How about some odd little tricks you have taught yourself about driving?

I have a bag of tricks. Some I have not used in years. However here are a couple favorites.

If the lights ahead of you disappear, particularly on ice in the night, go ahead and execute a emergency stop without sliding because when you get to where the lights went out you find that a car has slammed into a barrier and is now blocking your interstate. Its a good thing you slowed or stopped.

When the opposing interstate trucks show up filthy and cruddy from battling a big storm ahead, get yourself ready before you get into it. If the opposite side quits making usual traffic 10 to 1 there is a bad wreck up ahead or something else.

The behavior of cars on their suspensions sometimes indicate a drivers state of mind. Either road rage, very impatient or whatever. I always examine the front axles of all cars. Those wheels tend to tell me what they have in mind particularly in downtown NYC or some such.

In Wyoming fighting a crosswind if you are loaded to the max and riding easy and find another trucker who is not able to keep her between the lines and getting tired, pull up next to him on the windward side give him a break for a few minutes. That usually gets him a chance to calm down and rest up for the next Butte. He he.

If its raining really bad, has been for a while on say west of Asheville in the Gorge on 40, if there is noises coming from the mountain next to you get going. Rocks be falling in if not already on their way to you. Don;t sit there like a dumbkoft wondering what is that noise? Get moving.

Trip plan around the weather. It goes without saying. Once you start seeing it bad enough to stop, then stop for while. Dispatcher will just have to stuff it and wait. (Something they never do well...)

 

Watch out for Vehicles passing you pulling a trailer before changing lanes. So you don’t change lanes into their Trailer.

 

Keep your mouth closed when unloading grass calves

 

Pay attention to overpasses up ahead. You'll be able to predict merging traffic coming up. Specially big trucks.

 

Or lizards.

 

To add to your first one if the walk timer is counting down, when it gets to zero most of the time the light will change to yellow.

 

He's here all week, folks.

 

When the sun goes down and it gets dark i always pull over and check securement and tarps . For some reason a bungee always breaks or a tarp gets loose or strap gets caught. Always right at sunset. Not sure why. When driving at night and u want to check on ur tarps, take a flashlight and shine them in ur mirrors down ur trailer and it will light ur tarps up and u can see if anything bad has happened

 

Ok, I'll be 100% real. I was young, hauling steel and stopped by the Ohio Finest. They wanna bring out the portables. Officer asked for my manifest. I asked, You wanted all of them? I was 23 at best. He informed me "Yea Son, I want all of them".

I knew better, I panicked.

Reference @wore out. It's not always about what or how you say it. Sometimes it's about knowing when to keep your mouth shut!

 

Save a few unused cable seals...they can fix a lot of things.

Treat your airlines...before it gets colder than ####.