Jake Brakes......

Toss a couple batteries down the stack. Takes a few days, it will start sounding like a real truck in no time.

Tell em I must have done it when parked next to you last weekend

 

I've never heard of this before. Can you explain?

 

The first time I ever heard a jake used at a truck stop was in 1997 @ the Ontario California TA parking lot buy a Prime Inc truck, for me that said it all. However your post reminded me of another question, please don't think I am trying to Hijack your thread, it's like the opposite end of the same problem.

One night I found myself on you tube. I watched this video of a driver proudly bobtailing through a residential neighborhood to p/u his next load and as he pulled up to a stop sign, the sound of his engine brake filled the air. I felt sorry for him, obviously he didn't realize it was on but not only did he know it was on, he was "proud" of the sound it made bouncing off houses. I left a comment and reminded him that engine brakes had only recently become the standard and you never saw signs banning their use, until drivers like him got a hold of them. I also mentioned that if drivers didn't start using them responsibly companies might start ordering trucks w/o engine brakes or deactivating them while in their fleet (like Werner does with their 9 speed convertible to 13 speed transmissions), You could also see some states outlawing their use period.

That may seem like a bold prediction but the last company I drove for, Fort Worth Carrier (Dillard's Dept. Stores), deactivated their jakes and stopped ordering trucks w/ them. We were required to drop at stores between close and 6am, so we were running through residential areas close to malls and I guess there was one complaint too many. Restriction has become common enough that Jacob's web page has a section devoted to making sure restriction signs say "engine brake" and not "jake brake". In reguards to states outlawing engine brakes, can anyone with a straight face say they are needed in states like Louisiana or Illinois?

One driver even responded that "w/o jake brakes there would be trucks wrecked all over the mountains of this country" and that made me start to think. Does the average driver today know how to come off a mountain, w/o using a jake? I asked around and sadly, the answer is no. I had a driver remark that if his jake quit working, he would "call road service or a tow truck before he drove down a mountain." I asked a big company "driver mentor" what he was teaching his students and he told me that the idea had not occured to him but he would start teaching his students to "go down the mountain but be sure to stop at every possible exit and sit, to let their brakes to cool". He said that he would teach them something called the "stab method" for use in emergencies only. Does anyone know WTH the stab method is? What are new drivers taught to do when operating in ice and snow?

My father taught me you don't drive a truck, "you operate a truck". Meaning, it isn't like a car, it's a piece of heavy equipment that you have to master, like a crane or a tugboat. The switch from the Chauffer's license to the CDL is just another example of Govt. Regulations destroying an industry. Drivers are taught to pass a test and outside of the airbrake system; no nothing about when or how to use the features of the machine they are learning to drive.

 

LOL. It records it and sends it to the company for a reason. It's to tell them you need to be easier on the equipment.

 

Well its to dang sensitive, i was coming down hill on us 27 in florida where it was down hill to a red light. light just changed red and i hit the brakes. I stopped almost in the middle of the intersection. I had 45,500 behind me, and thats back when my brakes on my tractor were out of adjustment.

Anyway, Ive learned how to be easy on the brakes but still stop in time.

Edit:
My brakes have been fixed since then lol. Also, Ive learned how to drive with a load that heavy through a town with a lot of lights.

 

Most truck engine ECM's will log a hard stop event. and if you saw the damage done to the brakes, when you do it and how those hard spots created do not help in braking you would not do it. If you are the designated driver, to a truck when they do the brakes the condition will be noted, and you can look for a new job.
Most every truck engine has a minimum set speed that the Jake's will work at.
My favorite personal incident was a trucker that lived near my house, he would drive around at night, using the Jake's.
I had the pleasure of doing a government inspection on his truck. He had a set of resonators, welded in his exhaust instead of mufflers, I know this because I did the fitting and welding. I rejected the exhaust and noted it needed an engineering report, due to the modification.
When the company, Freightliner got upset, I called the chief inspector. and left a message, he spent 50% of his time at the boarder 1/2 mile from our location. He was there within a 1/2 hour, looked at the truck, and agreed make it stock or pay for an engineering report.
I do not remember the truckers name, but the company was Clark Reefer, a cab-over with a 444.

 

Our trucks now not only record the event they video the driver and the front of the truck when a hard brake event happens. That protects the driver and the company from insurance scams. We do most all of our driving in town and there's no need for hard braking unless it's an emergency. Changing of signal lights do not count. There's a couple of ways to tell a stale green. You should drive that truck like it's your own.

One of my favorite incident is driving down this long surface street with lots of signal lights. I'll be cruising and a smaller truck like a two axle moving van will speed down the road and slam his brakes on at just about every light. After about 2 1/2 miles, he'll be sitting at the light and I'll come slowly up and make a right turn just after the light turns green. He's all stressed out and I'm relaxed going after my next load.

 

Yeah i hear that. I just drive now as if im flipping the bill for everything on my truck. I keep track of my own fuel mileage and expenses. Also, when going through a town like that I usually just drive a little bit slower with a load that heavy. usually by the time i start off and get up through the gears im having to stop again. I get plenty of shifting in lol

 

pffftttt!!!!Mine trips at on ramps trying to get up some speed and going up mnts.I always ask the desk jockey to check my speed,when it was activated.Usually 25 mph,and less.
I wish technology would let me drive my truck.

 

I train for a 'mega' carrier. We require all our students to do at least two mountains without a jake before they can use it.
So yes...there are some drivers out there being trained properly.
It's not hard. For years, none of us had Jakes.
It's not hard to teach, either.