A trucker called Daniel Jordaan

He climbed up into the drivers seat. She was untouched and untried. He couldn't help but admire the Tippers interior, the deep blue and feel of her. This was a superdumpster and the thrill pulled at him. His assistant Vusi, shone with excitement. Today he was to give this Tipper the time of her life. That was the intention anyway but anxiety and worry oozed from every pore. He wasn't himself. He felt the weight of life like a sandbag on each shoulder....his back bent by stress. The office decided he would be given a new model to try out. Not the best day for him but he couldn't tell them that. Management processes and changes had placed his job on the line and his family needed to be fed and bills paid. 30 long years. Thats how far back he'd been driving trucks. Sleepers, flatbeds, tippers or dumpsters and waste management trucks. He even tried his hand at cranes. There wasn't a truck he couldn't manage.

The memories of his life on the road were endless. Exhausting, joyous and endless. Motel after motel. He could write a book. His back hurt somewhat, pain shooting down his left arm, his chest felt heavy. He'd had the pain for sometime now but preferred to ignore it. The job had to be done. He was the best man for it. The heat plundered him today. The condition of the roads were becoming more and more treacherous. He steered her carefully and finally the open road greeted him with applause. The radio crackled and creeked but eventually worked well and communications check was in place. Dollie Parton assured him that she would always love him. But his mind was on other things. His attentions shifted. During the next hour or more his focus remained divided. He saw Vusi's gestures in his peripheral vision but ignored him. He didn't feel like conversing or getting into any small talk. Sweat trickled from his brow and he impatiently and irritably swiped at it. The easy sights of scenic landscapes did little to settle him. His nerves were raw and on edge. Before long the auction would be upon him. The truck swerved but he was oblivious to its movements. Seemed as if he was driving on autopilot though he felt the strain of concentration in each muscle.

“Daniel?…....Daniel, the trailer feels shaky, Daniel!” Vusi called but he paid little attention. He kept driving, wanting to reach his destination in good time so he could lay his head down and find some quiet and rest. He needed to think. He lifted his hand in acknowledgement so that Vusi wouldn't think him rude. His house, his home, his family. What can a man do after he has done and tried everything. He had to think. He had to come up with a plan that would solve the problem for all. A plan to save his family. Another pothole, damn! This baby was made for difficult terrain but he really needed to report the condition of this route. It was appalling! Beauty felt heavy in his hand, choked and spluttered a few times too. Strange. He'd never quite felt that way about a new one. They were normally smooth and easy. But today was different. Something was wrong. Everything was wrong. But he had to keep going, his family needed him to.

Again Vusi seemed to be gesturing to him. His voice sounded frantic as he touched Daniels arm. But Daniel wasn't listening though Vusi's voice came to him loud and clear. “Not now Vusi”, his own sounding dry and cold.........strained. “Captain! Captain, watch out”! He heard Vusi''s screams too late as his beauty jerked and jumped, her back swaying and swerving vigorously across the road. “Oh God, Vusi”!. He saw his family, his home, his house. He was unaware he had hit a curb at a speed he would normally never drive on this road. “Get down Vusi, he shouted, “get down my friend”. Beauty veered to the left even though his hands were urging her to turn right. “C'mon love”! he shouted as he had done many times during the 30 years he had driven new company vehicles. “You can do this”! But beauty was hurt, her bearings had been injured and her wheel had come undone.

She threw her body down, like a toddler in a tantrum, wheels spinning, her nose stricken with pain, leaving a trailer of banged up twisted metal. Daniel threw up his arms as if to ward off the blows from the shattering glass, but his head was flung against the door. The impact cracking his skull like a walnut. From then on out the captain felt nothing. 

Beauty's heart made a raucous coughing sound as she slithered across the road, yet all the while her nose remained erect in a typically dignified manner that would delight any CAT manufacturer. A deathly silence meandered towards them and accompanied the whooshing sound of spinning wheels. Vusi lay on the floor, in a bloody heap with broken legs and punctured spleen. Daniel thought of his family. “help them God...........and be with them, …......please” he prayed. He felt so tired. His body succumbed to its injuries and while drifting off, he silently pleaded to God for his family and for their daily need. “A clear motorway.......what a miracle, thank you God”.

Peter Armstrong, who was Daniel and Vusi's superior, hurriedly arrived at the scene and peered inside the once beautiful Tipper. As company management, he came prepared to assess the wreckage piled in the centre of what is deemed to be one of the cities busiest motorways. But when he saw Vusi's hand grasp the hand of the man whom he endearingly called “captain”, he turned his head in sadness. Vusi had driven with Daniel for 15 long years. Peter lifted Daniel Jordaan's body and settled his head against the head rest. Then he squared Daniels shoulders, wiped the streaks of blood and sweat from his bruised face and straightened his shirt. Peter removed his suits jacket and covered the body of Daniel Jordaan. “I salute you Captain”, he said, “you did well”. Silence dropped its head in acknowledgement and the slow whooshy sound of spinning wheels echoed its sorrow.

The family of Daniel Jordaan will never know that his last drive was just for them.

Author: ~BFK~
Copyright (C) 2012

Dedicated to the truckers who have lost their lives in road accidents.

All names used in this story are fictitious and bears no reference to any persons living or dead, though sketched situations and circumstances may share similarities to reported road accidents.