Frustrated!

Hang in there man! I certainly understand your frustration, but keep plugging away and sooner or later you WILL find a decent job.

 

I'm gonna shoot you a PM.

 

What is up with these schools? How can they send you out without knowing how to do a 45 degree back? Hell, when I got my CDL, I had to parallel park the #### thing on a busy street even.

 

I'm sorry but I have to say it. This is what is wrong here. The other poster stated it correctly when they said it was scary. Do you know the highway system was designed in 1959? Do you think commercial vehicles were anywhere close to the size and weights they are today in 1959?

A posted safe speed limit sign for trucks? The majority of the posted safe speed limit signs are for cars, you need to be going slower than that.

Your last statement takes the cake. You slowed down even more? LOL, do you want an award? That's what you should do.

Look I'm not trying to bash you, but reading your posts it really seems to me you're a "little too big for your britches" right now. You have this arrogance. Maybe your trainer was a complete jerk, I don't know. Maybe you should look a little harder at your own short comings before you wanna place all the blame on him. I'll be completely honest, if I was training you, with all the assumptions you've made, I'd wouldn't have cut you loose yet either. If that is the whole reason they fired you, I don't think that is right though. They can't turn out good drivers if they give up on them too quickly. But then again I don't think they care whether you're good driver as long as you make them money.

 

I think your direction is good, but since you brought up the history lesson....

Trucks have changed significantly since 1959 (The addition of front brakes comes to mind) There have been many advancements in suspension design as well. (Air ride for one) They are designed to handle highway curves at posted speeds under ideal conditions. (Should a rookie push it? No.) Take Budd disc style wheels compared to the Dayton style spokes. (Ever see a poorly mounted Dayton on the highway?) New trucks also sit much lower, and therefore have a lower center of gravity, which makes them more stable under cornering. See also, tires. Trucks went from bias ply tube-type tires to radial tubeless, which dramatically improve cornering characteristics.

The concept of the highway system goes back to the 1920's, but the divided highway with cloverleaf exit system was inspired by Germany's Autobahn as viewed by American GI's during WWII, construction of ours began in the late 1940's. As sections of it are replaced, engineers often make changes to catch up with technology, improving road beds and corner angles to increase the life of the road and the safety of higher speeds.

Again, TG, I agree with the spirit of your post (rookies should be cautious & slow) but the OP does have a point about truck and highway design.

 

I'm not being argumentative and I'm not pretending to have done research. This my thought on the matter of interstate design. I understand they are updating all the time, but not fast enough. Take the I-35 bridge collapse. Was the bridge not designed to hold up and support the weight and it failed? Or was it outdated and not designed to hold up and support the weight? Either way it was a failure in interstate design or lack there of.

You can't use the "if they did it, so can I theory in driving" I may very well be able to take the curve at 70, but that doesn't mean you will. Where is your center of gravity? Where is mine? These things factor in accordingly.
How fast do I take the curves? I couldn't tell you. My truck is not governed. I'll take them where I feel comfortable. Sometimes that could be 10mi over the posted speed limit sometimes 10 under. Get me on the pike in WV and there will be no speeding. I've been driving 8yrs, and I know how to handle a truck but I won't push it in the least on that pike.