as if he'd been at the shippers with the two of us talking.

Yeah, small towns can creep you out like that.

 

[Duck]

Weird loading.....


Got to the shipper today. Talking to my loader, Came in from "name of town."

No kidding... I'm used to live there. Where do you live.



Go north out of town, 2nd from the end on the right.

The "color" house.

Yop. That's the one.


No kidding. I grew up in that house back in the '80's. Names my cousin who gave me the elk antlers to bring back to Minnesota. "He used to live across the street from me.*

I mention his son.

Yop. Knew him too" Graduated with another one of my cousins. Starts talking details about the house I've lived in for the past twelve years.

Flash forward to the afternoon. Stop in on business with the local bank.

Mention the chance crossing to the banker....


Yeah, I know the guy. (Names him). Grew up in town. Names things off as if he'd been at the shippers with the two of us talking.

Yeah, small towns can creep you out like that.

Get this.. I was getting smokes in Merrill, Iowa a few years ago. 2017 I think.

This extremely old man at the register carded me.

He immediately recognized my last name on my license and asked me if I knew (insert my grandparents' names here) . Said they lived next door to him for two years before my dad was born.

He hadn't seen or heard from them in over 70 years but he recognized the name.

A couple months later I was in TN helping my aunt move and I asked her I'd she knew anything about them living in Merrill and she did.

Weird how a guy in his 90's could remember a neighbor from 70 years ago just from a name on an ID. He remembered their names and that my grandpa was fresh out of the Navy at the time.