Alan,
I appreciate your feedback. I've played it over lots of times in my head. There was car traffic stacked up in the lane (I couldn't merge they were too close together), and the garbage bins were taking up the sidewalk. I guess I assumed that making eye contact with the truck driver right before he hopped in the truck meant that he knew I would be there. I also assumed that he would stop at the red light. I also assumed that he would signal a lane change. Obviously, we all know how assumptions work
. I learned a lot today and hopefully, so did that driver.
Stay safe out there! Keep your wits about you because no one else is guaranteed to...