I think the verses make more sense than the chorus.
As I was driving down the road
with a tired team and a heavy load,
I cracked my whip and the leader sprung.
Says I, “Goodbye” to the wagon tongue.
It’s a song about road accidents. It has other verses about stubborn horses.
“Well he wouldn’t go ahead, and he wouldn’t hold still,
So he went up and down like an old sawmill.”"
Sort of an old time version of Wreck on the Highway.