I called my Road Assist department and let them know what the problem was. They said they would send out a mechanic from the closest truck stop to try and fix my problem. Meanwhile, I was stuck on the side of the road. To make matters worse, the fog was starting to get very heavy. I set out my reflective triangles, being sure to stay well off the road until I actually placed the triangle down. I then got back into my truck, put on my seatbelt, and had to wait. I felt like a sitting duck. Here I was, on the side of the road at night, with dense fog moving in. I had images of another truck side swiping me or a car running under the back of my trailer. After a few minutes of sitting in the drivers seat waiting, I decided to move into the passenger seat and buckle up there instead. If I was going to get hit, it was going to be on the drivers side. So why not sit on the passenger side?
After waiting about 30 minutes, I got a call on my cell phone. It was the mechanic who was supposed to come out and help fix whatever problem I was having. He said he was on a call already and his shop was about an hour from my location, so it would probably be about 2 hours before he could arrive. Well….that’s just great. Luckily, the fog started to lift though. I got on the CB every few minutes just to warn other truckers I was on the side of the road. A lot of trucks who passed also asked on the CB if I was ok and if help was coming. I thought it was nice of them to check on me. One truck from my company actually stopped to check on me.
After about 2 hours, the mechanic finally arrived. He seemed to know exactly what the problem was and had it fixed in about 15 minutes. For those who know a little bit about trucks, I had a brake chamber go bad on the trailer. The weird thing is I wasn’t even on the brakes when it happened. But, at least it was an easy fix. I’m just glad I was able to get all the way off the road when it occurred. But for this to happen to somebody on their first run, and to somebody who was already nervous, it certainly raised the blood pressure a bit!
Back On The Road Again
Once my trailer was fixed, I was pretty much out of legal driving hours. Luckily I was ahead of schedule, so I could still make my appointment on time. After my break, it was back on the road. My last leg to my customer. I arrived, and was told to park my truck and then check in. I got there about midnight and had a 4am delivery time. The guard told me to wait until 4, then drive my truck around and park it into dock number 404. No problem. Right?
Well, 4am came around and I saw the guard turning trucks around. So, I figured I’d go ask him if my appointment was still at 4am or not. I locked my door, got out, and headed for the guard shack. He said yes, and to go ahead and pull my truck around. Ok, great! As I started walking back to my truck, that’s when it hit me. Ohhhhhhh $%&#!!! I locked my keys in the truck!!! What do I do now?!?! I continued walking to my truck, hoping by some miracle I didn’t lock the passenger side door. But unfortunately, both doors were locked with my keys and my cell phone inside.
And Then More Trouble….
I went back to the guard shack to let him know what happened and asked if he had a “Slim Jim” or anything else to unlock a door with. He said no, and to just pull around whenever I’m able to get into my truck. I started thinking, “do I call my company?” I didn’t even know the number to call since my phone was inside and I didn’t have the number memorized. Plus, on my very first solo run, the last thing I wanted to do was call my company and tell them I did something so stupid. I finally found a driver who was awake, and asked if he had a metal hanger I could have. His reaction was “locked yourself out, huh?” He gave me a hanger and said “good luck.” I needed it.
Could This Get Much Worse?
As I began bending the hanger and positioning it down between the window and the door frame, I thought to myself, “could this get much worse? I arrived 4 hours early for my appointment in spite of a breakdown, but am going to be late now since I did something so stupid.” Just as I thought that, it started to rain. I’m not talking a little drizzle, I’m talking about full on, pouring down rain. And what did I do to deserve this??? continue to page 3 –>
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MY GOD, man. That was brutal!
Oh, I would love to be able to tell you that ordeals like this were rare, but they’re not. That was an exceptionally rough couple of days, but certainly not out of the ordinary when it comes to life on the road. There are just sooo many variables that can have a major affect on your life out there that when the stars align just right (or wrong, for that matter) things can go really, really well or really badly – and in a hurry!
But life on the road is a never-ending roller coaster ride of highs and lows. In your mind you learn to keep a balanced and relaxed middle ground as often as possible – and you’ll get much better at it as you get more experience on the road.
Folks, I’ve known TruckerMike for a while, and he’s a very sharp dude. When I knew he was getting ready to make his first solo run, I sent him an email and gave him this advice:
I drove for 15 years, and I know life on the road as well as anyone. I knew he’d have struggles like these because we all do. I knew it might even be on the very first solo run of his career, and it was. This is the entire reason this website exists – to help everyone learn about the trucking industry and life on the road so that they can get through the tough times safely, just like TruckerMike did here.
I wanna give TruckerMike a ton of credit. I knew he already knew the advice I was giving him, but I wanted to keep it in the front of his mind in case things got stressful for him, and sure enough they did. But just like I would’ve predicted without second thought, he handled it all like a pro and successfully navigated the mine field out there on his own, and made the right decisions, kept his head, and will live to fight another day.
There is nothing easy about life on the road, my friends. It can be incredibly rewarding for those of you who are the type of people that can handle it, but it is rarely ever easy.
A huge congrats to TruckerMike for handling this like a pro, and a big thanks for sharing everything he went through. Definitely one of the most interesting writers I’ve ever come across. I’ve been there a million times, dude, and I know what it took to pull that off. You were certainly cut out for this, and there’s a ton of us that really look forward to hearing a lot more of your adventures in the future.
What a great story! I laughed too–not at you but at the situation. We have all been there and done that–maybe not on the first run tho.
The main thing is you did deliver the product safely and that is all that matters. We are all nervous and forget everything we learn once we are by ourselves. But we soon remember what we were taught and do just fine–like you did.
Get a extra set of keys as soon as you can as they really are needed. My truck also locked me out in Kansas City one day. I was not pleased at all. Luckily there was a short in the electric locks and I was able to get back in after beating the door to death while waiting on a 4 lane city street and all wondering what I was doing to that blasted truck!!!
Looking forward to many more stories.
That’s a great story. I worked at a truck stop for many years, and we had a hand full of first timers a week come through to get weighed. I kind of enjoyed how important for them it was to get legal ASAP. It seems like some of the folks that came through just didn’t care. But staying legal in this business is pretty important. If the wheels aren’t spinning, my wallet is draining.