Two things that are beginning to hack me off

Yeah I remember driving one time and some guy was in an empty flat bed and was tail gating another truck about 4 ft off of his DOT bar and was on his cell phone on top of it.

I never could stand those kind of idiots that would endanger people and themselves like that.

Then another time I was going through Wyoming, I forget the freeway number cause it's been a little while but I was going down this curvy grade and it was snowing.. This fricken moron in a yellow truck just blew right by me and kicked up all kinds of powder to the point that I actually lost site of the road and the guard rail. I couldn't see a #### thing! I rolled down my window and tried to scan the ground real quick to see where I was at.

(yeah I am sure it was not a good move but either way I couldn't see)

Scared the hell out of me because I didn't know if I was going to hit anything or not. I slowed down as much as I could without causing problems for anybody else. It was a very tense moment or two and then I finally was able to get site back. I didn't get to see any identifying marks as he was going to fast to see any.

Was not a pleasant experience!

 

You've got that one wrong. The drivers that Kittyfoot describes are not old school and you may have been exposed to these non-professional types because they can not go beyong the lousy companies because of their records. The same companies that give students a job after they fleece them for school. In fact these idiots think they need to drive like this to make more money but are too stupid to realize they're stuck at the low paying jobs. It's too bad you couldn't be trained by the old school like I was because back then they were Knights of the Road.

 

Yeah...I wish I'd gone through the Uncle Al Training Program like some of the others... "Use the clutch to start and stop only...scratch my gears and *WHOP!!* you'll get it with this 2x4..."

Or the Grandpa School of Driving: "Here's the keys, don't hit anything..."

Driving school is what the student makes it. If they listen to the instructors, who are always more experienced than the students, they will (in most cases) have about 1/4 of a clue. After that, they really should listen to what the old-timers have to say. The key, though, is for them to recognize that they don't know everything just because they have that license in their hands...

I got lucky and had instructors who gave a crap about the type of driver they were turning out and did not hesitate to fail people who couldn't make the cut. Most of them were OTR drivers for upward of 15 years before starting to teach. After that, I had to go out on the road with someone to learn how the business works and get real-world experience. (My first time in Chicago...excellent learning environment)

First thing my road trainer asked me was, "Do you want to drive a truck or do you want to be a truck driver?" I thought about it for a few days and answered that I wanted to be a truck driver. He tailored his program so I would know more than holding a steering wheel and backing to docks when he was finished. He gave me the basics of what it really takes to be a truck driver and run a business. The rest, I have had to learn through experience and listening to the opinions of the old timers, see what works for me. I still have a lot to learn and will not hesitate to ask when I don't know.

But y'all are right: there are fewer and fewer real truck drivers out here. Had a guy just the other day with 10 years experience ask me to show him how to slide his fifth wheel. He didn't know it was a lot easier to get it where you wanted if you took the weight off it....

 

I can!!!! But I just hate being that high up. I get nervous standing on a curb!

 

WSYROB, now do you get it ! Your in the wrong. You want everyone from this thread to go to the thread you posted to see what such a fool your making yourself, by driving in the middle lane, there talking bout drivers like you. But like that one driver said from the other thread, until you get some miles under your belt, you won't get it.

 

You better knock on wood , Buddy...........