Driving skills: Low hanging limbs

Here's a funny story about low hanging limbs. One driver was on the edge of town where city meets country and the houses were set off the road a good ways as I've noted in previous posts. This driver pulls into the driveway and immediately notices a pine tree next to the drive with a substantial 5-inch diameter limb hanging lower than he liked.

I've come across the same a hundred times and if you take it slow enough, the limb will bend up and over the truck and you can slide by, no harm, no foul. But this time, it didn't slide off for this poor driver. The limb instead stuck on top of the truck and snapped off. It looked like a giant had hurled it right through the top of the truck like a javelin. It was at least eight feet long with five feet of it sticking out of the top, and you can only imagine the looks he got when he returned to the UPS terminal. He never tried to remove it because he never thought no one would believe his story of how it got into the top of the truck.

One time I pulled into a rural house and across the drive was a cable TV wire stretched across that was about a foot lower than the top of my truck. I must have been distracted; I didn't notice the wire until it was stretched so tight, I couldn't believe it was still holding onto the house. I backed up slowly, delivered the package, and got the hell out of there.

After I backed up, I swear the cable wire was hanging two feet lower than before: it was now lower than eye-level in the truck! The people weren't home and I never heard any complaints, so it must not have been the first time it's happened.

Customer complaints of that type were common against some drivers. But low hanging wires and limbs make for stressful driving because UPS is quick to fire you for little things like that. Still, even with the risks, I'd rather ride than walk!