Thinking Cap...

There is a long checklist we are supposed to go over making sure we have the right trailer, the right paperwork and... After a longer than should be day yesterday, I was up at 00:30 so I could drive the 200 miles back to the yard and get the next load. I knew the customer but when I got there I was told it was for their other store - oops... Same town just 4 miles away. I checked everything but the address..

Being in a hurry I asked the company for direction and the GPS promptly took me to a nice residential neighborhood four blocks from where I was supposed to go. I headed for the next main street and using "maps 101" I figured it must be in a retail complex along the main highway. Sure enough it was BUT it was on the left side of the road of course. So as truckers do, I put on the hazard lights, blocked the right lane and wandered across the highway. Very quickly I noticed there wasn't a loading dock so I was wondering how they were going to unload 200 plus pound items. I was told to put the trailer in the alley and they will back on of their trucks up and swap stuff over.

Wondering back across the highway, now I had to figure out where to do a u-turn in 70 foot long vehicle. With light traffic, I found and opening and..  Seeing the alley I saw I had a choice, scrape a pickup truck or sacrifice a tree limb or two. Sorry tree, glad you bent and didn't break. While the customer was swapping things, I had to figure out how I was going to get out of the alley. The right side of the cab drove on the sidewalk while the trailer came within a few inches of a light post going over the left curb.

Just another day in paradise....