Personal gear

the bridge heights and restricted roads are in the front of the book. you'll do just fine. just don't stress over it and have fun with it.

 

I am on a dedicated short-haul with an assigned tractor. I chose to keep the older Freightliner when a new one was offered to me. At the end of my work day, I take my CB and small tool box home. Our terminal is not fenced, and two Penske trucks were entered and CBs stolen. Apparently, the thief had keys or a door code to our garage.

 

Story to accompany the bridge qustion. About 3 years ago, the first time I went to this shipper in Chicago, I went past their unmarked driveway and found myself facing a bridge marked 13' while I was pulling a 13'6" trailer. Luckily, there is barely enough room to make a completely illegal U turn and the ground alongside the road was dry and I was able to spin around. Lesson learned, and the gossip is that those bridges are too low.

Yesterday, I was going there from a different direction, and kind of navigating in blindly. I knew where I was, but had never come in that way. Right in front of me was one of that company's trucks and trailers, a 13'6" van. I figured that I would just follow him in since I knew that was where he was going. I followed him, and darned if he didn't turn right under the 13" marked bridge and drive right under it. I went very slowly, and sure enough, the bridge is mis-marked, something that I never knew for the last 3 years!

Bottom line, you can;t trust bridge markings, but if it's labeled as low and you hit it, you are at fault. There's one bridge in PA that claimed 22 trucks last year. It's a 12'3" bridge on a major route and everyone keeps nailing it, even after they painted the bridge bright reflective yellow.

 

yo B , i feel your pain. i missed a bridge sign before and had to back up 1/4 mile on a two lane road before i could find a place to turn around.

 

Much of that depends on delivery and pick up times. I often have pretty good leeway on both, so I often route myself around busy traffic times. Yesterday I went into Chicago to load sugar, and was clear of the town by 5 am Chicago time. I came back into Chicago to reload during the midday lull, and went out during the evening rush, but only hit about 4 miles of city before I was clear of any real traffic.

But, if you are delivering to a place only open between 8 am and 4 pm, then you may not have as many options. A lot of that depends on what type of freight you are hauling and who you haul it to.

 

With the exception of Denver, and maybe when crossing the mountains going cross country, Asthma shouldn't be a problem to worry about. Unless you are doing the physical labor of unloading the trailer by hand, you won't be stressed hard enough to cause a problem.

Descending a hill safely means working from the top down to ensure that the truck doesn't pick up the extra speed in the forst place. You set the gear and use the brakes as needed to bring the truck down under full control. Emergency ramps are just that, and most drivers will never see one.

Flat steers can happen (I lost one the Friday before New Years) but it's an actual blowout that can cause problems. You just have to be prepared and alert for signs, and hold on firmly and slow down when it happens. They are a rarity, not an every day occurence, and the one I lost was the first steer I have ever had go flat.