“I was hauling superB's (those are 8 axle units that gross out at 64,000KG or roughly 135,000 LBS if I remember my conversions) hauling diesel fuel to a big plant going in at Fort St John BC. The day was bright & sunny, not a cloud in the sky. I pulled into the Brake Check on Taylor Hill (Hill up there is 8% grade for 10 miles or so).
Anyway, I get motoring down this hill (more like MOUNTAIN), jakes on full doing about 70 kph (45mph), kinda looking out the window watching the scenery, NOT a good thing to be doing.
All of the sudden I'm in the major fog bank & decending a bit faster than I'd like, BUT now I'm going too fast to downshift, jakes are now SCREAMING! Am sure I could be heard for MILES! I can hear some chatter on the CB, but am too busy trying to slow down to pay much attention... another BIG mistake. Am valiantly tring to slow this rig down when out of the fog looms this itty bitty curve sign...like horseshoe curve (BC is FAMOUS for those). The curve is posted at 30 kph (20 mph), I make a quick glance at speedo...YIMINY I'm doing like 80.
I remember thinking...I'm gonna die today. Well, somehow I got around that curve, to this day I still think I can see the tire mark on the mountain side of the road...
Anyway, old heart is just starting to slow some when I come out of the fog & I'm looking at literally WIDE open space...300 ft DOWN. OH NO I think...so I grab the wheel hard and give her another vicious twist & I'm back down the road again.
Now, I am major SCARED, I am going way too fast, too scared to try to downshift, RPM way major high, right against the governor I think. Then I did something REALLY dumb...I glanced in my rearview mirror... I see little puffs of smoke...hot brakes...%**# !!!
Recall I said there was chatter on CB? I shoulda listened...really I shoulda... Here I am scared as ... well I was really scared... going way too fast & guess what I saw? You got it CONSTRUCTION on the damned bridge!The flag girl she's a wavin her sign for all she's worth! By now my brakes are doin major smoke show...I'm NOT even slowing at all...so she finally bounds out of my way...thank god...& I hit that old suspension bridge with a mighty SMACK!
There's construction dudes scambling everywhere..the bridge is down to one lane, btw it has a metal deck...remember that...Everybody gittin EXCEPT the dude on the Bobcat coming TOWARDS me! The way he was boppin along think the was playin tunes or something but he didn't realize what was going on till I was nearly on top of him. All of the sudden his eyes got REAL BIG, I saw them, believe me! So...he throws his bobcat into reverse & looks REAL scared...recall I said metal deck plates? Well guess what was off in front of him & me? Yep you guessed it...the deck plates!
So anyway, poor dude on bobcat is now more scared than me, but fortunately we are starting to climb up again so by shear force of gravity I am slowing down, BUT will it be quick enough? Needless to say I did get stopped, about 6" in front of the bobcat & he was roughly 2 ft from the gaping whole in the bridge. When I thought I could trust my legs to stand we stood side by side by the whole looking dow the 200or so ft to the river below.
I ran that road everyday that summer & that construction crew finally let me live it down the last week. I look back & wonder how I survived it, I can laugh now, cause I'm sure I don't know how I got down that mountain in one piece, more luck than good management that's for sure. In 27 years of trucking I NEVER call ANY road a playground.
Trucking is NOT playing it's serious. I love what I do, & love what I am & when it comes to trucking I tend to be pretty serious about some things & can be flipant & silly about others, but I have way too much diesel in my blood to stop now.”
G. Mark Sumpter
No comments:
Post a Comment