I decided to run solo while Freckles jumped off for over a week to help our oldest daughter move due to a change in her career. A very exciting time and Freckles is exactly the person to help her.

The first load I picked up resulted in a mechanical issue which required Gypsy being in the shop for the weekend, giving up the load, and taking up residence in a motel for a few days.

After Gypsy was cured, I grabbed a tall load of PVC pipe headed for Nashville. After about 50 miles I stopped at a rest area to use the bathroom and check the load. It’s a real good thing I did that because the bottom rear bundle caved in on itself and the rear top six bundles were leaning and pretty bad looking. I tried everything I had ever heard of or could think of to fix it without making it worse, and all I got for that was sweaty, dirty, and some fame for entertaining everyone who drove by.

I had to bite the bullet and call my company because there was no way I was driving it like that any where. A little sunshine in my darkness was that after sending pics etc., it was determined it was the loaders fault and I would not be paying to fix it. They sent a tow truck out as they fix these kinds of things on the spot sometimes. We decided they would come back in the morning as it was dark and starting to rain. That was fine with me as at this point I was “out of hours” and had to shut down for 10 hours before I could drive again anyway- a DOT requirement.

The next morning two men showed up with a medium sized badass tow truck. With straps, a chain, and the hydraulic boom on the their truck, we got the pipe straightened up and had a good time doing it. They were good old country boys and we joked and laughed our asses off. Considering the circumstances, it was a good experience. Their home base shop was a few miles away and we decided I would follow them there and do paperwork. This served two purposes: they could get paid for sure by my company (kind of important), and we could see if the pipe was going to shift again.

The one who was clearly the boss said, “it’s going to look like trucks aren’t allowed and you have to park on the street where it says no parking.”

Well that stopped me short and the other one could see I was concerned. This is a small town in South Carolina and the last thing I needed was a fine for weight or anything like that.

They chuckled and assured me, “we do it all the time don’t worry, I promise.”

Well I followed them around and parked on the street with my hazards on, kind of hoping they were magical hazard lights and made everything alright. I got out of my truck and started to walk up to the office and a police car came by right about then and waved as it went by. My heart was beating pretty good and the boss winked at me and said, “By the way, I’m the Mayor of this town.”