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The old TV show Twilight Zone would open with Rod Serling saying: "You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone!" The show would then unfold to reveal some sort of weird happening or occurrence.

Some days in trucking could be straight out of a Twilight Zone's script.

Have you ever been driving along, minding your own business when, all of a sudden, you cannot figure out where you are or how you got there? You haven't been asleep or even nodding off, so that isn't it, and you know you have been driving; it is just that everything has gone straight out of your mind. It makes you doubt your sanity when that happens.

I was talking to a friend on the phone one night, and I asked him where he was; he didn't answer right away but finally replied, "I don't know." I laughed and said, ‘yeah right." "No," he replied, "I really don't know where I am at!" It took him finding an exit sign to figure it out. He was coming back off of a 34 hour restart, so he was rested; he wasn't overly stressed and felt fine physically...he just had ‘zoned' out.

Many years ago, when I worked for Harold Ives, I was coming down I-57 on my way back to Little Rock. I had slept well the night before and had loaded up that morning in Chicago, so it was an easy day for me. I left Chicago, got on I-57 southbound and, the next thing I knew, I was in Effingham! To this day, I do not remember driving there.

Many of us have gone to bed only to wake up, look out of the window, and find ourselves drawing a complete blank about where we parked the night before. A lady driver I know had to actually get dressed and go inside the truck stop to ask them where she was. I can imagine the look on the truck stop employee's face when she asked, too! This has happened to me often when I park for my break in a rest area. They should put locator signs on the buildings for us ‘lost' truckers.

A couple of weeks ago, I loaded in Kansas City going over west of Columbus, OH. It was a nice day...sunny...not too hot; I had a light load, an easy run, and did not have to deliver till early the next day. I stayed at 65 mph and cruised along listening to a book on tape; I didn't stop often and hadn't run into any accident backups, construction, or rush hour traffic. It seemed I just could not get there at all! The longer I drove, it seemed, the further I had left to go. I felt like I was backing up or running in place! I finally ran out of hours and had to park. That's right! On a trip that should have taken 11-hours, I ran out of hours and still had-a-ways to go. I still haven't figured that one out, but it happened!

Then there are the disappearing vehicles. I will be going down the road, watching my mirrors, then see a vehicle, either a car or another truck, running along behind me or coming up on me. I look a minute or two later...and they are gone! I have not passed an off ramp or road; they are just gone! Strange if it happens to you, too...isn't it?

Have you ever gone inside the truck stop to shower and eat only to come out and not find your truck where you thought you had parked it? I could have sworn I had parked it in one spot only to go there and find it in another spot all together, perhaps even in another row. There are times when I actually think that either someone has moved my truck to play a prank on me, or that my truck has a mind of its own and has moved over to ‘visit' with another truck!

I used to watch Twilight Zone as a kid, but I do not remember any episodes with trucks in them. However, I do remember the distinctive theme music. How can I ever forget it? I hear it whenever one of those weird ‘trucking' things happens; it runs in the back of my mind as I also hear Rod Serling's voice saying, "... You've just crossed over into... the Twilight Zone."