Thumpin' tires

When I think of all the things that happened to me while driving an 18 wheeler, some stand out more than others. Some funny, some not. One in such funny incident happeed in the winter of 1968. I was driving for a company that transported refrigerated and dry products. My driving partner and I had picked up a load of fresh pork in Souix City, Iowa and were headed west for a delivrey in California. I was driving and elected to stop on the emergncy lane of the freeway somewhere west of Rawlins,Wyo. to thump the tires, stretch and get some fresh air. It was about 1:00 a.m. and as I recall it was well below freezing on that January night. I got out of the truck and took my "bud bar" to thump the tires. Normally I went to the back of the trtuck humping tires and checking for anything amiss down the traffic side of the truck. This time, however, I went around the front of the truck and went down the borrw ditch side of the truck. I returned to the cab along the traffic side of the truck, got in, quietly closed the door, slipped the truck in gear and pulled onto the freeway. I stopped at Little America, Wyo. about two hours later and unzipped the curtain to the sleeper compartment to wake my partner but he was not there. I immediately knew what had happened. While I was going around the back of the truck, he must have gotten out of the truck and stood beside the drive tires to relieve himself. I didn't notice him and left him standing there in his shorts, barefooted with no coat. I sat there for several minutes not knowing what to do when a car pulled up beside the truck and he got out wrapped in a blanket. I was really releived when I saw him. He told me that after I left him stranded, several trucks and cars went hy ignoring him. He said he stood there for about 20 minutes berore someone stopped. To say the least, he was madder than Hell and I didn't blame him. You can be sure that from that time on, I always checked the sleeper to make sure my partner was there if I had stopped, gotten out of the truck and returned before moving out.

Layed over in Philly

You never know when your true self is being watched by someone else. Case in point: In 1968 while plying my profession as a trucker, I found myself in Philadelphia, PA. My artner and I had delivered a load of frozen french fries to the D.C. area and had been sent to Philly to lease to another trucking company for a load that would take us west. The only trouble was that the Teamsters Union had called a nationwide strike the day before and all trucking companies literally locked thier gates to protect their own loads until the strike was over. We were layed over in Philly while waiting for our dispatcher to find us a load going west. We were there for ten days. We were at a truck stop that had rooms. I spent most of my time reading, sleeping or playing eight ball in the leissure area of the fruck stop. I rode a bus to a nearby theater a couple of times to see a movie. When we finally got a load, when we tried to start our truck, the batteries were dead. We needed a jump start or a push. One of the people I had met while there was an old codger who used the truck stop as a base for a small towing, trouble shooting business. His demeaner was less than desireable being a rough and tumble person both in actions, habits and speech. I knew that he chargerd $50.00 for a push but he was our only choice. I went into the truck stop and asked if he would give us a push. I had the money in hand but when I went to give it to him he said: I've watched you the past week or so while you've been waiting for a load. Of all the men that come and go from this place, I want you to know that I'me never met a cleaner, finer young man than you. You don't smoke or use abusive language or actions. I respect you and for that I will give you a push for free. He did and we were on our way. To me I wasn't doing anything special, just living and acting the way I had been brought up both physically and spiritually. So it just goes to show that your actions and deeds don't go un-noticed. In this case it really paid off.

Truckin' the Forty-eight

For thirty years I trucked up nd down the highways of the USA. It was a great career because I went to many different places and saw many interesting things and had various experiences - some good, some bad. I met a lot of interesting people who made my job very interesting. During my career, I hauled everything - both liquid, packaged and bulk except bulls and cars. I trucked in all states but five, Maine, New Hampshire, Mass., North and South Carolina.

I met drivers from all over the US and very seldom found one that had stayed with the same company for more than a couple of years or less. I decided that the truck drivers of today are like the saddle bums of the old west. Working for one outfit for a season and then moving on to another. Sometimes willingly and others by request. I guess I was the same to some extent although I only worked for four different companies in my thirty plus years of truckin'. If my health was good, I'd probably still be doing it.

How to create a new post.

I went to Google Accounts and signed in to my account, entered my password and fot the Blogger page with a New Post option. Actuallly I had put the Account Sign in page on my list of favorites along with OldTruckersNeverDie soI can read my postings for comments. I don't know if this is how you do it, but it worked and this posting is the result.

Now that I'm somewhat "Blogwise," what are the advantages of a blog over regular
e-mail? You send and e-mail and the person you sent it to can reply just the same as making a comment to a blog posting. What's the differences or advantages? UL