TransAm Trucking, Inc. - Olathe, Ks.?

i was listening to my cb one night and some guy was on the cb giving "advice" to a guy backing in and backed him right into the truck next to him and was then laughing about it on the cb. turn it off along with the radio when backing!

 

jaso 36
So it is not just the sound of glass hitting the pavement.? got it. And all this time I thought

 

When ever possible do not try the 90 degree back in. Observe the situation and either go for a 45 or a straight back.With a 45 your already 1/2 way there and less of a blind spot to the right.. A 90 takes more room and your blind to the right for a longer time ..That is usually two things you don't have to work with. One or the other at best. I see way too many new drivers pass up a straight back and work themselves into a sweat angle backing. So unnecessary sometimes.

Be observant and watch others back in. See how they do it. Right or wrong there is something you will learn from it every time.
When using hand signals .
USE the whole arm movement not the wiggling of the fingers. Who can see your or your guides fingers wiggling from 70 feet away and know what their wanting.?

Check out the parking spot your considering taking.
How are the trucks parked to the lines.? Is the one on the right close to the left lines, How is the one on the left. Close to the right lines. This makes the spot much narrower to get into .I usually pass these spots up . The potential for mirror damage is too great and the other driver cannot get out of his truck with out banging mine with his door or mirror.
Important!!! Get to know how long and how wide your truck is. I don't mean measure in feet but in your mind so you know at a glance if you can do the maneuver or not.
Becoming a good driver , Able to back easily, to hit the dock without snapping your neck when you hit it. To being able to make the job look easy to others is done mostly by observation, practice and never get frustrated to the point of I am going quit. First is patience. With that the rest will fall into place. It takes time. You have to be observant. I know I have said this several times and I do because it is important .
Once you new drivers get the basics down pat the rest will fall into place much more easily.

I sincerely hope all of you that are new to trucking will be here long after I am gone. I hope one day to meet some of you and shake your hands. I share the road with you and you with me. We are a team in this industry. When we get the job done it is not just one or two but all of us working together that gets it done.
Thank you to the wives and husbands and significant others for standing beside your partner in this adventure of truck driving. That is part of the team work needed. The support, the encouragement and reassurance is part of the learning cycle . To those I say thank you. YOU are part of this team also.

 

HTQ is just being a female
or sitting in the corner sucking her thumb

 

Also don't forget that when you do a tight turn the front corner of your trailer sticks out farther than your tractor. Clipped a guys fender mirror doing a nose in on a pull thru spot.

 

Aha! There is Mr. Snide and Cranky! HTQ has been working and only checking in every once in awhile.....I have never been a thumbsucker but have occasionally been a butt-kicker........and was pretty good at it too!

 

There are two things that have made this thread so special and popular .....shared knowledge and support, and the number one thing is HONESTY. We have tried to help and encourage anyone that comes on here and honestly seeks advice and all we have asked for in return is honesty and to pass on what they learn to the next person that needs help. Do you know what a rarity that is in the trucking industry and in the world in general?

When someone comes on here and seeks our help without being honest from the get go, gets that advice and help but never follows it, lurks in the background when folks have repeatedly asked them if they are ok and they don't have the decency to reply, then acts as if it was TransAm's fault that they didn't make it .....it is a disservice to everyone that comes here seeking good council and to everyone that has shared the things that they have paid a price to learn.

There are many legitimate gripes about TransAm ....for the most part they are workable, it is a learning environment....but some things just cause my BS meter to peg into the red zone. There are so many threads on the forum that bash TransAm without any honesty or individual accountability that's where the BS belongs.

 

Here here, HTQ. Been here a month now, averaged 2400 miles per week, and thats getting 2 days hometime every other week. No one has pushed lease on me so that myth has been obliterated. Pretty darned happy here. This keeps up, I will be here a while. Head back out tomorrow to Marion NC with a Baxter Healthcare load going to Earth City MO. Happy with my truck too. Deuces.

 

That's all class right there!

 

HTQ you better get ready to move me on the map. Leaving Korea on Saturday headed to Japan then to Dallas and onto my final destination Indiana to spend 3 weeks with my family and friends .
i will be hauling 2 large suitcases and logging about 7000 miles in my 14 hour day

Actually if anyone is going to be in the Indianapolis / Kokomo area with time to kill send me a pm and maybe we can do dinner and you can show off your truck.

I will be spending some time at the local truck stops watching the trucks backing and maybe talking to some drivers.

I will be there 28 June to 21 July ,been almost a year since I have been home and getting excited : )