Big Rig Ministry ‘Jitters’

By: Dr. Tom R. Pousche (M. Div.’93; D. Min. ‘98’)
The year 2008 was a tough year for many: Presidential election proceedings, Wall Street plummets to new lows, scams and crime rates steadily increases, while suicides become more prevalent – these are the headlines of today.

Despite these disheartening stories, it seems the only thing that gave me the “jitters” on the morning of December 17th 2008, was waking up to an outside world blanketed in a fresh covering of snow.

I had just returned from Detroit, Michigan where I had test driven a new Sterling Freightliner truck, then brought that same truck across 2300 miles on snow ice packed roads. Upon waking up the next morning, I was not particularly excited in waking up to more snow. In fact, I was scheduled to test drive 500 miles in another Freightliner truck, and was not looking forward to it.
As I stood at my bedroom window debating whether or not I should drive that day, I suddenly realized that I was already late walking out the front door. So I nervously grabbed some warm clothing, my driving bag, and left to face the world.
In the rush of it all, I soon realized that I had left my prescription driving glasses at home, forcing me to use my prescription sunglasses to not only drive, but to fill out my logbook and other pertinent paper work. It was obvious, this was going to be an interesting day—and it was!
After our driver’s safety meeting, I was assigned the only truck that used 20% bio-diesel, which meant that I would have to fuel
fuel up five miles away at the only Pride Station which distributed that particular kind of fuel.
After arriving safely, I popped both lids on my fuel tanks to begin fueling, only to discover that the fuel pump was not pumping correctly. After several unsuccessful attempts, I finally called my driver manager, who graciously walked me through a simple
procedure (looking down into the tank and getting a fuel level), and I reported the level ‘full,’ he then kindly advised me to go
ahead and run with what fuel I had.

It wasn’t until I reached Southern Oregon that it dawned upon me, that if only I had gazed down to check my fuel instrument on
the dashboard, it would have indicated ‘Full,’ saving me a major embarrassment. Ouch!
At the end of the line, I stopped for a coffee break. After returning, there was another problem: There was an irritating piercing
sound from my instrument panel that would not shut off. No matter what I tried, it’s obnoxious sound was exasperating. Again,
I called my driver manager, who again walked me through another simple procedure. He had me slam my driver’s door hard, which fixed the problem. I already knew that procedure! This was not my day for trucking.

On my return trip back to Portland, the weather turned ominous, and the rain began to heavily pour down impairing my vision, forcing me to wear my prescription sunglasses through all the rush hour traffic buzzing around me. As my eyes acclimated, I was successful in making my way back to the trucking yard without incident or an accident.

By the time I pulled into the yard, I was totally exhausted and overwhelmed. I was too tired to even begin to fill out all the paperwork requested by the company. As I sat there exasperated, my PM driver showed up.
He was like a breath of fresh air! He took one look at my sunglasses and immediately came to my rescue by completing all my paperwork. He even went the extra mile and completed my logbook. I was so grateful for this angel in disguise.
up five miles away at the only Pride Station which distributed that particular kind of fuel.

After arriving safely, I popped both lids on my fuel tanks to begin fueling, only to discover that the fuel pump was not pumping correctly. After several unsuccessful attempts, I finally called my driver manager, who graciously walked me through a simple procedure (looking down into the tank and getting a fuel level), and I reported the level ‘full,’ he then kindly advised me to go ahead and run with what fuel I had.

It wasn’t until I reached Southern Oregon that it dawned upon me, that if only I had gazed down to check my fuel instrument on the dashboard, it would have indicated ‘Full,’ saving me a major embarrassment. Ouch!

At the end of the line, I stopped for a coffee break. After returning, there was another problem: There was an irritating piercing sound from my instrument panel that would not shut off. No matter what I tried, it’s obnoxious sound was exasperating. Again, I called my driver manager, who again walked me through another simple procedure. He had me slam my driver’s door hard, which fixed the problem. I already knew that procedure! This was not my day for trucking.

On my return trip back to Portland, the weather turned ominous, and the rain began to heavily pour down impairing my vision, forcing me to wear my prescription sunglasses through all the rush hour traffic buzzing around me. As my eyes acclimated, I was successful in making my way back to the trucking yard without incident or an accident.

By the time I pulled into the yard, I was totally exhausted and overwhelmed. I was too tired to even begin to fill out all the paperwork requested by the company. As I sat there exasperated, my PM driver showed up.
He was like a breath of fresh air! He took one look at my sunglasses and immediately came to my rescue by completing all my paperwork. He even went the extra mile and completed my logbook. I was so grateful for this angel in disguise.