Oh ********* !

There are 4 basics to propane delivery.

1. Don't hit anything with the truck
2. Don't get the truck stuck.
3. Don't do anything stupid.
4. Deliver propane safely

Today I broke all 4.

My second delivery of the day I am at a house that is clearly unoccupied. The billing address is different than the delivery address. No tracks of any kind.

I walk the driveway (it's been a couple years or more since I was there), then back straight off the road toward the garage door. I decide I am too close to the building, so I stop and start to pull forwards. It seems the drive is a little higher than the yard. My left rear wheels slide off and I end up with the truck next to a tree.

Oh ********* !

I am able to pull forward and get away. I get out with only a broken clearance light lens and some scrapes on the tree.

A few deliveries later I have a brain fade and try filling a 325 gallon tank like it were a 500. By the time I realize it the tank is 95% full.

Oh ********* !

Radio doesn't work right. Cell phone is out of service. We get the situation under control and I go on.

A couple deliveries later I get called to a customer out of gas about 20 miles away. Looks like a good delivery. House is off the road a ways. Tank is next to the drive about halfway out to the road. I start up the hill. cross over a narrow culvert and all the sudden the truck slips sideways.That is a poor photo, but the right rear wheels are close to sliding down an embankment. I call the office and they tell me Art is already headed my way. That is because for some reason the truck I am driving has no tools of any kind. I can't do a leak test, light pilots, anything. So since the customer is out of gas a serviceman is required to checkout the system and light the pilots.

So while I wait I wonder up toward the tank. There are no footprints in the snow. There is snow on top of the lid. I realize there is no way the customer looked at the gauge to see he was out of gas. I raise the lid ... He has 15% in the tank.

No, I am not pleased. I just drove 20 miles out of my way, with a serviceman driving 30 miles out of his way, for a customer who is NOT out of gas.

Another "Oh ********* !" moment.

About that time he comes wondering down the driveway. I am afraid I was rather abrupt with him. "Well ... I don't know. My wife said we were out of gas because the furnace doesn't work". So he called us. I am still waiting for Art, so he goes back to the house. Shortly before Art gets there he comes back. There was a breaker tripped in the breaker box. He reset it and the furnace started working.

Oh ********* !

So Art gets there. He backs over the other side of the embankment with the pickup, chains it to a tree and winches me back on the driveway. We unhook and I start to back out to the road. All the sudden my back wheels slide off the drive again, the other direction. The front wheels slide off as well, and I have one of those "Oh ********* !" moments. The truck rocks sideways and I just KNOW it is going over. Finally the liquid stops sloshing and the truck stops rocking. Art said he thought it was going over, too. This shot doesn't do it justice

That is my customer looking at the truck. Along with every neighbor within a 20 mile radius. I am surprised there is not a TV crew on scene. If we had a stand selling hot chocolate and coney dogs we could have made a fortune.

If you look closely in the next photo there is a cable running to the top of the tank. Art pulled the truck around, tied it to another tree, and ran the winch cable to the top of the tank to stabilize the truck.
THAT is how close he thought we were to losing it. So finally 4 Seasons arrives and pulls me out.
That flash of orange in the spot mirror is 4 Seasons' wrecker.
He finally gets me out.

John (did I mention the boss showed up as well?) said we could hold off a day or two on the delivery. I did not argue.

It was definitely an Oh ********* ! day.

By The Way, since this was his first time running out of gas (he is a "will-call") the girls told him there would not be a special delivery charge this time. I bet he looks at the gauge next time before he calls.