Worst day you ever had in trucking

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** Commie Express **
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Winter somewhere in Washington State out in the middle of Boo Boo Africa. Showed up on a Friday at the last minute to load up cedar railings. It was around 32 degrees and freezing rain. Starting to get dark and they just finished loaded. Everyone left and the lights turned out.

I'm soaking wet, frozen and I have to tarp the load. I thought about putting a chain on the front of the load tied to a tree and just driving away. Had to put my 8' drop tarps on my shoulder and climb up my ladder. I was just 1 step away from death the whole time. Pitch black out and just my back cab lights on to give me a little light.

Rolled out tarp and slippery as hell. Ankle twisting left and right as I slipped in between the rails. Felt like crying. Now the freezing rain has turned to snow. Nothing to hold on to hoping I can get a foot on the ladder to get down. Getting back into truck every 5 minutes to try and warm up. Bungee cords aren't working that good in the cold. Not able to hold on very good and the hooks are catching my hands when they snap back.

Finally get it tarped and get into truck. I'm soaking wet and frozen. Almost had to get some scissors to cut my clothes off. Was going to stay there for the night but there was a hill leaving the place and figured I should get out while I can.

Made it out and got to a main secondary road. Came up to a small weigh station that was closed and a sign that said no parking. SCREW THAT. Never slept so good in my life. When I got up in the morning there was tire tracks all around my truck. You could even see where they pulled up right to my door and backed up. No foot prints though.
 
This one time, I had to drive 200 miles in snow and stuff. Then I had to like...drop the trailer! AND open the doors because it was called "wet lap pulp" and they loaded it wet. and the moisture would like...freeze the doors shut.

So, after 576 tries, and I think I mighta hit two or three trailers maybe....I got er in the spot...then I had to put actual SHOES on, which meant my slippers were all alone in the cab, and then I hiked up my sweat pants, and rolled that freakin' landing gear down! I ROLLED it man! and it was like...hard too. Cuz it was OLD!

Then...it was like all snowing and stuff, and I had to disconnect the airlines. Can you believe that? No people around to do this for me!

THEN I had to release the fifth wheel thingy...and that was like WAY HARD. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder!

Then I hooked an empty and sat in the drop lot living in the truck and ate spam and pooed in a bag right outside the paper mill!

I DROPP and HOOKEded!!
 
Stinkiest/nastiest -- Was working for CF Bulk Commodities (tankers) in 1969. Had to pick up a load of dried blood at the James Allen slaughterhouse in San Francisco for a plywood mill in Oregon. Towards the end of the loading process the 6 or 8 inch pneumatic line broke and covered me with dried blood. But because it was one of the few hot days (per century) in San Francisco, I was sweaty and now covered in blood. No showers were available. For some reason I was running roll and rest -- it was a rush deal and the dispatchers couldn't find my sleeper partner. Anyway I got things shut down. I-80 ran through Richmond at that time. I got off the freeway and legged it over to my house. Scared the crap out of my ex. Threw myself in the shower clothes and all. Got back to the truck and headed to somewhere in plywood mill in Oregon. I think it was around Roseburg. It was even worse than hand loading 100# sacks of liver meal off pier 17 in San Francisco.
Stupidist -- Was working for Post in 1972. I was pushing off a load of caustic (caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, or lye) at the Shell refinery in Martinez. Shell's tank was 50 feet away from the connection. Caustic generally gets pumped into the top of a tank and that was the case at Shell. The tank was at least 25 feet high. So there was still a lot of caustic in the line when the hose started jumping (meaning it's pretty much empty). I mistook a tee for a check valve, disconnected the hose from the pipe, and promptly took a bath in industrial strength lye. I turned the hose on me (I always kept a water hose running when connecting or disconnecting) and jumped under the safety shower. Then legged it down to a guard shack where I took another fully-clothed shower. The guards packed me into a pickup and hauled me to the nurse's station. There I stripped and the nurse had me lay down on one of those examining tables where she packed ice all over me. After freezing me, she threw me a towel and a pair of old coveralls and then told me to head on back to my truck and back to the yard. My body didn't hurt much; it just looked like a slight sunburn all over it. But my self esteem went to crap courtesy of the nurse laughing at my stupidity -- or maybe it was me.
Victimized -- When I was working for CF Bulk Commodities and my sleeper partner neglected to fuel in Sparks because he was in a hurry to get to Mustang Ranch. After he did his thing, he was tired. I took over and ran out a fuel by Mill City (about a hundred miles east of Sparks). But I woke up old Clayton and told him to leg it down to the truckstop (I think it was a Raggedy old Texaco) and get help.
 
This one time, I had to drive 200 miles in snow and stuff. Then I had to like...drop the trailer! AND open the doors because it was called "wet lap pulp" and they loaded it wet. and the moisture would like...freeze the doors shut.

So, after 576 tries, and I think I mighta hit two or three trailers maybe....I got er in the spot...then I had to put actual SHOES on, which meant my slippers were all alone in the cab, and then I hiked up my sweat pants, and rolled that freakin' landing gear down! I ROLLED it man! and it was like...hard too. Cuz it was OLD!

Then...it was like all snowing and stuff, and I had to disconnect the airlines. Can you believe that? No people around to do this for me!

THEN I had to release the fifth wheel thingy...and that was like WAY HARD. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder!

Then I hooked an empty and sat in the drop lot living in the truck and ate spam and pooed in a bag right outside the paper mill!

I DROPP and HOOKEded!!


Waaaait a minute!
 
The worst one??? There's been so many how am I to choose just one?
Why would anyone own a 8 foot tarp? That's sounds like cruel and unusual punishment.
 
This one time, I had to drive 200 miles in snow and stuff. Then I had to like...drop the trailer! AND open the doors because it was called "wet lap pulp" and they loaded it wet. and the moisture would like...freeze the doors shut.

So, after 576 tries, and I think I mighta hit two or three trailers maybe....I got er in the spot...then I had to put actual SHOES on, which meant my slippers were all alone in the cab, and then I hiked up my sweat pants, and rolled that freakin' landing gear down! I ROLLED it man! and it was like...hard too. Cuz it was OLD!

Then...it was like all snowing and stuff, and I had to disconnect the airlines. Can you believe that? No people around to do this for me!

THEN I had to release the fifth wheel thingy...and that was like WAY HARD. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder!

Then I hooked an empty and sat in the drop lot living in the truck and ate spam and pooed in a bag right outside the paper mill!

I DROPP and HOOKEded!!

At least you didn't have to slide the axles to get the weight right. that might have put you over the top!
 
The worst one??? There's been so many how am I to choose just one?
Why would anyone own a 8 foot tarp? That's sounds like cruel and unusual punishment.
What exactly are the dimensions of an 8 foot tarp. If it was actually 8' x 8' and you're whining about it, you'd be a sissy.
 
Photo077.jpg
What exactly are the dimensions of an 8 foot tarp. If it was actually 8' x 8' and you're whining about it, you'd be a sissy.
26x24 and like 160 pounds. It's 8 foot drop on each side.
I have 4 footers and it's like 65 pounds. I covered that up.
 
I really can't nail down my "worst" day in trucking. Lots of competition to win that honor, cause I have had some really crappy days.
 
This one time, I had to drive 200 miles in snow and stuff. Then I had to like...drop the trailer! AND open the doors because it was called "wet lap pulp" and they loaded it wet. and the moisture would like...freeze the doors shut.

So, after 576 tries, and I think I mighta hit two or three trailers maybe....I got er in the spot...then I had to put actual SHOES on, which meant my slippers were all alone in the cab, and then I hiked up my sweat pants, and rolled that freakin' landing gear down! I ROLLED it man! and it was like...hard too. Cuz it was OLD!

Then...it was like all snowing and stuff, and I had to disconnect the airlines. Can you believe that? No people around to do this for me!

THEN I had to release the fifth wheel thingy...and that was like WAY HARD. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder!

Then I hooked an empty and sat in the drop lot living in the truck and ate spam and pooed in a bag right outside the paper mill!

I DROPP and HOOKEded!!
Poo in a bag? You have to check it for holes before using it. Do you hold it by the hand holes or stand over it?
 
26x24 and like 160 pounds. It's 8 foot drop on each side.
I have 4 footers and it's like 65 pounds.
I have a 50' x 50' tarp at home. It's not a truck tarp, it's white & it used to be the roof for an aircraft hangar. I know a guy who replaces his every 3-4 years. It takes about 10 guys to pull them onto the hangar.

Folded up about as tight as it'll fold up, it's about 4 feet by 4 feet and about 2 feet thick. I folded it up into a 4 foot wide strip, then folded that strip from the ends to the center so the last fold required lifting half the tarp. But I put a rope through that last fold & tied it to the back of my ATV and dragged it across the lawn. I plan on attaching it across the bottoms of the trusses in the new steel building to create a ceiling that'll trap in some heat. The steel barn is 50 x 30 I think.

And no, I have no idea how I'll get it up there. :rolleyes:
 
For me it had to be when my dad passed. I was out on the road when that happened, and my family couldn't get a hold of me due to me being in a low service area.

They called my employer, which then was CR England. I was at a Walmart DC dropping a load. CR England couldn't get a hold of me because I was unloading the freight myself, so they called the local police. The police showed up as I was getting the BOL signed. Walmart in turn loaded me with freight going to Gas City Indiana, so I could go home. That was the last time I drove an England truck. I never returned OTR since, and likely never will.
 
This one time at band camp......oh wait, that's a different story.

Pulled a injection mold clamp outta Toronto weighing 115 on 11 axles.

I was planning on getting fuel at the T/S in Buffalo and consulted with my escort who was waiting for me on the U.S. side about the size of said T/S and the possibility of getting my 118 ft ass in there. He kinda hemmed and hawed, then suggested I stop at exit 5 on the Q/E as there's a sizable T/S there. Sounded like a plan since the stop in Buff. wasn't on route.....close, but technically off route.
I axed him about the ramp off the highway and he said " that ramp just loops around and the first turn you will have to make will be in to the truck stop"
Great.
So, fat dumb and happy I exit off the ramp and.........as I roll up to the STOP sign I realize I am fornicated.
I am sitting at a four way stop and need to make a 90 degree left onto a 2 lane divided road with a center curb complete with signage.

Ain't gonna happen. Think turning a Greyhound bus around in your kitchen ain't gonna happen.
Well, ought to be easy enough to just cross over and hit the entrance ramp and continue on my way. Oh, if only.
The ent ramp was 100 yards that way (I'm pointing to my left).
The road directly across from me had a sign that basically said "don't even think about it Keen" 5 ton limit or some such nonsense.

So I finger I can't sit where I'm at and I pull straight across and pull as far to the right as I can and get out and walk to the back of the trlr to scope out the situation and decide how I'm gonna do this.
A 4 wheeler pulls up and a man and a woman get out. The dude reaches in his pocket and flashes a badge at me and asks if I'm lost. I tell him I was trying to get over to the T/S to get fuel and well........ here I am, too effin long to get around the corner. He asks me what my plan is and I tell him that I'm gonna take the jeep out and then I will (hopefully) be able to make the turn. He says "you won't make the ramp even without the jeep" ???!!! His cohort disagrees and suggests that I back down the ramp from where I came. ???!!!! After a little discussion he tells me to go ahead and take the jeep out and go get my fuel and take a look at the ramp and see what I think.
I go get the fuel, the ramp is fine and when I get back the plain clothes had left and I now had 2 uniform cars to assist in traffic control. So I hook the trlr back up (sans jeep) ,they stopped traffic and I backed up across the intersection. As I'm backing up and getting my 2nd look at the turn I realize that it may have been a good idea to have flipped the neck on the trlr. Did I do that? noooo.........ah well.
I did manage to make the turn, just, took the trlr down the ramp and dropped it on the shoulder, came back fer my jeep and put everything back together.
So off I went to have a little one sided discussion with my escort.
Actually I have to take the hit on this as I had not pulled up the map on my phone to scope all this out as I shoulda. I was trying to avoid the international data rate. Apparently when you use data in Canada you are contributing to the @bigyellowpete alcohol fund.
Fat drunk.
 
I rethought this one. One of the top contenders would have to be my first day getting my first trailer.
I was leaving the flying hook in Temple, GA. and not yet use to the trailer.
Pulled off from the red light making a left turn and I quit pulling.
I looked back and there was Honda under my trailer.
I got out and asked the guy why he drove under my trailer.
After a little chat time we decided the police weren't needed.
I paid him 240.00 and bought him a fender, headlight and bumper cover.
 

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