Guardian Angel Sod Truckers
If ever there was a guardian angel disguised as a trucker, he drives a sod truck in North Carolina.
I was on the road alone to give my husband some much needed R&R at the house. I had confidence in our truck–it was well maintained and in good running order. What I was unsure about was the trailer we were dragging around.
The company we were leased to at that time required us to pull their trailer. We were responsible for maintenance on the trailers, but they were somewhat jerry-rigged. We had routine maintenance done at various truck stops and truck shops, but you can only do so much with what you’re given. The trailers were old. Rumor had it they were not designed for over-the-road use, but were supposed to haul freight locally to and from rail yards. They had been converted to carhaul trailers, and, considering their humble beginnings, they did a bang up job.
Many owner operators leased to that company had had to pay to have an axle doctor come repair or replace the worn out axles on these trailers. One owner operator had had his brakes replaced every cross-country trip for untold months because the brake pads kept falling out. Needless to say, these were tired old trailers.
Add to that on some trailers, ours included, the company had decided to add an extra trailer axle to help disburse some of the trailer weight. But when you have a monkey do your welding, things go awry. I mean that literally, not one of those third axles on any of those trailers was straight.
The extra axle on our trailer was about to burn up, so we had talked the shop into taking the wheels off and chaining it up. After all, if two-axle trailers are good for everyone else, then they’re fine by me.
Here’s where the story gets interesting…
There is a long, steep downgrade on Interstate 77 going from Virginia into North Carolina that’s commonly referred to as Fancy Gap. Because our trailer had a history of caming over and/or having a brake chamber fall off (no, I’m NOT making this up), I took the downgrade at a slow-moving clip. I was lightly loaded, but why hit your brakes when you don’t need to. Especially when you aren’t sure they’ve got your back.
I was probably 2/3rds of the way down the hill when a car pulled up next to me honking and pointing. Because of our trailer’s history, I was in the habit of keeping an eye on the mirrors to look for smoke, so I was surprised. I double-checked and saw no smoke, so I figured I must be dragging a strap or something.
I got on the radio and called to the old-style Volvo truck behind me.
“Hey, Volvo, am I dragging something?”
His response was an immediate, “YEAH, you’re dragging something!”
His tone told me it probably wasn’t a strap. I figured it must be a brake chamber again and I would have to get under the trailer, tie off the air line and back of the brakes on that axle. Not the thing DOT would want me to do, but it would get me to the truck stop.
At the bottom of the hill there are two things- a weigh station (for weighing and inspecting trucks) and a rest area. Fortunately for me, the rest area came first. I pulled in and the Volvo pulled in behind me. I got out expecting almost anything other than what I saw. The third axle I told you about… the one that was ready to burn up so we had them chain it up… well, it wasn’t chained up anymore.
It wasn’t the chain that gave way, either. The frame of the trailer, which definitely had some rusty spots, had given way where the weight from the chained up axle was. I had been literally dragging that axle down the hill.
I thought I would have to wait for a service truck of some special sort to come help me out, but the Volvo driver who pulled in behind me said, “I’ve got a fork lift, you got straps?”
My hero.
It turned out that he was pulling an empty sod trailer and had a forklift at the rear for loading and unloading turf. He was able to use the forklift to lift up one side and then the other side of the axle as we strapped it back up with nylon carhaul tire straps. 30 minutes later I was on my way. I went over the (open) Mt. Airy truck scales and raised no eyebrows.
The driver wouldn’t take my money and I don’t know his name. All I know is that God sent a guardian angel that day to follow me down the hill. That, and that pulling an unsafe trailer isn’t worth any amount of money.
