Burn Baby Burn

I didn't learn my lesson the first time. When I first moved to Boulder back in 02, I had my 95 Jeep Wrangler shipped from NY to CO. As part of my relocation agreement with NG, they picked up the tab. But finding a transporter was my responsibility. After a few days searching the web for a transporter, I decided to go with National Auto Transport. Long story short ... they picked up my vechile 2 months from the requested pick up date and my Jeep ended up stranded in Bonham, TX ... danger mouse!!! I con'd a friend into driving with me down to Bonham to pick up my vehcile. On the drive back to Boulder, I kept repeating to myself, "I will never ship a car again ... I will NEVER ship a car again!"

Here we are in 2005 and my parents were nice enough to ship me their 2000 Honda Accord LX. The vehicle was in mint condition and extremely clean ... black, tinted windows ... did I mention clean. My brother recently upgraded the vehicle by installing a remote starter ... a bonus for the real cold winter days. After searching the web ... FedEx was the answer. Amongst all the wonderful services that FedEx provides, they also transport cars. They aren't the primary shippers but even as an agent, I trust them. We submitted the order about 2 weeks ago and was assigned a truck last Thursday. The truck arrived on time at about 8 pm Thursday as promised. I was told that the vehicle will arrive in Boulder around Sunday, Monday or Tuesday the latest. Well, Sunday came ... no car. Monday ... no car. Tuesday morning ... no car and no call. I got home from class around 1 pm and received a call from FedEx. The conversation went something like this ...

"Hello!"
"Hi. This is Donna with FedEx Auto Transport."
"Yes. I was expecting a call. Where's my vehicle?"
"I have some bad news about your vehicle. The transport was driving on I-95 on Friday in New Jersey. Unfortunately, the transporter was involved in an accident. It caught on fire and most of the vehicles on the truck were damaged and/or totalled. The driver suffered major burning trying to put out the fire. If would get a pen I will provide you with the information we have regarding your car. I just gave you some shocking news, so take this information down, OK?"

OK?? Hell no I ain't OK! You gotta be f'ing me! What are the chances??? Moments after I hung up with Donna. I heard the echoing in my head ... "NEVER transport a vehicle again!"