"Truck Stop" bridge gets another one

Lots of companies are desperate for drivers so they hire people straight out of school with no experience

 

I've gone under a 11'11 marked bridge in Tonawanda section of Buffalo.

In the Winter.

 

Your POV doesn't count.

 

As a "straight out of school" driver. I'm personally more careful with bridge heights. New drivers are going to be more careful not less.

 

Yes I did learn a lot here. But also Stevens makes sure you are reading those signs. So that might be a factor in my mind

 

You good, man! I'm 10 years in and I still get paranoid with with bridge heights AND overhead door heights. (I carry a lot of oversized equipment, though, too, so that definitely contributes to the paranoia.) You hold onto those good habits, brother!

 

I went under a bridge marked 10' 9" in New York City. And another marked 12'9". And three marked 12'6". All in the same day. Here's just the Third Avenue Bridge. (I can't find the one that said 10'9", but I swear it was there. Maybe they changed the signs just for fun.)







I've never been back to NYC, and I never intend to go back.

 

It's not so much they skip over it, as they try and cram too much information into a too small time frame.

Or there is no real world implication for the student. Most of my guys have never seen a grade steeper than an on ramp, so I don't care how much their cdl instructor harped on mountain grade, the dude isn't going to comprehend. Similarly, we have ZERO low bridges in the greater Green Bay and Fox Valley area that are on roads permissible for thru trucks. Heck, the closest bridge I can think of off the top of my head is down in Milwaukee. I remember in CDL school one of my instructors tried to pull the "how high was that overpass" trick, and I replied "I didn't look for a sign because I'm on an interstate, which has to have 13'6" clearance". He didn't like that much, but the truth was low clearances weren't a thing we had to worry about so it's hard to internalize the importance of looking for those signs. One of the most effective means I've found of teaching the importance of reading signs is for me to be "reading my book" (aka trying to force myself not to drive the truck from the right hand seat) and call out signs that my guy missed. Then I explain why I clue into those signs even when I'm doing something else. Last spring I ran into one of my former trainees as I was "mentoring" a new driver (aka get your ####ing head out of your ####ing ###, but in a polite and respectful way). Yuri walked up and said "listen to this mf'r, dude was my trainer and he sat there playing candy crush and calling out s#** I didn't even see".

There are a lot of things that are hard to teach, but the importance of reading road signs is high on the list. It's hard to communicate the importance and it's hard to check for learning in a meaningful way.

 

If I am in doubt I pull over with my 4 ways on and GOAM.
Get out and measure.
Surprising how many bridges are miss marked to low.