driving down mountains in truck has no engine brake,how to handle that

I have used stab rapidly in extreme no #### need to get stopped now with that trailer and tractor both coming around on US 15 after a car robbed my stopping spot on purpose. All he had to do is wait a minute but no got impatient in the rain ran around me into the face of a changing to red light southbound and I had no place to put it while he actually paused.

I did not let the truck fold but I pretty much used all my air really fast properly in that situation.

It was one of the two times pre-ABS driving that I have used that in mortal situations.

Snub is the use for a few moments to kill a increase in speed. It is a self defeating exercise any time you let the truck gain speed, energy, +Momentum, +Mass which requires increased temperature gain on the pads, which leads to increased fade, glazing, loss and throwing away excessive air which might not be pumped back in time for your next one leading to a vicious circle on that downgrade.

I use constant braking where possible only to "Hold her" in non jake trucks. First trailer trolley then tractor is brought into play. I try to drift where possible if I can get that certain speed to where she will just mosey down without too much trouble. But that's not always possible.

 

have a bunch of pissed off dudes behind you

 

Yes, that is true. I pay attention to the posting habits. Time etc. Sometime I can't understand how somebody can be so active in here and be actively driving. This is why I say right up front i am retired. I also hold my peace if I don't know anything about a question, or I say so and ask a followup. This is why I sometimes don't post. I'm looking at posting habits and taking mental notes.

 

In my case, I run local, I'll drive maybe an hour or two, then spend an hour unloading, three times a night. Which consists of watching gauges and opening valves. Pretty easy to get distracted with different things under my circumstances. I usually turn the phone off once I get home in the morning, separate myself from all social media, and I don't usually turn it back on until I get to work.

 

For the record I hope my point in post # 73 was understood. I am somebody that can go sit in a mall and watch the people go by for hours. I observe the small things some others can overlook. This is hard to explain. Some members post and their posts don't match up with other things. Not on here, On another website I an an admin. I used to be very active there but because of my medical problems I have stopped doing much there. They still have me set up in an admin account. Anyway this guy kept going on about how much college he had. This website is not a trucking website. it is a more technical site. His grammar and spelling was awful. then there was other inconsistencies noted. After about 2 months of this I removed his account. On this site you have to be invited via email before the system will register you. @homeskillet has nailed this though. If you are just blowing smoke it will become clear. keep doing it and you just get mentally ignored. Just as Salmon swim upstream to spawn there are things about trucking that will always be the same. Some of the drivers on here know this. Then there are the pretenders. Oh and one more thing. because I am not an admin in TTR "and have no desire to be" I don't have access to IPs. However the TTR staff do. Use your connection thinking your multiple personas can't be seen? (sound of a buzzer) wrong! it can be!

 

Ding ding ding..... we have a winner

 

slight steady pressure ....... wait for the smoke and take the runway ramp .....

 

Not sure when this changed. But back when most trucks did NOT have a jake...The rule was, one gear lower that the gear you were in, when you got to the top.

 

That's kind of a goofy rule. Is now and always has been. Few mountains have a grade on each side that are close to identical. Many mesas don't have a hard pull. And do you really make physical notes of the weight and gear you pulled grades for future reference?

But trucks today pull SO MUCH better then they did 15-20-30 years ago. We're not running little 290 or 350 cummins anymore. We can get to the top in faster gears with even heavier typical gross weights. And on the flip side, today's truck are much more aerodynamic then days of old. Square hoods and cabovers and zero regard for aerodynamic efficiency were there own means of drag going down. But to counter the sleek designs of today's rigs, we [most of us] also have far better engine braking.

We're going up and down grades today much faster then we did in the 70's and we're heavier, and yet we're doing so safely .... for the most part, as long as you just don't get stupid. I still see guys going down too fast and smoking brakes. I think most of these are trucks who are "not all that heavy" and think they can go down like they're empty.

 

I can take a 83 Freightliner up Townhill which is one of the reference grades I like to use, 4 miles up at 5% give or take a little. And depending on the engine I'll get up there at about 21 at most. A modern new 350 mack made 10 years later run that same grade with the same freight by weight and loading at about 45.

Modern trucks like the ones we had towards the end of 2001 would pretty much run up faster than that.

I still respect 5% like I always have coming downstairs as I do any grade. It's when we get into the 10's and beyond is when it's time to get to work and do this right.