Advice for drivers (and 4 wheelers)

[cdreid]

Malaki i'm curious as to what you make for doing that. I only ran gp out there a couple times when my dispatcher couldnt find anything else but i saw a Lot of o/o's there and i figured the loads must pay through the roof because those loads will flat out tear up a truck. My 387 cried getting in and out of there and there were a lot of supertrucks there with insane horsepower. I'd think to get a guy with lots of experience to do those regularly as company or o/o they'd have to pay you incredible money.

[Double L]

It's not the horsepower that gets the trucks moving, it's the torque. Horsepower is just simply to maintain speed. The reason why the higher horsepower engines seem to be more powerful isn't cause of the horsepower but the increase of torque. Example:

475 horses produces about 1875 ft/lb of torque at 600 horses produces about 2200 ft/lb of torque.

I don't remember if those are the exact numbers but it's just an example anyway.

BUT that is just half the equation though. There are so many different rear end gearings and transmission set ups. You can take two identical trucks with the same horsepower rating and torque rating but have a different tranny and rear end and one truck may run it's rear off but the other truck will struggle.

[Malaki86]

I haul into the GP, not out. I get paid percentage, and I think the load pays me something like $175 for the 6 hour run down there. We always deadhead to Richmond for a return load.

As for the truck/power, I drive a 2002 Volvo 780 with a 450hp ISX and 10spd autoshift. I have no trouble on the drive down there. Of course, a few of the hills really slow me down, but that comes with driving in WV.

As for the route I take down, the only trucks you see on it are the local log trucks and coal trucks. I guarantee no company will route you the way we run through WV.

[wot i life]

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Ive been driving 3+ years on the eastern side of the mississippi and done some things that would make the average driver cry.

So would you feel entirely confident to secure a 66,000lbs load using only rope?

[Double L]

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Ive been driving 3+ years on the eastern side of the mississippi and done some things that would make the average driver cry.

So would you feel entirely confident to secure a 66,000lbs load using only rope?

I know I wouldn't move that truck until I had more than the required securement that I feel comfortable with. A rope isn't gonna cut it one bit.

[wot i life]

I know I wouldn't move that truck until I had more than the required securement that I feel comfortable with.

Ropes would do just fine mate. Trust an ol fart :wink:

[tinytim]

Some great advice and some that's just silly. The whole post seems a little bi-polar though.

Quit whining/complaining/criticising. Nobody cares. Ya you're supertrucker and the worlds mean to you. Grow up. vs CUT YOUR FRICKIN FOG LIGHTS OFF. You look like an idiot and you're p*ssing us off.

CALM DOWN and be positive. vs You very well find you messed with the wrong guy and that he follows you to your next stop and beats you to a pulp. You think fistfights scare a guy who just pulled 80,000 pounds down a 7% grade on ice?

[TomB985]

It's not the horsepower that gets the trucks moving, it's the torque. Horsepower is just simply to maintain speed. The reason why the higher horsepower engines seem to be more powerful isn't cause of the horsepower but the increase of torque. Example:

475 horses produces about 1875 ft/lb of torque at 600 horses produces about 2200 ft/lb of torque.

I don't remember if those are the exact numbers but it's just an example anyway.

BUT that is just half the equation though. There are so many different rear end gearings and transmission set ups. You can take two identical trucks with the same horsepower rating and torque rating but have a different tranny and rear end and one truck may run it's rear off but the other truck will struggle.

This post is representative of a very, very common misconception.

It's not torque that moves a truck, it's horsepower. NOT peak horsepower, but horsepower none the less!

Torque is a number you measure. Horsepower is a CALCULATED figure derived from the TORQUE measured at the flywheel, or at the wheels most of the time.

ANY time you have torque moving at ANY RPM, you have horsepower.

HP = (torque x RPM)/5252. Period.

You could have all the torque in the world, but if there is NO rotation, or movement, you have 0 horsepower, and 0 movement. I could stand on a pipe on the end of a wrench, and have just as much torque as one of our heavy diesels puts out. Does that mean I have the power to get a truck moving? Not quite.

Say your truck produces 100 lb-ft of torque at a 600 rpm idle. Our formula for HP would mean that you are putting out 114 HP. THIS is what is getting your truck moving. That motor at idle is pulling JUST AS HARD as a little 1.8L honda civic motor is, when it's at peak horsepower. Yes, that's right, if you could gear a honda civic motor to put out it's peak horsepower, somewhere around 6,000 rpms, at a road speed of 1-2 MPH, that little motor would launch your truck just as fast. All this at 100 lb-ft of torque...but a MUCH HIGHER RPM.

So, if you have a motor, want to give it more HP, all you have to do is increase the RPMs where the PEAK TORQUE is, to make that same amount of torque work harder, because it's spinning faster. If you take a detroit diesel series 60, push it's 1650 lb-ft of torque to 2,000 rpm, you would have 628 HP, with that "little" 1650 lb-ft of torque!

end of rant....flame away!!!

[scania]

Here's my opinion on all this,4wheelers,motorcycles,18wheelers etc.
Do they move by their selves?No they don't,who operate these vehicles?
Riiiiiiight,WE do (humang beings).
We all have different habits bad or good,emotions,bad days,good days etc.So in my book there's no blame on "truckers or 4wheelers".
We're all in it together,just this afternoon an 18wheeler was right on my bumper I was going 65 mph and we're in the middle of Houston Tx we were in a turning lane and of course I had someone in front of me but I had sense enough to leave some space in front.
I believe keeping space is the best thing you could do to keep yourself out of trouble,4 or 18 wheels.

PS if you're worried about a 4wheeler slamming on his brakes aren't you too close?

[Double L]

It's not the horsepower that gets the trucks moving, it's the torque. Horsepower is just simply to maintain speed. The reason why the higher horsepower engines seem to be more powerful isn't cause of the horsepower but the increase of torque. Example:

475 horses produces about 1875 ft/lb of torque at 600 horses produces about 2200 ft/lb of torque.

I don't remember if those are the exact numbers but it's just an example anyway.

BUT that is just half the equation though. There are so many different rear end gearings and transmission set ups. You can take two identical trucks with the same horsepower rating and torque rating but have a different tranny and rear end and one truck may run it's rear off but the other truck will struggle.

This post is representative of a very, very common misconception.

It's not torque that moves a truck, it's horsepower. NOT peak horsepower, but horsepower none the less!

Torque is a number you measure. Horsepower is a CALCULATED figure derived from the TORQUE measured at the flywheel, or at the wheels most of the time.

ANY time you have torque moving at ANY RPM, you have horsepower.

HP = (torque x RPM)/5252. Period.

You could have all the torque in the world, but if there is NO rotation, or movement, you have 0 horsepower, and 0 movement. I could stand on a pipe on the end of a wrench, and have just as much torque as one of our heavy diesels puts out. Does that mean I have the power to get a truck moving? Not quite.

Say your truck produces 100 lb-ft of torque at a 600 rpm idle. Our formula for HP would mean that you are putting out 114 HP. THIS is what is getting your truck moving. That motor at idle is pulling JUST AS HARD as a little 1.8L honda civic motor is, when it's at peak horsepower. Yes, that's right, if you could gear a honda civic motor to put out it's peak horsepower, somewhere around 6,000 rpms, at a road speed of 1-2 MPH, that little motor would launch your truck just as fast. All this at 100 lb-ft of torque...but a MUCH HIGHER RPM.

So, if you have a motor, want to give it more HP, all you have to do is increase the RPMs where the PEAK TORQUE is, to make that same amount of torque work harder, because it's spinning faster. If you take a detroit diesel series 60, push it's 1650 lb-ft of torque to 2,000 rpm, you would have 628 HP, with that "little" 1650 lb-ft of torque!

end of rant....flame away!!!

Hell I ain't gonna argue with that, I knew it was something close that.

[Hawkjr]

[quote="cdreid"] As to where hmm.. how's 501 to big island va.[quote= "cdreid"]

so my uncles and cousins who have took 85,000 pounds worth of logs and chips to that wood mill on 501 in big island is one of the greatest truckers alive right??

[Mr. Ford95]

I'll check those out. And of course i did miss the sign. The worst thing about 501 wasnt that it was too skinny for a big truck (btw theres no reason a 13'6" truck would have a problem. Theres a 13'5" bridge in there but you have to do it both ways i beleive anyway)

Well there ya go, that is why it says no trucks over a certain height. Keep on with the tough guy act, when your stuck under a low bridge all of us here will take a minute or more to laugh. Yes you missed the sign but then turning around and saying that a 13-6 truck has no problem with a 13-5 bridge clearance? Did you fail math class? There is a reason why the sign says no trucks over 13-2.

The worst thing was knowing some drunken teenagers could be partying and hammering down on that road as i came around a curve blocking both lanes. I used my airhorn a LOT.

Naive are we? You think every backroad you run at night will have teens drunk on it? Try not being so naive, it's not just the teens you need to be worried about. Maybe in your neck of the woods it's a problem with drunk teens driving but around here it's more adults doing it.

[Windwalker]

There are many, MANY good comments on this thread, but... If you REALLY WANT TO MAKE THE HIWAYS SAFER......
SEND THIS TO A NATIONAL NEWPAPER FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO READ!!!!!

4wheeler:

1. DONT slam on the brakes in front of me. Ever. Why is this confusing?
2. DONT sit beside my truck because you're scared. Sitting beside my rear wheels is the most dangerous place on earth you could be. Yet you sit back and to the left of my truck waiting to get the guts to pass then sit on my tandems.. showing your not scared? I would NEVER sit by a truck. Ever. A wind in Il can move the trailer 5 feet in am millisecond. I'll feel guilty when i see your relatives mourning the soup in yoru coffin.
3. FOG LIGHTS ARE FOR FOG! They dont make you look cool. They make you look like an egotistical idiot who doesnt care that he's blinding the crap out of truckers.
4. Cut your high beams OFF if you can see headlights. If im blind i cannot NOT run over your a**.
5. If a truck is turning at an intersection and stops because he cant get around you.. do not pull up closer! If you're under the impression i'll back up or move your'e wrong. Feel free to call the police as they'll come tell you to move and force the other idiots to move as well.
6. Dont try the road rage thing. My truck is 70 feet long, weighs up to 80k pounds and i'll win every time whether i like it or not. And if you force me into a choice between you, me, and the family in another car you'll lose. The police probably wont give me a ticket either btw.
7. Shooting birds etc is fine. We DO make mistakes though so you know you make many many many times as many. We're sorry if we do as i assume you are too. But if you want to hop around a truck, slam on yoru brakes etc one of several things is going to happen. A: i'm going to call the troopers and they WILL pull you.
b: You're going to go too far, get yourself killed and cost me 2 hours while the trooper takes my statement then sends me on.
c: You very well find you messed with the wrong guy and that he follows you to your next stop and beats you to a pulp. You think fistfights scare a guy who just pulled 80,000 pounds down a 7% grade on ice? Think again.

It does little good to tell us what we already know. You have to get it to a media that is read by all the other careers.