Oh, Atlanta

Thursday morning was a historic moment in my trucking life. I've been in and out of metro Atlanta on a regular basis for much of the last two years, since my company has a hub terminal in North Georgia and, to get us there, backhauls us from all over the east with freight delivering to metro Atlanta. Sometimes I've been there on a weekly basis, sometimes daily, and sometimes multiple times a day. But this Thursday morning, for the first time in my life, I drove through downtown Atlanta.

Normally, trucks are not allowed in Atlanta, or anywhere within the city's circumferential beltway, I-285. (An effort to alleviate the city's notorious traffic congestion.) Only trucks loading or unloading at destinations inside the beltway are allowed inside it, and, as they taught us in training (at a site two time zones away from Georgia), a wise trucker does not even think about crossing the exit line without paperwork proving his business there. So, in the last two years, I've made dozens of deliveries to metro Atlanta and only once been close enough to downtown to even glimpse the skyline.

This Thursday morning I had a delivery in Doraville, just outside the beltway on the northeast side. I pulled out of our terminal around 5 am, as we usually do to get to our metro Atlanta destinations before the traffic gets to slowing levels. And as I was driving along the northern beltway, I was thinking about how I'd never seen downtown Atlanta and wondering melancholically if I ever would.

My trucking life has been full of coincidences and one indeed happened here. Not long after I finished my delivery I received my next load assignment: head back to the terminal and pick up some freight at a few stops on the way. The first stop was in Hapeville. I'd never heard of Hapeville. I checked my map. It was (gasp!) inside the beltway, a few exits south of downtown Atlanta, and (gasp!) my route would take me right through downtown! Twice!

I've been through many cities' downtowns and chances are that you have, too, and don't need me to describe this one to you. (I'm not good at descriptions, anyway.) I was simply thrilled to be there, because in my two years of trucking I've fallen in love with the sweet state of Georgia and wanted just once to see the urban heart of it. It was a good morning.