Hammer Down

While the weather wasn't the most pleasant yesterday...it still was not as bad as the freezing rain I endured a few days before. I got a short run yesterday since I wanted to be home today to prepare for my trip to see my baby boy today. So I picked up a load in Columbus going to Cleveland. Every week I carry something new and interesting it seems. This particular load I carried 3 industrial hammers and 3 attachments. The picture is not the ones I carried but it's a perfect example of what I was carrying.

Getting it loaded was interesting. Unfortunately their forklift could not get it far enough on to the bed to get it centered. They bumped it with the forks and it wouldn't move like that. So he had to use the very end of his forks to try to lift a bit and get it moved. No matter how hard he tried he could not get it centered. I finally said good enough when he managed to get it as close as he could. I'm not big on non-centered loads. I like even distribution of the weight. But it was what it was. Got them all on there and chained them down (and let me say...I hate using chains...I get covered in rust up and down). I felt that chains would be the best for holding down these particular items.

I got it to Cleveland no problem. When I pulled in they had one bay and a truck already in there. So I pulled off to the side where he'd be able to get out no problem. Unfortunately it also left me in an interesting position. The guy who handled receiving got all of it off with a forklift outside...except one. He needed to use the crane inside to get that one off. So now I had to back out on to the street and then try to back into their little fenced in yard (which included parking for the employees). 

I attempted to back in driver's side (which of course is the best because you get the best view) and could not get the swing in thanks to a car parked on that corner of the fence. So I eventually swung around the block to try to back in from the other direction (which was blind side...ugh!). It took some shuffling to get it in there and I got in enough just in time for a fire truck to come through. After it got past I was able to pull back out a bit and finally get the truck straight enough to back into the bay. I was thankful for the receiving guy for going out and stopping the loads of traffic and helping to direct me into the gate. I wish I'd remembered to get a picture of it to put up here. But while I struggled a bit to get it in there...I'm still proud of the accomplishment in getting it in there. 

I found it rather funny that he was like super grumpy with his employees...he kept shaking his head at their actions...but he was really nice and cool to me. I'm sure he was getting aggravated with how long it was taking me to get backed into the fence, but I'm not super trucker. I'm still learning the ins and outs of backing with a split axle. But it is the struggles that help me learn. I think what makes me take so long at backing is my fear of hitting something so I'm extra cautious when backing around corners.

Keep on trucking my friends!