because you want to SEE it

Clifford “The Big Red Dog Drama” On The Road

By Camp Stanley

Hagerstown, MD – I’m an old trucking guy from way back, just like my friend Roger Henson, although with a whole lot less money! For the most part I enjoy the peace and solitude of the open road and as John and Tracy like to tell me, it is where I dream up all kinds of things.

And I must admit I do come up with some doozies! Some of them are really great reminders of things we may need to change. And some of them may perhaps be a better way of putting something where it is easier found. My do to lists after after a long trip such as a Dallas or Houston can sometimes be what appears to be an entire trash can of sticky notes!

And then there are the times where I wish I was the one riding in an airplane! The return trip from St Louis was one of those times. As I was motoring along the highway of life on Sunday morning I noticed a strange smell like brakes

 smoking and heard a faint screeching sound coming and going. When I was able to I pulled over to the shoulder and walked all around my trusty Mack, Clifford the Big Red Dog. I looked all around front to back and could find nothing wrong. So I attributed the smell to another truck and headed off yet again. But was I ever wrong!!! Being the super trucker I like to be I was in the passing lane cruising at 75 miles an hour when I suddenly discovered part one of my dilemma. The right front tire blew out with a thunderous KAPOW! Now that was fun and I had a brief flashback of the last time I blew a front tire on a Mack! That time gave me a free thrill ride to the bottom of a mountain gully coupled with a free ambulance ride!

I got Clifford stopped on the shoulder of the road without any drama and when I got out to assess the damage I found the inner front wheel bearing had given it up. Luckily I was by an exit with a truck stop across the way. Although they could not do anything for me I did find a nice fellow who was on call at a truck repair facility who called me a very reasonable wrecker service called Pardoe’s! With nothing able to be done on Sunday I settled in on the back lot of Greenforks Alignment. I had no idea at the time I was going to be spending several days there! On Monday the very efficient staff at Greenforks set out trying to find me a spindle to replace the ruined one. There were none available in any of the truck salvage yards anywhere close and a new one could come from southern Ohio for Tuesday morning for the paltry sum of $1400 plus dollars! And since we are not my buddy Roger I opted to put that process on hold.

I called my friend and the maintenance engineer behind helping us keep Clifford on the road, Dave Kline at D&D Truck Repair and Towing. He has just about anything and everything for a Mack that you can fathom. Sure enough the elusive spindle was in stock and in no time Dave had it off, cleaned up, and boxed up and his bride Diane, the other half of D&D had it on UPS red label to me! What great friends and sponsors they are! So on Tuesday morning the driver of the Big Brown Truck arrived with the part to get Clifford back among the living. Then with all the bits and pieces in place and my very reasonable invoice paid to the Greenforks people I was finally back to looking at life through the windshield! It didn’t take long for Clifford to hit his stride and back on our hill in Appalachia we were Tuesday evening.

My only thoughts now are: “What’s next?” These trials and tribulations are really starting to get old!

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