The Snake and the Truck Attendant

The Snake and The Truck Attendant

Suzanne Marsh

The adventures in trucking never cease to amaze me; one such adventure took place in the late nineties in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

“Hey, remember that snake in the truck and that attendant?”

“How could I forget; we were both there; so was Nick. Truckers are their pets,

dogs and cats are enough to care for while we are on the road.”

“You won’t get any argument here.”

Truck drivers and their pets have a long history. Most pets are either dogs or cats, these animals help to relieve the boredom of being on the road for weeks at a time. Some of the stranger pets I have encountered over the years, well some just are insane. There was woman truck driver that had a big blue McCaw that destroyed the seats in the truck. She was a company driver but apparently the bird went with her in the truck. There was a woman driver with five cats, yes five in her truck. She used the space under the bunk for the litter box. Neither is driving for the company any longer. There was one driver that was definitely short his toy in his happy meal. He had a pet rattlesnake, a Western Diamondback. He had found it when it was a baby and kept it in the truck. I thought he was insane until he yanked up his sleeve and there were at least four different strike marks on his arms. That was crazy enough for me or so I thought until I heard and saw the attendant telling anyone he saw about his adventure.

Fuel attendants are a rare species these days, back in the nineties they were plentiful. The fuel attendant's job obviously is to fuel the truck while the driver takes care of whatever he was to do before he leaves the terminal. There were fuel isles for that purpose.

It was a beautiful autumn afternoon; the crips with the fragrance of autumn. Fort Smith, Arkansas is located on the Arkansas; Oklahoma border. We had delivered in Oklahoma earlier in the day. We were going to the Holiday Inn Express with Nick our dog; between the repair and the PM service it would take until tomorrow morning. Worked for us. A nice comfortable bed, a wonderful hot shower...who could ask for more?

Company policy was to leave the truck then the head mucky muck in the service department would get a hotel room. Good thing, Nick was not fond of the mechanics and refused to let them in the truck. She was a German Shepherd with an attitude! We parked the truck; notified the attendant that Nick was in the truck and that one of us would take her out before they started. The service manager, informed us that the shuttle was leaving shortly. He looked at dubiously as she glared back at him. Truckers, tried to make friends with Nick but she was the type of dog that either like someone or she didn’t. She was wonderful companion on the truck for five years until Renal Failure took her over the Rainbow Bridge.

The fuel attendent; his name was Jim was not fond of Nick nor she of him.

“Hey, you make sure that dog ain’t in the truck when I fuel.”

“Jim, no problem. We will be staying at the Holiday Inn Express again in downtown.”

“Good, that dog don’t like me.”

“She is very protective of us. Just ignore her.”

“I will.”

With that settled, Nick was out of the truck and on her leash. Jim thought since we were leaving it would be a prudent idea to fuel now rather than later. Considering what was about to happen in two hours; it was a very prudent idea. Animals sense whether you like them or you don’t; I suppose even a snake with its very small reptilian brain senses something.

We were still waiting for the shuttle; two hours later. That was when everything went to hell in a hand basket. Mechanics were heard yelling; the service writer was trotting out of his office. We wondered over to see what the commotion was all about. Nick stood there watching the machinations; wondering what everyone in the general area was there. Nick sat down to watch. Things were heating up.

“Hey what’s going on?”

“I don’t know exactly but it has something to do with a snake.”

“A snake?”

“Yeah you know, one of those slithering slimy things.”

That was all the information I needed. A snake in a truck...well why not. That one driver had a pet rattlesnake why not some other crazy?”

The whole situation was one that Jim never should have been placed in. The driver did not say anything about the snake. The snake was a fifteen foot boa. When Jim opened the door it slithered over the seat. Jim being an good ole boy from Arkansas carried a shot gun in his personal truck. This just added more momentum to the story. Just exactly what happened?

The truck driver went into the service bay to be sure his truck was going in for service. Jim, who was never at a loss for words that day. I can not imagine climbing in a truck; a fifteen foot boa constrictor slithering up over the seat. Boa’s are huge snakes, they eat goats whole, now poor Jim he had a problem. He wasn’t sure if he should sit there and become a meal or just what he should do. The boa placed its head on Jim shoulder; it must have it was his owner. Jim was not about to scream; that would look really foolish. He jumped out of the truck. Ran to his own truck, grabbed his shot gun and shot the big rig. Thinking back that was really a bizarre thing to do; after all it was not the big rigs fault there was a snake in there. I won’t say that the boa was not scary because it would have scared me.

The following morning after the hullaballoo was over both Jim and the driver were fired. This is just one of many things that have happened to us while on the road. Life is good.