Do As I Say

Published on July 31, 2006 By MasonM In Blogging

So far so good. I got the first stop delivered this morning and while it was a bit of a pain, it went pretty well. When I got there the guy looked at the machine which is fairly large and said that he really didn't have much (read any) experience unloading them and asked if I would mind doing it.

Ok, I don't get paid to unload someone else's stuff for one thing, and I never operate a customer's equipment for another, so my answer was a no. But I did tell the guy that if he followed my direction to the letter that I would talk him through getting the thing off the trailer and into his building without dropping it. But I did state one condition; he had to follow my directions without hesitation or argument or I would simply sit in the truck and wait for him to smash the $50,000 machine on the ground. He agreed.

As the thing is very top heavy I cautioned him to be very slow and careful without making any sudden moves with the forklift. WIth that established I talked him through getting the thing slid to the edge of the deck, the forks under it in the right spot to balance the thing correctly, and had him ease it down and into the building. The poor guy was sweating bullets the entire time. Once it was safely on the floor inside I said "See, wasn't that fun?" with a big grin on my face. His only reply was "No" . It was obvious he was glad to have it over with.

I told him that since the place was empty and they were obviously just starting up he best get used to it as there'd be a lot more machines to unload before the place (a granite and marble products factory) was ready to go into operation. He said he'd be hiring a forklift driver before the next one arrived.

I'm now on my way to the Florida panhandle to a Navy airfield to deliver the tractor tomorrow. My final stop is on the central East coast of Florida for Wednesday morning. I'm really not pressed for time at this point at all. I'm only 4 hours from the Navy airfield which is just far enouogh away that I can't get there before they shut down at 3:00 this afternoon, but close enough to not have to rush to get there.

As there is no real truckstop down in that area I'm killing some time here before cutting through the woods to get down in that area. I'm really not sure what I'll do about a parking spot for the night but I'm sure I'll find something. While I am tempted to stick to the interstate system and go the long way around just to ensure finding a parking spot later, it would add 100 miles or so to the drive and besides, there's nothing like a bit of adventure now and then.

Comments

Dr Guy

on Jul 31, 2006

He may be a newbie, but he aint dumb! Glad he worked with you. And I think he will have that Forklift driver before the next shipment!

MasonM

on Jul 31, 2006

#1 by Dr. Guy
Mon, July 31, 2006 2:19 PM

[Dr. Guy]
He may be a newbie, but he aint dumb! Glad he worked with you. And I think he will have that Forklift driver before the next shipment!

Yeah I imagine he will. He really didn't look like he was having a lot of fun.

feisty_in_ohio

on Jul 31, 2006

You're a teacher too! A lesson in appreciating the forklift driver's job. Glad he didn't "fork" you.

MasonM

on Aug 01, 2006

#3 by feisty_in_ohio
Mon, July 31, 2006 8:10 PM

You're a teacher too! A lesson in appreciating the forklift driver's job. Glad he didn't "fork" you.

thanks. Actually I worked as a teacher for two years and as a technical trainer for several years.

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