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

I'm home, got here this morning. Just heard I will have another trainee when I get back to Richmond next week, let's hope this one makes it back to the terminal, I'd hate to get a reputation for throwing trainees out in a truckstop 1700 miles from the terminal.

 

Too late, your reputation is marred.............

 

Seems to me like that's exactly the sort of reputation you'd want. Might keep 'em from being know-it-alls and arguing with you if they thought there was a chance they'd be thumbing a ride home from St. Louis.

 

I saw a shiny KW heading south on the tnpk in port st Lucie yesterday afternoon and thought it might be you heading home. Must have been someone else if you were home in the morning. In any case I appreciate the flash and wave whoever you were.

 

That was me. I saw you going north. I thought it was still morning. Thank you also for the flash.

 

Some updates while waiting for a door. Redtwin and Barn door Bill were askin bout this fancy volvo. It does ride really smooth compared to the mack, though smooth is a relative term.

Its got all kinds of safety features. As a principle i am not a fan because they make lazy drivers.

It has lane departure warnings for when u cross lines wo turn signal, occassionally the line isnt there. Worst issues with false hits are work zones. This truck lets u turn it off for awhile.

It has adaptive cruise control. It will maintain a safe multitruck following distance on its own.

When you get really close, or still miles away in nj and nyc, it will beep again. Occasionally it beeps at bridges, but never had it slam on brakes or do anything drastic yet.

Like most of these driverless test features, if they are set up right and one doesnt drive in city rushhour they arent to bad.

No question mack is far more manuverable.

This volvo feels like i am floating on top of the road and the handling is looser. The mack felt tighter and felt like it was in the road. I much prefer the macks handling over this.

 

We left out monday 9.25 and have been rolling good ever since. Only 1 trip has been really tight on time so far and thats wally world. 50 real world hours till appointment time to go from socal to gordonsville va is pretty tight. Especially for a regional guy and a rookie driver, both new to teaming.

Most of our loads have had 12 to 24 extra hours on them which has been just fine so far.

Even with the extra time will be just shy of 12k miles tomorrow when we get back to virginia.

Currently sitting and waiting for a door in miami florida

 

Do we want to know more about this 'flash'? Maybe not...........

 

Lights, now get your head out of the gutter.

 

I didn't like the ride on the sole Volvo I drove. It was the trainers truck with 500k on it so I thought it may have been due to worn out/loose suspension and steering but I have since heard that even the new ones are like that. So far the KW is the smoothest ride without being too floaty, but the Freightliner is the best handling and suspension is still pretty comfy while still handling really well.