Comments By Dave H.

Machete? Doubt it. I carry a small rescue axe in a sheath, and a tire thumper. I think it comes down to practicality. If you can justify having it more as a tool than a weapon, I doubt anyone would give you a hard time. But a machete? What else could you use it for?

Do yourself a favor and go the extra 1/4 mile and get the class A. I had a class B and it was almost useless except for dump trucks and concrete. I agree with Brett. At a minimum, in this economy, it makes a great fallback, if nothing else.

I did it as a backup plan and found out I love yankin tanks.

Also, wait until the RPM's come way down before you try to downshift. Get them down in the 1000 RPM area (or even lower) and then downshift. If you're downshifting with the RPM's too high you really have to kick the RPM's up sky high to get it to shift into the lower gear. At higher RPM's the engine wants to lose RPM's more quickly so your timing has to be more precise. At lower RPM's it's a little more forgiving.

So try letting those RPM's drop really low before downshifting.

Took the words out of my mouth. At around 1000 rpm you need to kick it up to about 1400-1500 depending on transmission type to go into the next lower gear.

If it doesn't go into a lower gear, just tap the gas and try again from neutral. Don't force it though. You can tell without jamming it if it will go into gear or not.

Don't sweat it. Persistence pays off. Just a few month in and I'm driving the thing like a pro. Double downshifting and splitting up and down with no problems. Keep at it and you'll get to the point where you don't even need the tach anymore.

Just because a company says they want 2 years or OTR or whatever means that they require it. From what I've seen, a company:

A) will say what they want (especially in a Craigslist ad) to minimize the risk of hiring a new driver but they are still hiring new talent B) stipulates what the prerequisites for employment are, and therefore are not flexible, or C) may not advertise jobs at all (burned on Craigslist too many times maybe)

Or they can advertise they hire new drivers, but from what I've seen, the loads are more inconsistent and the pay is lower in this case (starter companies)

I'm sure I didn't hit them all, but the bottom line is, if you are interested in a company, call them and ask. Make an excuse, tell them you were told they needed drivers and were top notch and you didn't know the prerequisites to be hired.

I found a job that fell under A, and was advertised as needing 2 years experience. I had NONE under my CDL when I was hired. One driver never even drove a 10 speed and was hired. All I had was school and military drive time with a skateboard years ago, but I could drive.

I never had to go through a starter company and now I drive tankers. Hiring criteria is always between what the company wants and what insurance will allow them to do.

Steven, I didn't include all of you. I said, 'for the most part'. Some people are really good about not 'invading' my space around me while I'm driving. However, most people don't seem to care, and some amaze me at how lousy they are at it. I don't expect it to dawn on someone who has never driven a tractor trailer to understand these things like a truck driver does. Common sense would tell any driver to leave more space, but common sense isn't all that common anymore either. That's why there are signs and diagrams on the back of my tank that say this. I guess some people don't read those either.

Yes, it also annoys me to no end when people just ride along side me. Sometimes it's almost like they do it on purpose. I started using my turn signals too for that as well. I'm always looking to have an out.

So no ****, here I am, shut down on the side of the road in SC. Normally I make it back to my terminal at night, but this is one of those nights that didn't happen. Gives me time to look back on what has happened over the last couple weeks.

Learned lots of things this week. Everything from what gears my truck likes the best when pulling a load up a grade with a tank, how to judge weight when loading, trip planning and HoS regs. For the most part, its been pretty smooth.

Only had one scary moment. Had a lady on 95 cut me off last week right as it started to pour hard. She ended up spinning out in the road right in front of me. Remembering what I was taught (not to swerve with a load), I layed into the brakes, fully expecting to punt her into next week. Fortunately, she ended up sliding off the road just in time for me to miss her. However, right about the time I got hit with the surge from the tank, I noticed I could now see all of my driver side tandems. I supposed I lucked out, as I hit the trailer brakes lightly and it slid back into place on the wet pavement. That had the potential to be very ugly. Had it been dry, I might have rolled the tank. I think I loaded my drawers on that one!

The biggest thing I learned this past couple weeks is that 4 wheelers don't respect you...or your space, at all, at least for the most part.

Probably late to mention this, but the majority of the trucks we have, including the one I've been in, are day cabs. Very few sleeper cabs here. Maybe that's the reason...?

Either way I have no issues logging it as off duty or whatever. Just want to make sure I do it right.

So I started driving recently. My company hauls caustic out to paper mills as a big part of their customer base. Most loads are hazmat, 1824 or 1993 or something similar. I've heard when you are hauling hazmat, and you take your 30 minute break, if you are loaded or carrying residue (that is placarded) that you never log your break as 'off duty' and you should log it as 'on duty, not driving', since you have a responsibility for physical security of the truck, even during your 30 minutes. It goes on to say that if you have a clean tank or you are in a secure location, you can go ahead and log it as 'off duty'. I've also heard that it should be logged as 'on duty, not driving' regardless. I want to make sure I'm doing this correct and start on the right foot. I haven't found my answer in my reg book like I was hoping for. Maybe I was just having an off day, I dunno. We run logs 100% legal, as I am, I just want to make sure I'm not being taught to do something in a way that is based on old information, someone's wrong interpretation, etc... Just want to make sure I have this down right.

I've found this site to be a great resource. I just started driving recently too, and I got a great job as a tanker yanker making great pay right out of school. These people are more than happy to teach me, are safety oriented and are very pro-driver. They were willing to work with me since I had military driving experience. I can thank those who left their advice here for helping guide me towards this job. Now I'm finding myself refreshed, motivated and getting well paid for my efforts without having to start at one of the big starter companies. Glad to know there are people out there willing to help with advice, and willing to tell it how it is. Makes a difference, doesn't it?

I was about to go LTL, but between getting older and wanting to drive a tanker, I just went for it. Glad to hear you got hooked up!

I've had one of those. Great cars, light and strong. That one looks a whole lot lighter now though.

As light as they are, and as fast as they can stop, tells me that the guy was not just texting, but completely oblivious of his surroundings. AND he went through the ICC bar.

Here on I-16 near Savannah we've already had 3 major accidents in the last month. It wasn't until I started driving a rig recently when I got a better idea of how stupid some drivers can be around trucks or in general. Just. Friggin. Amazing.

Kind of disappointing. Corvette owners are *usually* fairly responsible. Goes to show it only takes a brief stupid choice to have permanent ramifications.