Tricks of the Trade

One thing I do is start my day early (3-4am)...that way I'm shutting down earlier in the afternoon and finding a place to park seems to be much easier. Plus I like driving in the early morning hours, low traffic....

 

I've got one for truck and trailers. It's called walking the trailer. If you get stuck in a place that's so tight that your rear fender or tires will hit something you can move the trailer over to clear the problem. This happens sometimes when hauling gasoline to these old service stations that were built for a very small truck.

You need to lock in the power divide and go in reverse and while just start to back you pull down on the johnson bar to lock the trailer brakes up. The truck will push the trailer over and you'll be able to clear the object. It's best to put water down under the tires so they slide.

Don't try this with a semi because it just doesn't work for them. Anyway that's an very old trick of the trade.

 

Parking is such a problem. I quit my last sleeper-cab job in 1998, and I am sure parking is more of a problem now. On that job, I was hauling beer from St. Louis, Columbus, St. Paul, Milwaukee, La Cross, Frankenmuth, and London, Ontario. Running the same routes all of the time, I learned where I could always find parking. Generally, the older or abandoned truck stops, and rest areas on the two-lane highways had parking available. Parking is usually available some distance away from the cities or larger truck stops.

Here is an example. We ran two trucks for 10:00 a.m. Saturday pickup in St. Louis. Leaving Benton Harbor on Friday afternoon, we would not sleep at either Effingham or Troy truck stops. Instead, we would sleep at a McDonald's restaurant at Altamont, IL. Getting up when the restaurant opened at 7 a.m., we could eat breakfast and get to the brewery on time. Showing the rest of our sleeper break while loading the trucks, we could make it back to Benton Harbor without another break. It was a pleasant trip. Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor was on the radio during the last two hours.

 

One for now anyways . It is a simple rule a driver by the name of Doug who taught me how to drive back in the day .

It sounds Krazy but stop and think about it .

"Keep the left door closed and you Will make money "


What Doug is saying is don't stop at the chrome shop , every other truck stop to play games or watch tv , etc . Eat your meals , shower , fuel , and get out and do some trucking !

Good Luck to ya bud ........

 

Yep, keep that driver door shut and you will make the money. I always found that the smaller name truck stops seemed to have parking available, also rest areas an hour away from the big cities. Ive had my share of pulling into a truck stop at the end of my 14 and found no spots and had to park on an on-ramp(god I hated those nights). Found a few truckstops to stay away from to. One would be the Pilot in Drums, PA(wow what a craphole) and also the the pilot just on the WI border to IL. No parking here at all.

 

Things they didn't teach me in school.Keep something that you can snack on within easy reach. For me it is peanut butter crackers in the bin right above my head.I am pretty sure if I die tomorrow they will find ten pounds of undigested peanut butter crackers in me.For 4.95 cent buy the pocket guide to truck stops you can find them at pilot and they can be a lifesaver. Parking is a nightmare I try to park at shippers or receivers if at all possible also my company has yards located in spots so I try to use them whenever I can.As a last resort I park in rest areas when I first started I stayed in them exclusively as time goes by and you run the same routes you will learn where to go.Try to fuel at the start or end of your day it will give you more leeway in your logbook.Hope that helps good luck and enjoy. It isn't as bad as it seems but it is a roller coaster ride so expect to be up and down.Something they don't tell you in school most new drivers have an accident in there first 90 days god knows I did.I always thought I was a good driver that was a bitter pill for me to swallow.Later

 

Daytona, did you post about your accident? If not, what happened?

 

Keep some food that won't spoil in the truck. I was stuck in Rawlins Wyoming one time when everything shut down for a bad winter storm. The second day the truck stop was running out of food.
Plan your trip. Don't just jump in the truck and drive untill your log runs out and then start looking for a place to park.