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I was working at a now defunct lighting company in California, and we had a tradeshow exhibit for a trucking show at the Louisville Convention center. I was in New Orleans finishing up a show at the time, so I missed watching the shop fill the order and ship it out. I flew directly from New Orleans into Louisville, expecting a typical tradeshow load-in. Hardly.
Unbeknownst to me, the company owner’s girlfriend (need I say more?) had decided that she was going to take over the shipping department. Her motto was “cheaper is better.” She had arranged for an unconsolidated shipping company to pick up the gear from our warehouse in San Francisco and deliver it to the convention center—in 18 different shipments. Because it wasn’t a consolidated shipper, the gear had been broken up by size and put on various carriers. Let the fun begin!
At the convention center, I was aghast as I started receiving all the gear piecemeal, in no apparent order of any kind, over the course of three days. On day one I got the data cable, but no moving lights. On day two I received truss, but no bolts or rigging. I got to sit around for three days waiting for gear, worrying about the job, and meanwhile, my client and the Teamsters were yelling at me for all the havoc being wreaked by the shipments. But, hey, we saved money on freight!
On the last day of load-in, when all my lights had finally arrived, the crew had all gone home and they locked up all of the lifts. So I found myself alone at two o’clock in the morning, wall-hauling PAL1200s up to a truss hanging over the client’s very new, very expensive semi-truck. If you’re not familiar with the Martin PAL 1200, think of the biggest moving mirror fixture you’ve ever seen and multiply that by 1.5. Now you’re in the ball park.
It was a seemingly endless nightmare that I’ll never forget. But I did, however, learn a thing or two about working in this industry: never let your girlfriend get involved in the business and no matter how new a truck is, the sleeper cab is never as good as a hotel bed.
Axis DeBruyn
