So many new drivers.

It helps if you're heavy... then just start way down the gears, and stay the heck off of the brake and jake. Slow is good. No sudden changes.

 

Hero, I was so heavy every time I pulled up onto the asphalt aka solid sheet of ice. It broke lose and got faster. Just a solid slide. The weight was pushing too hard.

I went down using the shoulder. They shut the road down behind us. It would have been nice to have known this before I went down the hill. I would have stayed where I was.

 

Hehe, had a doubles drivers start to bend in front of me on the PA turnpike just past Harrisburg. Snow had been hitting down towards Philly up to Lancaster, but the road was dry in Hbg (this was the somewhat big storm that hit in the beginning of March.) Anyway, about 5 miles down the road it started to get a little wet. Then 1 mile after that the road was just slush and snow. About 1 mile after that we saw the first jack-knifed truck on the side. About 2 miles later the doubles driver was slowing down and started to fold. He got it back though, not sure how.... needless to say we both slowed down even further...

 

It would seem to me being a local driver would require a greater degree of literacy than driving over the road. To do LTL you better be able to read a packing list to make sure you're delivering the right package to the right customer. Granted, there are ways that an illiterate person can cope, but it would seem that if you are illiterate, it would be easier to pick it all up here and deliver it all over there, rather than having to deliver a lot of little pieces at multiple stops, and in some cases strip a trailer down and do your own sortation as some jobs require.

 

True, but you're ignoring the true "local" jobs. And trying to equate them with LTL freight companies.

We have no less than 15 guys here, that make chip runs every night. All that is required of them, is a valid scale ticket at the end of the day.

Other guys pull the logs into the mill. Same deal there. The poly plant up the road, their driver can't read a single word. He makes 3-5 runs a day to a couple of plants. All he is required to do, is get a signature on his bills.

Now, I'm not saying that they get top dollar for their work. I don't ask. But they seem to be making a go of it...in a down economy.

Reading is hardly a job stopper in this industry. It does limit you though.

 

Yeah???

Try dealing with life if you can't decipher this...

"NO TRUCKS ALLOWED ON PARKWAYS"

 

The way it was 4 or more years ago drivers wanted to drive truck that,s why they got into it,not because they have to inable to survive. We worked together, everyone had there cb,s on, communicating on road dangers,etc. The west coast is quite but that,s just the way it is out there. You never heard so many funny people in your life,you could hardly drive because you,d be laughing so hard your eyes watered. I,ve helped alot of rookies out including laying in the snow freeing up there frozen trailer brakes numerous times. It seems like there not happy out there,they got into it for the wrong reasons. I didn,t start driving for a living just for the money.I got into it because it,s the perfect job, to drive a cool truck and to have chicks all over the country, hehe meet interesting people, to show off-say 3 time 2nd place national rodeo champ, will attempt to park at the corner blindside on the cb,people watch you backup anyway so why not make it fun. I worked in 43 states,on a big horizontal drill rig,so I saw the USA,but driving for a living you see more of our great country.

 

Since I have a Federal Parkway cutting my resident county in half. It's a no brainer for folks around here.

It's clowns from out of state that get nailed on it....and they can read. We occasionally get the wise ### local who thinks he can get away with it....just once.

It works like this...Green Sign good...Brown sign BAD. Or a picture of a truck with a circle and a slash.

Being color blind isn't connected with the ability to read.

However, being the smart guys that some folks are...being able to read and all. They can punch buttons on their GPS, and get their well educated ### a $1500 ticket....for not reading the signs.

 

To the driver who differentiated between steering wheel holders, professional drivers and the 3rd catagory " truck drivers" the ones who get the loads where and when ever they need to go.... The days of the Super Trucker are coming to an end! You (and me) are fastly being phased out by companies who prefer a "professional Driver" running legally at all times over the driver that is committed to doing whatever it takes. We are now a liability with all the pressure the D.O.T is putting on trucking companies these days, and it's only going to get worse. Gone are the days of happily running 4000 miles a week or more (if your a co. driver) It appears lately that all these companies care about is giving you just enough miles to run a regular work week. Theres one thing they forget- we dont work a 5 day week like they do. I'm living in a truck 24/7 to make money, not just "survive".

 

Most of us have been there.

The time will come for you in the future, where survival and making money are irrelavent terms. Not much differance when you really look close at them. You're doing one or the other at all times.

Living is why we make money. If you fail to live life, what good is all the money in the world?

Not saying it's bad to bust ### 24/7 for something you really want...house, car, family, etc. But there needs to be an exit plan.

At some point in life, you'll get ready to set the cruise control and coast for a while.