Are driving doubles/triples as terrifying as many make it?

Discussion in 'LTL and Local Delivery Trucking Forum' started by bentstrider83, Mar 16, 2021.

  1. bentstrider83

    bentstrider83 Road Train Member

    1,670
    1,573
    Dec 26, 2011
    Portales, NM
    0
    I've been driving smoothbore tankers for the part 8-9 years. I feel the liquid slosh is easy to deal with and their aerodynamic profile make them a breeze to drive in the wind. However, much of my luck trying to find a fuel tanker position seems to be going sour.

    At the same time though, I've been offered and summarily chickened out of taking Linehaul jobs pulling pups. Apart from some other issues that'll make me sound like a broken record, I was always iffy on how these things respond to weather conditions. I mean are they actually more prone to getting blown over by a hard gust if I had to take one of those jobs with a route going through the "wind tunnel of Wyoming"?

    I just aspire to get a little more out of this line of work in terms of pay. And these LTL/Linehaul outfits seem to be topped by no other. Just don't want to get myself into some sort of jam either.
     
    LtlAnonymous and austinmike Thank this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. McUzi

    McUzi Road Train Member

    1,464
    3,801
    Jan 14, 2018
    0
    Pulling doubles is easy.
    LTL isn’t paying you high wages because it’s super challenging, they’re doing it because it’s graveyards work and they wouldn’t find people to do it with any level of stability or retention that they need.
     
  4. tallguy66

    tallguy66 Medium Load Member

    534
    873
    Oct 18, 2018
    0
    Probably not. couple weeks ago in Indiana YRC pulling triples passed me at 73 while eating a banana, can’t be that scary.
     
  5. EuropeanTrucker

    EuropeanTrucker Medium Load Member

    564
    871
    Jun 15, 2018
    0
    What happens if you run out of hours and have to get a hotel? How you find hotel that can fits doubles?

    What happens if you encounter snow storm and have to park somewhere ASAP? I was always curious about those things.
     
    bentstrider83 Thanks this.
  6. Bill51

    Bill51 Road Train Member

    1,173
    2,948
    Jul 27, 2015
    0
    When I'd haul one of the double tankers sets we had, I learned pretty quick not to try and correct what the back trailer felt like it was doing. By the time my correction got back there, it had already corrected itself and my action now made it worse in the other direction.
    By kind of ignoring it a little and just driving the tractor, it made the drive much better. The second trailer never failed to follow the first trailer (both were same size), so there's that.
     
  7. Russian Rabbit

    Russian Rabbit Road Train Member

    1,701
    1,633
    Jan 3, 2016
    0
    i don't think the wind problem is exclusively a doubles/triples problem; It would affect 53' vans as well. i think it's more dependent on how much weight you have in the trailers?

    (Now, admittedly, i've never really experienced high wind conditions.)
     
    LtlAnonymous Thanks this.
  8. FLHT

    FLHT Heavy Load Member

    979
    1,455
    Aug 2, 2014
    0
    If ya run your clock out the company's usually put another driver in the salesman's car.They come out and make the switch.
    Park at truck stop and get a cab on company dime.
     
    Trucker61016 Thanks this.
  9. McUzi

    McUzi Road Train Member

    1,464
    3,801
    Jan 14, 2018
    0
    You park somewhere you could safely do so that you would also park at with a 53, except you don’t plan on backing in to a spot.

    That extra pivot point makes moving one of those rigs around a hell of a lot more easier than you’d think it would be.
     
  10. bentstrider83

    bentstrider83 Road Train Member

    1,670
    1,573
    Dec 26, 2011
    Portales, NM
    0
    Uh, okay. Other than that, apart from less traffic, the night driving for me seems to make the work go by quicker. The lack of visible scenery gives one that impression of moving through space.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 17, 2021
    Reason for edit: Removed quote
    Trucker61016 and austinmike Thank this.
  11. bentstrider83

    bentstrider83 Road Train Member

    1,670
    1,573
    Dec 26, 2011
    Portales, NM
    0
    Right on. Most of the stops I see doubles stopping at are the smaller truck stops with a big dirt lot. I imagine most LTL/Linehaul are driving the same set of routes each time to know where to and where not to stop
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.