Adventures in a Penske Truck

The scene: One father and daughter. One 16 Foot truck towing a car.

Adventure One: Getting out of the driveway.

Driving a sixteen foot truck is manageable for a seasoned driver. Even one without too much experience with a truck quite that big. However, if you add a whole car on the end it quickly inches very close to UNmanagable. Place the truck and car in a narrow driveway on a street with cars parked on both sides at five AM and you got yourself in need of a miracle.

This is where my father and I found ourselves. About 27.65 seconds out of the driveway and the front left end of the truck maybe an inch from a car and the right wheel of the tow dolly maybe millimeters from a car. And so there was no way he was going forward...but going back was perilous too.

He looked very, very stuck. And at 5 AM, we couldn't start ringing doorbells asking people if those cars were theirs. And even if they were I'm not sure they could have moved them. So one of us is swearing, the other screeching and then...my dad has to try something so...

He backed up. But he forced the wheels of the tow dolly sideways with the truck and somehow...well, let's just say it was a miracle.

And THAT was the start of what should have been a 9.5-10 hour drive...and because a 16.5 hour drive. Little did we know it was a bad omen that would bring road work, detours, closed bridges, wrong addresses and driving a big truck in not big truck friendly places.

Adventure Two: The GPS goes haywire.

I cant say how joyous the occasion of returning the truck seemed. As soon as we could we detached the car and went off to get rid of the massive burden. So luckily, I got to hop in the car and follow dad. Along the way I noticed it seemed to be taking longer than it should have. I had a sinking feeling but wasn't about to call my dad while he was driving.

Soon we were heading up the Dusquesne incline, which is more or less a mountain. At the top there is a scenic outlook...with lots of cars and people. The road was so narrow due to parked cars dad nearly needed to be in the middle of it. I knew he was probably nervous.

Then...we headed right down. Down the winding steep steep road, filled with hair pin turns and switch backs where you cant see on coming traffic until they round the bend. I couldn't hear dad but I knew he was petrified, taking a truck like that with the tow dolly around those bends on a steep hill. I was sure something was wrong.

To this day I dont know why the GPS freaked out. He took a wrong turn and it just kept giving him odd rights and lefts from there and squawking "Turn around when possible" in utterly impossible places. Whcih is near everywhere for that truck.

Eventually he pulled over and I got it sorted. By a miracle. Another one.

Adventure Three: Where does the truck GO?

So I had dutifully called ahead as we'd be rturning it after business hours. I asked for very specific instructions to be sure we'd know what to do. I was told how to identify the location (By a large white garage door) and then the guy said I'd see lots of other trucks and to just find a space where one was open.

I could only guess we would pull into a lot. Some large lot. Right? No, we pull up to the building...in an industrial area with no retail places, and lots of warehouses and factories and such. And no lot. And no signs for "Truck return this way" Nothing.

We spot two even BIGGER trucks circling the block. I hail them down. Other renters.

With no clue. Everyone was near ready to throw up their hands. Should we just dump the trucks on a nearby side street? And hope they FIND THEM? Turns out thats what two or three others had done. We found three other parked trucks on a sketchy side street along the curb.

But there wasn't much room, without blocking other places garage doors. We were at a loss. There hadn't even been suggestions on where to find enough space to park!

Eventually the lot of us parked them near the others, after circling blocks and maneuvering the trucks around corners we didn't much care.

So I hope they found it. I certainly wont be held accountable if someone broke in and stole the radio. Or parts. Or slashed the tires. Or the whole damn truck disappeared.

So. Those are the adventures of in a Penske Truck. More to come.