The not-so-glorious side of Trucking.
 

On Sunday, April 15th, my turbo blew out on my truck on I-40. I sat for 6 hours waiting for a tow. I have a couple things I wanted to mention.

1) Being how big we are, I got really upset with the number of big trucks that blew right by my truck w/o slowing down or moving over. I have a problem with people putting my life at risk when they know that I am there. Not to mention that a big truck on the side of the road is a huge traffic hazard as it is.

2) Do not expect the repair process to be pleasant! After almost 2 weeks of being broken down, I have lost around $1500 in pay, and what we get for breakdown pay does not really do much aside from give us a little something.

3) When you call the shop, don't get lippy with them, they have your truck, and you piss them off, it will be like giving a DOT officer attitude. You have to be patient.

4) If it is warranty work, there may be dispute on who pays what and what percentage of the work is paid by who. This will extend your down time.

With my truck being broken down, I have, in my opinion, tried to remain professional, calm, yet assertive (with my DM), and it has helped to get them to just deal with the issue and get the truck worked on!

Just my 2 cents!

Re: The not-so-glorious side of Trucking.
 

Yeah I always appreciate that too when I'm out there on the shoulder of I-376 near Pittsburgh while trying to tighten up my straps and some of you super trucker assh0les (you know who you are) dont even think about moving into the center lane even though there isnt a damn thing stopping you. It's gotten to be a question of do I pull off to tighten my straps so my load dont fly off and kill someone behind me or Do I say hell with it and wait till I can get somewhere that is "safe" for me and I dont have to worry about being killed and hope the load doesnt leave the trailer.

Eww, 376 is a nasty road. Any road in the 'burgh is that way.

I've found a pleasent way to deal with #1. Guy moves over, I give'em a wave. Guy don't move over when he could have, I give'em the finger. Even cars that whiz by get it because in some states your breaking the law if you do not move over or slow down due to a vehicle on the shoulder or a police officer on the shoulder. If the vehicle is obviously unattended(see a shirt or something similar hanging from the window,) that's different.

Glad im not the only one that makes mad. Im not flatbed but there have been a couple of occasions that I pulled off the shoulder to check stuff out and 1 time broke down. People don't care I think they play a game in there head to see how close they can get without hitting you.. I always get over if I have time and can or I slow way down so im not flying by them. I love the people that go off on me for getting over into the middle lane or something because I slowed them down with my 65mph truck. At that point I don't care I rather slow someone down for 3 secs then kill someone on the side of the road.

RVs are terrible to the one day I was broke down NOT 1 RV merged over

I have had to duck under my trailer a couple of times because of trucks and cars getting too close. Some jerks seem to think it is cute. It is dangerous and can kill someone. If you are one of those who likes to play games like getting close, imagine how much fun you will have if you were to hit and either injure or kill someone. I fail to see the thrill of deliberately trying to get close to someone who is on the side of the road. I try to pull off where I can get farther off of the pavement as a safety measure. It is usually better to get off on an exit, when possible, so traffic is going slower.

I agree 500%!!! I was broken down on the side of I-79 just south of Washington, PA. I managed to limp my truck to the bottom of a hill in a straight stretch, just so others could clearly see me sitting there.

Well, even with my triangles out and a service truck behind me with his flashing lights, hardly anyone moved over. The mechanic was almost hit a couple of times.

I wanted to stand near the front of the truck and throw rocks at the idiots who wouldn't move over when there was nothing in the other lane. This includes trucks as well as cars.

Why do you think Scotts Law's have been passed by so many states that way if you are hit the person that did hit you can be charged and lose their license for around 6 months here in IL. I for one always moved over for all broke downs and cops if possible in my truck or in my POV.

I was in between 2 exits, and the 2nd I didn't have enough ponies to get there. So I literally stopped just after the WB 100MM, put my triangles out, then proceeded to call AZ State Patrol. I figure if I where to get hit, the bears know I took measures to prevent an accident.

I was so close to the lane that I had to pull my triangles from the sleeper berth access panel as it was not safe. Pretty much the whole time I got into or out of the truck, I was on the passenger side, or out in the grass on the shoulder.

Even with a wrecker out there, no one bothered to move over.

Yeah I always appreciate that too when I'm out there on the shoulder of I-376 near Pittsburgh while trying to tighten up my straps and some of you super trucker assh0les (you know who you are) dont even think about moving into the center lane even though there isnt a damn thing stopping you. It's gotten to be a question of do I pull off to tighten my straps so my load dont fly off and kill someone behind me or Do I say hell with it and wait till I can get somewhere that is "safe" for me and I dont have to worry about being killed and hope the load doesnt leave the trailer.


Just a story that I wanted to share with you all!

A few years back the owner of a local flatbed company saw one of his trucks on the side of the road,so he pulled over to see what was going on. He walked around to the passegers side of the truck where his saw that the driver was tightening down his straps. He asked the driver why he had put the straps on with the rachet end on the passenger side. The driver told him that he felt alot safer securing the load without having to worry about being picked off by a car or truck.

From that point on any driver securing a load, had to have the working end of the straps or chains be done from the passengers side of the truck and all of the trailers that had the straps permanetly attached where moved over to the passengers side. Just some food for thought!!!!

When you are on the side of the road staying alive is YOUR job, not not the folks passing by. Think otherwise and you could get killed. Yes people should pay attention and move over if they can but most of them won't so it's up to YOU to always know where you are standing and how close they are. I know I sound like I'm harping here.....but I am. Many people wander into traffic because they are focused on thier crisis or situation and not thier surroundings.

I still have that eye on the back of my head from when I ran a wrecker. :wink:

#3 is great advice, trust me, getting lippy with a mechanic won't get your truck fixed any faster, probably slower. :twisted:

I ran a wrecker with my brother as well as a service truck for AAA and that 3rd eye is definitely there. If I am getting out, I try to get out on the passenger side. If I MUST get out on the drivers side, I keep myself facing traffic so I can take cover if need be.

The other thing that made a difference was a Class 3 ANSI jacket. Unfortunately Greyhound lost it. It was great for making me highly visible not to mention that it was very warm when it was 10-30 Degrees outside.

I am thinking about buying a replacement jacket down the road.

Hey Happy, it's not my job to be dodging people who are using the shoulder to go around me because I'm broke down in a travel lane. I had 2 people run over my triangles pulling that crap while I was trying to set them out one day. I never turn my back on traffic after having several close calls with idiots who were not paying attention or try to make their own travel lane instead of waiting that extra 5 seconds.

here in Mo.it is a automatic Felony if you do not move over and a emerency vech.or a MODOT Vech.is on the side of the roadway,if you cannot move over then slow down to many Cop's and Construction Worker's have been killed along Mo.Roads this law went into effect about 4 month's or so ago.

So you see a vehicle on the side of the road that is broken down and attended or police have stopped a car.

There is wall to wall traffic in the hammer lane and you can't move over, so you have to slow down and you are in a 65-70 mph zone.
Just how much do you slow down to be compliance with the law since all the signs say move or slow down???

10 , 20 , 30 mph below the posted limit, or slow to the minimum posted limit. What happens if you slow down below the posted minimum limit and someone hits you from behind. Most interstates have a 45 mph minimum limit.

Now I know that everyone has their opinion and looking forward the responses, but I wonder what the law is on this.

If you are in a situation where you cannot change lanes, you put your 4-ways on and make as much room as you can. If you make an attempt to decrease the chance of an accident you doing what you can for the given situation.

I know that California will fine you for not moving over, Washington may (I have to check though), I don't know about Oregon either.

i am curious as to why someone would bitch about traffic not giving him room on the side of the road so he could tighten his straps?? i s it just me or would there have been a much better place to tighten straps than on the shoulder?? and the "super truckers" are the problem..not the big dummy truckers that would tighten straps on the side of the road. OK>

Well, it's apparant that you've never pulled a flatbed with a load that decides to shift. If they need tightened, they need tightened ASAP. If that means doing it on the shoulder, so be it.

well he never said that. geesh...and yes i have pulled a flatbed. maybe make sure load is sucure when you leave with it and then pick a safe place to check the load when you preplan your trip. that is just my idea, but as i know nobody preplans there trips anymore since it seems nobody can get anywhere without asking for directions, milemarkers, truckstops, etc. on the cb. oh by the way, god bless you flatbedders that do your job safely, i did not enjoy my stint doing it at all. thanks.

Ahh yes, turbos make such a lovely mess.
Did you have your triangles out? Can't comment on being stuck on a busy road I guess, but if it was busy traffic, I imagine it causes a dilema.

2 weeks off work? That is insane, we've blown 3 in the last couple years since I've been around, including 1 for me. In every case it was a phone call... bob tail home..... turbo sent up from the city.....back on the road 2-3 days. If we weren't 1200 miles from the parts place it would have probably been ready the same day.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...bogoboom-1.jpg

Here an event that happen to me. I picked up a load of PVC Pipe in Alabama. i did not make it 10 miles down the road and it shifted. Turn around and reload. Second time I stopped at teh Rest area at the Georgia line and tighten the straps. 5 miles down the road, the pipe shifted again. So your load may not allow you to get to a safe place. I was half way to my drop then so I went slow the rest of the way and stayed in the slow lane.. It did get me ahead of 3 other trucks to get unloaded. They wanted it off before it fell over.

Re: The not-so-glorious side of Trucking.
 

As lady North said, even at the end of a very long supply chain in Alaska it takes 3-4 days to get a turbo fixed.

You have far more patience/BS tolerance that I do. After the 3-4 day with no progress I would tell the company to:

A) Fix my power unit

B) Get me another one

If I did not have a satisfactory answer I would let them know that I'm leaving.

we always move over if we can if not we will down down and mover over as much as we can i never want to be the driver that hit someone walking around a truck or car.

and most (not all) of the time i will ask on the cb if thay are ok or need help.

we blow a egr pipe out of the turbo on I40 in AZ late at nite air temp was 25 couldn't ldie and had to sit for 5hr for the hook to showup and all the time we sat only 3 drivers asked if we were ok sure showed us just how much some drivers care about other drivers.

danj_otr you are right about not saying anything to the shop ( i would be all over the company) the reason we borkedown was we had our volvo in the volvo dealer for 4 days having a new turbo put in. the company got all over the dealer about it (thay had 5 of our trucks in the shop and none of them were getting fixed) 4000 mlies after thay did get the new turbo in the egr pipe blow's out, volvo shop had cracked it putting in the new trubo..

Most blown turbos I've heard of involved the seal getting destroyed and the crankcase oil departing out the stack :shock: . I've also heard of the intake compressor coming apart and chunks of it heading for the engine cylinders via the intake air :shock: . I might be crazy enough to chance it and bobtail home too - but I can understand folks not going for it 8)

Lovely, boss always tells us to bobtail home. Luckily its always worked for us!
(You can see in the pic I posted, the oil that blew out the stack, that was a co workers trailer, mine didnt do that)

Thank god i picked the 379. haha

What am I missing, Petes don't blow turbos?

Re: The not-so-glorious side of Trucking.
 

And paid how much for your time?

Dan and i started at may at the same time but i got first pick of trucks i took the pete and he got the volvo and i have no problems with my truck. get the picture ?

Oregon laws are the same, move over if possible or slow way down.

Yep, that makes sence. Sorry I can't keep track of everyones story on here. :roll: Got miles to put behind me.

I had a situation happen to me a few days ago in Wisconsin.

Bear had a customer on the shoulder, she stopped him *RIGHT* after an overpass. You cannot see it until you're about 200 feet away.

No less then a cluster of EIGHT four-wheelers beside me. I immediately put on my turn signal and start slowing down. I'm stuck.

So I slowed down to no more than 30 mph. She was talking to the four-wheeler on the drivers side. She ran behind the car, in front of her car.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

I got mad, a little pissy on the CB. Then I realized, there was THICK forest in the median.

Not a good place to pull someone over at all!