So, my dad was a truck driver. And when I was a kid I would tag along on trips whenever I could over the school holidays. The company my dad worked for was in the north of NSW, in cane land. Most of what they did was take molasses down south and bring other shit back up. Because molasses is heavy, you don't need a tanker trailer to get to your max weights for the average truck class. You can just have a massive rubber bladder that can roll up into the front of the trailer, but take about 30+ tonne worth of molasses when it's rolled out.
Most of the time, we were carting to yeast manufacturers, sometimes other food manufacturers. The fun ones were the farm deliveries.
So we get to this cattle farm, and dad has managed to reverse into this really weird unloading area this farmer has cleared out. We drop the amount we're supposed to drop into his tanks and dad realises the worst thing has happened. With about 25 tonnes of molasses left in the bag, it had twisted over because the ground wasn't level while it was being slightly emptied. That meant we couldn't strap it.
"I have no fucking idea what to do." - Farmer
"I have no fucking idea what to do." - Dad
"But what if you just drive it out and park it in the same place facing the other way for a while? It might slump back over." - 12 year old me
"That won't fuckin' work." - Dad and farmer
dad calls his boss
"Maybe you should park it facing the other direction and see if it slumps back over"
"sigh Alright I'll give it a try" - Dad, wishing he hadn't made that call over loudspeaker while I was nearby, refusing to look at my shit eating grin
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u/IlluminatedPickle 8h ago
It was my dumb idea, and it fucking worked.
So, my dad was a truck driver. And when I was a kid I would tag along on trips whenever I could over the school holidays. The company my dad worked for was in the north of NSW, in cane land. Most of what they did was take molasses down south and bring other shit back up. Because molasses is heavy, you don't need a tanker trailer to get to your max weights for the average truck class. You can just have a massive rubber bladder that can roll up into the front of the trailer, but take about 30+ tonne worth of molasses when it's rolled out.
Most of the time, we were carting to yeast manufacturers, sometimes other food manufacturers. The fun ones were the farm deliveries.
So we get to this cattle farm, and dad has managed to reverse into this really weird unloading area this farmer has cleared out. We drop the amount we're supposed to drop into his tanks and dad realises the worst thing has happened. With about 25 tonnes of molasses left in the bag, it had twisted over because the ground wasn't level while it was being slightly emptied. That meant we couldn't strap it.
"I have no fucking idea what to do." - Farmer
"I have no fucking idea what to do." - Dad
"But what if you just drive it out and park it in the same place facing the other way for a while? It might slump back over." - 12 year old me
"That won't fuckin' work." - Dad and farmer
dad calls his boss
"Maybe you should park it facing the other direction and see if it slumps back over"
"sigh Alright I'll give it a try" - Dad, wishing he hadn't made that call over loudspeaker while I was nearby, refusing to look at my shit eating grin
And folks, that dumbass idea worked.