Another One of Those Loads

This was another one of those weeks where I actually had to break a sweat to get unloaded. I don't mind doing this occasionally, but it really makes for a dirty day, and complaining doesn't help. I just wish they would train somebody to load the trailers and let them do it for more than three to four weeks at a time.

The above picture is how the load is suppose to look against the curtain when closed. You will notice there is plenty of room for the tarp to slide on the rails in order to open properly.

But when the blocking (metal bands and wood used to give it structure) is pressed against the frame, it makes for a difficult day. The reason this happens is because the loaders leave gaps in between bundles and they inevitably start shifting during the 1000 miles they travel to be unloaded. I check my straps several times on the trip northbound, but once you find that any one strap has slack in it, it is almost guaranteed that the load will continue to shift. And as you can tell, it only takes a few inches to screw up my day!!
These particular items shifted to the point of no return.

Therefore, I retrieved my trusty band cutters and began to remedy the problem. So, now I was able to open the curtain and offload in Astoria, but, there was no way I was traveling down the interstate with these bundles having no strapping whatsoever. Thankfully Jimmy was willing to re strap all four bundles that I had to cut open... He is so awesome to work with!!

Here you see Jimmy unloading my trailer, while double parked in Queens. Not only do we face shifting bundles and crappy loads, but also the volume of traffic on this street is fairly high. Most of them patiently wait while he grabs a bundle, but some people are in so much of a hurry that they will fly by doing 50mph, blowing the horn and cussing at us....on a 25mph street. Oh well, so is life in the Big City !!