Starting out for rookies

The only thing I don't like about Texas is the FOUR full lenth columns in the motor carriers atlas that are devoted to Low Clearance locations. However, MOST of them are 14' and 13'6", I'd fit under any of them.

 

ran 6000 miles this week did over a thousand stops i was delivering footballs and each stop only got 1 football made over $4000 for the week

 

if you worked for UPS i might actully beleive the football thing, but you work for UPS freight so a PALLET each would have been more believable





American Trucker

 

believe it or not we do single box deliveries more than you would think

everytime ive ever delivered to Eli Lilly downtown Indianapolis it was on a 53 foot trailer and it is 2 boxes every time that weigh 5 lbs each......i always make that my first stop because they are always hazmat and that way i can get the hazmat off and take the placards off

 

sounds like us, we pull 53's too, and do everything from one little box i can throw at them to full trailer loads of stuff....I find it retared that i have to drive 300 miles to a place to deliver a 3lbs 6" x 6" box in a road truck with a 53' trailer when for 1/4 of what they pay us to haul it they could have UPS deliver it lol



American Trucker

 

we do the same thing and it blows my mind

i remember i had a one box delivery about 50 lbs in the middle of nowhere to a residential...they had this giant gravel driveway so i backed in and the guy comes out like what the hell???? it was a driver collect for like $348 and the guy was madder than a weight hen

"WHY IN THE **** DID THEY SHIP THIS ON AN 18 WHEELER ITS ONE ******* BOX I AINT PAYING THAT ****!!!"

apparently he or the shipper used ups freight instead of ups ground, and the guy was PISSED.....he refused to pay the shipping charges and wanted us to send it out on a package car the next day....i took it back to the terminal after that, no idea what ever happened with that delivery

 

Speaking of residential deliveries, I called and had a load of gravel brought out for my driveway. You know what those rock trucks look like, it's a day cab with a pup trailer, just like the LTL guys with a single pup except it's a 5 axle rig due to the weight.

Anyway this guy, for the life of him, could NOT get this rig backed in off the street, into my driveway. I was out there telling him how to do it and he got a little "snappy" with me and said "this truck's just a TINY BIT BIGGER than your pickup truck".

That's when I said "If you look just a tiny bit further down the driveway, you'll see a big blue Kenworth T-660 sleeper cab hooked up to that 53 foot reefer. I parked it there yesterday and backed it in through here"

He looked at it for a second and set his brakes and hopped out of the truck and said "ok then Mr. SuperTrucker, YOU back this thing in where you want it".

 

i still chase pups sometimes when backing them...i dont pull pups very often anymore so im not used as to how fast they turn

id rather pull a 53' than a 28' anyday

 

I'm used to backing up all different lengths. From a 53 at work, to my 20 foot long camper with the axle in the middle and a Ford Ranger that's 3 feet narrower than the camper so I can't see where the #### I'm going cuz the mirrors don't stick out far enough, ... to several different trailers I pull with my ATV and lawn mower. I frequently tow a 4x8 utility trailer with my car when I've got something light to haul like a riding lawnmower and the tilt-bed is easier to load than my pickup trucks.

When I get in tight spots with my tow-behind bush-hog, it can be a PITA because not only is it only like 5 feet between the ball hitch on the quad and the axle on the bush hog, the quad has handlebars instead of a steering wheel so it gets me confused EVERY SINGLE TIME. I use the bush hog to maintain some trails between the farmers fields around here so my girlfriend can have some walking paths. Otherwise she won't get any exercise and she'll probably get fat.

 

weve got 28s 32s 40s 45s 48s and 53s not to mention the dollys....thosee things turn fast