The Second Stop

Happy that adventure was over, it was off to my next drop in some tiny little town in Alabama. The scenery going down there was amazing, and I really enjoyed the trip. That is, until I got to my customer. I followed my directions up until the point I saw a warehouse with the customer name on it. So, I pulled up in front of the building, and was notified I was at the wrong facility. The place I wanted to go was behind me about 1 mile. As I began working my way over to the correct building, I saw a sign that said “all trucks must follow truck route.” So I followed the signs, hoping it would eventually dump me off on the main road through town. Of course, nothing is that easy…

I must have either missed a sign, or a sign wasn’t posted. Because I ended up on a residential street which had a dead end. The result? I got to back up down this narrow road with parked cars on both sides, and traffic behind me trying to squeeze by, for about 1/2 mile. I also had a mail carrier trying to deliver mail stuck in front of me as I backed down this little road. It was intense, and I was definitely sweating during the entire ordeal. But finally, I was able to get turned around.

Upon arrival at the correct building this time, I was told I need to back in from the street. It never ends!! This time it didn’t go so well. There was a very narrow fence leading into this small warehouse, and the dock was not in line with the opening. So I really had to work it in there. I blocked the road for a while until I was able to get back far enough, let the waiting traffic go by, then pulled out to readjust. I repeated this process probably 5 times before I was finally able to get it into the dock straight. With that unloaded, all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there. And I did just that.

The Final Stop

My last drop was in Pensacola, Florida. This time, I didn’t have to back into the dock from the street, but I did need to back into a garage door with a dock at the end, just as the sun was coming up. This created a terrible light / shadow effect. I could see just fine, until I got into the garage area. Inside the garage door was very dark, and I couldn’t see a thing. Another driver saw the trouble I was having (after experiencing it himself) and was nice enough the spot me as I backed it in. With his help, I got it in there. And this trip was complete.

Difficult, But Rewarding

As terrible of a trip as this sounds, it was also a very rewarding one. I enjoy the challenge of these difficult situations. Many times I don’t necessarily enjoy the stress as it’s happening, but once it’s over, I feel a great sense of satisfaction. And the tougher the situation, the more I learned from it for next time.

Truck driving can be filled with stress. I think I’ve learned how to deal with stress more in my time as a truck driver, than the rest of my life. If you’re just getting into the industry, be aware that you will make some bonehead mistakes, you will require the help of others from time to time, and you’ll wonder how you got into and out of certain situations. It just comes with the job, and everyone goes through it. The key is to take a deep breath, and deal with the situation at hand. As soon as you get into a hurry out here, is when people get hurt. If you make a few people late, so what? Better that happens, than getting into a hurry and really making people late!

Sometimes trips go very smoothly, and other times trips go like the one I just described. This is the reality of truck driving. Are you up for the challenge?

Until next time, drive safely!

TruckerMike

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