So you’ve wondered what it would be like to drive one of those huge box-like car carriers

Here’s the perspective in pictures and words from our Flickr friend Lou Vest, Houston Ship Pilot.

“OK. Imagine you’re driving a big yellow school bus:
…except it’s jacked way up on tractor wheels,
…and it steers with the rear wheels instead of the front wheels,
…and you have to lay down on the hood so you can’t see the road except way ahead,
…and you can only tell where you’re going by lying exactly in the middle and lining up your eye with a pencil sticking up where the hood ornament would be,
…and you only have a 1 hp engine,
…and your brakes are caliper brakes from a bicycle,
…and you can’t steer when you’re trying to stop,
…and the body is tooth picks and aluminum foil so everything you touch tears it,
…and if you have an accident a bunch of people who don’t drive or even have a driver’s license will do the investigation,
…and you’re driving in some city in Europe where the roads were made for carriages.

On the positive side, you don’t have to go up any hills.”

Check out all of Lou’s amazing photography on Flickr.