belpre122 said:

Old Dominion my AZZ!! Hobo don't DRIVE slow trucks! He PASSES them!

I don't think my posts OR my opinions have changed, Bel! I'm STILL "teaming" and sleeping in a moving truck. I'd RATHER be OTR all (5 days of the) week! And, I may soon BE so again. Contractor is looking at a 5 day run to Rialto, CA and back! More miles/money for me, and less miles on my car! See the WEST again! Eat better at truckstop buffets!


Apparently, you don't remember that I've HAD my feuds with CFM. I think I WON most of them, as I do with YOU. Right now, I consider my "job" to be one step below OTR.... and 2 steps ABOVE local work! We ALL know how well I can COMPROMISE and deal with the requirements of my job. And, of course, I'm not PRONE to "feuding." :lol:

No thanks, Bel. I can make REAL money at LandSpan or Longistics.... IF I wanted to TEAM OTR again! I "passed" on CRST right out of CDL school! What you don't seem to understand is that I NEVER had to spend 3 weeks on the road at one time, either team OR solo! And, I am SUCH an easy going guy, that living with strangers is not a real problem for me! If one looks around a bit, there are BETTER jobs to start out with than the one YOU had. And that FIRST job apparently makes a HUGE difference in one's opinion of OTR! I made the right choice.... you made the "average" choice. It is what it is.... or what you MAKE of it!


Oh yes.... I AM "going" Bel! I had a PLAN when I got into this business, and it is unfolding accordingly. I will DO 48 state OTR solo when I decide to. And not for no 5 bills a week! I suffered "some" with my first job, and I am suffereing "some" NOW. But, I am patient. I will own my own truck when the economy says I should, and I will retire as a trucker running when and WHERE I want to! But, I will probably NEVER be a "local wuss" unless it is what I WANT to do... and in a part of the country that I WANT to be in.

 

I have done all three.

1.Steady pressure all the way down.

2.Stab braking all the way down.

3.Let the engine run on the Jake and be in a gear where you don't need brakes at all.

Three is best, unless it is very slick and there is way too much HP hold back. You can lock up your drivers, but not like they did in the old day when the Jake would not cut out at a pre-determined point.

Two works if you have a weak Jake and want to descend a hill in a taller gear and you will be using both the Jake and the brakes to get it down.

One I used when I was running 128,000 lb wagons and the Jake quite and I had a 8 mile long 8% grade to get down. It was a very low gear by the way. It is also a good way to descend in the Winter, when you need an even brake application front to back to keep everything straight.

The main issue is this, you must NOT have so much brake application where the drums will not be given a chance to cool down.

I found out "Back in the Day" that it was about 8 lbs of pressure. So I would find out what gear the truck would hold back in with no more than 8 PSI.

But here is the key. If you stop the truck, and cannot put your hands on the drums, then you where descending in too high a gear, no matter what method you are using, or how steep or long he hill is.

This is OLD SCHOOL, it worked then, it works now. This is what I was taught.

*Get out of the truck and touch the drums at the bottom. If you cannot keep your hand on the drum, you where descending in too tall a gear, with too much brake application.

*If you can smell them, then you are descending too fast.

*If you see smoke, then you are going WAY to fast. And you MUST stop and let them cool down.

Hot brakes will be lead to Brake Lag, and more than likely Brake Failure.

Runaway Lanes are for those that use brakes to descend long, steep grades.

 

And, if you use one of these, be prepared to make a donation to somebody's general fund for not having your vehicle under control

I didn't know this until I talked to a driver that wanted to see what it was like to take one of these ramps... Don't remember what it totalled up to, but it was a fine... + a tow... + Misc... +... I do remember that it was enough that I don't ever want to get any exact figures on the cost.

Oh, yeah... He lost his job too.

 

I would think that if you had an A-Train, and went up a runaway lane, the minimum it would cost to extract you from the mess (and this means there was NO damage to anything) would be a couple of thousand dollars, by the time you paid the wrecker.

Now, the other side of the coin, is that if you DON'T use the runaway lane, it might cost you your life, or someone else's.

Even at two grand, it is cheap.