Murphy's World

Unstable load in the driver’s seat

Some truck drivers act like they got their CDLs out of a Crackerjack box, but the one I encountered recently must have gotten his from a box of mothballs!
     I was north on US 287, headed to Brighton, CO, from Fort Worth, TX. I was in the left lane passing another truck (I couldn’t have been in the left lane for more than a mile or so). My company truck is governed at 65 mph, but I was making slow and steady progress.
     Well, apparently I wasn’t passing fast enough for the idiot driving a flatbed and tailgating me. After we exchanged some “pleasantries” on the CB, the genius determined from the sound of my voice that I was from north of the Mason-Dixon Line (I’m originally from New Jersey), and that I’m “from the Negro race.” After a few more racial comments, he demanded that I get out of his way because, “He was from Texas.” He then proceeded to weave his rig from lane to lane and shoulder to shoulder behind me, all the while saying he was getting it on video!
     Finally, I had enough of this moron. After I moved out of his way you’d think the jerk would just shut up and go on down the road, right? But noooooo. He continued his rambling manifesto-like diatribe, proclaiming, “I won, I won; I beat the company driver! I’m an owner-operator; I can do anything I want!” (Tell that to the DOT!)
     Gee, I always thought that when a flatbed had an unstable or unbalanced load, it was on the trailer – not sitting in the driver’s seat! Talk about a loose nut on a wheel!
     Mark J. (“Black Bear”)
     Wilkes-Barre, PA

Dear Black Bear,
You’re right about Crackerjack. They have standards when it comes to their “prizes.” A few of these CDL mill schools apparently do not, and we all know what a few bad apples can do.
     Ultimately, though, the problem isn’t the school or the CDL, it’s the guy sitting behind the wheel. Again, the bad apple rule applies, which is unfortunate because a few of these wing nuts like the one you encountered give all of us a bad name.
     Life is tough enough in Murphy’s World dealing with all of the craziness thrown at us from feds and four-wheelers to dispatchers and dock dingbats. Take it from a guy named Murphy, enough things go wrong for truckers without us piling on each other. In fact, there ought to be a law against that sort of thing, but then this wouldn’t be Murphy’s World, would it?
     For better or worse, we’re governed by the rule of law, Murphy’s Law.

Regards,

Murphy and Lucky Dog