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Dad and I had just delivered some high-tech
equipment to the Vancouver docks and slipped it into Sea cans for shipment to
somewhere on the other side of the world. We had hauled them in two 40-foot
reefer vans so we would have an option of what we could haul on our return trip,
and now Dad was looking for return loads while I inspected both rigs. I greased
everything that needed it, tightened everything that had worked loose and then
crawled into the bunk to catch up on my sleep. Later that afternoon, Dad told
me that we would reload in the morning for Toronto with ten totes each of
frozen salmon.
Morning came, and Dad told me at breakfast to
start my reefer and set it for 20 below so the inside would be cold before we
loaded the fish. We finished breakfast, went down to the fish plant, and backed
into two doors. We went inside, and this was when we found that the loads were
multiple drops, so Dad and I had to sit down and figure out how to load. We
figured it out with Dad taking the north totes and me taking the south. Dad
took two totes to Edmonton, two to Saskatoon, and 6 to Toronto, while I took
two totes to Calgary, two to Regina, two more to Winnipeg and only four to
Toronto.
Things worked out well, and we met up again
in The Peg, after which I had unloaded, and we decided to run together from
there to T.O. From the Peg to T.O. was
just one of those trips where nothing much happened except for one flat on Dads
trailer which we changed on the side of the road somewhere around North Bay. We
pulled into Toronto, parked outside the warehouse late on a Thursday night and
were in the doors bright and early in the morning. Dad was assigned door four, I
got five and we backed in and went inside to oversee the unloading and get
things signed and all the paperwork done. They were just about to start
unloading when this supervisor came out and wanted to know why the reefer in 4
was shut off and for how long. Dad explained it had only been off for a few
minutes, but the super was hyped and demanded that every tote off that truck be
temp probed and inspected. My load came off without a hitch, my bills were
signed, and I pulled away from the warehouse, shut my reefer down, closed my
doors, and headed home. I had not gone too far when Dad passed me like I was up
on blocks and roared away up the highway.
Not much later, I pulled into the yard, took
the power washer to my trailer and truck, and put everything away. Dad's truck
was still hooked up in the yard, but at least it was shut down. When I walked
into the house, Mom took my bills and warned me that Dad was a little angry.
Dad was fine after a couple of hours, and our
loads were properly paid, but I did learn one thing. Never shut down your
reefer until all your load is off.
