Look Out For Overpasses!
Or, The Not So Great Pumkin StoryAfter 9/11 for awhile, all airplanes were grounded. The grounding included US Mail planes. From the 12th of September 2001 through January 1, 2002 all mail was hauled by truck. We were one of those trucks.
One of the reasons that mail was hauled by truck was because the Homeland Security people were afraid of bombs being sent through the mail. Because mail is often carried on passenger aircraft, there would be massive loss of life if one of those bombs they feared should go off on an airliner. So, they put the mail on trucks.
So far as I know, no bombs went off on trucks, although, a mail center in Tennessee had a bomb scare one night while we were there waiting to get loaded. The building was evacuated and searched, but no bomb was found.
Our experience hauling mail was, for the most part quite mundane.
We delivered a load of mail in Dallas TX, and got re-loaded back to Miami FL on the morning of the 21st of November, 2001 and headed back east at a high rate of motivation. At 10:30 PM we stopped for a meal and a shower at at the Love's Truckstop at Loxley, AL.
When we left there, at a few minutes before midnight on Thanksgiving morning, it was my turn to drive. Jasper hit the bunk, and I proceeded to get the Green Meanie moving. I had just got up to highway speed when we went under an overpass and all hell broke loose with a VERY LOUD BANG! I hit the brakes, and pulled it over on the shoulder, dialing 911 on the cellphone as I did so. Jasper woke up and hollered asking was I OK. "I think so." was all I could say. I was quite busy at that moment.
Then I looked back to see if he was OK, and saw the worst mess ever was back there in the bunk.
What I saw when I looked back.
What had happened was; some dirty rat had tossed a pumpkin off the overpass as I drove under it. The pumpkin hit dead center between the two big windows in the front of the sleeper, and busted a big hole in the one on the left side. There was a mess of pumpkin guts all over the sleeper, and all over Jasper, mixed up with pieces of broken glass. It looked like a REALLY MESSY bomb went off!
About the time that we had determined we weren't dead, a Deputy Sheriff pulled up and so did a fire truck and some paramedics, in response to my 911 call. The Deputy took down all our information for a report, and the firemen checked us out to confirm our suspicions that we were not dead, injured, or anything.
After the cop and the firemen left, we proceeded up the road to the Oasis Truckstop, at Robertsdale, AL, where the lady at the fuel desk gave me a cardboard box, which I cut to put over the big hole in the sleeper window, and secured with duct tape. God Bless Duct Tape!
part of the patch job
an outside view of the damage
With the hole patched up so we wouldn't freeze to death from the cold wind blowing through the cab, (it was 36 degrees that night) I drove on to Marianna FL, where there is a TA truckstop.
At Marianna, we got a good breakfast. Then we cleaned out the most of the pumpkin mess, and broken glass as best we could. We got it cleaned enough so we could at least lie down in the bunk and get a little rest.
Then we went down to St. Cloud FL to our son Arnold's place. He, a friend of his, and Jasper, made a better patch job than my duct tape and cardboard job. (But it still included duct tape) After we did the fix, and some more cleaning up the inside of the sleeper, we all sat down to a nice Thanksgiving dinner with our son and his family. We were thankful we weren't damaged any more than we were, and also for family and friends who are handy with tools (and duct tape). Then we went on to Miami and unloaded our load that evening.
The next morning, we picked up a load that took us home.
Several days of downtime, and lost revenue later, we were repaired properly and back on the road.
We are thankful that it was a pumpkin, and not a rock that was thrown.
All I can say is, "Look Out For Overpasses!"
From September 12th 2001 through January 8th,2002, we put 70,000 miles on the old Green Meanie's odometer. We ran the rounds nonstop; one in the bunk and one behind the wheel. Usually, all we stopped for was to fuel the truck, take a shower, and grab something "to go" to eat. Thanksgiving being a holiday, and the Post Offices being closed, we had a little extra time on that trip. It's a good thing we did.
This page updated on 8/22/06
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