May trucking

I was thinking HWY 99 out in Calif but I saw the bus in one of the pics and I think I remember hearing about a stuck truck on Smith Rd last week lol. If you don't mind taking the passenger endorsment, you can always apply at RTD or one of their contractors. (I'd stay away from First Transit though, their safety dept used to be pretty crappy) I got accepted by Violia yesterday and will take it if I don't get my funding for school. (Gonna look for another way to get my class A if I don't get the funding) It's a good way to "keep your nose clean for six months" and not go into the poor house.

 

heh - another truck on Smith road? I did this on Monday, bright and early.

Yeah, I have considered putting the P endorsement on my CDL. *really* dragging my heels on it though. One of the reasons I got into OTR in the first place is that I hate dealing with people.

 

hey learch, is may running alot of long nose tractors out there? most of the trucks i see out here in oregon, especially at the Brooks yard are the freight centurys and petey 389's.

 

Bigray, starting with may on monday, Opal out there in brooks talked about an I-5 run between oregn and cali, ya know anything about that run? need miles but wanna have home time with family, so 48 states wouldnt be for me but will i be better off with the 11 western?

 

they are 387's but your finger probaly hit the wrong key.
they are suppose to be getting rid of all the long nose and short nose 379's

 

Yeah - but from what I hear from other truckers, they've been talking about selling off the 379s for a number of years. I think that enough drivers (such as myself) like them enough that the rigs were hanging around anyway.

Of course, now that Pete ain't making them any more...

bowhunter - I don't know of a specific I-5 route. May has two divisions: DRY and REEFER. If you work Reefer, you drive all 48. If you work dry, you work western 11 - basically Colorado and west.

There are a lot of loads that run the I-5, but you might easily end up in Denver, say.

I ran dry for a few months. I consider it (still) the better place to get started for newbies. you spend a lot of time climbing up and down hills AND dealing with traffic - so you learn truck handling more completely than in a similar amount of time in the midwest. (for me, in particular, it was great for my downshifting skills)

Neither division with May presents a problem getting home every few weeks, though if you live west, it's easier if you are in the dry division.

 

..Bow, have u ever driven the Siskiyu Mountains route yet? I drove that stretch once & i hope i never have to again, & i drove it during the winter, luckily i didnt have to chain up that day.. exp: 5 mins south of Eugene i hit a whiteout, 20 mins later it was clear, this went on all day & that's how long it seemed to take to get thru that mountain range! Up & down & around & around, it seem like it takes forever to get up those hills & all i could think of was looking forward to a nice long stretch of hwy on I-5 in Cali..!

..if I had to drive that route every day it would get really boring, especially driving those hills, it was a white knuckle experience for me that day, especially those 4-wheel drivers that like to drive faster than the speed limit, especially on the corners, in bad weather!

..keep us posted if u do run that route, especially if u run the Siskiyu range every day & how many hrs it take for the miles u drive to run it.

 

The Siskiyou Range?
I have ---- many times, in all seasons.
Beautiful area, but not an area I'd recommend ANYone, newBee or seasoned drivers, to try to make great time while driving. It takes what it takes.

I did a lot of my training on
Living in the Los Angeles area of SoCal, I saw quite a bit of I-5 -- starting with the Grapevine and usually ending in Oregon or Washington State.

In the spring and fall I'd take Hwy 97 near Weed, California through K Falls, Oregon to Hwy 58 near Chemult, Oregon, and rejoin I-5 in Eugene, Oregon.
Less up & down that way.
But I don't recommend that route in the winter or during the daylight hours in the summer. Bad weather in winter and bad tourist drivers in the daytime during summer made that route less than desirable during those times. It's a beautiful drive though.

My first experiences in the Siskiyous was with my trainer who wouldn't let me use the Jake for the first two weeks so I would learn how to git 'er done without an engine brake. I'm glad he did that though.

On my first trip through that area, my trainer pointed out a sign in Oregon --- at the bottom of a long grade reading:
Brakeless Trucks
Do Not Stop In Rest Area.
DoAH!
Throw out the anchor and pop the chute!
And on the north side of K Falls was a sign that read:
Rocks 45 MPH.
I'm not sure what the speed limits was for Big trucks though.

And while I'm on the subject of silly signs, have y'all ever read the sign:
NO DOGS ALLOWED
Except Seeing Eye Dogs ?
Hmmmmmmm
I always wondered if it's the dog or the blind guy who reads that sign?
I'm thinkin' it's the dog, 'cause if it was meant for the blind guy it would be written in Braille. But then again, how would the blind guy know the sign was there?
Same with Braille on restroom doors.
Does the blind guy just feel along the walls until he comes to the restroom door?

 

drove the I-5 corridor between portland and medford 6 days a week, i dealt with northern passes all the time, coming out of medford north ya have Sexton,Smith,Stage then Canyon. only had ta chain up twice in the 3 years on that route. so i am very used ta the mountains, worse hill i had ta climb was on Hwy 58 between I-5 and HWY 97.

 

see i wouldnt mind seeing some of this country but if i go 48 i woulod be away from home for atleast 4 weeks at a time, i dont want that. so i will probbaly go with the 11 western unless that I-5 run has good miles.