I had a great trucking career, and I always wanted to tell this story. I am retired now and living the good life on the beach in Cancun, Mexico. Before trucking I had a nice career, but I had never been really happy or felt fulfilled. One day a company crisis came. I had to make a choice. If I didn’t take the company offer, I was going to be out the door. I knew I didn’t want to continue on the path I was, but I made really good money, and had a future, boring to me though it was. When I was a boy I always dreamed of driving a big rig. Some kids wanted to be pilots or firmen. Truck driving certainly wasn’t a job that guidance counselors touted where I was, but it still fascinated me. One day I saw an ad for North American Van Lines, saying they would teach me to drive, and then it was up to me blah and blah. I had never even been inside a big rig cab. I told my wife Annie about it. First she thought I was crazy as did most people I knew, and then, true to her loving character, she told me I should go. That was the start. Needless to say it was also the start of a very happy time for me. After about 6 months Annie, my lovely wife, being what who and she is, decided she wanted to be where I was, and she gave up her very promising career, and decided to join me. We switched to Mayflower in those early days and Mayflower taught Annie how to drive, and off we went as a single, with team capability. We ended up in trade shows.
And now the story:
One night we came back to the Mayflower yard tired and in the middle of a run, and needing a break, ready to go get a coke and see a movie, in the driver’s lounge, and then to sleep. The only place to park in the yard was between two gorgeous tricked out KW show beauties lit up like carnival night in Rio. Just enough space for one truck right between them. Tight, but doable. My lovely wife Annie is 5’1'” tall 105 lbs.. She always could back up better than I could. I got out of the truck and went in to make a phone call. Annie was to back in the truck, park it and meet me inside. Because she was taking a long time I went back outside to see what the delay was. One of the drivers from the tricked out show trucks was hanging on the mirror of our truck pleading with Annie to stop. I yelled at him to “get off my truck”!....Annie was so good that she smoothly put it right between the two show trucks, and never touched the brakes til it was there. The guy that had been hanging from the mirror called his buddy over and they both got down on the ground in the mock “we are not worthy” pose, as Annie exited our rig. I of course was super proud, but also knew what the outcome would be. Anyway, the show driver vets with the tricked out rigs bought us dinner and took photos, and I bet they still have those pictures to this day. I still love that true story. I was thinking of that experience and decided to take poetic license and write this little parody based on the story.
I was standin"’ on the dock one early night,; it was startin’ to rain and there wasn’t much light;
We was waitin’ on a speed load almost outta time, and in 20 more minutes we’d be shuttin’ the line;
All of a sudden there was a low throttled roar, and a dazzled out pete comin in at full bore;
It made a slight right turn and came to a stop, and the door flew open and the brakes made a pop;
I had to look twice to believe my tired eyes but the driver were female bout half of my size,
I saw in a minute when the barns hit the steel, that little bitty gal goin’ back to the wheel:
The stacks they did shiver, and the truck gave a rush and the trailer sat dead, an inch and dock flush;
The gal walked in and said without fear, gimme a count and put your henry on here;
When she turned to go out I knew it was real...they don’t come no better than that gal at the wheel:
And now the story:
One night we came back to the Mayflower yard tired and in the middle of a run, and needing a break, ready to go get a coke and see a movie, in the driver’s lounge, and then to sleep. The only place to park in the yard was between two gorgeous tricked out KW show beauties lit up like carnival night in Rio. Just enough space for one truck right between them. Tight, but doable. My lovely wife Annie is 5’1'” tall 105 lbs.. She always could back up better than I could. I got out of the truck and went in to make a phone call. Annie was to back in the truck, park it and meet me inside. Because she was taking a long time I went back outside to see what the delay was. One of the drivers from the tricked out show trucks was hanging on the mirror of our truck pleading with Annie to stop. I yelled at him to “get off my truck”!....Annie was so good that she smoothly put it right between the two show trucks, and never touched the brakes til it was there. The guy that had been hanging from the mirror called his buddy over and they both got down on the ground in the mock “we are not worthy” pose, as Annie exited our rig. I of course was super proud, but also knew what the outcome would be. Anyway, the show driver vets with the tricked out rigs bought us dinner and took photos, and I bet they still have those pictures to this day. I still love that true story. I was thinking of that experience and decided to take poetic license and write this little parody based on the story.
I was standin"’ on the dock one early night,; it was startin’ to rain and there wasn’t much light;
We was waitin’ on a speed load almost outta time, and in 20 more minutes we’d be shuttin’ the line;
All of a sudden there was a low throttled roar, and a dazzled out pete comin in at full bore;
It made a slight right turn and came to a stop, and the door flew open and the brakes made a pop;
I had to look twice to believe my tired eyes but the driver were female bout half of my size,
I saw in a minute when the barns hit the steel, that little bitty gal goin’ back to the wheel:
The stacks they did shiver, and the truck gave a rush and the trailer sat dead, an inch and dock flush;
The gal walked in and said without fear, gimme a count and put your henry on here;
When she turned to go out I knew it was real...they don’t come no better than that gal at the wheel: