Some "courtesy" questions for us newbies

every point was hit on but brite lites to me are not good at all day or night. when backing make sure no 1 is waiting and before you back get a good visual of what you need to do its all about angles. Also stay as close to the trucks in the docks so that when you set up you have room for any fences on your right and stay close to the truck on your left that will be beside you in the dock w/o hitting his mirrors for every 4 turn you go right you must go 4 turns to the left and the trailer will slowly walk itslef into the hole. nothing wrong with G.O.A.L its takes time and not every one can be as good a me.

 

not every one can be as good a me.[/QUOTE]

true but everyone needs something to aim for....

 

It seems like Winkjr's post was offering some motivational style speak of encouragement where the meaning was to "stay focused" yet really reeks of double-entendre. i'd say that the intention was to "simply"

 

You wanting to be a good trucker and thoughts of courtesy, I have no doubts you'll do just fine. Number one is you are responsible for your own actions and the safe operations of your own truck.


1. You ask the very question many don't know. This act of safety and courtesy has a cliche attached to it today. I've had drivers extend their lane change and I had plenty come over prematurely.

I'll try to keep a happy medium. If they are much faster than you of course you can flash quicker as your seperation will grow quickly. Someone that is drag racing, they'll be looking at you anticipating to come over. Those are the dangerous ones to watch. You really don't want to put yourself in a tailgating position, but it happens time after time. You put your trust in their hands.

That's why in a drag race, things work out a 100 times better if the right lane driver just eases up for a few seconds. Give the person a flash about a half truck length seperation and let your following distance increase before resuming speed. It takes less than 5 seconds. More like 3. Now a days if you wait too long you have 4 wheelers shooting around the right compounding the situation.

On the other side of flashing thing, if you are in a 62 mph truck and 500 trucks pass you in a day doesn't mean you have to wear your switch out.

I guess the best thing to say is, use common sense. There are no universal written rules.



2. Wide loads, just favor the opposite line and keep your eyes scanning for narrow passages ahead like an overpass or guardrails. You don't want any squeezes. A real wide load should be using the shoulder for his extra room anyways. Multiple lanes, try to give the oversize 2 lanes.

These yahoos pulling mobile homes are restricted to 55 on the interstate and 45 on secondary roads. But they all think they need to be the fastest thing on the highway so not to inconvenience anyone. Even though they are wrong, work with them. Give them room and the right of way if need be. Only pass in wide open clear areas.

Like 40cal said, communication is key. Use that CB. I'll always let a big oversize know my intentions.



3. Thanking is a courtesy, period......
If someone says thank you, do you say you are welcome or do you stick your nose in the air and walk away? When you drive all day, it's good to have little things to do instead of just holding the wheel all day. Thanking is so popular, truck manufacturers even put interrupt switches in most 18 wheelers. That speaks for itself.



4. Docking, again courtesy comes into play. Many times at a busy facility, multiple trucks will have the same appointment time. The best thing you can do is while you scope out your dock, pay attention if anyone is behind you. Make your swing to set up and let them go behind you. You can't always do it, but try to pull up enough to let others behind you.

There are many variables to consider. When and where do I open my doors?? If you have unsteady freight stacked to the doors and ceiling, you want to be close to the dock if possible. If you have steady pallets, then you are open to get out of the way.

But when your doors are open and it's your time to dock. You don't see anyone coming, that time is yours until you dock. If someone comes flying through, they wait.

When it comes to backing in the hole, everyone has their turn. Whether they are fast or slow doesn't matter. You do this stuff everyday and if the other person is impatient.... tough luck. Wait your turn and learn patience.

All this little stuff at the customer is why you get in the habit of arriving at least one hour early. Then one won't be late and have to act impatient in the parking lot.

As long as you are thinking of others, you'll have minimal problems. But everyone does have conflicts no matter how hard you try. You get over it and move to the next conflict.

 

1. When? When they're at least a truck length or two ahead of you. If you're doing 60 and they're doing 70, you can flash them as soon as they pass you. By the time they acknowledge it they will be well ahead of you. At night I flick the lights off and on. If it's during the day I don't bother with it unless it's congested and they need to get over or it's raining. Day time I'll flash the high beams.

2. Give them as much room as you safely and legally can. Many times they will ride the shoulder when you pass but not always. This happens most often on the interstate. If you come across a wide load or even a big farm tractor/harvester/etc. on a 2-land back road, I wouldn't go around them unless they pull off on the shoulder and/or you're very sure you can pass them in the opposing lane. Passing a wide load on a 2-lane back road is very risky, in my opinion, so I won't do it unless I'm 1000% sure there is no traffic even remotely in the other lane.

3. Yes you should always do it. If someone lets you know you're clear to come back over and you don't thank them, then you're just an ungrateful jack___ steering wheel holder. I always think if someone thanks me when I didn't let them know they were clear to come back over (most likely I forgot because I was thinking about something), that they're giving me the finger.

4. Docking. Take as much time as you need. Forget that impatient driver who pulls up next to you. They don't drive your truck! They won't be responsible if you hit something. Forget them, let 'em wait!

However, for me there's only one exception to this. If someone just needs to get by you (like at a distribution center or a drop lot), get into the space you need to get in to. Let other people go around you and when it's clear, then straighten up to the dock or your assigned space.

 

If you have a headlight interrupt switch, use it.
If not, I do brights during the day and marker interrupt or nothing at night.
I usually flash them over when they are a comfortable distance from me, so that much is personal preference.
Or, if a 4-wheelie is right on their tail just itching to cut in to pass on the right I will flash them over just before I think the moron is going to make the move.

For wide loads I try to give them as much room as possible, even if it means hitting the rumble strips.

Most accidents are when backing, and docks are usually backing.
Take your time, GOAL, and take your time.
A minute or two more taken while docking can save you hours of paper work - not to mention your career.

 

Not patronizing just trying to let you know don't sweat the small stuff. But I do admire your initiative.

 

I was trying to encourage her not to over think the job. I know it's stressful but she sounds like shes going to be a consummate professional.

 

If I have a headlight interrupt switch I'll use it. If not, I use brights day or night. Why? Because a short flash of brights in your mirror is much less dangerous than me being stuck on the side of the highway at night with no lights because the switch broke off in my hand when I turned them off. Just not worth the risk to me. I'm well aware of what night blindness is and how the human eye reacts to it and I have never once had my vision impaired by a driver flashing brights in my mirror at night.

I came to trucking after flying professionally. My aviation training taught me that you don't shut off anything critical to the safety of the mission once the mission is underway. At night my lights are pretty critical to safety so they stay on while the truck is on the road. Its just how I'm wired I guess.

 

Just my two cents......