Broke Down In The Hammer Lane

Well, I have seen it many times where a fellow trucker broke down on a busy highway causing 4 wheelers to go temporarily insane as if the few minutes it took to get past them was the exact amount of time it took to ruin their lives. I can now say I have been there.

It happened yesterday evening in northern Indiana on a 6 lane divided highway. I was scooting along in the hammer lane about a half mile from the get on ramp for I65 when the light got me. I stopped and everything was normal...until the light turned green. I mashed the peddle, the RPM went up, she went nowhere. To make a short story long, the truck was in drive (yes, it is an automatic) but the gears didn`t get the memo. So, there I sat with 4 wheelers whipping by as if the extra speed they added along with erratic driving would show their frustration and make me appreciate their loss of valuable time. It didn`t. I actually found it very amusing. A few minutes later a police officer arrived to protect my back door and calm the oober stressed mob behind me (he was very cool I might add, we had some laughs). About an hour later I was finally towed to a wrecker yard where I sat another couple hours waiting for a wrecker from Chicago to show up and take me and my broken not so hot rod to our yard there. This is where I sit right now. My FM did say he was going to see about getting me another ride, but, he did not say a new ride. We will see. Til then, satellite t.v., Netflix and Hulu are my best friends.

Happy Trucking!

What are you doing in the Hammer Lane!? Lol..

What are you doing in the Hammer Lane!? Lol..

LOL. Getting ready to take the left for I65. I had just gotten over and thought I had the light...But...

I hate that feeling of " Yea, I got this light"

You go from :D to D: in no time.

Anyway, hope you get fixed up soon!

That's why so many companies got away from the automatics. I drove one for the better part of six years.

1) They're unreliable

2) When they do break down there are very few people qualified to work on them

3) They rarely have a minor problem. They either work 100% or you're on the tow truck.

4) The repairs are often extremely expensive.

I loved driving them. But you can expect to be on a tow truck at least twice a year with transmission problems.

I had the same thing happen one time. I was making a left into a lot in downtown Chicago on a Friday evening at rush hour. I got half way through the turn, the transmission tried changing gears, and the thing quit right there. Wouldn't move. I was blocking the road completely and I was in between two overpasses so nobody could go around me. I was holding up hundreds (if not thousands) of people and the public buses so the head of the transportation authority and a high-level police officer showed up. The news showed up. It was a mess. Finally a tow truck was able to squeeze through the clogged up traffic and pull me out of the way.

It's funny you mentioned how angry people were. When that happened I had been driving for many years and I knew people were going to freak out. It's a Friday, people are more anxious than ever to get home, and I've got em blocked up entirely. So what I did immediately when it happened was climb out of the truck, lock it, and walked just a short distance away to a group of people that didn't see me get out. So they had no idea I was the driver. I sat around complaining with the mob about how my evening was going to be ruined if they didn't get that stupid truck out of the way!

Finally after about 20 minutes a cop showed up, and soon after that the tow truck showed up. So it was safe for me to walk over to the cop and reveal that I was the driver. 99% of the people would have understood. But when you're in Chicago and you're holding up half of downtown, you can probably figure that someone out there has been having the worst day of their life and what you just did was the straw that broke the camel's back and they're going to freak out! So I'm not going to stand there by myself in a middle of a mob of angry strangers! It's much safer to be part of the mob of angry strangers!

It's funny you mentioned how angry people were. When that happened I had been driving for many years and I knew people were going to freak out. It's a Friday, people are more anxious than ever to get home, and I've got em blocked up entirely. So what I did immediately when it happened was climb out of the truck, lock it, and walked just a short distance away to a group of people that didn't see me get out. So they had no idea I was the driver. I sat around complaining with the mob about how my evening was going to be ruined if they didn't get that stupid truck out of the way!

Finally after about 20 minutes a cop showed up, and soon after that the tow truck showed up. So it was safe for me to walk over to the cop and reveal that I was the driver. 99% of the people would have understood. But when you're in Chicago and you're holding up half of downtown, you can probably figure that someone out there has been having the worst day of their life and what you just did was the straw that broke the camel's back and they're going to freak out! So I'm not going to stand there by myself in a middle of a mob of angry strangers! It's much safer to be part of the mob of angry strangers!

HAHAHAHAHA! That is a good one. I will remember that the next time it happens... There will be a next time.

I would much rather be in a standard, but, it is a sacrifice I am willing to make to work with a good company. This truck has been on the hook two times in the past 11 months. Once when the turbo blew out, and this. It has been in the shop...hmmm, lets see... (taking shoes off to count with toes)... who knows. I can`t keep track.

It's funny you mentioned how angry people were. When that happened I had been driving for many years and I knew people were going to freak out. It's a Friday, people are more anxious than ever to get home, and I've got em blocked up entirely. So what I did immediately when it happened was climb out of the truck, lock it, and walked just a short distance away to a group of people that didn't see me get out. So they had no idea I was the driver. I sat around complaining with the mob about how my evening was going to be ruined if they didn't get that stupid truck out of the way!

Now that is funny...thanks for the belly laugh!