Tips for new drivers (things to do)

Johnday: cleaning the dash won't help. I used to make sort of a game out of checking the dash to see what climbed out of the truck. Nine out of ten times, the same.
If there were McDonald bags, coffee cups, litter and logs, what climbed down would be wearing a dirty t-shirt with holes in it, muddy shoes and a five-day stubble.
You see a clean, crisp cab and rig, and the driver usually has his personal stuff together too.
Attitude could go either way tho.

 

Hey now!! Watch it about the 5 day stubble!!LOL

You're right about the attitude going either way for sure. And while remembering the old saying, "You can't tell a book by it's cover", it is difficult sometimes not to! LOL!!

 

Hey I got some 5 day stubble to, been in a hurry lately havent had time to shave, but the trucks pretty clean.

 

Two Words: electric shaver.

 

two words : Razor burn... lol

 

Aw, C'mon! For me, I find the daily 'lectric shave to be much easier than trying to scrape off a couple of days worth of wire brush. Follow with a quick pat of Aspen or similar soother and I'm good to go, feelin' all freshie freshie and stuff.
And if I can't make a shower, there's always my trusty washrag and rubbing alcohol so as not to make anyone pass out or lose their lunch.

 

chock the wheels

 

Thanks.... Great thread !!

 

Two pair of VICE GRIPS!!! Can't emphasize that enough! Most of the time when you need to slide your tandems, you can usually find another driver willing to help you. Most of the time the tandems slide with little effort but once in a while you get those trailers that you can't pull the pins in to save your life.

This is where vice grips are a lifesaver! I actually have a tool to assist with this as well, it's basically a steel bar bent at close to 45 degrees on top with a chain in the middle. This allows you to hook the chain onto the bar that pulls the pins out using leverage against the trailer to get the handle to pull well beyond what you could do using the old "armstrong" technique.

Once you get the handle pulled out a little, lock er' in with the vice grips and get in the cab, pull out the red knob, push in the yellow knob and gently rock back and forth (using reverse gear). Sometimes this is all that is needed but at the very least it will loosen the pins just a little more.

Hook the chain tool back up and pull more on the handle and even if it only comes out an 1/8 of an inch more, hold what you got and lock the vice grips on the handle in the position and rinse and repeat until those pins come in. Works like a charm even on the toughest friggin' trailers.

Then when you get em in, spray some WD-40 or similar penetrating oil all over the rail and pins (just don't get it on the brakes) so hopefully the next driver won't have the same issue. Sometimes the pins come in easy but the bar won't lock itself in because it's bent or the notch is worn, again VICE GRIPS to the rescue. They're also good for many other things as well.

 

good idea except the WD-40 will help YOU but ti will attract more debris and actually make them worse.
i have a can of graphite powder suspended in a solvent that evaporates quickly to leave a film of graphite. we used this alot on the beach condos where sand was a problem gumming sliding doors and windows up.