Our flatbed delivery truck sprung a water leak when out on the road this week. Gene wanted me to go with him in the rollback truck to retrieve it as he knew that it was going to be too big of a challenge to load all by himself. The important piece of information in this story is that the emergency brake on the flatbed does not work.
We drove to where the truck was parked and Gene backed the rollback into place. My job was to put blocks behind the back tires of the flatbed as he drove it up on the rollback. I had to be very careful and not get behind the truck or get myself into a dangerous position…just in case the truck rolled backwards. The truck did not have enough power to drive up the steep slope of the rollback, it would only go about half way. Gene had me securely block the back tires while he mashed the brake. After the tires was blocked, he got out of the flatbed and careful hooked the wrench on the rollback to the under girth of the flatbed. As he wrenched the flatbed forward, I had to keep moving the blocks forward, keeping them tightly tucked behind the back wheels. Finally, we got the flatbed up on the rollback. I breathed a sigh of relief as he raised the bed of the rollback and moved it forward into transport mode.
That was when I suddenly noticed a very distressful situation. The front tire of the flatbed on the passenger side was off the side of the rollback with maybe a skimpy inch of rubber still on the rollback. This was NOT good. We now had a dire predicament. I was sure we needed to call a wrecker to safely pull the truck over a few inches. I could see no way we could back that truck up and keep the flatbed from flipping off the truck over onto the pavement.
After a little thought and evaluation, Gene very, very carefully unwrenched the flatbed letting it roll backwards inch by inch, carefully adjusting the steering wheel and me again moving the blocks, this time backwards all the while saying, “Lord, help us” over and over again. Once it was unloaded, we had to go through the loading process again. I DECIDED I DID NOT LIKE BEING A WRECKER ASSISTANT as it is too hard on the nerves! After it was loaded on the rollback and the bed brought up into level position, I was given my second job. I had to sit in the cab of the flatbed-way up high in the sky in a truck on top of a truck-and steer it! This simple feat was accomplished by watching Gene’s upraised finger twitch in one direction and then another. I could not see the sides of the rollback bed as he wrenched the truck with me sitting in it forward!!! This has a way of making ones heart beat twice as fast as normal. Once into position, I had to keep my foot mashed on the brake until he had the truck securely strapped into place. Believe me, I obeyed, and there is a dent in the floor board where the pedal meets the floor!
I rather enjoyed the ride home. When riding in the cab of the rollback, you are sitting up higher than most of the other vehicles on the road and it feels like you are king of the road with a big load and a good view.
Now my friend, this picture shows the spacing of the tire when the truck is loaded properly.
The Lord did help us and I was so grateful when the truck was safely and properly loaded and we were home.
All is well that ended well.
