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Dad and I delivered a load of
machinery to the Vancouver
docks, and the next morning I was
sitting down to a good breakfast,
contemplating a couple of days off
on the West Coast. But no such luck.
Dad came into the Cafe and told me
to hurry up as he had just found a
load going back home. So I hopped
in the truck and headed to an Auction
yard just below the Patullo Bridge in
Surrey. It seems a company in North
Bay had bought two used Grapple
Loaders and wanted them delivered.
Now, these are fairly tall pieces of
equipment, and after we walked them
on the flatbed, I put a tape on them
and found they were 13 foot 2 inches
(legal but still fairly big ), but I had
ways around that.
Dad went off to do the paperwork
and left me to tie down. (He was
good at that). I spread out all my
chains and binders, and then I
proceeded to let almost all the air out
of the tires and just barely snugged
the binders down. I had just finished
doing this when this big older dude
came running up and told me that I
couldn’t haul the equipment like that
as I would ruin the tires. I just told
him that I knew what I was doing,
and to leave me alone and let me
finish. He tore off
towards the Office
while I went and
got the stinger out
and proceeded to
air up the tires.
Guess he went in
ranting and raving
about smart-assed
kids wrecking
equipment, and Dad told him that his
kid knew what he was doing and to
leave me alone.
Dad, the dude, and the sales
manager got out to the truck just as
I finished airing up and was safety
wiring all the binders. The tires had
plenty of air now, the load was down
to 12 foot 11 inches, and all my
chains were bar tight. The manager
looked over everything and then told
the dude that he should have waited
until I was done. He then told me that
it was one of the best jobs of tying
down he had seen in a while.
After the papers were all signed,
Dad and I took off and headed
East. Dad drove until we passed the
Chilliwack scales, and then I took
over while he climbed in the bunk.
OK, so it wasn’t legal, but I did have
a farm truck license, and I had been
driving semis for five years by then.
We kept this up all across Canada,
never had a problem, and delivered
in North Bay two days earlier than
they expected. The company owner
came out and looked the load over
very carefully as he said his friend
(the dude) had told him that some
wet behind the ears smart ass had tied
down the load, and he should check
closely for any damage. He said
the load looked great, and he was
impressed that I had even removed
the antenna off the roof and taped the
holes in case of rain.
It was only a few hours home
from the yard in North Bay, and it
sure felt nice to fall into my own bed
that night. I loved taking trips with
Dad, seeing new places and meeting
new people, but I still haven’t figured
out how it was that I always got to do
most of the manual labour.
