IT'S AN OSTRICH part tres

A little background is in order, as in part 2 located on page 25 the route the trucks take from plant to pit and vice versa is mostly 2 lane roads lined on both sides with horse farms, cow palaces and chickens.

On one trip back to the asphalt plant I thought I saw a zebra mixed in with a gaggle of horses. On the ride back it was a zebra, so much for the LSD flashback...
On a subsequent trip I saw a mule kick the shit out of a farm hand, I was going to stop to help the poor guy but saw a couple of his friends running to help....

After unloading the sand I made the mistake of getting behind the other trailer driver, yes the same driver who saw the emu... Well I saw the brake lights come on and the tyres smoke. "Not again!" I thought as I came to a stop behind him. I jumped out of my truck to see what the problem was. As I walked up to the other trucks cab I heard a goat raising all kinds of hell. When I got to the front of the truck I saw the driver standing and staring at two little goats laying in the road.
"Well, it's not a bird this time!" I said to P A T*
He just shrugged his shoulders and asked what were we going to do.
I looked at the distraught big goat and told P A T the mama is getting upset so I picked up one of the little goats.
"I suppose they eat humans also?!" P A T asked with a hint of sarcasm.
I told him I doubted it but goats do have a voracious appetite as I put the goat near his head and the little critter started nibbling on his hair. " I guess they do like human!" I said laughing..

While we stood in the road chatting a lady came out of the house near the fence and thanked us for not running over her goats. I helped the lady put the babies back over the fence and noticed that the mama started butting them in the ass. Goats do discipline their kids...
I also noticed two odd looking critters and went to ask the lady but she beat me to it by saying she also had antelopes. I did ask her if her husbands name was Noah. She wasn't too sure what I had meant
"You know, the dude with the big wood boat!" I responded.

While the lady laughed and tried to explain the menagerie we heard a loud yell and we noticed that the other driver was being pecked by the emu.
"Would you leave that damn bird alone!" I yelled to him "Didn't I warn you about the emu liking humans!"

Well the rest of the day went by without incident, which was fine by me!

*I chose not to use the other drivers name and after the above incident he became N.L.E. after an altercation with a diesel pump.
There went a great source of entertainment

 

The POTUS Pays A Visit

A month or so ago two drivers were dispatched on a secret mission, unfortunately I was one of the two. We had to go into the capital city to help with some, much needed, levity..

As we rode through the maniacal rush hour mayhem I heard a radio news person say the POTUS was visiting the capital to talk about his Social Security Plan.
"Great!!" I thought to myself "It's going to be a fun day.
The original plan was to move crushed up asphalt and bring it back to the home domicile, notice I did say "original plan"

Mr. Murphy was forever the optimist, what could go wrong did and couldn't have happened on a better day.
We arrived at the designated coordinates only to find no one there, also, keep in mind the company drivers are forbidden to carry cell phones while on the truck. The other driver went to find a payphone and call the foreman...
Twenty minutes had elapsed when the other driver brought back the edict, head back and haul rocks to the concrete plant. As I said a fun day.

Somehow on the ride back we two drivers got separated. I was just about to get on the escape highway out of the capital when a HP officer stopped me and all the other traffic.
I did ask him what was going on and he said all traffic was being stopped as a motorcade found its way downtown. At the time he told me that great piece of information the AM radio station interrupted Clark Howard for a "BROKEN NEWS" event. I shut the truck off and resigned myself to the fact that I was there for the entire event.
The officer stood by my Mack and listened intently to the rude comments I was making towards the news staff on the radio. The two reporters seemed to have a contest seeing who could come up with the lamest anecdote and the guest commentator just seemed annoyed and really offered nothing insightful.
One other thing to add is the officer and I shared stories of the events we've seen on the highways in our equally long careers. I did tell him he should write a book and that I had posted some of my tales on the ClassADrivers website.

Our conversation was interrupted by a SS agent who demanded to inspect my truck, I stepped out and told him to have at it. Once the truck passed inspection I climbed back in and asked the SS person if he had tickets for the town meeting and if he did would he consider scalping one or two. The SS person was not amused...
The HP officers radio and the news people blurted out at the same time that the motorcade was approaching. I asked the officer if I could moon the limo, all he did was pat his holster.
Not a good sign, he was going to shoot me where my assets!

The motorcade eased on by without being mooned, the POTUS waved and looked rather cheerful, then, as long as it took, I was on my way to perform my rock hauling duties.

As I was riding on to the quarry I did listen to the presentation.

 

SPILLED MILK

Ah yes, a Winn-Dixie story!

Back in the last century, late '90's to be exact I did have the honour of driving for WD. On this particular dispatch I had two runs to the WD dairy in High Point, NC. The usual routine was to drop a trailer loaded with empty crates, hook a loaded trailer and haul ass back to the DC. Even on the best days only two loads could be done.

The return trip on the last load became an interesting take on "crying over spilled milk!" I will also add that WD's trucks were not land-speed record holders by any stretch of the imagination.
I knew another WD truck had left the dairy 5 minutes before me and the yard jockey told me that he wasn't sure if the driver had secured the load. I just shrugged my shoulders and pulled out of the yard. I didn't carry a CB so calling the driver was moot. I just went through the 7 speed and rolled along I 40/85 back to the DC in Clayton.

After a rather uneventful ride which, included, a brief discussion with a scale cop in Mebane, I finally made it to the last leg of the trip, a short 6 mile ride along Hwy 70 which, is littered with a few stop lights of the "hair trigger" type. At this point I started noticing a few four wheel vehicle drivers feverishly washing their windshields. I thought it rather odd but really didn't pay it much mind until I got close to the turn for the DC. That was when a smart ass driving a shiny black Ford pick-up came racing around me to get into the turn lane, I just ignored the ignorance and waited patiently for the light to change, I also had caught up to the other WD truck.
The light turned green, the WD truck started off and a river of white came rushing out under the door completely covering the Fords shiny paint job. Needless to say the driver of the Ford was pissed beyond imagination.
I rolled along real slow to watch the first truck, at first I figured the driver would pull into the lot behind Bojangles, he didn't, so I followed him to the DC, as did the driver of the pick-up.

After all the yelling, name calling and threats of legal action, it was soon discovered that the driver did not secure the load and every single milk crate, save five, turned over.
The driver of the pick-up was still yelling at the Fleet Superintendent as I went to check out. I asked the Super if he needed any help, he refused and I told the owner of the now, Guernsey Cow, looking Ford that it looked a whole lot better then it did when he cut me off at the light.
He spouted off some obscure obscenity, I guess he thought it would hurt my feelings.

 

DAMN, look at the size of that hail

The storms that tore Hell through the deep south finally made it here this AM and it sure captured a lot of attention...

Cruising up US 264 the rain was coming down like the proverbial "cow and the flat rock." Of course the ride couldn't have been complete without the dumb asses who, for reasons only known to Moses, ride along in the left lane with no head lights on what so ever. Evil thoughts did dance in my mind as several had passed me but all the evil came to a screeching halt when the rain drops were parted by HAIL the size of "golf" balls. Needless to say the entire commuting public went into sheer panic and locked their collective brakes up to avoid colliding with the balls of ice falling from the sky. All I could do was slow down and watch the melee progress. The entire ordeal lasted all of about 10 minutes. After dumping the load at the plant I stepped out and checked my ride for damage, the "dog" was no worse for the wear, a few more chips of paint taken off but nothing too major.
The same could not be said for a "Very" used car dealer in town a couple of the higher priced junk cars had damage to the windshields.
There were no Twisty Clouds with the system, damn!!!!

 

Well it's that time of year again, Spring, with the coming of the new growth of flowers, trees and critters also comes the ubiquitous orange barrels and cones. Road construction!!!!

I was asked to park the pneumatic tank and help deliver asphalt to I-95, what a thrill, driving a Mack Granite quad...

Stay tuned for the "ASPHALT ADVENTURES" coming soon

 

Not a very Funny story but interesting one-To me anyway.
In the early 80's i used to run REALLY hard-Pretty much 16,000 miles a month running to West Coast and back.
This happened numerous times to me when i got REALLY tired.
On one trip to Simi California i really was pushing the load to get their and i was pretty much exhausted--I pulled into the Receivers yard and it was a cool night so i Left the truck running and crawled into the Bunk.
While sleeping i have a nightmare(I get them when it's too warm when i'm sleeping) and in this nightmare i'm going down a LONG a$$ Pass-Not steep but about 100 miles long and my truck is gaining speed and i can't slow down--During this nightmare I crawl out of the Bunk and get behind the Wheel and am hitting the brake pedal(I'm naked by the way behind the wheel) lol and i can imagine someone driving by and hearing air brakes while i was hitting them :shock:
I finally make the decision to pull the Parking brake(Which is obviously already pulled when i parked for the Night) and I reach for it and try to pull it--I then woke up Drenched in Sweat.
Every time i had this dream I knew it was time to go home for Awhile.

 

yoopr,i've had that same nightmare so many times man,that is a freaky feeling when you wake up at the wheel :shock:

 

I this actually scared the H377 out of me today (althought I had to laugh about it afterward). I was sitting next to another truck in the grain line. I had my brakes set, with my foot still resting on the brake pedal. I was reading a newspaper, trying to pass the time, when all of a sudden I get this sick feeling. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the truck next to me "rolling" forwards. The only thing I can think of, is that I forgot to set my brakes, and I was gonna roll backwards into the truck in back of me. I slam on the brakes, and look at the truck "rolling" forwards, which, incidentally, was pulling into the dump!!!!

 

DONE THAT, BEEN THERE!!

 

I've done that once before fueling my truck and almost spilled fuel everywehere as I was trying to get back in the truck to "set" the brakes. Turns out my mind was playing tricks on me.