[ponyakr]

i,ve already mentioned how i think driving an 18-wheeler shares some similarities with racing. i remember how much fun i had driving a truck & sorta pretending i was racing. i' d get a load, then take off as soon as i got in & sat down. i'd even buckle my seat belt between shifts. sometimes i'd pass 1 of the other guys while he was makin a pit stop for coffee or a snack. i had plenty of fat stored up for energy, so i figured i could eat after work. then i'd go as fast as i dared, using the cb to track the smokies. then as soon as i dumped the load it was the same procedure again. it was sorta like a pit stop in nascar. do what's absolutely necessary, then tare out of the pits, being careful not to get a speeding penalty, then rush back out onto the track. not only was this a lot of fun for me, it also paid $ dividends. on the shorter hauls i almost always hauled at least 1 more load than the other guys. it was sorta like winning the race instead of comin in 2nd or 3rd. now some of the other guys seemed to resent this sort of competition i made out of it. i remember hearin these guys bellyache, & complain about the most trivial junk. it made me wonder why they were driving a truck for a living. i just kept my mouth shut & kept on racing(er driving) & havin a blast. & they were paying me to do it, more than i ever made haulin milk. talk about havin your cake & eatin it 2. it must be similar to gettin paid millions to drive a race car (with less pay of course). i remember 1 particular day, i was doin my thang. i had got to the sand pit early so i'd be 1st in line when the loader operator got there. we were haulin sand to a concrete plant about 40 miles away. we could haul all the loads we were able to before they quit takin'em at about 3:30. so i "raced" back & forth & was haulin my 4th load & it wasn't even noon yet. i remember thinkin "i can take 5 loads to ruston, then take another load home to our local concrete plant so i want have to deadhead back home from ruston". & i knew that would be 1 more load than any of the other guys. so i'm headed south on the 4-lane & i come up behind a truck that had loaded just ahead of me. he must have been workin by the hour instead of the load, 'cause he was only doin 55 & the speed limit was 65. my truck was a freightliner with a cummins motor & a 9speed trans. it did not have a governor on it. it would do 85+ downhill & 70+ uphill loaded. so i remember thinkin "i'll just pull in front of him, then set the cruise on 65 to avoid a ticket. so i pulled out to pass. little did i know that my life would soon be changed forever. see part 90.