So the camera on my phone is busted but if it wasnt id have taken dozens of cool pictures you could only see in a log or quarry truck. I imagine some of you guys do too and think since trucking is so critical to forestry this can be a good thread for you drivers to dump your daily chitchat, struggles and images. I will start by providing a laugh at my expense.. The story of how i got the nickname "SuperTrucker" at work, pull up a chair it could take a minute.
So it was a friday, my 5th day as a class 8 flatbed driver. Actually let me back up to my first day for perspective. Mind you i was hired with the admission that "i have no commercial driving experience. Im a good driver and mechanic but bigrigs are new to me."
"Be here at 1am and we will get you started. Youll ride with me."
I get there at 1am thinking we are gonna open the office, turn on some lights, see some things, start some trucks maybe get a little instruction, exchange some words maybe. Youd think 80,000 lbs warrants some concern. I get there at 1am theres 3 trucks loaded and running, owner says meet us at pilot and they fly out. Im shaking. First turn into the 4lane and the autoshift wonks into neutral between 2 and 3.. I dont even know if im doing it right. Wanted to park it right there and go home that moment.
I get to Pilot (luckily the same one as them) to discover the truck has no ELD, not really legal etc. "Plans changed youre on your own. Bring this load to blah blah South Carolina." And that was it. I hauled that load to SC, 14hr day. Did not have a single dollar in my pocket, no phone charger, no fuel money. Next 3 days were atlanta. Prior to this i had only driven semi for road tests. My truck is only a 2ton and my longest trailer is 30. That feels long until youre 70ft end to end. So lets jump ahead to fiday morning.
"You need to bring ruble to flat top and new quarry." [Its way over 80k, 5 stacks of huge slab rock] okay, address? They dont have addresses, ill send tommy to guide you. Tommy [a boss] says im gonna head to mcdonalds in pikeville call me when you pass by and ill lead you up. Ok see ya. He leaves. Then the owner comes out says ya gotta bring fuel to those quarries too. They load a 100gal transfer tank, right on the very back of the trailer plain as day in the only spot itll fit. Great, lets up the ante with some hazmat. So now i have to go fill it at the pilot which means breaking the cardinal rule of no overloads on the interstate. Dang.
Turn into pilot, back left wheel is smoking. Maybe its rubbing a strap winch. Nope, the brakes are so low that the slack had bound up in apply position. Get it freed, fill tank, head for pikeville 1.5hrs late. Tommy leads me up a nosebleed mountain. 5mph, 3rd gear and im worried the truck will stall but it wouldnt drop to 2nd. Im also pretty confident that the hill is so steep fuel is probably pouring out the breather onto the windshield of the car thats trying to help push me up. If the tank fell off it woulda landed on their trunk. No self preservation in that fellow.
Get to flat top, drop ruble, fuel their gear then they load pallets. They ended up all on the back, 9 i think at 2 to 4k each. Its a spread axle trailer. No weight on the drives, i will never make that mistake again. Tommy jumps in says new quarry is right down the road but my car wont make it. Oh okay. I pull out and the trailer trails waaay wider than normal. Oh hey mailboxes. Just mist'm. 2 miles down the road he says turn left into here.. Its a haul road into a pine plantation up hill. I make a nice wide slow turn. Trailer still trails way inside. Im looking in the mirror saying outloud to my boss who i basically just met.. yeah, its just some brush, ground looks solid we should be fine. BANG. Stopped dead. Omg omg omg i screwed up what was that. I jump out.
In the 3 ft of leaves is an 8 inch, concrete filled steel pipe about shin high for the gate. Its primer brown. Invisible. Except instead of just sitting there minding its business it is now fully jammed betwee the frame and forward axles inner tire on driver side. The brake can is bent at a 45, tire is slightly cut and the suspension trail arm is ONTOP the pipe. I am stuck stuck. Cant move an inch and im fully blocking the only road. Oh and i need to be home for my kids in an hour, which is 1.5 hrs away. Oh and there are 2 crews about to try to leave. Aaaand there is zero phone service. Its a 2 mile walk up. And i feel 2 inches tall. Inch n 3/4 actually.
Tommy starts walking to get the wheel loader. He is an office person. Clean car, clean clothes, clean hands. I put a strap around the back bumper hoping i could flag someone down for a twitch but nothing passed. I realized the bent can was keeping the brake on. i pulled the slack pin out of the brake chamber pushrod yoke and tried again, it released. Oh good i should be able to back off it. Nothing. Thats when i noticed i was also ontop the pole with 20k of stone right over it. A truck comes down to leave and realizes he aint goin anywhere but was nice about it. Pretty sure he was stoned and didnt care about much of anything. The next 3 were not amused at all. I finally broke the ride height valve link on the trailer and manually super over inflated the trailer bags with my head down incase one detonated. The trailer climbed off the pole and with sufficient flogging i drove it off and go moved over to let traffic by.
After the stress of this incident i was much less phased by the site i had to turn around in once up top. A very small mountaintop mudpit with a bad side slope that led to a bluff. It took 4 full throttle assaults to push the incorrectly loaded trailer up the hill enough to swing around. Fueled those guys, loaded more pallets, strapped and split for home at a blistering 25mph up the mountain i live on. The next day i was supertrucker on the CB which has stuck.
In my defense, i fixed the entire issue and a few others including the mangled can mount, within 2 days. Im told drivers tend to break more than they fix.
Youre turn.
You are a hard act to follow. :D
anything older than 99 dosent need a eld
Mike I like your new job😊
Quote from: mike_belben on January 17, 2019, 07:05:16 PM
Quote from: snowstorm on January 17, 2019, 07:00:26 PM
anything older than 99 dosent need a eld
2016.
wrong........less than 100 air miles from home as long as you dont cross state line you dont need it
Im 3 states and 300 miles from base on a commercial haul with apportioned plates in a 2016. Keep trying. I can read the fmcsa as good as anyone
And btw.. Its 150 air miles. ;)
I thought here in canada we had bad training for class 1.
it must have changed used to be 100
I'm not going to beat Mike's story, but here's one from when I was a kid.
Back in the early 70's Dad, my younger brother, and me spent the better part of a hot July day bailing and hauling hay. First we stacked all we could in the barn we had on that farm. We had a pickup, four wheel wagon, and a two ton truck load that had to be hauled to our home in the next town over. And all three were stacked as high as we could get em. The original plan was for Mom to drive the pickup, and Dad drive the big truck. But we had more hay than we had anticipated, and hadn't counted on the trailer. The big truck didn't have a trailer hitch, so the trailer was hooked to the already overloaded pickup. Dad decided he needed to drive the pickup, and somehow convinced Mom that she could handle the big truck if I rode in the middle, and shifted gears for her. I could drive that old truck as good as anyone, but being only twelve, Dad didn't like the idea of me driving a loaded truck through town, and another ten miles down the road. Hey, what's the worst that could happen huh?
So off we go we Dad leading the way. The first few miles went pretty good. Mom and me missed a few gears here and there, but I started watching her foot and slammed the shifter as best as I could. It was actually going good enough that between prayers I heard Mom mutter that we just might make it work. But just as we got to the middle of town we saw sparks flying out from under the wagon, and Dad suddenly pulling over to the side of the road. With store fronts lining the road Mom wasn't sure what to do. She was aiming to drive past Dad and then pull over, but Dad stepped out of the truck and waved her into a gravel lot off to the right. And she did. Not sure how fast she was going, but it slightly more than the tie down ropes could handle. Part of the load went off the same side as the two wheels stayed on the ground, part of the load dumped off the back when the rear tire ran up on the curb, and most of the rest flew over the hood when she finally remembered to hit the brakes.
So there we sat in the middle of a hot sweltering town with with Mom in shock, Dad saying bad words, five young kids darting back and forth, the center beam on the wagon busted, and a two ton truck load of hay scattered all around... Oh... and the local pool hall was right across the road with a front porch of loafers staring in stunned silence... until my little brother, being the little saint that he is, hopped out of the pickup running up to Dad hollering "Dad, here's your beer."
That's when the front porch of the pool hall went nuts with men grabbing their sides and laughing so hard that the tears were flowing freely. Didn't help Mom or Dad's state of mind one bit. Luckily they were all good ole boys. Heck, we were kin to most of them. With more than just a little bit of ribbing they helped Dad chain the wagon center beam together, and re-stacked the big truck. Mom, Dad, and all us kids piled in the pickup, took it home, unloaded it, and went back to get the big truck.
True story.
Mike, is it worth it? do you get at least payed well?
i have been out of the over the road game for a while and havnt read all the new regs. someone gave you a chance good or bad its a start. get some miles behind you then you can move up to some where that runs better equipment.
:D :D :D I won't try to top Mike or mills, that is just too funny. My first job besides delivering papers was with a local cartage company, I spent a good portion of the summer driving an old Maple Leaf (Canadian Chev) overloaded with grain. It had a 6 cyl gaspot, 4 speed 'crash box' (no synchros) and a vacuum two speed. I taught myself to drive that DanG thing, learned very quickly to keep my thumbs on the outside of the steering wheel in the field, and got through the summer without serious mishap.
Up here the trucking companies mind their p&q any infraction on the drivers part reflects on the companys points. As they haul south alot they cant have too many or they lose their running privileges.
Hange in there Mike hope you get the hang of it . Stay under 80000 or 34000 on tandem. Strap at 100 percent and dot will pretty much leave you alone.
We have no scales and once loaded i cant change it up. Stone is sold by the ton so the pallets are known and the gross stays under 80k but its a 3ft difference between being over on the drives or over on the spread. Most the time i show up alone to a preloaded trailer and hope for the best.
Yesterday i had to get stone from another quarry and there was no choice but to run the trailer over a severe ditch at a 90* corner to get out of the road. One axle then the other fully hung in the air, it was like a 3ft sinkhole. Had it been with the closed tandem trailer and not the spread it mighta rolled when both tires went in together. I was nervous. Cant imagine how many tows that ditch generates.
I hear you. Those type of corners i have driven just past with the tractor then back up and jacknife it. Get your trailer as far to opposite side. And sometimes a couple of back and forth gets you safely around.
"We have no scales" do you mean no air pressure guages on the truck or trailer? Or no axle scale at the pickup point?
Up here in Canada our dot scale readouts are left on so you can read your weights as you cross after hrs.. Us weight on my truck tandems is 70psi. Trailer is 68 psi. Spread axle is different i would imagine. You can carey more weight then closed tandems which are 34000 lbs.
In Manatoba and Saskatchewan we run closed tandems on the trailers.
Are you running 48ft trailers?
Yeah 48ft spread and a 48ft closed tandem. We have bridge law, i can be 12 on steer, 34 on tandems and 20 on the spread. The pallets are weighed on a scale but there is no truck scale other than to pay $11 at pilot. I have twice but thats an hours pay. No gauges on truck.
No trailer dump valve either, that spread really fights you on tar.
On that hole i was taking a right and did the straight pullup from left lane, then reversed to jackknife and cut right. I guess if i did a few more it coulda made it but really the hole should be filled with rock. Youd think the quarry business that i drove down there for would take the courtesy to dump some trimmings in the hole before it wrecks all their customers trucks. I know i wouldnt have the nerve to ask people to drive into my place if it was gonna tear them up.
Oh speaking of the tandem trailer.. Its old, spring suspension low pro and steel/alum combo flatbed. Was drug out because of the spread being down for 2 days when i hung it up. And if i didnt have to drive those 2 days id have had it fixed next day mind you. But anyhow they loaded the closed tandem and i hauled it to alpharetta i think. It felt a little spongy and wobbly but everything does. The truck has a huge front wobble and pull from shot steers and maybe loose kingpins, the spread had flatspots in the tread.. Its a shaky rig. I made the drop and got back without issue. They loaded it again and sent my buddy kyle to kennesaw while i was torching on stuff.
He calls me and says hey, this trailer is completely flattened. It has no arch, truckers are honking at me and its shaking all over. Im not hauling it. He drops the load at another quarry and comes back empty. The trailer neck is all full of repairs that are cracking again.
That coulda been ugly.
Up here the tractor and trailer are inspected on a yearly bases. The tractor may be twice. Not sure dont own my own. We pull 53 flat and 53 ft step..
Mike I can tell you from experience ,it aint gonna end good ! RUN don't walk away . Its mind over matter .Your boss don't mind and you don't matter . Good Luck .
My story comes from our time of exporting logs. We were loading shipping containers in the woods. Getting an over the road trucker off the highway can present some challenges. Getting one to the woods can be another. Put a little red clay under him and it can get downright exciting.
We were working a tract in Prince Edward County, VA just outside of the little community of Meherrin (birthplace of Roy Clark if you are an old county music fan). I had provided a nice highway map with GPS coordinates to the trucking firm that was coordinating our trucking. I had gone as far as turn by turn directions, which included one turn off a major 4 lane highway....travel 500 feet and turn into the tract. We had signs at the highway entrance. Communication from the dispatcher to the driver was not always the best. Anyway, we developed a fleet of drivers that were decent after a time, but those early days were exciting.
One morning, I was waiting on trucks. The first few arrived and we got them loaded. I had a doctors appointment in a nearby town and left. On my way back to the tract, I met a truck and container headed north up US Highway 15. He was 20 miles from our tract. I thought that to be odd and wondered if he was looking for me. I went back to the tract. My phone rang about 20 minutes later. It was a driver and he was lost. I asked him where he was. He was about a mile north of where I met him on 15. I told him to sit still. I will come and get you. If he couldn't follow a map, he didn't have a prayer of my talking him back to us.
I met him and led him back to the tract. I had a turn around area that trucks could swing out and circle and then back into the loader. There was adequate room to turn around. The driver drives straight into the area and can't figure out how to get turned around. I motioned for him to back up and circle. He didn't get it. My loader operator got out of the loader and stood on the running board of the tractor to tell him how to get turned around.
I started talking with the kid as he was getting loaded. He was 24 years old and this was his third day behind the wheel. He had been living with his Grandfather. His Grandfather was a lifetime driver and told the boy it was time for him to do something with his life and get to work. Grandad had bought him an older cab over and put him to work. He called his girlfriend while I was there and told her he wasn't going to make anything on this job. He thought that maybe trucking wasn't for him. He had burned all his fuel looking for us. This was around noon and he was supposed to be on our job at 7:00 AM. He had been riding around for about 4 hours. Anyway, he asked me if there was anywhere he could get fuel. He was about empty and didn't have fuel enough to get back to the truck stop. I told him where to go.
Anyway, we got him loaded and I handed him his paperwork and sent him on his way. One of my company drivers came in and asked me "who got the guard rail". I drove out to the entrance. There was a guard rail at the entrance to our road. We had sent out over 1500 loads of wood without any problems. This driver had cut the corner too short and peeled about 30 feet of guardrail up. The end was stuck about 15 feet up in the air and rolled in a semi-circle. I was surprised that he wasn't sitting there with busted tires or airlines pulled but he was gone. The load made it to the port. I never saw that driver again. That export program opened my eyes to the people running up and down the highway these days. There are some excellent operators on the road, but there are some guys that I don't want to be in the same zip code with.
Wudman
No guard rails so far. Fingers crossed.
Quote from: mike_belben on January 18, 2019, 01:18:42 PM
No guard rails so far. Fingers crossed.
That you know of...
I've plowed many a snowy road / driveway in my day. Few years ago, I had finished up a snow storm helping the town by running their loader. It'd been a long day, I worked my regular job, drove home into a little snow. Had a bit to eat got called in to do some of the back roads with my pickup. The storm kept going, I got the call to go jump in the big Komatsu and pop the foil plow on and plow near the towns sand pit. I did that, till dawn, then realized I had to get heading home, to take a quick nap and head to work. I figured I'd plow one last little cul-de-sack. If I plowed it, then the trucks would only need to wing it back, and treat it with some sand later. We had a few storms and the snow banks on the end of the road were getting pretty tall. I figured, I'm here, I'll push them back a little bit. Well, I got going, and a little turned into a little more... Next thing I know, I see something kinda shinny through the window, scratch my head a bit, look around, then remember this road has a guardrail running the first 250ft down one side! I clean up around where the guardrail should be, yup, I got it. Ripped one or two post out. I'm pretty ok on a loader, soooo, I got it back to kinda strait, then on my last pass left a little snow wind row against the rail. I told the roadagent that come spring they'd need a few posts, but that for now it was good and I needed a few hours of shut eye!
Every so often a speed plow catches a guardrail and it's a quick trip backwards into the ditch. It would be an exciting ride. Wudman's story reminds of a guy who drove for one of my friends. He had a load of tires for Mackenzie, north of Prince George BC. The load didn't arrive on the scheduled day or the next, nobody knew where he was. No GPS or cell phones in those days. He finally called from Smithers, 200 miles west of PG, wanting to know how to find his destination!! He was so frazzled he couldn't find his way back to PG, there is only the road he came in on, so a driver came in a pickup to rescue the idiot. Needless to say that was his first and last trip for them. Where do they find these guys?
Guardrail -- how about a light pole. One of my contract crews had a driver they called "Shorty". Shorty had earned his name. He couldn't reach the pedals in the tractor and actually had extension blocks on everything so he could reach......and Shorty was still turning a wheel at 80 years old.
A new pole had been set at the entrance to one of our roads. They set a guy wire just out of the ditch line. Coming into the highway, a truck had to cross over the center line before beginning to turn in order to clear that guy. Shorty failed to do so. The trailer wheels hung the guy and broke that pole completely off and damaged the cross arms on a pole in each direction. Shorty was headed to the mill and had drug that one pole about 100 feet before he saw that something was following him. Shorty retired thereafter.
I still have a couple of problems with the power company and new poles. I have two tracts where they sat a pole on one side of the access road and anchored the guy on the other. I'll have to see about having them moved before I can get back into them with a tractor trailer. Such is life.
Wudman
One other event just popped to mind. This was years ago. I was travelling down the Downtown Expressway in Richmond, VA. It was about daylight and still very little traffic on the road. A 10 wheeler came down an onramp and merged in front of me. He was about 1/4 mile ahead. He had high sides on the truck and was loaded with used tires well above his sides. As we approached an underpass I could see that he didn't have adequate clearance to get under it. He peeled the top row of the stack off. There were tires bouncing everywhere. It would have made for a good video.
Wudman
This is one of the best super trucker moments I have witnessed.11 ton gross bridge. He was way over weight before he was loaded. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1547868409526.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1547868559)
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I'm amazed by some of the people that manage to get a CDL. It's scary! I've got kind of a "Shorty" hauling for me right now, he can't hear very well, can't see very well either. I don't think he was probably a real swell driver before those impediments set in, either😂 But, I get him loaded and pointed towards the mill, and he always comes back😂
:o
Howd that story end? What they fish the rig out with?
Was he haulin shelled corn? The deer wont mind.
And let's not forget the GPS......that thing didn't come from the same authority as the Ten Commandments. I was out in the "boondocks" (old saying) one day and a container truck flagged me down. He was going from the Amelia, VA area over to Cumberland, VA. His "Professional Trucker GPS" had routed him this way. The one problem was a single lane 3 ton bridge with a 9 foot overhead clearance crossing the Appomattox River (on a dirt road). At least he didn't try to cross it. I'll give him credit where due......he backed that truck for a mile and a half to get back to a cross roads where he could turn around.
A similar situation for one of my exports. I had provided directions to access the tract from the west. (My fault there. I had "assumed" that all port traffic would be coming from the four lane.) The driver was following his GPS and he had come cross country and was coming in from the east.....The only problem was a single lane 6 ton bridge 1/2 mile east of my entrance. The driver told me he puckered a little bit, but came on across it.
One of my friends owns a towing business here in town. Over the last month, he has retrieved 2 FedEx drivers that were following their GPS. They were both on the same CCC road that was obliterated by 100 inches of rain, a logger crew pushing trucks, and a hunt club that loves to "root". I use my GPS all the time, but I know when to ignore it.
Wudman
Quote from: Kwill on January 18, 2019, 10:35:25 PM
This is one of the best super trucker moments I have witnessed.11 ton gross bridge. He was way over weight before he was loaded. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1547868409526.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1547868559)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1547868412627.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1547868590)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1547868416209.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1547868613)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1547868419039.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1547868647)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1547868436457.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1547868703)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1547868432834.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1547868739)
Hey maybe he just wanted to feed some carp but was lazy
I figured he was getting a head start on a really big batch of mash for his grits. ;D
Quote from: mike_belben on January 19, 2019, 08:09:07 AM
:o
Howd that story end? What they fish the rig out with?
Was he haulin shelled corn? The deer wont mind.
That was corn right out of the combine heading to the coop in forest river. I never did hear how they got it out. But the owner of the truck was wanting to borrow a grain vac to trt and get some of the corn back :D
Quote from: Kwill on January 18, 2019, 10:35:25 PM
This is one of the best super trucker moments I have witnessed.11 ton gross bridge. He was way over weight before he was loaded. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1547868409526.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1547868559)
Hello, Sir? this is Bill the trucker, your new bridge, you want it in the same spot as the old one? Oh, nobody told you, yeah a bit of a problem with the old bridge...
I really try to run all sorts of new to me unknown routes back empty when i can, just to get a feel for my options. The last thing i want is to be stuck somewhere with a full load. Going from a lowtop flatbed to a 13ft stack of logs has me a little concerned here in the narrow twisty stuff. But then everyone else seems to manage. Guess ill just take it slow.
This one was a doozie to. Guy was hauling potatoes the thing was at the crossing you can see 5 miles in either direction. Pretty sure he was on his cell texting. He survived amazingly
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This was last fall up north where I worked. Guy was hauling dirt from the potato conveyors. He got a wheel off the edge of the road and over corrected. Tore the bed cab and all off. He survived lucky.
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We see truck/train encounters frequently, the truck always loses. He may have been trying to beat it and not have to wait. A recent one involved a stalled semi, the driver jumped in time.
:o
Good lord.
Bobby Goodson truck wreck 2019
Goodson's All Terrain "Bad Day Ahead" - YouTube (https://youtu.be/izQLP9DAnWU?t=1634)
2019 Robby Gordon Team Speed truck hauling equipment to 'Race of Champions' in Mexico City - Mexican driver's trailer hit lead truck 1. Following Team Speed Truck 2 turned truck/ semi trailer? on side avoiding the lead truck accident. (Equipment appears to be at race track this weekend, yet to see a full damage report.
Robby Gordon on Instagram: ?Mr Dowell you are a lucky man, I?m so glad you and Rafa are alive as this is scary ??praying for you Mike, help IS coming? (https://www.instagram.com/p/BsqOaobHVMr/)
Truck had water in fuel light on this morning at 21*f and visible ice bits in the clear bowl.. Drained off about 4x and got a bunch of rust crud out the bottom. Bit later threw a solid CEL and defueled hard. I did a whopping 15mph up over the mountains of NC. Thats a bad day for a flatrate driver.
Mike, is that the quarry rig? What is it for a truck?
Yeah its a ryder lease. 2016 cascadia daycab tandem with ISX and 10spd eaton autoshift. Most of the time i pull a dorsey 48ft steel/alum combo flat spread.
Got codes checked and filter changed at an independant for $230 [out of owners pocket of coarse] and now have a trans code. Waiting to get that cleared.
Could be worse. Im not the guy who had an entire flatbed worth of 10" x 40ft I-beams slam into the sleeper RIGHT IN FRONT OF the scalehouse this morning. Headache rack saved his life but probably not his MVR.
Yikes, that would really ruin his day.
Steel beams that i think will move. Gets a chain with padding across the front to keep it from coming forward on a hard stop or just walking.
Theres a distribution center towards the northern end of the county, at the big 4way off I-88 theres huge signs about an 11'-10" bridge, flashing lights, idiots still go up the road, get to the bridge, being a "Swift mutants" cant back out or turn around.
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We normally retrieve 1+ person / truck per yr from the stateland here by bulldozer / backhoe, I tell people not to get off the blacktop, Schoharie county isnt exactly remote but it's close.
As much as I'm not a fan of the creeper clowns I'm actually glad they are around more, they got one of the local F-350 super logger / firewood guys here the other day, no #'s, no HUT, no extinguisher, junk trailer, overweight, D-license, I bet 3k doesnt pay the tickets.
Yesterdays issue was a plugged fuel filter from owners basic lack of any maintenance on anything. If it runs its off to the races. All my own iron is old and ive never changed a davco style glass bowl filter or id have known that full means plugged.
Where i was down to 15mph was just great.. It was on 1-40 eastbound through the pisgah mountain pass from knoxville to asheville. Its about an hour of as steep and tight as you can run a tractor @50mph. Trucks are right lane only and no passing. Well road construction funneled it all to a single lane. Then a forced to exit detour at a really strange intersection. You have to remember this is cliffhanger area. The roads are the shape of whatevers available for flattish ground to build on. There was no lights, no arrows, no flagger. The single interstate lane just coned to an exit and there was a sign that said keep moving but it came down to a 3 way odd shaped intersection with no clear answer as to which way i then needed to go. I followed the vehicle in front, who was going elsewhere and wouldnt ya know it, that led to a helicopter only extraction zone. I ended up doing a high pressure loaded intersection 180 and then back to my wrong turn.
After forever, some poor soul let me get in and it was an immediate climb. With basically half power by then as the filter got worse, i bet it took me 10 minutes to hit 20mph with a nation of angry commuters behind me. Im glad the CB was off. I could go 70 in the flats but climbs were hell. delivered the load and got a filter change, whole new truck. Several energy drinks lead to another dead end 180 while looking for anywhere to park and pee. Ate at a nice old millinowhere diner. Its funny how when youre in a car, you think im hungry.. How good/pricey is this places' food? When youre in a rig you think i dont care how it tastes or what it cost.. How is their parking lot and do they have toilet paper.
Get back to base, park truck, unload my tools and gear into the 'service truck' im supposed to drive home that they got squared away for me while i was gone. Well, it started. But it has zero headlights. Apparently not needed by dayshift quarry operations. I left my house at 3am and got home at 10:15pm.
This money is not nearly worth the hell it takes to get it. Guys wants me to run that same mountain tonight after an inch of rain and below freezing. nope.
One more week to go.
I think I would heed the advice of others and run away before you are carried away in a black car by ppl in suits.
I already have, next job is lined up and im just fulfilling my 2 week notice. The issue with just dropping the quarry cold turkey [like most do] is that my good friend is a driver there and it dumps my stuff right on him alone. Be bad for our relationship. Hes been good to me so i wont turd on him.
Quote from: mike_belben on January 23, 2019, 12:46:50 PMThis money is not nearly worth the hell it takes to get it
That's the biggest indicator it's not a good outfit. I always wanted my drivers looking forward to the next day. My drivers decided on road safety; not me. I wasn't there and couldn't assess what they were comfortable tackling, nor had i done their pre-trip to know what tire conditions were, nor was i there to know exactly how tough things were, and i believed i had hired a mature capable person. So why not trust their judgement?
After 20+ years behind the wheel i got into the office. I think I've got more stories from being a driver/owner-operator supervisor than from anything i experienced behind the wheel.
I dont think youll find a more desperate dispatcher than mine. Hes trying to repay what he swindled before being indicted, and i want no part of it. Few more hauls and i will leave there with some critical iron assets i need for the future.
Question for you grizzly, is there a common way for an owner op to lease on with a carrier under there insurance and MC#
I can get a good old truck, overhaul, keep serviceable and drive. But i cant make enough money to pay for 50state insurance and stay ontop of office compliance at the same time, there arent enough hours in the day. I need to finish retrieving my machine shop from massachusetts to tennessee. Owning the equipment and having a flexible schedule has proven to be the only way i can do it. But them i have no income and tons of expense. Under someone elses MC/DOT/ifta/irp and insurance my deadheads northbound would pay for my own loads south bound. I run 40 to 81 to albany to springfield ma. Vt/nh/me wouldny bother me. Nor would pickups in alabama or GA
Lots of sawmills are shipping veneer around all the time. If you know some mills there you might haul logs up to NY or MA. Just a thought. I have drivers taking logs to canada and IL from VA.
Yeah i see that on flatbeds with pocket stakes alot, pretty conservative looking loads.
Finding northbound loads that pay is easy, its paying for and keeping up with the paper end of motor carrier authority and a 1mil/150k fifty state unlimited mile insurance policy. Im only one man. It takes one guy to maintain the truck. One guy to load, strap drive and unload the truck. Another to maintain it and another to keep the office end compliant. And another to raise the kids while youre gone. God bless the one man owner ops still standing. They need all the help they can get.
Quote from: mike_belben on January 24, 2019, 07:29:14 AM
Yeah i see that on flatbeds with pocket stakes alot, pretty conservative looking loads.
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Yes,I see those loads too around here.
Quote from: thecfarm on January 24, 2019, 08:41:58 AM
Quote from: mike_belben on January 24, 2019, 07:29:14 AM
Yeah i see that on flatbeds with pocket stakes alot, pretty conservative looking loads.
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Yes,I see those loads too around here.
I thought maybe someone would want you to drive one of their trucks and in return let you bring back a load. Something like that...I am no great shakes on trucking. My biggest weakness is lack of trucking. However, I was thinking if you asked around mills maybe it would deepen your relationship with someone in the industry. Good to have a greater exposure to more buyers. Then you get to the other side of the deal and your get their info too and you have supplier and buyer put together and can start figuring out the market a bit more. I think the biggest problem in TN is poor logger who are bad marketers. You are smart and a knowledge of the market will take you far and separate you. Well that a whole lotta knowledge on iron. But if you want to do a log yard, finding out the real buyers and how to cut the middle men is the key. If you deliver the logs...you'll do that.
I could do about anything. No idea what ill do, im just letting it happen. Step1 is get out mass and storage bills. The reason i have to gently exit the quarry is that the owner has said over and over to take his truck and trailer to get my stuff. It may not pan out but i do believe he is being sincere. My godfather offered the same, i just need to earn the money NOW so i can do it come summer. The log job pays better and stays out of DOT lanes and moves me closer to forestry iron.
Right now i am off to troubleshoot a 99 IH 9200 sleeper with N14 and datalink issues for the quarry. It may be the truck that fetches my junk. Some recent inquiries have revealed that mobile service trucks here are $90/hr avg and in short supply. Id be crazy not to get all my tools on a truck to atleast have that option. Right now im mobile wrenching with my tools at $16. One service body away from saying its $60 now.
Really i dont care. I like it all, as l9ng as every day is a little different. If your life is pure work, your work better be a bit adventurous.
Quote from: mike_belben on January 23, 2019, 01:33:09 PM
Question for you grizzly, is there a common way for an owner op to lease on with a carrier under there insurance and MC#
I can get a good old truck, overhaul, keep serviceable and drive. But i cant make enough money to pay for 50state insurance and stay ontop of office compliance at the same time, there arent enough hours in the day. I need to finish retrieving my machine shop from massachusetts to tennessee. Owning the equipment and having a flexible schedule has proven to be the only way i can do it. But them i have no income and tons of expense. Under someone elses MC/DOT/ifta/irp and insurance my deadheads northbound would pay for my own loads south bound. I run 40 to 81 to albany to springfield ma. Vt/nh/me wouldny bother me. Nor would pickups in alabama or GA
With many good companies yes. There is one in your state that i did business with many times taking their freight as brokerage. So i don't know what their like from an owner/operator point of view but i was always impressed with their integrity and methods of operation. I never got stiffed and freight was always as described. I don't know them very well but it's one place I'd steer you toward. You have to do your homework though and talk to some operators to see if their happy. That's whats most important. You can be shown all the fancy pay schedules and no money up front sign ups, but if guys on the pavement aren't happy then it ain't working.
Bennet (http://www.bennettig.com/drive-for-bennett/) - just one outfit I'd check out if you want to be an otr owner/op.
A truck passed me with a blue lights in front a while ago. Dude was moving a 345 Cat in one piece (it was a D model, I’d guess the machine weighed ~115,000 as configured with a 60” bucket and a long stick) with 4 axle Mack tractor and a 4 axle lowboy. Cut in the hill on I-71 coming down through Newport KY and across into Cincinnati is a long, steep grade. Guy went to shift down to use more RPM on the Jake and it apparently accelerated beyond the truck’s rev limiter for any gear in the transmission. As heavy as it was it would have smoked brakes. I went down hauling the 330 at 45 with a liberal use of Jake brake. It was rumored the cop at the bottom shot that truck at 138, and if that’s true I’d bet the driver is in jail and I’m in disbelief the tires held together.
I just get stuck a lot and went sideways down I-65 in an ice storm unloaded and having accidentally left the Jake on high.
That is a scary picture i got in my head now. I dont like 60mph in the tall and twisty stuff.
The eaton auto trans i drive will only jake brake down to 35mph and its all service pedal from there. At 80k on some of these 5 mile billy goat backroad descents im only doing 30 but the brakes are cooking trying to keep it there and id rather be going 25, two trucks would click mirrors on these roads.
You cant manually downshift above 1500rpm and the trans wont keep the engine in gear any higher than about 2200 so the trans wont stop ya either. I really wish the truck had a true jake that didnt take 10 seconds to turn on. I will say its stopping power is excellent when it works and overall the autoshift is a lot less labor then a 13 in the mountains.
the americans with their jake brake systems (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif). I live aside of the panamerican highway, the longest street in the world, not really a highway just some 2 lane narrow road with modest traffic. thanks to old us trucks and their worthless jake brake systems i have to live with some noise day and night. it worsens because their mostly older trucks with the silencer removed because the truckers think they have more truck underneath the louder it sounds (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif)(https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/huh.gif).
Why couldn't ya adapt the trucks like in Europe? where jake brakes are forbidden and every unit comes with a noiseless intarder or retarder which actually do slow the truck down.
Well, Cat offered one, it was a hydraulic brake called a Powerleash system. Mack offered a valve retarding system on their straight six and E9 V8 Thermadyne series of engines and called it a Dynatard. Neither of them worked as well as a Cat or Cummins of the same vintage with a Jacobs brake set on medium or high, and the Dynatard system was pretty well worthless. The Powerleash not only didn’t stop but by using an incompressible fluid it would also sometimes really easily lock up your drive axle if you were on a slick surface.
Jakes work. I don’t agree with huge straight piped stacks, but jakes work. I’m usually well overweight on moving equipment (permanent permit for the win) and on flat ground in the truck with the C16, 3406 or the trucks I drive with a Series 60 I usually don’t have to use the service brake unless someone cuts me off or the last little bit of coming to a full stop.
Scania, Volvo, MAN & Renault may have figured it out, but if you have an issue with noise you have the option to move, and I’m guessing you don’t drive heavy trucks, or as Europeans like to call them, LGVs?
Jake brakes have 2 major advantages. 1. You can slow down without reducing air (brake) pressure. 2. By applying the air brakes less, you extend the life of your brake shoes and drums. Those "old US trucks" may have air leaks, and worn brakes, making the driver use the Jakes even more. As far as noise, the exhaust could be rusted away. That or they just want to sound like a SuperTrucker. (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
The jake brake is there to remind all the sleeping consumers that some poor sap is out there at 3am instead of in his own bed with his own family where he wants to be, hauling all the canned soup and tires and starbucks and iphones that the masses insist on having available locally. Consumers want the goods being transported but they sure dont like those doing the work. Theres no where big enough to park and theres a no parking sign on every shoulder where there is enough room. "Absolutely no trucks" signs all over Etc. Theyre trucks, not hovercrafts.
My bedroom was 90 feet from mass pike exit 7 growing up. It took me quite a while to learn how to sleep without the sound of bigrigs in the background.
Speaking from experience, when you're riding >80,000 lb down Black Mountain, Grapevine, or any of the thousands of steep grades that are out there, looking at runoff ramps, trucks passing you with their brakes on fire and trying not to soil your pants, there are two kinds of us: The drivers with Jakes, and those that wish they had them. I was one of the latter, and that's when I learned how to pray- with feeling!
This was many years ago, and I was an Independent Owner/ Operator with old equipment, trying to generate revenue for my family; Trip leasing whatever was available. My old 318 Detroit with a 13 speed was very reliable, and could run with almost anybody (except when we got "out west"...). It would start and run in the coldest weather, and the only time I hated driving that truck was when I had to take a decent load down a steep grade.
I've been reading this post, and it also triggers some good and humorous stories. I'll try to get some in here as time allows.
I can relate to what you're trying to do, Mike. Go get 'em. I'm praying for you.
Jakes work. If it's loud, then it needs a new muffler. What are the Euro trucks using?
Quote from: Catbuster on January 26, 2019, 07:00:24 AMand I'm guessing you don't drive heavy trucks,
I wouldn't speak bad over jake brake if i don't know them, but i am pretty sure most of you guys have never drove a truck with a retarder/intarder
Voith Animation Retarder VR115 CT (en) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHOnbG15lJc)
I did my licence in the military when i still lived back in Switzerland. we drove a MAN with retarder for the test. then we used military trucks which have all kind of systems. I never drove professionally in Europe.
I had a trucking business here in Costa Rica from 2004 to 2009. I had a freightliner with a detroit series 60, a freightliner classic with a cummins N14 (500hp)and for a short time a Kennworth T2000 with a cat 3406 (if i remember right)(550hp) the Cat jake was useless but silence. the detroit more or less and the N14 actually helped braking some, but nothing compares to a retarder system, the good thing also is you can change gears and the retarder still brakes although you're in neutral.
The classic was a good truck, i bought it in Houston with 950 000 miles and drove it down to Costa Rica, with a 10to lowboy and a 32to Volvo Excavator on top. that's around 105 000lbs. want an adventure? drive this load thru mexico, guatemala, el salvador, honduras, nicaragua, costa rica. I was still young back then. that truck served me 4 years without mayor repairs and i sold it at the same price as i bought it in the U.S.
the Cat version used engine oil and a pump with a air valve to restrict oil flow . You could shoot off the east side of Homestake at 60 and still slow for the S curves to 40 . the oil temp would be in the red by the time you got to 40 . then you cut it loose the last 6 miles . Kicked it out of gear the last mile . only going 80 at the bottom . I never did this only heard tell . Haha
I'm no trucker but hate the noise as well. I hear that they use retarders of some sort in logging trucks out west specifically because they work so well.
Europe is much much nicer to hear trucks going up/down the mountains. I was in norway and sweeden and finland one year and it was a huge difference. Again, I'm not driving them but man they are better on the ears.
The Jake is very effective and not bad for noise if used with restraint but I see (and hear) so many who roar in at highway speed then ride it halfway through town. Great for the showoff's ego but a good way to make enemies especially with a straight pipe. A friend got stopped for using it on the 10% grade into a neighboring town, the highway goes right past the hospital. He said "Look, I didn't put this hill here. What do you want me to do, go through the light at 90 with my brakes on fire?" He didn't get the ticket. He gears down before the crest and uses the Jake no more than necessary to control the speed.
I remember riding with him in a bull nose Kenworth with a Detroit oil burner and straight pipe, conversation was impossible when he let off.
euro trucks use a lot of exhaust brakes. less noise less braking. my volvo on low is an exhaust brake on high its that plus a compression brake. works very well not a lot of noise. usually the larger the displacement of the motor the better a compression brake works. the old 2 stroke dd mostly just noise
Quote from: snowstorm on January 27, 2019, 08:02:25 AM
euro trucks use a lot of exhaust brakes. less noise less braking. my volvo on low is an exhaust brake on high its that plus a compression brake. works very well not a lot of noise. usually the larger the displacement of the motor the better a compression brake works. the old 2 stroke dd mostly just noise
Not meaning euro truck companies trucks in the US but in the EU. Heck much of the USA truck fleet is built by european companies so it would not be hard.
the exhaust brake on a volvo is a steel plate that blocks part of the exhaust. works ok and quite stage 2 is compression since some of the exhaust is blocked you dont get a lot of noise. yes volvo is from europe along with paccar = pete kw. cummins and detriot are not . well maybe dd a little cause mb owns them. the benz motor freightliner used 10 to 15 yrs ago didnt have much for a engine brake. there was a better one but it involved a new cyl head. if it was ordered with the better set up
back in the old days on the golden road some tried magnetic retarders. they were pulling 2 or 3 trailers. a good engine brake is great unless your trucking on ice an snow. when the brake comes on and the front wheels are turning faster than the rear it gets exciting real fast
Americans like things big and loud. Do they have harley davidson in europe? if so are they as stupid and obnoxious as they are in the US? Some ppl even take out baffles to make them louder.
I used to hate Jake brakes, until I got a job hauling wood. I can't speak to the systems that teakwood mentioned, but a Jake is anything but worthless. I barely had to touch the service brakes in a day in the trucks I drove. These were all Cummins ISX powered rigs. They are great for saving on your brakes on the open road, but I found it more essential for off road. On an icy, snowy MN woods road, turning that Jake down to a single stage coming down the hills is all you can do. If you try to use your service brakes, they just lock up the trailer brakes and turn the whole hill into glare ice. Other drivers would do that all the time, and it would make it really hard to get back up those hills. Yes if it's really slick and you try to use a Jake it'll break loose the drives, turn it down to one deck.
Quote from: Crusarius on January 27, 2019, 09:17:43 AM
Americans like things big and loud. Do they have harley davidson in europe? if so are they as stupid and obnoxious as they are in the US? Some ppl even take out baffles to make them louder.
i saw lots of harleys in europe. just about as loud as here
Harleys are popular in Europe and a cool lux item. Not sure how the european trucks operate, they don't have much freight train work compared to the US, so lots of trucks, plenty of mountains, steep mountains too. I'm no trucker so what do I really know, just what my ears tell me :D
Theres a lot of loud things on earth. passenger airlines, stone crushers, police sirens, my air tools. Nothing i want to live without. Tolerating the neighbor is part of life. If a jake keeps some kid in his carseat aliveby slowing that 80k load coming to the intersection mom is texting through, i will listen to them all day and night.
Thanks for the kind words cowhand.
I rigged up a junkyard pacbrake on my dt466 exhaust to a footpedal, its powered by air. Use it constantly. Any retarder seems to work best at higher rpm from what i gather. Again my only gripe on the '16 cascadia is below 35mph you have none. Its very quiet and effective but i still come off hills where even 20mph is dangerous.
All of the trucks I drove had stock exhaust systems, in my opinion the Jakes weren't that loud. I never once had a complaint, or got a ticket for using them. I used them a lot, as I wanted as much braking ability as I could get, to keep the rig under control. However, they had to be used responsibly, as they only slow the drive train of the truck, not the wheels of the trailer. I also used the 2-4-6 switch, to only apply enough Jake to keep the speed legal. Some trucks had stronger Jakes than others, turning them on pulling an empty trailer, or bobtail, was like throwing out a drag racing chute.
I have seen several signs in towns.
"Use engine brake in emergency only"
Quote"Use engine brake in emergency only"
Yes, and my reply when I see that sign is if I don't use my Jakes, it will be an emergency! (https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/cheesy.gif)
One mornin i get to the office and phones ringing. About normal for the start of the day, so i pick up the phone and find out it's one of our newest rookies. We had done a drive test with him and were satisfied, and we had also checked out his references and although he had little driving experience we were told he was a capable chap that didn't quit easily. So we sent him down the road...... and now the phone call. He says he spun out and got the trailers crossed up (company fleet was super-b flats). So my first thought was where do i find a tow truck and how much traffic is he blocking. i ask him what he figures we need to get him off the road and into a safe place. He says.. "no, no; i got chained up and i'm off the road and into a pullout! i just wanted to know what else to do and what i did wrong." i paused for a moment and then told him that he had done more than what some of our 3rd year guys would have managed to do. He was puzzled but after asking him if he was ok and if his nerves were settled i said it was time to put er in gear and roll on. He was a computer geek needing some income and really wasn't very mechanically inclined but became one of our better drivers.
I wanna make sure i got this clear.. He slid in bad weather with a set of flatbed doubles, chained the drives and got himself sorted out? Sounds good i guess.
Let's see if this works. The pic posting shenanigans on this site are unreal I have been on tons of forums for years never seen anything like it:)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/37318/20190129_085717.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1548810302)
Driving through Mississippi, somewhere near Meridian or something like that. They do all these giant clearcuts of peckerpoles I guess, can see em from the highway. Seen tons of loads like this where the guys give no %^&($ there might be a strap or two but the peckerpoles are a flipping and a floppin and freaking hilarious. Good on ya, Mississippi boys 8) if I tried to pull this back home the wife couldn't afford my bail
Ok turn your head sideways for now
**** JEFF I do get it, and appreciate reading old posts thay still have pics in them!!! Thanks for facilitating the furtherance of my education :P
Wow!! That wouldn't fly here either. I was chatting with a friend's brother who is a trucker, Wes is a good hand but has never really grasped the big picture. He was saying that he was given exactly 2 hours of instruction before taking the cdl exam which he passed. The company promptly gave him a super B to take from Alberta to Toronto, he refused saying he was not yet comfortable with 53'. At least he had the sense to realize that.
His last employer gave him a load of silage to pick up. He arrived at the site early, couldn't figure out how to start the loader so drove home empty and got upset when he was reprimanded for not waiting for an operator or phoning. Like I said, he doesn't get the big picture. ::)
You see pine pulp loads like that around here all the time. Can't really say it causes an issue at all.
Quote from: Southside logger on January 29, 2019, 10:03:59 PM
You see pine pulp loads like that around here all the time. Can't really say it causes an issue at all.
No I honestly was being sincere and don't see why it -would- be a problem, was just saying our over regulated nonsense up here would likely cause problems or fines if done the way I saw a lot of these loads...
They weren't hauling it far I went by the place they were unloading a few dozen miles up i59. Cool giant crane loader shoving what looked like most of a truckload into what I can only assume was a giant chipper?
Neat setup you guys have down south with the even age pine stands in the "pine belt" and huge clearcuts with what looks like natural regen. We don't have much like it. Quite a bit of older red pine plantations on state and county land (CCC I think?) but they regrow mostly in hardwood unless replanted and honestly seems like we do a poor management job
I start hauling exactly those same loads next week if all pans out. Guy i am starting with said he put out 52 loads last monday. I dont wanna be around any more when the regulation nazis get here. Theyre about safety alright. Puttin people safely out of work.
It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt or killed and the lawyers get involved. CYA.
Quote from: mike_belben on January 29, 2019, 07:24:07 PM
I wanna make sure i got this clear.. He slid in bad weather with a set of flatbed doubles, chained the drives and got himself sorted out? Sounds good i guess.
Yep. In Montana. We were very impressed. As were other drivers.
That load wildwood posted.
In AB where I was hauling (all of AB i do believe) we would have had to cut any log that reached farther back than 5 meters from center of trailer trunnion (axle group). Then attach 2 flags to end of logs plus a marker light onto end of longest log if possible or log that held light best. The load itself would have had 3 wrappers in between the log bunks. A load like that could be prepped for the road in about 7 minutes. Regs are different everywhere.
In Virginia, you are required to run one strap per bunk for treelength wood (2 on the load). On cut length wood, you need 2 straps per bunk. Nothing can be loaded above the standards and maximum weight is now 90,000 gross (if you buy that license), but we still have axle weight restrictions. We do have overhang restrictions. If you are running a log truck, you will meet Commercial Vehicle Enforcement guys on a weekly (if not daily) basis. We have an escalating scale for overweight fines.
That little pine you see on the highway is just corn grown on a longer rotation. ;D
Wudman
In MN we haul tree length as tree length . The only cut you make is to keep it under 9 ft. wide . Some Aspen might be 60 ft. long . 2 wrappers
Ive been running 81 thru VA since 2012 and DOT has escalated tremendously in the southern half from roanoke down. Theyre 2nd after NY for me, which was always bad.
I don't know the latest but their is a serious proposal to make that whole thing a toll road, $50 ish for a passenger car to make the trip, not sure about a truck. I suspect the DOT enforcement will become even more intense if that happens.
I hear ohio is nice and flat.
Quote from: Southside logger on January 30, 2019, 09:16:08 PM
I don't know the latest but their is a serious proposal to make that whole thing a toll road, $50 ish for a passenger car to make the trip, not sure about a truck. I suspect the DOT enforcement will become even more intense if that happens.
I drive 81 almost every week sometimes the spend 10 hours on the thing. I would be all for more enforcement on 81 and slower truck speeds and no trucks in left lane until they fix the *DanG thing...then no trucks in left lane every. I ship by 81 almost every day but would gladly take a hit. Hopefully it would keep all the wonderful Shenandoah Valley from becoming one gigantic warehouse center. 20%+ of all traffic on 81 is trucks which is just...crazy high. 81 is not a well designed road and certainly traffic statistics bear out how dangerous it is. So a toll road would hit my pockets but if it removes the stress of driving and saves a few dozen lives I'd be ok with that. Hopefully it would push some distribution centers away as a benefit.
You need to go further up into scranton toward binghamton then .. Or even worse, NY thruway, mass pike, boston, anything thru connecticut or jersey. 81 is the best trucks and cars coexisting i have ever seen by far. I love 81.
DOT is heavy on it already. If you park at any of the rest stops that have had decades of trucks on the shoulder of the in/out ramps that are now heavily posted, its a $100 ticket. They skip the rvsnand campers though cuz VA is for lovers right, see the caverns leave your check! just ticket the truck drivers. My bad, thought i could close my eyes here on this mile of gravel at 3am instead of wrecking the truck. Not like there is EVER an open space ANYWHERE after dark since ELD. Oh govt shutdown, lets close the rest areas to save money. Yeah one mexican taking out the trash will save us a boatload. How many legislative aids go home?
You wouldn't like Buckeye D.O.T. either , :( :o
Theres a chance DOT will get ya someday in anystate. Theres a guarantee a toll will get ya everyday, in every state. A $50 toll is unacceptable for me when there are alternatives still open.
The reduction of hills may pay off anyway, ive never been that way.
I was hauling logs out the Saddle Hills in AB pulling a 3 axle hay-rack along with the rest of the fleet which included 2 other hay-racks and about a dozen jeep/pole units. Jeep/pole units were hauling tree length while us hay-racks were hauling the pulpwood. DOT decided to setup for the oil haulers on the hwy but that just happened to be where we were coming out of the bush to hit the hwy and head for the mill. Well the hwy trucks got a little slow so one of the DOT chaps decided to walk over and check me and my load out. He thought some of my front logs were sticking up higher than what our permit allowed so he set up his height pole and was trying to get the attention of one of the other DOT chaps to tell him when the pole was at height. It wasn't working so I finally walked over and walked up to the pickup he was sitting in and mentioned how his coworker was looking for some help. So he looks right up and sees what's going on and starts pointing down and then down some more........ I'm looking over and the pole is certainly below my top log. The DOT by my truck is looking back our way and looking puzzled as well. So the guy I'm standing by points down once more indicating just a tiny bit and then looks at me and asks, "figure that's low enough?". I very quietly chuckled and suggested that that should be about right and headed back to my truck. The DOT guy by my truck is taking down the height pole and doesn't even bother to look at measure just looks at me and asks, "what was that all about?". I shrugged my shoulders and said I'm not sure but maybe he didn't see it like you and me. He chuckled, put his gear away and said, "get er gone ya hear".
Even DOT has some fun now and again.
They're not all bad guys, Grizzly. Some of them are power trippers, some of them are just kind of naive about how trucks work, and then there are some that are solid guys that get it and just want to keep the roads safe👍
Nevermind. Deleted video
In my first year of driving i was pulling a 42ft Univision convertible west through the Fraser River canyon (hwy 97 & 1) with a load of pipe bound for oil land (AB). I somehow didn't get the hotshot idiot attitude that many of my age group had and I've been very thankful for it over the years. I was quite a careful chap and was running the hills and curves a little off of optimum speed to try and learn the rhythm as I had felt that I sometimes rolled through with ease and sometimes it felt like work. So I was humming along and things were going alright. Traffic was very light so I wasn't holding anyone up and I was watching so that if anyone did get on my tail I could let them by. Well, anyway, after a while a couple of AB supertruckers pulling b-trains (the first b-trains with 4 axles not the later ones with 5)caught up and they start nattering on the cb about my speed and driving, and not politely. Well, I got a little embarrassed but held my position and just started focusing on finding a stretch of hwy where i could let them by nice and easy. So we keep going for a mile or two and a 3rd truck comes up behind us. But before I can get a worry in or a thought about getting off the road quick he pipes up on the cb and says "young fella, you just carry on. Those two chaps can be quiet and enjoy the ride. You do what you gotta do and be safe.". Well that was quite a boost to my confidence and it sure shut down the chatter from the other two young hotshots! And after I got those two past me he settled in behind me and helped me with quite a few little techniques that made me a much better driver. From that time on I could assess curves and hills with a greater level of accuracy, confidence, and that part that just allows you to roll. We parted ways at Kamloops as he pulled in and I carried on so I never met the fellow but I've always appreciated how he handled things that day and what he did for my driving career.
Great story Griz.
Enjoyed reading it. 👍
A very nice guy,he was. :)
Grizzly that is what happened to me on my first trip from kamloops to hinton. I got a fellow that coached me through the turns. Its scary full load of pipe on with it feeling like its tipping.
15 years latter i still take it easy. One guy said. If you feel you went to fast then for you you did. Heading back to winterpeg.(wimnipeg) . From Bowmanville ON 36000. 2 ft off rhe deck steel fabrication. Storm ahead but should be cleared by tomorrow.
I am really glad you and Grizzly are good learners, I know those roads all too well. Far too many overdrive conditions and pay the price.
Saw guy sometime coming through i need to get in touch and have a coffee. Do you live in vernon.
That would be good!! I live in Enderby
Ok will watch for it and try and give you a heads up.
Back in about '98 or so i was running for one of them outfits you should never work for, but anyway, i was running a load from out east (PA or OH) headed to Vancouver, BC and about midway through my work day i happened across scales at Haugen, MT on I-90. So i roll in cause you got to and roll over the pad with no worries cause i know i'm light, but then they flash the "park and bring in paperwork" light. So i'm wondering what's up but probably just a logbook check or inspection neither of which i'm worried about but they are a time consumer. So i park and grab my stuff and head on in. It's a beautiful day and i'm in Montana, what's not to like? So i lay my stuff on the counter and the officer politely asks me to wait which i do. While he's walking over i realize I've got a scale receipt from another scale with a time stamp on it that don't match my logbook and which i was sure was no longer in my possession. Well glory days! So as he's walking up to me and in full site of him i put a finger on it and begin sliding it my way and he slowly walks over and puts his finger on it and says i'll just slide that over my way how bouts. He and i both know he's got me dead to rights. So we go through the motions and get things figured out and he needs me to take an 8hr off as well as pay a fine. Now this is USA so the fine is cash only and they want more than i'm carrying. So now it's a phone call to the local judge who's out in her flower garden but takes the time to talk with me. After some small talk she confirms that that's all the money i got and gives the ok for me to be released for my 8hr rest. As this phone call has been happening we've all been watching an eastbound rig come off the hwy onto the ramp and he's doing the classical low gear crawl up to the scale. Classical in that any scale officer or driver know's exactly what that driver is trying to do. Update his logbook to be within 4hrs. So they scale him up and then call him in. They're not finished with me yet so i get to be there when he walks in and oh boy! This is gonna be entertaining! He's grumbling, yipping, and snipping before he gets through the door and all the way up to the counter. His officer, my officer, and i all look at each other and shake our heads. Another officer who'd been doing an inspection comes in another door and hears and rubs his hands in delight. This guy is asking for the full treatment and is going to get it. So i don't get to hear all the rest cause about now they get finished with me and i head back to the Silver Dollar which they have politely allowed me to do for my 8hr. I take my break and head out which causes me to pass the scale again and yep; that truck is sitting there and there's a wrecker parked out front of it. I don't know what all happened to him but i know that when you treat an officer badly when all he's trying to do is his job, things are going to end badly and much more expensive than when you try and cooperate with them. I rolled on to Coeur d'Alene where i needed fuel and a shower and having missed my Friday turnaround i now had plenty of time to make my delivery. Just another day on the road.