I called to tell Mark that I was proud of him for entering the truck in the parade and that I would be there to watch.
Mark said, “Good, you’re driving.”
Our fuel truck made a debut of sorts, at the Charlotte Labor Day parade on Monday. It’s not ready yet for fueling … we have to take it over for tank inspections and bumper upgrades later this week…but it was ready for its’ close-up.
After several weeks of work, Mark and Barnard have the truck looking good. George picked up the lettering for the sides, after some delicate democracy involving the color of the lettering, and Mike showed up with the first tank load of B100. The truck took to the fuel like a duck takes to water.
I practiced by driving it around the block at our garage location, Charlotte Energy Solutions, and then ten blocks over to the parade staging ground.
Mike placed his daughters and their friends on the back of the truck, much to my consternation. I have to admit to a small freak-out about the whole situation right before we started. My limited experience, a very tight parking lot, Mark buzzing the truck on his Segway, and small children holding onto the side of the tank. I could just see how it would all play out in stilted prose in the accident report.
But, as Mike and Mark and Denise pointed out, we were only going to be traveling at two miles per hour. And after all—take a look at those tractors and flat bed trailers — hauling children around in potentially lethal vehicles is pretty much an American parade tradition.
Anyway, it all went great. Except that the TV stations only showed the cute little girls on top of the truck rather than our nice logo and website address. Now, who wants to volunteer to drive the truck in the next parade?
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