Week 12: A Smoke Tarp, the Broken Yolk, and Jack Daniels: Part 1

My final week with this company would start out with a bit of a scare. On the way to Anderson, South Carolina, I slowed for a traffic backup near the Atlanta bypass and saw a profound amount of white smoke billowing from beneath the hood. As it turned out, I had simply forgotten to replace the cap on the coolant reservoir after my pre-trip inspection earlier this morning. Some of the coolant had splashed out on the engine to cause the smoke. I was relieved to discover that the problem was a minor one, but this is not the way that I would have chosen to begin the week.


After Anderson, we went to Duluth, Georgia to get our next load. Duluth elected Georgia’s first female mayor in 1922 that promised to “clean up Duluth and get rid of demon rum”. I could have used a slug of "demon rum" when I saw that I would have to blindside into a small dock to be loaded. This would be my first attempt at blindsiding into a dock, but I actually pulled it off quite nicely. I was actually starting to get better at this.

This would be my first "stop-off" load. A stop-off is when the delivery is to multiple customers. In our case, we would be delivering to Charlotte, and Concord, North Carolina. I would come to detest stop-offs. They paid $35 extra but, in general, they were seldom worth the extra trouble.

Nonetheless, the stop-off deliveries went well, and then we were off to Statesville, NC to pick up a load of chain-link fence. This was another first for me. Due to the height of the load and the nature of the freight, a smoke tarp would be required. This would prevent the fence from being stained by the exhaust fumes. The only problem was that I had never been issued a smoke tarp.

I called my driver manager and he nonchalantly resolved, “Just use a regular tarp!” It quickly became obvious to me that he had probably never climbed atop a towering mass of unstable chain-link fence, and precariously wrestled with a 130-pound tarp in an effort to fashion it into a smoke tarp. By the time I had survived this perilous ordeal, I vowed that I would never take another unnecessary risk such as this. If the company wanted me to pick up another load that required a smoke tarp, they’d have to issue me the proper equipment! The company talked a big game about safety but, from my vantage point, it seemed like just that—talk. I had been with this company for less than 5 months, but I’d already heard of no less than four drivers who had fallen off their loads and injured themselves. I did not want to be the next statistic… they could kiss me where the sun doesn’t shine!

I was out of hours when my task was complete so, I started to walk toward the Shipping Office to ask if I could stay here overnight. The Shipping Clerk was already walking toward me. He was holding new pair of gloves, which he handed to me and said, “Here, take these. It looks like you wore yours out”.

I laughed and said, “I don’t think that’s all I wore out!”

He was happy to allow me to stay overnight, and Kitty was already snoozing when I crawled next to her in the sleeper. This load would be going to Holiday, Florida.