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New truck drivers

Roger63

Well-Known Member
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Aug 7, 2013
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Location
Skiatook ok
I know we have discussed the quality of truck drivers on the road these days and some of them are good. My wife took these 2 pics this morning while traffic was stopped. But there were also 2 more truckers in the medium that she couldn't get pics of as she was moving. All 4 accidents were in a 20 mile stretch of I 44 in Missouri
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There are truck drivers and there’s steering wheel holders. Looks like steering wheel holders had a bad day.
 
All we can do is hope no one was killed or seriously injured! I have the utmost respect for the men and women who keep this country moving. Take care sir and I hope your health issues have improved!
 
All we can do is hope no one was killed or seriously injured! I have the utmost respect for the men and women who keep this country moving. Take care sir and I hope your health issues have improved!
Thank you I'm doing great, still trying to get used to the retirement thing. I'm not very good at it.
 
There are too many so-called truck drivers who act like they are driving some small suv or minivan. No idea of the size and weight of what they’re driving let alone how you have to be able to plan ahead for what’s coming up ahead.

I gave up doing long haul around 2007 as the drivers were just crazy out there and now most can not even drive a manual transmission. WTF!!! Maybe I am old school but if you don’t know how to drive a stick then why do you have a license??? Like knowing how to swim, you don’t do it every day but if you wind up in the water you’ll have a chance.

I will not get into moving around in tight spaces or backing into tight loading docks. Or parking across the noses of trucks at the docks and walking away from your rig like an idiot……Sorry for the rant…….just my opinion and experience and that’s all.
 
I'm six months from parking the Peterbilt for the final time. Planning ahead, I was headed to a seminar last week to keep my other (lawyer's) license active. Pile up of trucks just outside of State College, 6 am, ideal weather, no traffic. Truly depressing what the driver pool has come to.
 
I wasn't ready for retirement when life bit me in the ***, but with all that said I'm glad I am. Almost 4 million miles and the only time my truck was ever damaged it was someone backing into me.
 
There are too many so-called truck drivers who act like they are driving some small suv or minivan. No idea of the size and weight of what they’re driving let alone how you have to be able to plan ahead for what’s coming up ahead.

I gave up doing long haul around 2007 as the drivers were just crazy out there and now most can not even drive a manual transmission. WTF!!! Maybe I am old school but if you don’t know how to drive a stick then why do you have a license??? Like knowing how to swim, you don’t do it every day but if you wind up in the water you’ll have a chance.

I will not get into moving around in tight spaces or backing into tight loading docks. Or parking across the noses of trucks at the docks and walking away from your rig like an idiot……Sorry for the rant…….just my opinion and experience and that’s all
I just retired after 45 years on the road and I couldn't have said it better myself.
 
I'm surprised nobody mentioned it's a Sunday. I drove for over 25 years. And you could almost guarantee that on a Saturday night, Sunday morning the boys were going to put her in the woods. Fellas trying to run the books and make it home to see their families for a few hours before they had to head out again on Monday morning and be gone again. Am I only one that has observed this?? I hit that rumble strip more than once beating the feet for home. I guess I was lucky. Had enough sense to park on a off ramp for a snooze when I felt things were going bad.
 
I'm surprised nobody mentioned it's a Sunday. I drove for over 25 years. And you could almost guarantee that on a Saturday night, Sunday morning the boys were going to put her in the woods. Fellas trying to run the books and make it home to see their families for a few hours before they had to head out again on Monday morning and be gone again. Am I only one that has observed this?? I hit that rumble strip more than once beating the feet for home. I guess I was lucky. Had enough sense to park on a off ramp for a snooze when I felt things were going bad.
You are just the only one to say it, we all did it. As you said we were all smart enough to stop when the 3 am wake you song didn't work anymore. My worst time was about 4am till sunrise. To many 1000 mile days for most of us, hell I was downright giddy when I got used to the eld.
 
I remember those 32-40 hours day. People to this day don't understand when I say I use to work 32 hours a day and 14 day weeks. A man had to do what a man had to do to pay the bills. But I sure am glad those days are over. No e-logs back then. Just a stack of log books. My bad time was around 11:00pm to 2 am. Once in a while I'd get dopey around 1pm. A good friend of mine just suffered a stroke last month pushing to many bennies. Finally caught up with him. I never ever touched any of that crap. Coffee was my friend. In liquid and solid form. Anybody with me??? Boys use to think I was chewing tobacco in the truck! lol
Canada is a right big country. Maybe too big. lol
 
I never took speed during my career it was always coffee, pepsi, rock n roll and loose leaf logs. I never ever got a log book ticket, if you're gonna cheat, prepare.
 
I just retired after 45 years on the road and I couldn't have said it better myself.

This subject always gets me going with all the “little things “ that most people probably never think about because the average car driver has never seen the view from our position behind that steering wheel. Never mind when your in a sleeper cab with wider sides to blind you even more. That right side mirror is there for a reason and I can’t count how many drivers I have taken on a preliminary “test drive “ and passed on because they never paid any attention to the right side of the truck let alone the mirror.

I have always tried to get people to picture driving from the top of the back of your trailer. Think about the perspective on that. You know what’s in front of you, you have to be constantly aware of everything around you and stay in your safety bubble. Why does this seem so hard to get across??? Just like backing a trailer and looking at your left trailer side and knowing where the right side is.

Constantly changing lanes is another good way to kill people and create more carnage. If you’re not sure then don’t do it applies to everybody except these people.. Sorry for the rant again …..
I have many miles both local as I do currently and long haul with a clean and clear safety record and driving record so I can speak from lots of experience.
 
This subject always gets me going with all the “little things “ that most people probably never think about because the average car driver has never seen the view from our position behind that steering wheel. Never mind when your in a sleeper cab with wider sides to blind you even more. That right side mirror is there for a reason and I can’t count how many drivers I have taken on a preliminary “test drive “ and passed on because they never paid any attention to the right side of the truck let alone the mirror.

I have always tried to get people to picture driving from the top of the back of your trailer. Think about the perspective on that. You know what’s in front of you, you have to be constantly aware of everything around you and stay in your safety bubble. Why does this seem so hard to get across??? Just like backing a trailer and looking at your left trailer side and knowing where the right side is.

Constantly changing lanes is another good way to kill people and create more carnage. If you’re not sure then don’t do it applies to everybody except these people.. Sorry for the rant again …..
I have many miles both local as I do currently and long haul with a clean and clear safety record and driving record so I can speak from lots of experience.
It's not a rant it's the truth. Everything has gotten so automated in big trucks the new and some older drivers have gotten complacent. I hauled a lot of oversize the last 15 years of my career and 4 wheelers were a problem but by far truck drivers were the most disrespectful bunch on the road. Being 12ft wide and up the bastards would squeeze me on a narrow bridge, God forbid they have to come off their cruise control for 500ft.
 
It's not what it use to be. No respect out there for sure. For no one.
 
When I was a youngster in the military I had the privilege of loading and hauling mostly tanks that had weights around 52 tons which is 104,000 pounds and the articulating trailer was really interesting and once locked down and moving nobody was anywhere near your rig because I told everyone in our convoy that if you had an issue in front of me you better jump out because I am not going to slam the brakes or jerk the steering wheel suddenly and it’s nothing personal. Same applies when driving tankers which I have for many years. Never had any issues or accidents so I was thankful for that.
 
If I had a chance I would do it all over again. I really loved what I did especially the last 15 years. Moving stuff that not very many people could or would do. It was a blast and stressful sometimes but worth it.
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This is my favorite picture of one of my rigs.
 
If I had a chance I would do it all over again. I really loved what I did especially the last 15 years. Moving stuff that not very many people could or would do. It was a blast and stressful sometimes but worth it.
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This is my favorite picture of one of my rigs.

Being able to look at what everyone says is too complicated or simply too awkward is always a welcome challenge. And people who work with you also listen when you refuse to haul some particular loads or items because you don’t feel like you can properly secure the load and keep things stable under speed.

Properly securing loads is mostly common sense and more straps is usually good and always checking at every opportunity is again just common sense.
 
After 27 years, I no longer run a transport, but here's a pretty neat series of shots by the foreman who stopped traffic while I'm pulling out of a deep ravine, with no way to stop and get going again with the trailer dragging over the transition, right around a Hundred and Seventy Grand!
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After 27 years, I no longer run a transport, but here's a pretty neat series of shots by the foreman who stopped traffic while I'm pulling out of a deep ravine, with no way to stop and get going again with the trailer dragging over the transition, right around a Hundred and Seventy Grand!View attachment 1294753View attachment 1294754View attachment 1294758
That’s a great example of “I am not going to stop or jerk the wheel so if you’re in my way it’s not personal “. Once moving there’s no stopping.
 
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