Hey Steve:
Here's something for you to consider, get about 8 or 10 furniture pads to put on the sharp edges under tarps. This will save you money on fixing your tarps from rips and tears, also duct tape to hold them in place. Duct tape has millions of uses on a flat!

How about some pargraph spacing? all you havew to do is hit the enter button a few times, it probably interesting reading, BUT it is too hard for these old eyes

Steve you have THE best posts ever. Cracks me up...

How much do you figure you made in those 3 weeks?

There are 10 3/8" chains and binders under the tarp plus 100 bungee cords. I did end up ripping the tarp on some sharp edges and got some diapers like Gman said when I hauled that other crane up to Maine. These odd loads will be the death of me. I stopped a total of probably 25 times adjusting the straps because I could see the tarp filling up with air and bulging out. The load up to Maine was a LOT tighter and I'm sure I'll get better.

I typed all that in using my Emacs editor and did have paragraph spacing but it was removed when I cut and pasted it into this forum. I'll go back and fix it after this post.

I have no idea how much I made yet, it's still a blur but I have over $10,000 in invoices that's I've sent out. I'm hoping to get the bid on another crane load heading to Carlsbad CA for Tuesday then I'm off.

Hmm... running chains at 40 mph? I thought the max was 30 or 25? Using the Jake at full power down a snowed over road - I thought you weren't supposed to use the Jake at all (or maybe on low if you're brave) when the road is slippery? Anyways great story - keep 'em coming. I have a similar background to you and have been driving for a couple years now as a company driver mostly local in New England. Good Luck!

I've heard you're not supposed to run them, but I have run them before, and been with my cousin when he's run them in his truck.

I believe that if you are running the jake on level ground and then begin a descent that it's okay, b/c there is no "shock" to the tires. I'll agree I wouldn't run 40mph with chains, I've heard it's 30mph recommended...I don't run 40mph on ice w/o chains, I keep it around 30 myself.

Anyways-congrats Steve it's good to see you're doing well so far. Must say I'm pretty impressed so far, and hope to see more from you in the future.

-Jason

I hear you about the jakes but I guess I learned from first hand experience. When I was carrying the full load of lumber the jakes worked great. With 8,000 pounds, forget it!!!! You need to have a good load on your back to get a good bite or your going to lose it with the jakes on.

Maybe I'm not sure how fast I was going with the chains on. I figured it was 40. The owner of the company told me you will feel how fast you can go with them on. I did see a few trucks with there chains flying around in all directions that must have come un done.

When I bought my chains the guy sold me these really heavy duty star shaped rubber chain tighteners. I got a few comments from other truckers that were like, DUDE, where did you get those awesome bungee cords!!! lol

We've all gotten away with it - you won't hear from the folks that did it for years and didn't that one last time. At the least keep one foot over the clutch ready to tap it down to get the jake off if you start to slide out. I started to lose it once when I had to suddenly brake on snow when I forgot to shut it off. The highway had been clear and turned to crap without me backing it off enough to blip the jake so I forgot it was on :sad: . I've got a brake for my new truck but I'll hold off installing it until the spring 8) .

OK, thanks for fixing it.

Welcome to the REAL world of trucking 8)

Ya done good 8)

So since I never worked in an office...........how does this compare to office work?

Personally I wouldn't do anything else but drive, but thats just me :wink:

Also Steve, I carry these

http://www.gemplers.com/a/shop/produ...36589532367108

they are cheap, easy to put on, and when they get real bad I throw them away.