Mr. Hubert. Now I turn to page 3 and I notice that in the second or middle paragraph of that page you have two lines, one I think with reference to the first sentence which begins with the words “Hall backed the truck ...” and ends with the words “... with the motor running.” Was that the sentence? My question is, what comment do you have to make with reference to that sentence?
Mr. Fleming. It was not a question of being able to get the truck further into the driveway. It was the fact that had it gone down the ramp further, it would have been parked on an incline completely, and fearing that the truck could possibly stall, by reason of letting out the clutch too quickly. If we stalled, there might be a problem of getting the truck started again, because we had a small problem at the terminal in getting this truck to start initially. Just for the record, a new battery had been placed in that truck on Saturday and was one of these where the liquid has to be mixed up in the battery itself before it is fully charged, and it hadn’t been moved enough and would not fully charge. We were afraid the truck might stall on the ramp.
Mr. Hubert. Did you have any difficulty, in fact, in starting the truck when you left the terminal?
Mr. Fleming. At the terminal we had to use a jump booster to get it started there.
Mr. Hubert. You left the same battery in the car?
Mr. Fleming. Oh, yes; and that is why we had the second truck with us also.
Mr. Hubert. I gather from that, that the truck could have actually gone down further into the basement insofar as its clearance is concerned?
Mr. Fleming. That’s right; it could have gone in possibly 10 to 15 feet further.
Mr. Hubert. It is a fact, though, that it could not have gone all the way down?
Mr. Fleming. No; it could not, because of the pipes overhead at the lowest point of the basement.