Good Night From II

btw.. going down the grade westbound after the eisenhower tunnels,which is 35 mph for trucks, had a swift truck blow by me about 3/4 ways down. trailer tandems wee smoking and by time i got down to the bottom, he had pulled over with them really smoking.yelled at him over the radio that he's better off to keep going. not sure if he heard or has a radio.at least he got down safely.

 

Probably a new driver... At least he/shewas able to stop... Maybe this will give him/her some respect for a downhill grade!

 

Corner of I-15 and US 395 at the Pilot.

I was going to put off fixing the coolant leak until my next home time, but it's getting worse.
I passed up Denver for a load to Fontana, and I got a load right out of there to Sparks, NV.
I figure that is as good a place as any to put the truck in the shop, and better by far than Mira Loma or Denver.
At least I have a Petro next door for coffee and supplies.

Nice day, however.
Got to Fontana 20 minutes early, and the live unload took less than half an hour.
As I was coming out 3 other Swift trucks were pulling in - those that were behind me in Denver - so I lucked out again by being first in line.

Then I had 3 hours to kill for my next live load in San Bernardino, with another beverage load headed for the Walmart DC in Sparks.
It took them a bit of time to start loading me, but it went quickly once they did.
I have a lot of time on this JIT load since it delivers anytime day after tomorrow. I'll get it there at 0800 and head to the shop.

I didn't take the time to scale this 42.5k load.
My last load of water was 1k heavier and they are loaded identically, so I figured I am good to go.

 

lady k...i smoked mine once when i first started with swift back in '97 pretty bad. was going northbound down the grapevine. really scared the crap out of me lol. never done it since, so i guess i learned lol. when i was going to deenver the other day, they were pulling a knight truck out of the runaway ramp on that same grade

 

Hey, we have a mutual friend! Tell Johnnie I said hello!

 

This is why I'm flabbergasted every time I hear an instructor tell a new driver they should "never attempt to shift when going down a hill." Worst piece of advise IMHO. Every driver should know how to downshift on a downgrade in case the first gear and jake setting doesn't hold your speed. Every time I go down a grade I'm taking an educated guess what I think the gear and jake setting will be, based on how heavy the load is and how steep the grade is. If that educated guess isn't correct then I'll adjust the gear and/or jake and try again until I have a combination that will get me down the hill without using my service brakes or using them very seldom. If you know how to safely shift on a grade then there is absolutely no excuse for cooking your brakes.

 

US 395 at a little truck stop, Pearson I think it's called, in a little town with a very weird name.

Pulled it over for the day so I won't have to deal with 70 MPH wind gusts.

 

Johnnie said hello back

 

Very smart move