Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Good Nite, John Boy............Hmmmm, seems like that was on TV or something....

 

Tennessee snow traded for Ohio cold. Single digits here tonight as I work my way along the Gatorade loop.

 

Hope it stays that way-just cold. I'll be headed out in the morning from Wytheville to Indy myself. AFTER they tried to take a 450 mile run away from me and give me a piddly 200 miler (and 4-5 hour unload in gordonsville) that a team dropped (bless their hearts) and would mean a 2 am departure on slick as snot roads. I was a bit of witch (with a capital B) to Wytheville dispatch when I said not only no, but H-E double hockey sticks no. Tired of getting screwed on miles. "But you're the only driver in the area." they said. Guess you're up the creek then. I don't turn down loads, and have usually been happy to pitch in, but I'm fed up.

 

I did see you talking to yourself but figured I would come over anyway and join the conversation.

 

Sitting here in groveport trying not to freeze. Bh brooklyn was quick and efficient...no wonder its snowing down south. In a door just before appointment time(5am), called 4 hours later to get it, and find out it had been reloaded and i was off to ohio. Even made it cross the gw and into jersey in less than an hour.

 

Nyc amd northern jersey i find to be challenging, fun, and a great experience builder and confidence booster. Run there and you can run anywhere.

@ExtremeUnction right turns are fundamentally no different than left turns, or lane changes, or backing, or any other manuver in a truck, even with or without traffic. I learned a long time ago not to focus on the specifics of a once in a lifetime event,(and stressing about it or getting bogged down in specifics) and instead let the fundamentals guide my decisions for the specific scenario. Spoiler alert...i still make this mistake myself

When making any manuver,patiently, yet aggressively and safely take the ground you need to complete it. There are signals, horns, and that giant truck to use to take and hold your ground till your done with it. Cars with drivers in them can move out your way, eventually, they will. Hold your ground until your done with it.

"That sounds very philosophical and not very practical" yup. So heres the practical...

I use 2 ideas to estimate how much space i need or am going to use...all that isnt blocked by an immovable object, and/or the 4 lane rule.

A standard tractor trailer needs roughly 4 lanes to make a 90 degree turn. Picture a 2 left turn lane. Turning from the outside lane to the outside lane but with the truck against the dotted lines on inside of your lane, your trailer will take up the inside lane. Less with tandems forward, more with tandems back. This helps me visualize how much space i need verses how much i have and if its physically possible. If it aint physically possible gotta keep going till you can loop back
(Credit due to my trainer here and cr england trainee manual from his rookie days for the 4 lane rule)

To turn onto street with that underground garage i had the back of trailer in right most lane and cab in the left most lane of 3, to turn onto a 1 lane alleyway. Welcome to the big city! Lol

Hope this helps!

 

I find that swearing and banging the steering wheel also helps get me through tricky turns.

 

I'm glad I have chains in my side box, I'm going to need them to drive the 200ft from my parking spot to the fuel island at the yard.