Crane, Crane... Take Me On Out Of This Town

So, what have you missed?

The past month, I have given up on flatbedding...

GASP !! No, I did not quit my job or get fired. I have in fact been pulling the Crane Trailer.

It is a pleasant change for me and as with everything else, I find a certain satisfaction in operating the crane, almost like playing with a new toy. There are however a few downsides to running the Crane. Number One being that during the summer, I am enclosed in an unventilated trailer for hours and it feels like a sauna. Within minutes, I am drenched in sweat...

Lucky for me, most of my customers are quick to make sure I have everything I need, such as plenty of water and Gatorade. I have had a few close calls where the crane would come off the tracks, rendering the task at hand to become stalled. Some quick work with the forklift and I am set to proceed with the unloading process.

There are plenty of opportunities for this trailer to cause mayhem for my work schedule. Any malfunction could send me home with a half loaded trailer... One such instance occurred last week.

You see, the Crane is controlled with a single battery powered remote control. There use to be a controller that plugged into the crane itself, but that has long since been removed from the trailer. Not sure why that was done, but I don't feel it was a very educated decision. So, with the single remote, not only do I have to worry about the actual crane, but a remote malfunction can send me packing as well.

Last week, at my first stop, the inevitable happened. While un-securing the crane, the remote was knocked down in amongst my load. Having fallen behind 5000 lbs of metal, against a wall, 4 ft below me, I begin to feel the first frustrations of the week. With much determination and struggling, I was able to retrieve the ONLY means by which I could offload my freight. But not before suffering a few minor injuries. Trust me, it is very hard to scurry into tight spaces with razor sharp edges at every corner and not come out with some blood loss.

It was not the struggle to retrieve the remote control that caused my angst. In fact, it is the decision of the Boss' to have only one remote available to me. There are a total of SIX remote controls for this trailer, but the Boss' have decided that a cabinet drawer in Georgia, is the best place to store the remaining FIVE. I had asked for a spare remote the previous week, but was denied. So after this little incidence occurred, I immediately called and ask for a reprieve. I explained how unfortunate it would be if I had to return to the plant with a loaded trailer because of a slight remote malfunction. The Boss, not sensing the true nature of my predicament, remarked that they could always send me one via Fed-Ex if that happened again. HAR DE HAR HAR..... Seriously folks, they would rather store the extra remotes in a locked drawer and ship one out to me, than just allow an extra one to ride along in the trailer.. Funny Stuff, but then nothing surprises me when it comes to the new bosses.

It has been a good month, and even with the blood, sweat and tears, I have really enjoyed pulling the crane. I do tend to get a little bruised up, so I try not to make it a habit to pull it too often.

after a typical unload....

And as an added bonus, I think I will throw in a little public service announcement at this point.

DONT EVER PULL OUT IN FRONT OF A MOVING TRACTOR TRAILER !!!!!

This is what my load looked like after another semi pulled off the shoulder of the highway directly in front of me. He was moving at about 10mph when he lurched into traffic. I was rolling along above 65mph. Thankfully, the fella beside was paying attention and let me have the left lane. But because of the sudden swerve to the left, my load fell over... Had I not swerved, I would not be here to tell you about it. Had the fella beside me not been paying attention, there could have been a major catastrophe. I did publicly chastise the driver of the other truck for making such an asinine decision. To this, he only remarked about silly women drivers, and a few other choice lewd remarks. Geeez, I love steering wheel holders...

All is well, that turns out well. It is a great big world, with lots of exciting stuff going on. Pay attention people, it could be my life you are saving. And on that note, I think I will take the convertible out for a ride....

Nuclear Disaster

Along with pulling a flatbed and hauling scrap, I also get the pleasure of picking up certain items and delivering it to numerous power plants. I am a busy girl!!

This week it was 4 18'pipes, weighing in at a total of 1700lbs. Not much of a load, but for some strange reason, I always enjoy riding around the big power plants. That is, until today.

I checked in with security and he gave me explicit directions on how to find the warehouse. I set forth, checking and rechecking my route. These folks do not like you to stray off course. He had told me to follow this road, Stop sign, turn right, take immediate left, go through another check point, stop sign turn left, dead end turn left. Ware house on the left. WHEW!! I did exactly as he told me, except when I made the immediate left, it put me into a contractor's parking lot. I followed the painted arrows trying to find the next check point and actually saw a gate, but nothing resembling an entrance for big trucks. I made the entire lap around the parking lot and headed back for that road, thinking maybe it was the second left (since the first was a parking lot). I proceed to the next left and there is a check point (unmanned) and directly past it is a stop sign. Beside the stop sign is an informative sign claiming the ware house is down the road to my left. If you are paying attention (or have referenced back to the original instructions, you will notice that this road allows me to follow my original instructions.) So I make the left, go to the dead end and what do you suppose is sitting a little off to my immediate left. Yep, the warehouse!! Bingo! So, I am feeling pretty dumb about driving around the contractor's yard, but no harm, no foul. Oh well. I make the delivery and retrace my path back towards the exit.

I had just about made my escape when I notice, not one, but two Power Plant Security vehicles chasing me down. I was stopped in my tracks and grilled intensively about where I had been and why I took the route I did.... " I was just following security guards orders!!" They lectured me and with raised voices, informed me that I had taken the wrong route, and would not be allowed to do that again.

" I was just following the directions given to me" I even had them written down on a scrap of paper and offered to show it to them. Finally, after they had achieved satisfaction by badgering a little girl, I was allowed to leave. But not before they informed me that the first immediate left was indeed through the parking lot, although I have no idea where I was suppose to come out the other side. Remember, I went that route first, but, I am sure they will lead me by the hand next time.

You know, there is very little that still intimidates me about this job. I have been doing it for over a decade, and with New York City being my stomping grounds, well, you cant get into any harder situations than that. But for some strange reason, today's little misadventure did not sit well with me. In fact, I was so rattled by those men chastising me, that I missed an easy turn heading for home and ended up driving 20 miles out of my way.