Going Too Slow?

You can take a turn too slow a million times, you only take a turn too fast once...

 

Hwy 18 was one of my daily routes back in the day. You must not be from Oregon,right? Otherwise growing up around here those Coast roads are what we drive on. My 2 cents.......tell the other guy to shut the h&ll up. Your a rookie what does he expect. Now when your MTY push your limits a little to learn how the truck handles. When your loaded easy does it till you learn the roads and the truck. You do not need to brake (unless your coming in HOT) for corners if you use the jake to slow before the corner then grab a hand full of gears and gas on it coming out. It takes awhile to become a proficient hand in the switch backs. These are the kind of trucks we drive on those roads........

 

My opinion is you should obey the posted speed limit, and if you are feeling unsafe in any, and I mean any situation slow down, and/or stop when you can safely do so. Dont let the trainer control how you drive. you are the captain of the ship when you are behind the wheel, and if you are to wreck, its no ones fault but yours, and you will be the one responsible not the trainer.

 

I absolutely agree that when you are driving on roads that are new to you, it is best to err on the side of caution and take it slower, especially if you are driving at night. So far in my new foray into trucking I've driven a number of roads I'd already done many times in a car, but its a whole different story with a fully loaded van.

Currently I'm also going through training and have had a few similar incidents of my trainer egging me on to go faster. Fortunately he's generally more cautious when it comes to cornering.

Regarding the question of how fast you can go around a corner that all depends on a number of factors:

- How heavy is the load and how high is the center of gravity? Will the load shift? My own experience with 5 rolls of paper weighting over 40,000 lbs is that going through hills and curves you need to go slower than the recommended corner speeds (that load shifted and the trailer had a slight tilt by the time we delivered). If you have a similar 40,000 lb load of heavy canned goods, they aren't stacked high and are very stable. Then it's possible to take the corner faster.

- I've driven some routes numerous times. The speed, gears, and jake brake settings I choose vary from load to load. Sometimes I can come down a mountain in top gear with moderate jake, and sometimes I need to go in a middle gear and highest jake setting. Rainy conditions? I go 5-10 mph slower.

I think you do need to have a frank talk with your mentor. When you are behind the wheel you really are the captain of the ship. The trainer can tell you what he wants you to do, but you have the final decision.

Bear in mind that the trainer is making more money if you go faster. You will earn your stripes sooner if you go faster. However, the bottom line should always be driving in a manner that is safe and that you are comfortable handling.

Regarding high wind conditions, especially high winds, keep a firm grip on the wheel and drive to the side of the lane the wind is coming from. That way if a sudden gust hits you you will have some room to recover without drifting into the next lane or off the edge of the road.

 

As fast as you can safely go..

 

A lot of good advice for you already. Remember when you are new on the road, you are going to be the slowest truck on the road. That is a given. When you are driving out of your comfort zone, mistakes happen fast. They can be deadly. Go your own pace. It's the best way to learn the limits of the equipment you are operating.

 

They're called bottom feeders because the way they stay in business even though they pull freight for $.01-.10cpm profit is by scavenging drivers out of schools and paying them extremely low wages.

What you are referring to is the dumb and dumber program, where a rookie trains a rookie. I cant say that I have ever heard a rookie yell at another about going too slow on the two lane. Especially on a mountainous two lane.

It's like going through the Gorge in North Carolina, truck speed limit is 50 mph. The average truck can go through there at 60 and be fine. Sometimes, you run into a tanker that's running 45 or 50. Hey, that's understandable. 45 is S-L-O-W. But then, you run into a dumb and dumber...and they run through there at 25 mph. That's slow enough that the guys who wont turn their radios on except when they hit a roadblock turn their radios on and ask whats wrong.

The guys that run their radios ask a different question when they see a largecar. "How about you, eastbound? What did you leave behind you?" And everyone who's afraid are mad when these people pass the rolling roadblock and hope that those evil impatient outlaws will finally get caught. And they don't.

It's even worse on the twolane. You have to pass them before they meet up with a farm tractor or haywagon that's being pulled by a half ton pickup with bad rings.

 

I drive with KLLM. They have solid statistics that more accidents occur with veteran drivers that think they can "handle the truck" compared to rookie drivers that are worried, also known as cautious.

Do you want to be the driver that rolls off the mountain, or the one that gets one year safe, then two, then three... etc.

How much time was gained by driving 5 or 8 miles per hour faster down that rainy mountain curve? Did you get 7 more miles that hour? How much more money went into the your family's bank account compared to the risks you took?

Mikeeee

 

I agree completely thats pure wisdom. My first week solo I took s curve unloaded btw that was marked with those little yellow signs screamin 45 as a caution. Well heck, me bein a green super trucker I got this you know hit that thing going 55 near bout lost her dumped my pants and all. my heart dropped through the whole 9 seconds of the long curve. only thought I had was accellerate slighty like tankers do but I even bailed on that idea. Next day a log truck flipped 5 miles up the road in a easy curve. Made me thankful that God is bigger than a semi and held all 18 down for me.