Stories From the Road

I went through three different trainers after I got out of truck driving school. It wasn't through any fault of my own, though. The first guy was a painfully conservative 50 something year old dude with a crew cut. At the time I had very long hair and I'm sure that guy got pissed off just looking at me. He was very strict and I thanked God when his truck broke down and it was going to be in the shop for a week. I called dispatch and told them to hook me up with someone else so I could get done with my training and start out on my own. Fortunately, we were in Atlanta and they were able to hook me up with another trainer quickly. Or maybe that wasn't so fortunate. We will see.

My new trainer was a black guy from Jamaica. He was a pretty nice guy, but he didn't really want to get to know me personally and he always kept his distance. I think he was trying to preserve a student/teacher relationship. "No, Grasshopper, you need to give the truck more RPMs when you downshift." That sort of thing. I call the guy the Jamaican because I forgot his name and I don't know any Jamaican names to give him. I did get out of the guy that he was 42 and he had a 25 year old wife at home who had just had a baby boy.

We got a load going up to Chicago after a week on the road and then we got a gravy round trip run from Chicago to Las Vegas and back. That was my kind of run. We're talking at least 3000 miles of easy running.

It was in the middle of winter and the Jamaican was concerned about the weather because we had to do much of the trip in the northern part of the country. If you've ever been in Wyoming in January you will know what I'm talking about. But everything went smooth on the way to Vegas. I looked at an atlas when we were driving through Wyoming and I asked the Jamaican why we didn't head down I-76 to I-70 in Colorado and run that across to I-15.

"Are you crazy, mon? I-70 in Colorado goes through one of the most treacherous mountain ranges to drive in this time of year. We're talking miles of 7% grades and snow measured by feet, not inches. Besides, the company forbids us to run that stretch of road. We cannot go that way," explained the Jamaican.

So we caught I-15 in northern Utah and made a left that took us all the way to Vegas.

On the return trip I drove the first leg of the trip from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. Then I turned it over to the Jamaican after he said, "Mon, you've driven enough for one day." I didn't feel much like sleeping, though, so I sat in the passenger seat for a while smoking cigarettes and watching the day turn into night. The following fact is very important. We were in a cab-over truck. The kind that don't have a hood. The cab sits over the engine. Cab-overs used to rule the road, but now they are getting increasingly rare.

After we had driven about 100 miles into Wyoming I finally felt like I could sleep. The Jamaican had let me have the bottom bunk which was very kind of him because the bottom bunks in those trucks were much more comfortable. There is also a safety net that you are supposed to put up while you are in the bottom bunk if the truck is moving. It will keep you from getting launched through the windshield in the event of a wreck. I did not engage the safety net on that particular night. Just went back there and went to sleep like I was in my own home.

The next thing I knew my upper body had slammed into the back of the driver's seat, the mattress from the top bunk fell down on me, and there was shit flying everywhere. There was a roaring, screeching sound as our truck jack-knifed and skid off the road. I was terrified. I thought we were going to slide off a cliff because I could not see. But it turns out we just slid into the median of the highway.

The interior of the truck looked like a tornado had hit it. I started calling out the Jamaican's name and I didn't get an answer right away. My left knee was throbbing and I saw that the Jamaican's metal clip board had gotten between my leg and the partition from the cab to the bunk. The clip board was bent and useless and I thought I had a broken leg. But I moved the leg and it was okay. Just bruised. I threw the mattress off of me and looked around the seat to see if the Jamaican had been injured. He was slumped to the left side against the window with his eyes closed, but he looked okay. Then he raised his hand to his forehead and let out a long sigh and then slapped his hand down on his thigh. He knew at that moment that his job was lost. He knew he might have seriously hurt some people.

I looked over at where I had been sitting a few hours before and realized how lucky I was. If I would have been sitting in that passenger seat at the time of the accident I would have lost both legs from the knees down and probably would have bled to death in the Wyoming high desert. There wasn't a town of any size anywhere close to where we were.

Here's the way the Jamaican explained it. He was traveling along at 60 MPH (our truck's governed top speed) when a U-Haul hauling a large pick-up truck on a trailer pulled off the shoulder right in front of him. He said he thought the U-Haul was going about 30. He looked to the left and a truck was coming up beside him at about 80 mph. He only had time to touch the brakes before the truck got by him and he tried to steer into the left lane and avoid the U-Haul, but he caught the back left corner of the pick-up with the right front corner of our truck. He was cited and we were given a ride to the nearest bus station after the Jamaican gave a urine sample at the police station. Truck drivers have to give a urine sample after an accident if someone is injured or if a vehicle is towed no matter who is at fault. No one in the U-Haul was injured, but our truck was towed.

The Jamaican was horribly sorry and I said it was ok- I was going to be alright. But there wasn't going to be anything I could say to make him feel better. I didn't give a damn about that pick-up or the semi. I just thought of the poor guy's wife and kid back in Atlanta.

You might consider putting it in Joeybee's... thenecessarylanguage.com...

Check it in writing group

180

Good to see you.

for about three days now. Stories, poems pictures. Looks like a lot of fun.

180

How long you been driving?

When I first started driving.

I need chapter II:bounce:

Well, stay tuned and you will likely see more stories from me.

After the dude took his urine test the cops gave us a lift to the bus station and we hopped a bus home. He got fired and I got with a different trainer and finished my training. I don't know what became of the Jamaican after that. The rest is nestled somewhere deep in my memory and will likely manifest itself as another story from the road sometime in the near future. I've got 9 years experience as a trucker so there are lots of stories. I just have to wait to remember them.

I've had a pretty good experience sharing the road with truckers over the years.
I'm usually on a pleasure trip of some kind. Not on a strict timeteble.

My attitude is that you folks are out there earning a living and I cut you all the slack I can.
I was an airline pilot, and I sure appreciated it when a light plane, sport flyer deferred to my 747 in the pattern.
:thumbsup:

I cut you four wheelers slack, too. I try not to ride your ass and I always move over when you are getting on the highway if I can. We can all benefit if we are curteous on the road.

Thanks.
Keep on truckin'.

What should he have done, in that situation? What, in all that, was his fault??

Good writing, by the way. Thanks for sharing it.

The u-haul driver's was probably totally different. One thing you learn out there on the road is that drivers tend to never admit when they've made a mistake. Some will, though.

Remember I was asleep. The left lane could have been clear when my trainer came upon the U-haul and he could have been dozing or mesmerized by the road. Sorry if I wasn't too clear about that in the story. It does kind of sound like he wasn't at fault the way I have it written. The next time I post the story I will try to include the above information.

That makes sense, that he could have made up whatever about what was going on... I guess I just tend to trust people a little more than I should!

I can't imagine how you guys drive at night, ever. The highway at night, when I have to concentrate on it, is one of the surest ways to put me to sleep. Books on tape?

I usually have to shut her down by about 3 AM no matter when I started driving. Something about that time of the day that just zonks me out.

That's a job I know I shouldn't and couldn't do. :hug:

I enjoyed it

I'm glad you liked it. :hi:

Ah, yes, I do remember this one....And it is certainly worth more than a second reading!

You write so damn well......

Quite mesmerizing.....

Do check out the new online magazine from DU....I have a poem in there...

I'd love to hear what you think of it...Thanks!


:loveya: :hug:

I will check out your poem.

on edit: You will have to point me toward the magazine. I can't find it.

I quite risque. I had to check the name to make sure it was you. I guess we all have personal sides we don't often see on the main board.

There is indeed a side of me that not too many people have seen here...

But that is changing! :bounce:

For your further enjoyment, read my story in the Writer's Forum itself...

It is erotic, I am warning you.....

It's called "The Game." And I am thinking of writing it into a longer work...

Of course, if you don't want to read it, then don't!

But I am so pleased that you like my poem.....:blush:

I'm a redneck trucker, Peggy. You don't have to warn me. Erotic is right up my interstate. :)

Great response, my dear Droopy!

Go read it, and post in that thread, if you will......it's back up at the top again......

I don't think it will EVER get off page one!

:rofl:

I'm sorry if I just noticed.

Welcome back, m'man. I always like your tales, and it's good to see someone from my (former) neck of the woods. :hi:

So you have noticed in a timely manner. :)

It's good to see you, too. :hi:

I've missed your Stories from the Road, and I hope you'll stay and share more. :thumbsup:

:kick: for the DU Day Crew. :)

I'm glad you liked the story and I appreciate you kicking it up there for everybody to see. I always get better responses to these stories when I post in the evening or at night for some reason. Maybe the day crew just doesn't know me as well. Or maybe they think my story sucks. :)