Comments By Robert B. (The Dragon) yes, I breathe fire and other sideshow tricks

Fuel prices are going up, rates are going down and the economy is quickly racing towards another depression but hey, buy a truck that you're almost guaranteed to lose. If it has a kitty under the hood, a platinum rebuild will run you just shy of 50k. The N14 can be purchased new for just under 40k and a big cam 400 Cummins is just over 35k to rebuild. If that's been a working truck for the last 24 years it's easily a 2 million mile unit or more and unless everything has been replaced with documentation, you're looking at a money pit. That's the kind of truck you throw money at and put in shows, not rely on for your income unless you have a lot of money in the bank to start with.

Many of your massive pileup videos that you see every winter could have been avoided had drivers used a radio, slowed down and taken their feet off the dashboard.

Because a driver on the radio can warn you of potential dangerous situations you can't see ahead. A driver on a radio can give you local directions to a location that your GPS can't find or get you through construction it doesn't pick up on. A driver on a radio can give you real time road conditions, closures and good stopping locations in inclement weather. They aren't the be all end all and yes, there's plenty of crap on there in the bigger cities but it is an important tool.

Simple answer, yes.

People will spend up to 7-800 on a GPS that will still get them lost but don't want to pony up $100 on a radio that can potentially save their life.

Kivi Brothers is another good choice. You'll start out on open deck and work your way up into their heavy haul division but it does take time and you'll have to prove yourself just like any other company that has that division.

Harvey, one thing Michael might need to keep in mind is that while unloading off duty and he has an incident which led to an injury, the insurance company could possibly reject that claim. I know that's not the case at every company but it is the case at many and that could be an absolute disaster.

While there is no required certification or registration for service animals, proper service animals and their owners receive extensive training for the tasks they're expected to perform and also tested and trained for temperament. Not every dog will meet those standards and simply thinking yours will be alright leaves the potential for serious litigation if the dog should react towards another individual. I'd suggest searching out trainers to at least have that peace of mind beforehand.

Good luck getting in those smaller, local places. Drivers in that area will use those spots as their designated and many times leave their personal vehicles to hold their place while they work. I've never parked on the ramp at an actual truck stop location but I do use ramps in rural areas many times because it's quiet and very little traffic at those exits. In fact, it's quite common. I also did it on many occasions doing heavy haul for the simple fact that in your larger cities and especially along the east coast, those places tend to be tight getting in and out and parking is already inadequate so taking up 2-3 spots is an inconvenience for others.

Good call on getting ahold of local authorities to avoid a potentially bad situation but let me also add this. Over and over on this site, proper trip planning is emphasized, especially for unfamiliar locations. On my side of the industry and previously in heavy haul, we go to many locations that are off the beaten path and require us to travel down roads which are weight restricted, non truck routes and rural residential areas. Locating the customer, identifying it with the tools we have available and a quick phone call ahead of time can avoid many of these headaches. That being said, you did the right thing.

Now that's a stretched frame. The truck being Project 350 built by Ritchie Acosta. He ran the east coast for several years in that truck putting it in some crazy places along the way before dying from a drug overdose.