Yes, I did tell the towing company about the dirt roads, and I gave them the lest painful route to use (if they relied on a GPS map, it would get them into lots of trouble). I've had Landolls onto my property before; for that matter, my entire house came up that road in two pieces. I've also had drivers prefer to unload off-property. It all depends on the individual driver and what truck they're driving, and I try to be as accommodating as I can.
In this case, the driver already knew that the truck started and drove. They had them packed in tight at GL, and he said he would have been there for hours if he had to drag it out of position and up his Landoll. He was also real glad about the power steering, since it was parked in there so tight! So, the driver got to the end of the pavement, saw the dirt road in front of him, and he knew that he had a well-running tactical truck on his bed... and he made the obvious choice!
Ok, I haven't driven the truck myself yet, but it looks GREAT! And the driver says it runs great, and opined that I got the best truck on the lot. The only noted faults so far are that the accelerator pedal sticks (in fact, a piece of duct tape on the windshield indicates that it was deadlined for that reason), and I heard an air leak behind the dash when he shut off the engine. The driver commented on how much torque the beast had, and said he thought it'd practically drive up a telephone pole. Ok, a bit of exaggeration, but it's a nice truck anyway!
It has G177 tires on it, and they look nearly new. There are some spots where the re-painting peeled off with surface rust underneath, such as the driver's side step. Overall, I'd say that this truck looks at least as good as the M109A3 that I bought from bkubu many a year ago, and if any of you saw that truck, you would know what a compliment that is!
The crate that was shown in the GL pictures is thankfully still present and strapped shut. I haven't had a chance to look inside yet. The driver said that it was hanging out of the cab door when he got there, and he wasn't sure if it was supposed to go with the truck, but since it was more "in" than "out", he pushed it into the cab and loaded up (YES!). My best guess is that the BII is inside; I'll discover this weekend, if not before.
I talked more with the lady at the other end of the phone a few times today, and she was super-apologetic and embarrassed about the foul-up. I was on the phone with her when the truck rolled into their yard, and it was great to hear her expression as she saw it arrive! She called a bit later to ask if they could deliver earlier than we had planned in order to unload before dark, and luckily I was able to leave work early to accommodate that (not that I needed any arm-twisting, mind you).
I'm quite pleased with the final outcome, and Friday's headache was just an annoyance. I consider everything squared up, and I'm planning to use them for another recovery from another site at Barstow (an M1102 trailer), probably this Friday.
I also bought popacom's last M9xx cargo bed cover kit, and Old Dominion called today to say that it should be at the local terminal on Friday. I'll pick it up on Saturday, most likely.
Here are a few more pictures for now. I'll do a detailed blog post on my web site after I've had more time to assimilate the awe and majesty of this great truck. I took a gamble on a non-screened buy from GL, and so far it looks like I won the jackpot. I've also gambled and lost that way before, so I went into this with eyes open.
Thanks for all of your advice and help, folks! And if any of y'all are particularly curious about particular parts of the M923 model, I happen to know a guy who'll be crawling all over one with a camera this weekend, so feel free to make detail requests.
My web page will be getting the glorious hi-res pics.
Anyway, now that all is resolved satisfactorily, I will say that the towing company is Sierra Towing, and I'll recommend them. I'll also get in the habit of calling on the morning-of to make sure all is going smoothly, with any company I contract with in the future... I tried to be easygoing and not pester them, but I guess I dialed back the anxiety just one notch too far.