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movinit
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 441
Location: Changes by the minute
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| Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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Vitocorleone99 wrote:
Quote: but the snoring and incessant car related chit-chat are still brutal.
Hang in there, we feel for you. The trainer that my wife and I had did not believe in washing his feet nor ever changing out his sandals. The sandals reeked so badly :shock: that one night when he went to bed he placed them behind the drivers seat and the smell was making me so sick to my stomach I pulled over and moved them over by the passenger door. I then drove with the window cracked the rest of the night. He also had a habit of sharpening knives all the time, we are talking for hours, and he had several on board to chose from. Talk about giving a trainee the creeps! :nervous: |
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VitoCorleone99
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Detroit
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| Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:37 am Post subject: |
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It is becoming very obvious after a little over a week on the road that the most difficult part about being a trainee has nothing to do with the job itself. For me it's keeping my opinions in check and going with the flow of someone else's lifestyle. I am not generally inclined to linger and waste time. I would typically prefer to get the job done early and then have a day or two to burn rather than drive 300 miles a day for five days and then take the next load. For now that choice is not mine and it's a little frustrating. Last night, with five hours left on my 11, we were dispatched on a load from Laredo to Oxnard. We then went to the movies, Wal-Mart, and a restaurant, rather than get showered up and on the road last night. I had one load of laundry to do, which consequently got done at 2am while I was shaving and showering. In the big picture of life, these three weeks won't amount to much so it shouldn't be bad.
I can't wait to get on my own for reasons like these, but my guess is that on the first day I'll have a question or two and wish someone was there to help. I just hope that they will be the kind of little things that won't jeopardize anyone's safety. I'm not too proud to pull over and call for help, so as long as I can operate the truck with no major safety issues I think I'll be okay on the rest of the stuff. |
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Skywalker
Joined: 10 Oct 2005
Posts: 2651
Location: Pulling a Tanker for Superior Carriers!!
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| Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:29 am Post subject: |
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vito...too bad they didn't assign you to me... my students usually complain because I always push the loads out and do it as fast as I can..... Shoot, I'm known for "schmoozing" customers into loading or unloading me earlywhenever possible.. :D Get rid of one so you can board and get another, repeat as often as necessary...
Me, I'd have bailed out of Laredo up the border road toward Eagle Pass or Del Rio...and then hammered it out to where it goes... If I couldn't have gotten it unloaded when I got there...it would be "motel time" and "reset time"!!
BTW...if he snores, just tell him to "stop it" while he's doing it....or thump the side of the truck...it'll probably work.
Seems your finisher is a "tad more laid back than I am". :shock: |
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VitoCorleone99
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Detroit
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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Ahh... a day off. After limping across the southern U.S. for the last four and a half days, we got into Thousand Palms last night. Since we only have a few hours left to our consignee, we'll spend another night here and then leave in the morning. Obviously my preference would be that we were sitting at the dock when they open in the morning, but our ETA is 5pm and my finisher is not quite the aggressive type. I'm 99% sure we could have delivered on Friday and grabbed another thousand miles this weekend, but that's not my call right now so I'm just enjoying the 118 degree weather and taking it easy.
It occurred to me earlier that this is my first full day off since I got to Joplin on June 25th. The three weeks have gone by pretty quickly for the most part, although there has been plenty of tedious down time. We have been running with another finisher and student since we left Laredo, so the other student and I went over to the casino this afternoon. I went in with sixty bucks, got down to my last four, and walked out with three hundred and twenty. Maybe my luck is starting to change.
Hopefully that luck will also get me my last 2400 miles within the next week. My patience for sharing a living space with another man has about reached its end, as has my patience for doing things slowly and (in my humble opinion) inefficiently. I heard a funny story about my particular finisher - apparently one of his former students actually called Joplin to complain that he was being forced to drive 52mph in an 80mph zone. Their response was that it's the finisher's truck and he calls the shots. I already know that, so I bite my tongue and keep my opinions in check. The funny thing is that I was driving flat out the last few hundred miles to get here (his truck is turned down to 65mph) and I got better mileage than we had been getting at 58mph. One more week should do it. By the time I get my truck, it should be about time for me to head back to Michigan for a day or two. Hopefully they can get me a relay through Taylor since I'm not really inclined to burn any time off right now. I just need to read my mail and tend to some other basic needs while I'm there.
I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why anybody lives here. There is nothing but desert surrounding these communities. Gas is $3.40 a gallon. The traffic is horrendous. The real estate is far from cheap. There doesn't seem to be any substantial industry in the area. Then I saw all I needed to see. David Lee Roth had it right all along. I too wish they all could be California girls. Wow! |
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Starbreaker
Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:58 pm Post subject: more! |
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| Great info Vito.. Keep up the great posts. |
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The Opinionator
Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Tulsa, OK
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="VitoCorleone99"] apparently one of his former students actually called Joplin to complain that he was being forced to drive 52mph in an 80mph zone.[/quote]
That's too funny! 80! Great story! I didn't know that CFI started going to Germany. |
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VitoCorleone99
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Detroit
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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The Opinionator wrote: VitoCorleone99 wrote: apparently one of his former students actually called Joplin to complain that he was being forced to drive 52mph in an 80mph zone.
That's too funny! 80! Great story! I didn't know that CFI started going to Germany.
Germany or western Texas, most likely the latter. Of course the truck speed out there is still 70mph, but the story is pretty funny just the same. For now we're here in California doing the good old double nickel. |
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VitoCorleone99
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Detroit
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not an outdoorsman. I have hunted and fished with my father from time to time, because he loves those activities, but I would take the Manhattan skyline or the Vegas strip any day of the week. That being said, today we headed out of California, eastbound with a load due in Illinois first thing Monday morning. The route took us through Sacramento and then on through Reno. The natural beauty of Donner Pass was very impressive. It is really something to try imagining what the westward moving settlers thought 150 years ago.
I never drive like a grandma (unless forced to do so by my finisher for fuel mielage reasons), but I couldn't help but think some of the cowboys hauling ass down the slope at 75mph were putting lives in jeopardy. I guess they have done it a thousand times so nothing could go wrong on their 1,001st trip, but I was coming down around 60mph for the most part and there were trucks blowing my doors off. Do brakes never fail?
With this latest dispatch, I will arrive in Illinois Sunday night having crossed the 7,500 mile barrier, which means the only snoring I'll have to contend with after this week will be my own. By no means do I think these three weeks have made me a professional truck driver, but I do think I'm familiar enough with CFI's procedures and safe enough behind the wheel to get out on my own. I'll have to make a phone call here and there to get answers, but it will be nice to handle my own trip planning and things like that.
After three weeks of eating and driving, it's high time I get through Michigan to load up my weight bench and dumbbells. My ankle feels like it's still a few weeks from being okay for jogging, but when that time comes I'll feel a lot better about being on the road. I've been jotting down things to make sure I pick up, so hopefully I'll have most of the bases covered by next week when I load up my truck. |
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Skywalker
Joined: 10 Oct 2005
Posts: 2651
Location: Pulling a Tanker for Superior Carriers!!
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:09 am Post subject: |
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VitoCorleone99 wrote: It is really something to try imagining what the westward moving settlers thought 150 years ago.
Its "mind boggling" to think of the hardships and all that they dealt with.
Quote: I never drive like a grandma (unless forced to do so by my finisher for fuel mielage reasons), but I couldn't help but think some of the cowboys hauling ass down the slope at 75mph were putting lives in jeopardy. I guess they have done it a thousand times so nothing could go wrong on their 1,001st trip, but I was coming down around 60mph for the most part and there were trucks blowing my doors off. Do brakes never fail?
Yes, brakes fail....its not pretty when they do!! And you can smell it when the brakes on trucks get real hot.... Those guys suffer from stupidity and "over-confidence" when they do that. Just let somebody "mumble" that there's a CHP around and all of the sudden they are "good little boys and girls" doing about 54mph... at least in CA. It would also be interesting to be around if they had a steer tire "blowout". I'd be willing to bet at least $100.00 on two things: First that the driver would most definitely have a "vinyl sucking moment" which would require mandatory "underwear changing", and that he or she would never do that again....if they "survived", and I do mean "survived" the incident.
In my opinion only an "idiot" runs down a mountain slope fast....too much can go wrong...and it really doesn't matter how good you are....you cannot control someone else's actions....and a heavy truck going down a 6% slope takes one heckuva lot longer to stop than one on level ground. |
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Hogfun
Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 37
Location: virginia
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 9:50 am Post subject: |
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| What's the saying?....you can go down a mountain too slow all your life...but you'll only go down too fast once.... |
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Crackaces
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
Posts: 1343
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:23 am Post subject: |
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Quote:
In my opinion only an "idiot" runs down a mountain slope fast....too much can go wrong...and it really doesn't matter how good you are....you cannot control someone else's actions....and a heavy truck going down a 6% slope takes one heckuva lot longer to stop than one on level ground.
Most people think that brakes work by friction. They somehow impede the wheels from moving and that is what slows down the truck. Not quite ... brakes fundamentally work by converting energy into heat. That heat must be dissipated and some will be absorbed. When heat exceeds the ability to dissipate and absorb .. the amount of friction is meaningless .. the brakes will fail
The formula is MV^2 or mass times velocity squared. So you take an energy level at one point and subtract the energy level at a second point and the difference must be converted into heat. if the second point is 0 .. then everything must be converted into heat to stop.
This also means.. that twice the speed means 4 times more energy that needs to be converted into heat. This is very key first . the numbers get big really quick, and second.because of constraints to size and weight the brakes were not designed to stop 80000 pounds at 60 MPH on a 8% grade more than once. Sometimes because of wear and tear, extreme weights, or extreme grades .. you can not stop from 40 MPH. BTW) Simply reducing the speed from 60 to say 55 is a lot more energy that slowing from 20 to 15. Overtime the brakes can not absorb any more heat and they fail.
Here is one other problem .. the emergency stop. Now that we have our own dedicated truck lanes ... this is even more important. 4-wheelers see this as an opportunity to weave in and out of traffic since the trucks are moving soooooo slow .. also .. many exits require crossing the truck lane. Car sees their exit at the last second and they cut in front of you.
Guess What .. if you have been burning your brakes up . you might not stop or even worse .. that sudden application of brakes to avoid an accident .. is enough to build up the threshold of heat .. you might slow down .. but suddenly start picking up speed.
That is why I start slow at the top. Often stopping and doing a brake check. Usually taking the back of my hand and feeling for heat coming off the wheels. Then with the confidence I am starting with fresh brakes I choose a gear that requires zero brakes and ride along slowly. That means that I am pretty damn sure my brakes are 100% available for an emergency stop. |
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VitoCorleone99
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Detroit
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:26 am Post subject: |
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I owe a big thanks to those of you who recommended Lambert's Cafe a while back. My finisher and I had a chance to stop by there last night on our way back to Joplin. The food was as good as advertised. The chicken fried steak would almost rival Mom's if she were having a bad day. On top of that, apparently a prerequisite for being a waitress there is to be young and beautiful. They were everywhere. We got there around 9:20 or so, thus avoiding the huge crowd. The place was still packed, but we got our table within 15 minutes and everything was great.
After we got back to Joplin I got my truck assigned. A certain sense of relief and/or accomplishment comes with the keys to a shiny red Kenworth after a total of eight weeks of schooling and training. I had a long day of work yesterday, followed by a long night in Joplin making sure I had all my ducks in a row. When I walked inside to check in with the local dispatcher, he immediately said "It's about time to get you home, isn't it?" I told him I didn't really need to stay home, but getting through the house would be helpful after having been here for a month. And that was that. I grabbed an empty and I was assigned a load picking up 25 miles from here and going to my hometown. He said it should have plenty of time before it gets relayed to Canada so I should be able to stay home for a little while and get some things done.
My first spin around the parking lot in my new truck threw me for a loop. The feel and arrangement of the pedals is a lot different than that of the T2000. The cab is a little narrower, but I only really notice that when I go into or out of the sleeper. Speaking of the sleeper, I got my best night of sleep in a month for the few hours I slept last night. No snoring roommate, no idling truck, no 2" thick 'top bunk' mattress, just a quiet few hours of peaceful rest. That was much needed! Between my roommate at Crowder and my 'roommate' on the road, I heard enough snoring over the last month to make me swear an oath of single occupancy for the rest of my life.
Well now it's time to go to work! Take care until next time. |
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TankerYanker
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 52
Location: Iowa
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Congratulations Vito and good luck to you! Please keep us posted on how it goes for you. BOL |
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VitoCorleone99
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Detroit
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| Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I'm just under a week into this little solo experiment now and I'm liking it quite a bit. I got my truck assigned on 7/26 so tomorrow will be my 7th day. So far I have 3,053 dispatched (and completed) miles counting the run that I just finished into Taylor, MI. This is my second time at home in four days, which came in handy because now I can grab all the stuff I forgot the first time.
The run I'll leave with and drop off tomorrow should push my miles for the week over 3,400. I don't think this kind of mileage is typical by any means because I've been running my butt off and I'm pretty tired. I actually got a little added stress today. I ran out of hours on my 70 just south of Toledo and thought, "Screw it, I'm an hour from home. I'll just get there and log an hour tomorrow." I'll be damned if I didn't get pulled into the scale (got the green light thankfully), pass three DOT cops, three Michigan state cops, one Wayne County sherriff, and two Taylor cops before I got here. Too stressful for me, no thanks to the illegal logging.
I have to catch up with some friends tonight so I'll try to add some info another time. Take care till then. Cheers. |
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Nivek
Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 100
Location: Houston, Texas
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| Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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I also enjoy your posts. Please keep them up. I am an office worker, wishing I was driving.
Some day I will. |
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