I came home from serving a mission for the LDS Church in the March of 1982. Upon my return, I decided to stay at home and work through the Spring and Summer before going to school in the Fall. This delay afforded me an opportunity that taught me a lesson that I will never forget.
One of my father’s good friends owned a large farm. He was getting older and had very poor eyesight. He needed some help on the farm and with delivering hay and grain to central Idaho and Utah. When he heard I was home, he called my dad and asked if I would be willing to go to work for him. I accepted.
This farmer owned a Ford 9000 truck that had a double axle and pulled a trailer with a 15’ tongue. I had driven trucks before, but nothing close to this big and never over the road for any distance. He had all the confidence in the world that I could get it done. I went to the County seat, took the written test for a commercial drivers license (no driving test required!) and within an hour, I was qualified—or at least legal—to be a truck driver.
I made a run or two to Ogden, Utah, which was about 4 hours away, and started to get comfortable driving the truck. I was careful not to get into any tight spots as the front wheels on the trailer were not stationary, so backing that thing up was a bear! Like so many things in life, once you start believing you are pretty good at something, you are likely headed for a challenge.
The farmer had an account in the Boise, Idaho area where he delivered hay pellets. From my hometown to Boise, the shortest route is on a road that makes its way over the mountains near Sun Valley. It is a very scenic drive—in a car. Driving a truck with around 35 tons of hay pellets is a different experience!
I hadn’t been on that road for several years and didn’t remember where all the corners and ups and downs were. I was trying to be cautious but also make reasonable time on the trip, so I would be off the road before there was much traffic. For the truck enthusiasts, the big Ford had a 15 gear “Fuller Roadranger” transmission. That means if it was fully loaded, you may have to shift 15 times to get it to speed. That’s a lot of shifting!
Big trucks often use their transmissions to help with braking on downhills (watch for signs on your next mountain drive that say “trucks use lower gears”). It helps them to keep their speed down without burning up their brakes. Holding back all that weight against the force of gravity down a steep incline is serious business.
The problem with all those gears is that if you get into neutral between gears, the pressure on the transmission can make it difficult to get it back into gear. Experienced truck drivers are very cautious about getting into this situation. They know that brakes alone are rarely sufficient to stop a full load down a long incline. (Ever see a “Runaway truck ramp?” Now you know why they have them!) Sorry about all the details, but just think of all the things you learned about driving a truck!
So, I am coasting along on a flat spot of road toward a curve. As I remembered from years earlier, the road stayed flat after the curve before coming to a pretty steep downhill stretch. I figured I would grab a gear before the drop. As I came around the curve, I realized my miscalculation. The drop started there and the road was fairly narrow. I had a distinct thought to stop the truck on the edge of the road and grab a gear to start again. But, I saw the road was narrow, which might make it difficult to get off the road enough to safely stop, and I figured I had another opportunity to stop a little later, so I ignored the thought and the ride began.
As I continued down the road, the incline got steep and the truck quickly picked up speed. I was using the brakes, but in a very short time it was obvious that they were getting hot and didn’t have the stopping power to really slow me down much. Before long I could see the smoke coming from the brakes in my rear view mirror. I knew I was in trouble. As the truck reached speeds over 80 miles an hour, I came to an area in the two lane road where there were some fairly sharp curves. In order to keep the truck from going off the road, I had to allow it to drift into the lane of oncoming traffic, using the entire two lanes to stay on the road. It took all of my strength to hold onto the big steering wheel as the truck was sliding around the corners
By this point I had resigned myself to likely death, and now started praying that no other cars would be coming up the road in the other direction, putting them directly in my path with no possible way to avoid a head on collision. My biggest fear became taking the lives of other innocent people. I prayed that God would not allow that to happen. On two or three different corners, I would pass a car going the other way, just after rounding a curve. I believe He answered my prayers.
After a harrowing ride of around 6-7 miles, the road flattened and I was able to get the truck stopped and pulled to the side of the road. The brakes were smoking, and had gotten so hot that there were little flames that burst out every few seconds. I got down from the truck, walked 20-30 yards into the desert and fell to my knees. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably as I thanked God that I was alive.
I have reflected on that experience many times. The entire trauma could have been avoided if I had listened to that little prompting in my head at the top of the hill, to stop and grab a gear. It would have also been wise to check my brakes to make sure they were in good working order before ever leaving the farm. Hindsight is 20/20, they say, but foresight can be pretty helpful as well!
Sometimes we can get so caught up in getting to our destination that we don’t carefully consider the potential issues that might await us on the journey and how we can best prepare. Other times, if we are not sensitive to the promptings we are entitled to receive, we can find ourselves in bad situations that may have been avoided.
The journey can be a metaphor for our life. Sometimes we may not know the questions to ask, or have the experience to understand the issues we might face, but we are not without resources. Others have made the journey before us and can provide valuable guidance and recommendations, if we are willing to seek that help and then follow that counsel. I try to remember Gordon B. Hinckley’s council. “Smart people learn from their mistakes, really smart people learn from the mistakes of others.”
Having been on this journey, here is what I suggest. If you know there are hills on your journey, and there always will be, check your brakes, listen for promptings and stop to grab a gear before proceeding on the down hills. The journey will probably still be unforgettable, but hopefully for better reasons.
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Jerry is the author of “Partners with God, Using His Teachings and Example to Raise Our Kids” and has been a guest speaker at numerous gatherings, firesides and organization events, as well as working as a facilitator for individual families.
Jerry and his wife Melanie are the parents of 12 children and currently have 13 grandchildren.