What are your greatest fears?

Carefull ...there's a Nashville neb too lol.

 

Come winter, grab a bobtail, find yourself a abandoned lot something like 4 acres on ice. Take bobtail, try a circle. Once you master circle then do a figure 8. Both ways. Then start drifting both circle and figure 8 with some power to break your drives loose. Get it back.

Then pick a parking spot, aim at it try to recover just so inside that spot after you break loose.

That helps you with tractor jacknifes on ice and rain in the future. Trailer jackknifes are more of a problem but happen slower time. Adjust a spot mirrior on the left at your drives so that when it breaks loose, the angle of your front over the drives will give you warning. Or she sags to the side as it comes round.

Jacknifing a rig on dry is really hard to do, you can force it by slamming trolley, jerking wheel to one side and then holding it there as it comes round, add power to maintain angle until it falls back into line.

I write this with a calm heart because Ive been in jackknifes, there is one rule never get into them.

My first was really bad. I was empty coming up on light near GBurg south on US 15 a car cut me off, stopped short in the rain exactly where I needed to stop and I added a few more pounds of service air and tractor cabover broke violently and fast. Back and forth I fought the tractor it was vicious. Ended up under the light at a crazy straightish angle. Me 1 car zero.

Scared really bad that day I almost quit forever. But then I grew a pair shook it off and have another go.

What scared me worse was the realization this trucking stuff would be more fun as a stunt man.... I guess I can do it still. No worries.

 

I had a load of steel for a building project. I was at the right address, street, everything, looking at a dry ice company. This was back in the landline days. Boss said take it to Nashville, i didn't hear Illinois and he thought he might have said TN . We had a laugh and I drive overnight to il.

 

We ran into a drop lot over in Memphis, you know the one.

Dispatchers crying on the cell get that 1414 right away omg we are gonna be so screwed if we dont get it right now on and on and on. sheesh, crybabies.

I grabbed 4141 and took off.

6 hours later satcom beeps is your trailer 4141? Yes why?

There is a loving God. But he did not, I repeat did not hear or remember the volcanic explosion in dispatch that day.

 

Waking up one day and my siamese twin brother sits us down on our butt and tells me he is coming out and that were going on a date tonight.

 

And a Nashville, MI.

 

Winning the privilege to be the first guy to look into that car.

 

I used to travel TriMet all the time when I lived in Portland. I would be scared to death of running over a tall biker or a random suicidal homeless person, there. My greatest fear when it comes to driving a tractor trailer is a front steer tire blowout in heavy traffic on a two lane highway and losing control into oncoming traffic and killing myself and or several carloads of people, then my wife and kids hearing about it... How they would survive and how they would make ends meet.

 

Buy life insurance. Get plenty of it. ZI think it's Voya where a group of US Companies offer plans up to half a mil to a mil on rates that are not that difficult. I carry life insurance to protect two people because I conceal carry and medically I don't have much a future.

Your steer tire blowout scenario will be rather simple. BOOOM WTF! dont you touch taht brake #### you. Tighten up that wheel and HOLD her. LET HER SETTLE. DON"T you touch a #### thing mister, haul her off to the right she'll stop soon enough.

Regarding death and injury witnessing first hand trying to help succor the suffering before EMT arrives is a very difficult thing. I suppose it is a form of love for a common man which includes children and women to go out and try to patch together something to fight death off a little longer. Ive got enough to get into ER or EMT myself if I choose. But I rather not.

Family have to understand you are going away down the road. They must know that you love them very much and you are going away a while. You will see them again when you either return or over the beyond at the gates of Heaven.

Once everyone understands this, then there should not be any more heartache for you to leave family.

 

Why?