What are some mistakes or blunders you've made as a newbie?

Aces, it's copilot truck for laptops. It also has told me that the road I was on was a truck restricted road when it wasn't. It's programmed by humans so there are mistakes in it like any other program. It's a good tool but you have to make the final decision. Cost me $300 plus the receiver that mounts out on my mirror was another $100. Good thing about it is I can see the laptop screen a lot better than one of those itty bitty gps screens.

 

it has low bridges on that program?

 

I am pretty sure it does but I haven't used it in a few years. It is specifically written for trucks.

 

I was 18 years old and got my first driving job, driving a dump truck. I stopped for fuel and put 150 gallons of super unleaded 93 octane in it. I pulled out of the gas station and got about a mile down the road when black smoke started pouring out of the stacks. I knew right away what I had done! Luckily I didn't go far, stopped and drained the tanks and manage to save it from total destruction. Also saved my job. Had to pay for the gas though.

 

I had a couple of incadents, 1 where I was at fault, I had just driven from New Mexico hauling a load of copper plates out of a mine to a smelter in Conneticut (Any of you TMC drivers out there probably know this load)

At the reciever they wanted me to drive in under this roof that was around a corner, and it was not until I had pulled in that I realized that I was going to have to back out (An of course they were going to tell me right)

It is a fairly tight spot and a stupid design. I wound dropping my load with out issue, but as I was backing out I caught a big block of cement with my passenger side step box. It tore the box up really bad, couldnt see it in the mirror, then I had the guy who was driving the fork lift pull up lauging and say "he he he, dont feel too bad, that happens a couple of times a week" needless to say I was about ready to kill him, and I said some not so nice things.

The moral of the story is, no one else gives a crap about your truck, or if it gets tore up.

This next one happened on the last run in my old truck I called "Scarlet" because of the color.





This incadent was not my fault, I had pulled into a Loves in Heyburn Idaho, I had just got up and was fixing to hit the road, I had fired the truck up and turned all of my marker lights. So on my trailer there was a led burning once every 2 feet, and it had 8 4" rounds glowin in the back end, with 5 more 2 1/2's between em.

I was in the sleeper putting my clothes on when the next thing I know a my truck is rocking back and forth violently and it threw me up against the wall then onto the floor. I get up, jump into my clothes and hop out of the truck only to find a big box van being drug right over the top of my step deck!

The knuckle head came whipping in the exit I was parked next to going way too fast and pulled his trailer right over the top of the mine smacking it just behind the #4 axle. What is worse is I had a Case Dozer sitting on the front of the trailer and a partial on the step. So when the back end of my trailer tried to zig the front end didnt zag and it bent the piss out of my all aluminum ravens.

It also managed to break my tool boxes on that side that had only been on the truck for a couple of months. I had installed a pair of 24x24x36" boxes between my axles on each side. I wound up having to pick up the contents of which off the ground now, and stuff it into garbage bags and stuff it all in my sleeper where as before I had nice plastic bins everything fit neatly into.

It was not a happy day for me.

After dealing with the clown I got on the road, at about 50 MPH the load started to fishtail violently. I finished my final 2 drops in Redmond and Portland Oregon then hooked a load going to Billings Montana.

It sucked because the whole way I had to run 45 MPH to keep from fish tailing. It is a miricale I did not catch any DOT attention.

I took the trailer to Beal Trailer in Billings, I was living in Livingston at the time, I had them take a look at it, they tried to get it straight, but it still wouldnt pull worth a ####. I fought with the guys insurane for over a month trying to get them to make my truck right.

Finally wound up selling the truck and trailer because I had run out of money. It was a pretty sucky deal, but I guess some times in life there will be those.

I really miss my rig, another year and a half and I would have had it paid off.



About 6 months later I sold my house and bought another truck, it turned out to be a royal turd, It had a 600 CAT but gave me nothing but problems. Wound up selling it back to Motorpower in Billings after 6 months because the #### thing wouldnt keep running for me, i found out that it had an electrical fire under the dash at one point, the truck loved to suck the batteries dry and leave you stranded. It cost me one hell of a lot of money, and one of the times it left me stranded caused me to miss my grandmothers funeral.

I wish I had done what I was going to do in the first place, I had enough cash to buy a 97 they had which had a banged up fuel tank and needed paint badly, but it had about half the miles on it and ran like a top. the 3406 in it ran like a sewing machine. It was very well cared for. I was going to slap a 60" flat top on it and get it all painted up. but I didnt quite have enough money to get everything done, and the bank wouldnt loan me the money for a new trailer if I didnt have a truck they liked to pull it with.

I really should have just bought it and leased a trailer for a few months, that way id still own it.

 

I asked a bullhauler with a gorgeous tractor and very shiny polished trailer if he needed me to watch his rear while he backed in next to me.

All he said was, "Well, she's got a sweet voice, anyway." In other words: Shaddup, Stupid!

 

Just like telling a mechanic what to do.......big no no.