Mark vs the DOT

Here's a little story about trucking being a family affair. All the names have been kept the same in order to gain your sympathy. Here we go...

One of the flat bed trailers needed new tires. We were well aware of this fact. Mark made an appointment with our tire guy in FL for Thursday afternoon. He was headed south on Wednesday with a load of steel and thought this would be great timing. All set, right? NO!
Upon hitting the first scale in FL, he was pulled in for a weight check (which is unusual for him) and the DOT officer was led by some unknown reason to do a "spot check" and saw the tires.
Now what happens?

The DOT has A LOT of power. Some say that when it comes to the DOT you can pay now or you can pay MORE now. I realize that they are important. They keep the roads safer, but the DOT can be a major pain in the..., in the...,in the side. Or maybe the side and the wallet. They have the power. The power to completely shut down a truck, not allowing it to move. They are to be revered and feared. They take no prisoners. They don't apologize. They don't care if you have an appointment in the morning for new tires. In our case, they shut Mark down. He was not allowed to move the truck until the tires were replaced. Did I mention that this was Wednesday night around 9pm. Where does one by new semi tires at that time much less have someone come to the truck to have them mounted? Now this is where I come in.

After receiving the dispatch for help, I loaded up the kids (post church) and with Joseph's helped hooked up our farm trailer and headed to FL. You see semi tires are rather large. You just can't throw them in the back of a truck. They are about the size of a small child. So think about putting 8 completely round small children in your car. Crowded huh? Now you see the need for the trailer. We head off and surprisingly my boys are excited. They really do love these road trips. We reach stranded Mark about 2am.

Now, Mark's semi is big. It has two beds. It has room, but my boys are bigger. Gone are the days of all 5 of us fitting into the cab. I'm exhausted. Jonny and I climb into the cab and crash. Mark and the boys divide up between the Excursion and the cab. Everyone sleeps, at least all the men sleep. I'm just too much of a worried mom sometimes and kept getting up to do a head count. Around 5am Mark and big boys drive off to buy tires, Jonny and I try to get more sleep.

By 11am the semi trailer has all new tires and everyone heads off. We head back to GA with a trailer load of old worn-out tires. Mark to finish his load and the tire guy to Mississippi to preach in a church. Yes, once again, God sends just the right man for the job. And being Mark, he was able to get all 4 stops off the truck that day. Not late. He hates, no loathes, to be late.

Trucking is a family affair.

Now I'm going to go back to sleep. I just finished another head count and everyone is here!