QUESTIONABLE WINTER CHOICES

Yesterday was a humdinger. The load I had selected was not available for me when I arrived; it was double-booked. I had to get on the computer and start again from scratch. This happens almost every time I announce my homeward plans on social media. At least I had just come out of the house the day prior. Going home so frequently is making me spoiled.

  Virtually all of my choices would have taken me to or through places where snow and ice dominated the weather. I chose a load going to Louisiana. Various weather forecasts emphasized travel difficulty along my route, which includes Memphis. The media drama queens usually make it sound more scary than it really is. I usually give myself some extra time while driving through a challenging weather, undeterred. I was wrong this time.

  Things started getting nasty in southern Illinois. Traffic creeped along at 30 mph in Missouri, until I exited the freeway in the town of Matthews. My decision to stop there was twofold: my DOT hours running low & I felt compelled to confront a driver who nearly caused a serious accident. 

   A flatbed driver stirred up a lot of controversy on the CB radio as he sped along in the left lane, barely able to control his rig. As he was passing me, he decided he wanted into the right lane so he could exit. The problem was: he didn't wait for his entire trailer to clear my hood before he jerked the wheel into my lane. It scared me and angered me. There was a state trooper just a couple of vehicle lengths ahead of us. I tried to get a hold of him on the CB, but to no avail. The flatbed driver exited the freeway and meandered to the Loves travel plaza. I followed. He didn't use turn signals, nor did he watch his trailer during turns - as he nearly flattened a stop sign. At the fuel island, I got out of my truck to confront him. My phone was video-recording the conversation- to which he hotly objected. I had my say; got an apology; and gave stern instructions for his future driving. He got really huffy with me after I stopped capturing video, so I posted the confrontation on YouTube. I'm not advertising it, since I wish I could have articulated myself more scorchingly. If confrontations could be graded, I'd give myself an 80%. Most of us probably think of things we should have said, after a conversation like that is over with. As for the dash cam video… I'll just post a still image. My language was "colorful", just seconds after the near-incident occurred. I prefer history to not remember me that way.

   I'm currently lingering at the truckstop, waiting out the weather-related nightmare on the interstate. It's not very often that I choose to remain parked. The customer service department is aware of my intentions to deliver my load a day late. You may remember the years I drove a dedicated account between Missouri and Idaho: I didn't stop until it was physically or legally impossible to continue moving

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