Profile For Pelican

Hey all,

I was walking through the parking lot and noticed two prime trucks that were custom. One was blue and had transformers logos on it.

The other was green and had African symbols and a map of Haiti on it.

Does Prime give some drivers custom trucks? Maybe after 1 million miles or something?

Yeah, I agree with you, Brett.

A common response I hear when talking about this is "Well, look what they did to YRC!"

But I think I heard that YRC was already on shaky ground. I don't know, it sucks all those drivers lost their jobs.

What keeps me away from UPS is I had a former driver for them tell me the only way to really drive for them is to start at the bottom, pushing boxes in the distribution center, doing that for so long, then getting a step van truck, doing that for so long, then waiting for a driver to retire so you could apply for their job.

I'm not too interested in pushing boxes in a warehouse or delivering to peoples doorsteps so I'll pass.

Good company to work for, though.

Dang. The issue was I was at 35,600 lbs on my tandems and that was with them all the way to the arrow.

My assumption was that was as far as I could go back so they ended up having to take a pallet off my truck so the weight wouldn't be so heavy on my tandems.

My buddy said I could have just slid them all the way back. Now I know.

Pelican, your trainer is confused or not very well educated in the details. I don't know where the arrow on your trailer is placed, but I'd be willing to wager that it marks where you're legal in California. There are a lot of states that don't care how far back your tandems are.

Most professional truckers educate themselves on the various rules applicable to them. You've started that process with this very good question. BK mentioned the Rand McNally motor carriers Atlas. You need one on your truck. It has answers to all your questions concerning tandem positions.

I very seldom go West of the Rockies, but I know the rules well for the many states I run. Use that section of the Atlas when you are trip planning. It has what you need.

If your trainer taught you to just plug in an address in the GPS and take off, you've got work to do to help you learn how to do this like a professional. I'm glad you posed the question. It shows you want to learn more. Keep up the good work.

I had a situation recently where I was overweight on my tandems.

Our trailers have a big arrow at the back that shows the maximum you can slide your tandems back to.

Trainer said you can only go as far as the middle of your hubseal on your real axle under that line, past that driving around is illegal.

I was talking to my buddy he said no, you could technically drive around with your tandems as far back as necessary, it just makes turning a lot harder.

So is there a limit to how far your tandems can be when driving down the roads or no?

I know some states have laws regarding this. I've always kept my tandems at or in front of the arrow.

Look up 363 Trumbull street Elizabeth NJ. You'll see a Bay & Bay barely squeezing under it in Google maps

I drove under a 13'4" bridge in Elizabeth, NJ.

Don't ask me how. I dunno either.

Some of the Northeastern states allow for winter snow pack in their bridge measurements. You'll find this common in that area. That bridge may actually be 14'-4" in the summer months. They give you a lesser height so you can still be confident you'll fit under when there's 12" of snow packed on the street.

Hopefully the snow plow will show up before it gets deeper than that!

That has to be the case, yeah. Typically I'll pull all the way up and get out and eyeball the height difference. Then proceed very slowly. A single bump can be bad.

This particular one I eyeballed it from the drivers seat. The shipper, which had two separate yards about 1.6 miles apart, told me to take this route specifically so I felt like they wouldn't lead me astray. It was a weird tunnel type thing. Here's some pictures I found of the area. The one with the Bay & Bay is the 13'4".

There was another bridge I had to go under which was either 13"6' or 13"7' just past it. Fun times. Did this at midnight too.

Then you have this little maze bridge thing, I was paranoid I was gonna clip something lol

I drove under a 13'4" bridge in Elizabeth, NJ.

Don't ask me how. I dunno either.

So how did you deal with this situation? How did you determine that you would fit underneath, or did you just close your eyes and take a run at it? Lol

I’m curious because I took an actual measurement of the trailer I usually haul and it measured 13’5” tall. So I’m assuming your bridge was labeled lower than actual height.

I drove under a 13'4" bridge in Elizabeth, NJ.

Don't ask me how. I dunno either.

There's lots of companies that don't do the hair follicle test

I get about 1500 miles a week.