The journey begins

"Vampire shift," nice. Good luck in the future. Your only error - you weren't careful enough in a tight spot, easy to fix. Just be more careful. I'm glad it wasn't my truck you clipped. Remember this - you're supposed to not hit the other trucks, no matter where you find them.

 

You need to always drive in truck stops in first gear only,,stop and look and be extra careful with every move. Make your turns as wide as you can all the time every where. Never back up with out getting out and look..Never hurry or get rushed. Hope it was a big fleet truck you hit and not an owner operator,,if it was an owner operator you just screwed him big time,,Big fleets will not pay down time to small fleets or single truck owners,,When you park at a truckstop always look for the easiest place to park. Never blind side backing unless there is not other way,,If you have to blind side get an other driver to assist you and if you have to back up 1 foot at a time and get out and look after each foot and it takes you 2 hours to complete that is what you do , No excuses buddy,,Just think what if you had hit a driver? You are on our watch list, PLEASE BE CARE A SIMPLE ACCIDENT IN A TRUCK STOP CAN OUT SOMEONE ELSE IN A HOSPITAL OR OUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS. PLEASE BE CAREFULL

 

Doesn't matter how many times you gotta pull up, I like to one shot it as much as the next guy but if I can do a pull up and make life easier for myself you bet I will. Don't ever feel like you need to do it faster or with less pull ups or without GOALing, etc. I would have smacked right into a parked trailer in a tight spot at the back row of the Charlotte OC in front of everyone a couple months ago if I didn't GOAL.

Another situation that reminds me of the accident that you had is pulling out of rest areas. In some of the older, smaller rest areas, it can be very easy to run into the truck next to you with your trailer when pulling out, especially if they pulled forward too far in their spot. Watch for that carefully and if you lose sight of what the trailer is doing, hop out and take a look.

 

Did you just advocate driving through truck stops in 1st gear? Bet you're real popular!
To the rookies, this is terrible advice. First it's just rude as you can literally walk faster than 1st gear. Second, if you can't handle a truck stop faster than 1st then you need to not drive. Third, it's a great way to get your truck jacked with, ask me how I know.

 

posted lot speed limit is usually 5 or 10?

 

Which is 4th or 5th gear.

 

yeah I stay in first gear, if you don't like it tough,,,3,000,000 accident free miles,,you make you time on the road not in truckstops, It's all about being safe in a congested mostly poorly lit parking lot..it's not about how fast you can go, it's about getting your load delivered safely ,you want to go fast see if you can keep up with on long grades in the mountains or when I hit 99mph and have 2 more gears to go. I guess if you are driving a truck choked down to 65 on the highway maybe you are looking for excitement or trying to impress the other brain dead ########## in the truckstop,,

 

Wow, somebody's awful grumpy....... And pretty full of themselves.........