109 Miles Of White Knuckle Passengering

We did another oversized load this week, our largest yet.  At 14 feet, 5 inches wide, it was going to hang over 3 feet on each side of the trailer.  You can see it a little bit in this photo - it's the wood box that's sticking out below each of the mirrors.

 

This is a better shot, from the rear of the trailer.  It was a small box, sitting less than two feet high and only 15 feet long. 

And it was only going 109 miles - from New Hampshire to Rhode Island.

This is the first load we've ever had to use pilot cars for.  We needed a pilot car in the front and rear through New Hampshire and Massachusetts, then only one car on the rear for Rhode Island. 

Ed did the driving.  Although we're both qualified to do a load of this width (you get qualified in increments, based on how many of each size load you do), since it was only going a short distance and through the crowded Northeast, Ed wanted to flex his oversized muscles and tackle the load.  I figured I'd be content just watching.

But I think watching was almost more harrowing than driving.  While Ed communicated via CB with the pilot car drivers, and kept an eye on his mirrors, I was counting all of the signs, mailboxes and telephone poles we almost hit.

I say "almost" as in "not even close", but I've gotta say, trying to determine by eye, at thirty-five to fifty-five miles an hour, if you're going to clear someone's mailbox decoration as you cruise through the center of a small New England town, is reason enough to consider wearing a diaper for the drive.

The load paid an insane amount, and I think the dollar signs in Ed's eyes gave him super-human abilities to see 360 degrees around the truck while it was cruising down the interstate.  Actually, I think he could have closed his eyes and did this run for what he was going to make in the less than two hour drive.

I'm really the one who deserves all the credit though (wink-wink).  He may have done all the hard work with the loading, tarping and driving, but I'm the one who scored the load in the first place.  And without that, he wouldn't have had anything to drive.

See how that works?

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2012: Strong
2011: The Man Unmasked
2010: Fingers Crossed For All Things Motorized!
2009: Eddie Forces A Smile Friday
2008: A, B, C, D, DD: No Matter What The Letter, The Trauma Is The Same
2007: How To Watch American Idol The Right Way
2006: Dings And Hos
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

North Sally Port

New Castle, New Hampshire

Eddie Breaks The Rules Friday

Eddie breaking the U.S. Coast Guard rules by climbing on the granite wall at Fort Constitution in New Castle, New Hampshire.