We have to ship frozen COVID reagents in dry ice and small styrofoam coolers, overnight. We don't ship on Friday because the weekend will outlast the ice. So today I had to make an emergency run to pick up a pallet of coolers to ship out today. I have a hard bed cover that folds forward in sections. The last fold covers the back window but that's the only way the pallet fit. So the forklift pulls away and I get in the truck and hate that I can't see out the back window, but so be it. I also am not too keen that I can't see the pallet of coolers in my truck mirrors, but oh well.
I leave the place, roll toward the highway and make the drive back to the office. I roll up in front of the office and left the truck running and the door open while I popped in to have someone roll up the warehouse door. I walked back out to the truck and freeze in my tracks.
THERE ARE NO COOLERS !!!
Apparently, unbeknownst to me, they ended up somewhere along the 26 mile drive.
$600.00 in styrofoam coolers LOST !!
I had a meeting to attend so a "scout" was sent out to find them. He retraced my drive and NOTHING.
Now I'll tell you the red flags and warnings that my stupid ass ignored.
1. I never checked to see if the coolers were strapped to the pallet. I "assumed they were".
2. I never dreamed 120lbs of stretch wrapped boxes could "kite" out of my truck. If that is what happened.
3. I should never have started rolling without having a visual on the cargo.
It gets better...
4. While driving, I opened the sunroof and heard this flapping/rattling noise. Immediately my mind went to a truck forum thread I was reading with owners complaining about a flapping noise when they open the sunroof. I thought, well, I guess I have that now. I closed it and then just flipped / tilted it open. Same noise. I opened it all the way again and started feeling around the seal and all the parts and could not feel anything flapping. Then suddenly it STOPPED.
So, as near as I can tell (I have no idea), I headed down the highway and the stretch wrap must have been flapping in the wind and that's what I heard when I opened the sunroof. When it suddenly got quiet, I assume that's when I lost it all. However, it is also possible that the plastic was coming apart and I was losing a small cooler here and there the entire way until there were none left. 120 coolers GONE.
I have been kicking my own ass all afternoon for being so fkn stupid. I offered to pay for them and my boss told me absolutely not. He said the payment will be, that he is going to tell everyone he knows the story, make fun of me at work, and I can't get mad about it.
I was ok with that deal. He thought it was pretty damn funny actually.