Things you don't do, vol 1

Rain without ceasing all afternoon.

Drizzle, downpour, and everything in between. At least once I had to slow down, lest I outrun my vision--the rain closed in until I couldn't see taillights a hundred feet ahead.

Could have been worse. I could have been hauling the other load.

I pulled into the dock this morning and went in to talk to the shipping manager. He pulled out a bill of lading and several other pieces of paper, and I sat down to read them.

I started to worry when I saw the first paper he wanted me to sign. It said I'd vouched for the way the product was loaded into the trailer--including the way it was secured and braced. Technically, I'm responsible for making sure a trailer is safe to move, but I usually don't have to swear on paper that I've checked.

So I looked at the bill of lading itself.

Then I looked at the placards I thought I was using for a writing surface.
Nope. They matched the bills. They were warning placards, and I was supposed to display them.

I was about to sign for a hazmat load.

"Hazardous materials" is a term that covers a lot of ground--anything from laundry bleach to high explosives (or worse). The federal government's rules for handling such materials on the highway fill nice thick paperback books. You can find one of those books in any commercial truck. At least you'd better be able to.

I have to have the book with me, but most of the time it's not very useful.

I can't haul hazmat, you see.

Carrying hazardous materials requires a special endorsement to your Commercial Driver's License. I don't have it. My company knows I don't. And they don't assign me loads that require it.

So what was I doing here, picking up fifteen tons of corrosive substances?

I explained the problem to the nice gentleman, who was no more interested in breaking the law than I was. He went through his files again and (whew) found the load I was supposed to carry. So I signed a completely different set of papers and went out to drive in the rain.

This load is noticeably heavier. But it's not nearly as scary.