My turn for orientation at Watkins & Shepard!!

It's not one trainer that's saying it. The company has been in business for a long time, don't know if they always trained this way but they've been successful with it. Look at their stats, pretty good, #### good for a company that doesn't send you over the road with a trainer. So it's been working for a long time now.

Nobody is saying your advice is unwarranted or unwanted. I just don't see how telling people who are just trying to soak up what their company is training them to do, is the wrong thing to do.

 

You all should listen to AT... After all, he has been driving OTR for a whole month now. He has weeks of knowledge to share.

 

I'm going to make one more post to try to clear up what I'm trying to say. Maybe I didn't make myself clear, or some didn't understand what I meant, or both.

Your trainer showed you how to downshift on a mountain to get into the correct gear in case yoy were in too high of a gear, or if needed in case of an emergency. This is a very good thing to know how to do, especially for a newer driver that might not know which gear they should be in for a paticular speed. Downshifting on mountains is not a good idea unless you have to, there is too much chance of missing a gear and having a runaway, don't make a practice of it. Your trainers I hope told you this, and if so, it sounds like, have done good jobs.

The post exclaiming that only a W/S driver would be able to handle an emergency on a mountain and be able to downshift while others rolled with burnt brakes, and possibly end up in a runaway ramp or wrecked, is nonsense.

There is a tendency for a new driver to get over confident if things go well for them. It happens to most everyone, be careful, for this can bite you big time. A person never stops learning something new. A 50+ year driver will learn something new all the time. If they don't, it's time to quit.

My statement of don't put all your faith in one trainer is something I stand by. No one person knows everything. There are many good or great drivers. Watch them and listen to them if they offer advice. Not every old time driver is good. I have ridden with some with more experience than me that I would never get into a truck with again. I have also ridden with drivers with much less than half the experiece of myself that were some of the best I have ever seen.

Seeing new parts of the country and conquering task with a truck is an exciting thing for a new driver, and can still be that way for an old timer. Don't let the excitement lull you into a false sense of security. The many drivers that wrecked this week on Fancy Gap didn't expect what happened. You never know what is just ahead of you. My focus has been on safety, your safety.

I have not tried to put you down as new drivers, nor proclaim anyone else as the greatest. I don't like seeing wrecks that can be avoided. I am going to post a couple of links for you all to look at to see my point of things happening quickly.


Watch the video and pictures here:
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2010/nov/16/27/traffic-alert-i-77-southbound-blocked-carroll-co-ar-656781/




Watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wifwg6xWVAU

 

Think I'll stay back east, and south................

I'd hate to be pushed down a big ol' hill.............

 

i guess the W/S trainers should have taught you how to drive on ice and snow so you wouldnt be a hazard on the road--if you are that scared maybe it is time to pull over and wait for spring
it you are going 20 mph and others are still going 65--then something aint right

 

Better slower and safer than faster and dangerous

 

Black Mountain can be a littl escary in a 4-wheeler if a driver isn't careful, and Saluda Grade is even worse.