Last night was a tornado watch- this differs from a tornado warning in that it's much more likely that there's going to be some serious stuff going down, so don't go running around in the rain if you don't have to. (You'd be surprised how many reasons you can find for needing to be out in the storm, if you really like storms). There was indeed a very impressive thunderstorm, with some pretty high winds, but little to no actual damage to anything. I'd say we got lucky, as we haven't really had any major tornado damage around here for quite a while. The picture on the left is there because I figured, credit where credit is due!
Yesterday we worked away under glowering skies, later to give rise to the storm that night. But we managed to get almost everything done that day, leaving only a few pieces of equipment to turn in. We no longer need them, as we will no longer be using the trucks that use the equipment, so we needed to turn them in to our logistics department. From there, I assume serviceable vehicles are either sold, disposed of or stripped for parts. Non serviceable vehicles, I think, just get recycled. So off we went, moving our big trucks and trailers. The trailers and trucks are about the same length, which is long. The chassis design of both of these mean significantly higher hauling capacity than they would otherwise have, The downside to this is that the design of both means they require a lot of room to turn. Jackknifing, which is where a sharp angle is formed between the truck and trailer, is not an option. You have a little more leeway with a semi and trailer than with these trucks, mainly because the trucks we have use a drawbar system. As the name suggests, it has a bar that couples to the truck and pulls the trailer along. Again, Radio Flyer time. This drawbar can and will shear off if you jackknife the truck too much- I wouldn't believe that either, save that I've actually seen and heard it happen. So the point being, we have a vehicle system that needs a lot of room to turn. No problem, we say. We generally factor this in to our driving and route strategies- it may be more out of the way, but actually is quicker because we know we can fit the truck through where it needs to go. Unfortunately, our friends at the logistics department don't seem to know that. We had a tricky parking job to do with one of the trailers- take a sharp left turn into a narrow alley with parked vehicles on one side and a building on the right, and drive down that alley, taking a right at the far opening and backing the trailer into a parking spot. Okay, I thought. How about this-we forgo this alley altogether, go down around the far side of the building, use that little open area there to turn the truck around, back the trailer in and drop it in the same spot? Mainly because there's no way in hell the truck and trailer are going to fit down that left turn. Maybe the truck alone, but not with double the length, like we have now. So of course, despite my protestations, the driver jackknifed the trailer into the turn. The sound you may have heard was my hand hitting my forehead. At any rate, we finally managed to get the trailer dropped, and moved the truck around the building (where I wanted to send it in the first place), back down the alley to pick up the trailer and park it. So the moral of the story is, listen to me, I know what I'm talking about. And if I don't, that's ok, at least I'll make it sound like I do, and will stick by a course of action that makes sense to me- though I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong when someone proves their idea is better. If nothing else, that's a useful conviction to have- so I learned something in the Army after all, I think.
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