Swift - Starting the New Year training with Swift 1/7/13 - A long read...

The funny thing was I worked with controllers who were making nearly $1,000 MORE a month than I was because of their time at the higher pay bands. Was it fair, no....probably not. But that's the way it was.

As for phraseology and different airports/aircraft. A Cessna or a B747 got the same instrument approach or take-off clearance. That said thing are VERY different say compared to LAX (where I worked for a while) and VNY (Van Nuys-busiest general aviation airport IN THE WORLD).

I found it MUCH EASIER to work airliners vs general aviation (such as Cessnas) traffic. Most airliners fly at similar speeds and it's MUCH EASIER to deal with professional pilots as compared to most GA pilots.

 

I've flown into most of the major airports, including LAX, JFK, LGA, and ORD. LAX is fairly easy because the runway patterns are generally pointed in the same direction; the controllers started lining us up somewhere over Kansas, I think! ORD is a monster because they have so many; I hated flying there more than any other airport; the arrival and departure clearances were very complex and required a great deal of attention to detail. I remember being number 76 for departure on Runway 4 at Kennedy after a big storm passed...airplanes lined up on their inner and outer taxiways and the ramps all over the place.

I had the best time flying cargo into Louisville for UPS and Memphis for FedEx. It was easier on the controllers, too, what with pretty much everyone coming in at the same time and going out at the same time.

It's nice to have had another career, especially since it also involved a highly-regulated mode of transportation under the DOT; trucking rules are a piece of cake compared to the flight and rest restrictions of commercial aviation. That's part of the reason I spent 27 years with the FAA...Monday - Friday, 0730-1600. Life was good...well, sort of good. The FAA was and still is a pretty screwed up organization.

 

UNDERSTATEMENT of the century!
That said I'm proud of my 29 years of federal service. Nice retirement as well.

 

Me, too. I tried to make it to 30 years (it would have gotten me another 0.1% on my annuity) but I had already survived 2 government shutdowns, major budget cuts, and a senior executive staff that kept putting the wrong people in charge and never listening to their middle managers in the field, so I bailed. I lost 80 pounds and a whole bunch of numbers on my BP. Plus I would not have survived the last shutdown because almost nobody in Flight Standards was deemed 'essential,' weird as that seems, and certainly not the managers.

It's kind of like boot camp - I'm glad I did it, but wouldn't do it again. So I'm driving a truck to check off a bucket list item!

 

They may not break loose the first time or third, just have to keep working those brake drums. Set and release, forward and reverse over and over. Set tractor brakes, release trailer brakes, go back and lie down under there and pound on the drums with a 3 pound beater, get back in seat and keep working it they will come loose. Some guys carry a little torch that screws into a propane bottle, light it and pass the flame around the drums carefully, not too much, only need to heat it up enough where you can still touch the drum with bare hands-- tapping the drums with hammer, moving truck back and forth, use your skills, experience and tools. One time doing that and you will never want to do it again lol, don't set the trailer brakes in freezing weather but sometimes there is no choice like you are picking up a dropped trailer that the previous driver did not heat and dry out the brakes the last couple miles before he came to the drop location-- little trick, knowing you are getting off in a few miles apply the brakes to heat up and dry out the brakes before your day's end. Maybe one foot on the gas one foot on the brake about 5-7 psi for a while. When you're done for the day doing your posttrip, put your hands on the brake drums to feel how hot they are- usually too hot to hold too long-- perfect.

 

What day was it that you came through Wyoming? I came up out of Kansas I70W to I25N to US287 to I80W as well. Between all the snow slicked roads from north Texas, Wyoming, Utah and a little bit of Idaho I was a day late on my load and now a day late on my current load. Hate that. Usually once empty can reset the universe with the new load lol but this nightmare carries on....

 

Man, I feel lucky to have bypassed the majority of that bad weather. I know exactly what you are talking about regarding driving into a blizzard at night and getting that sense of vertigo and disorientation. It's almost like being in a tube of snow.

I managed to get from Billings down to SLC, then grab a quick t-call (quick as in there was NO LINE for the inspection and I was out of there in minutes) then headed to Albuquerque. Because I was running on limited recap hours I only made it to Salina, UT the first day; then to Dove Creek, CO to shut down for the second night. I missed my turn into a hole in the wall truck stop I'd found on Google Satellite View and then assumed that the ground would be frozen when I found an abandoned business lot to turn around. I should have GOAL'ed the "frozen" dirt before getting off the pavement, as I learned it is REALLY DIFFICULT to chain up in the mud. Eventually I got myself out by throwing the chains under the tires, then took about 10 minutes to find the chains in the mud.

The next morning I woke up at midnight to get to my live unload on time in Albuquerque to find about 3-5" of snow on the ground and it was coming down pretty hard. Talked to an old salt trucker that just came east on US-491 and he said the snow only lasted "for a few miles" and then it would be clear. That few miles turned into 50 miles of blizzard. I passed a total of two plows, both headed westbound. One a two lane highway that is crowned like that it is really difficult to keep on the road. When there wasn't any traffic I stayed centered on the crown. At times to get up hills I had to drop into low range to be able to engage the inter axle lock in order to get traction.

After that it was clear sailing to Albuquerque, picked up a t-call after a quick live unload, then headed to LA. Made it to JV terminal for my extended 10 (live unload late tomorrow morning). I'm sitting in line to get my truck washed. Probably still have several pounds of dried mud on my rims.