Murphy's World

Hazmat Leak Produces ‘Purple Haze’

Dear Murphy,

It started when we went to pick up the trailer, and our load was overweight. After a couple of hours and a few adjustments, our company said to go with it.

As I was finishing my shift, my husband did his pre-trip at a truck stop in South Dakota. He walked around the truck, came back and told me to call our fleet manager. We were hauling some Hazmat (paint), and we had a leak.

It looked like paint to us-a nice shade of purple all over the tires and the side of the trailer. The company sent out a Hazmat clean-up crew. Unfortunately, we did not have a dock to pull up to, so they unloaded us with a forklift. Twelve hours later, with a repacked trailer and smeared ink (yes ink, not paint) all over the place, we were on our way.

Then, while I was driving up a mountain, the truck just stopped in the middle of the lane. The clutch fan went, and the water temp soared to 240 degrees.

At long last, and 24 hours late with our delivery, we got rid of our load from hell.

Chris Leese
West Seneca, NY

Dear Chris,

Your story reminds me of an old Jimi Hendrix song called “Purple Haze,” one verse of which goes like this: “Purple haze all in my eyes. Don’t know if it’s day or night. You got me blowin’, blowin’ my mind. Is it tomorrow, or just the end of time?”

I don’t think Jimi was singing about trucking, and that purple stuff he said was “all in my brain” probably wasn’t ink, but you and Jimi were caught in a purple haze that had you both wondering if it was “the end of time.”

Such is life in Murphy’s World where things can get turned upside down in a hurry. Naturally, the truck gave up the ghost halfway up a mountain. In football, they call that piling on. In Murphy’s World, we call it par for the course.

Anyway, I’m glad to hear you drove through your own, personal “purple haze.” Life looks a lot better when you see things clearly.

Regards,
Murphy and Lucky Dog