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

Brett, love it, love it, love it man. It’s much more streamlined and much cleaner looking. The new fonts, dark mode, everything about it. Outstanding upgrade.

So long as you’re only pulling your camper trailer with it and it’s not for hire, you won’t need more than a chauffeur license. It’s no different than having an RV pulling a toy hauler.

I use Rand McNally GPS, I like it because it's what I'm used to. I could not rely on my phone or ELD device, since both use the internet, and I loose signal in places. Typically, I go to the same stops, but for new ones, I always look at a satellite view on Google to check out a few miles around the destination.

That’s where the Co-Pilot app is a bit different. I was concerned about the Internet service issue as well but because it uses downloaded maps, it only requires the gps triangulation to function. There’s plenty of times where my phone has been in an area with no service whatsoever but the gps function worked as it should.

Garmin dēzl - accept no substitutes. Yes, there's the excellent routing, but there's also traffic and weather apps. Traffic up ahead? The Garmin will warn you, propose an alternate route, tell you how much time the alternate route will save you and let you preview the alternate route before you accept it.

Weather? The Garmin will give you a doppler radar showing clouds on your route, color code rain clouds differently than the snow clouds and give you a little movie of their position every 15 minutes for the previous hour so you can see not only where they're at, but where they're headed. You can also view road cams on your route to see how much snow and ice are on the road ahead.

BEWARE of using your phones for navigation! If Smokey sees you with a phone in your hand while operating a CMV, "I was using a navigation app" isn't going to cut it. I've never heard of a driver being cited for using a GPS while driving. I know several who were ticketed for having a phone in their hands for one reason or another.

Whatever you use for navigation YOU decide where to take your truck, not the GPS. Don't end up on the boardwalk in Atlantic City and blame your GPS!

Reaching up, messing with your GPS system will get you the same fine as using a phone. It’s an electronic device that you’re manipulating so it still classifies as wrong being wrong.

Co-Pilot app on my phone. It’s just as accurate as any other system with just as much flexibility and just as capable of sending you somewhere you shouldn’t be. The advantage, it’s only $10 a month.

Classic example of a trailer trying to go over tracks when it's ill-advised. Drivers of these trucks are typically trained to avoid crossing tracks for exactly this reason. Just as it has already been pointed out, trip-planning avoids this. But, it's not just an issue for a lowboy trailer. A driver with A Hazmat load has to follow a precise route to avoid roads that forbid Hazmat. Not all Hazmat is equal. Some roads, especially tunnels, have restrictions on certain types of Hazmat. Oversize and over-dimension loads have to follow precise routes to avoid getting caught in a compromising situation. A situation like that truck getting stuck on the tracks can happen when a driver decides to follow GPS routing without checking the route for potential issues. It can happen when a driver misses a turn for the pre-planned route and decides to follow GPS for rerouting without stopping to find a reroute that doesn't lead to the vehicle and load being compromised. Trip-planning is not optional. It's not simply a way to see where the good places to fuel and park are located. Trip-planning is an essential part of the job in order to make sure that the destination is reached safely and without unnecessary delay.

You post comments and questions that create good conversations, but sometimes I wonder what your real aim is.

As a driver who pulled RGN in both the military and civilian world I gotta tell you that while you’re correct in the statement that drivers who pull these trailers are supposed to be more alert in looking for these types of issues, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had facilities that I delivered where you had no choice but to get across these types of crossing’s. The key is to recognize it before trying it, get out and assess the situation and then go from there. With a mechanical rgn you don’t have the level of adjustment that you have with a hydraulic trailer. Even loaded, I could still raise that trailer up pretty high to help the situation but you still had to get a run at it to get across. The down side of this practice is that it affects the stability of the trailer, adding in yet another factor to take into consideration. Like so many things, it isn’t always a cut and dry answer.

The only time I don't do all the cooking on the truck is when it's in the shop. I eat anything I want to try and I eat very well. No poptarts, hot pockets, peanut butter sandwiches, or ramen noodles here.

How do you do your dishes? I want to cook my own food if I do OTR again. But always wondered how you keep everything clean.

I keep an extra gallon jug of water, a small bottle of Dawn and paper towels. I clean up immediately after things cool off so I don’t spend as much time cleaning up. It’s like anything else, you have to dedicate yourself to it and go through the motions every time.

I spend right around $350 - $400 a month but that does include things aside from just groceries. I also vape so I’ll keep a little extra cash to pick up the items for that as well as having extra cash on the truck for potential emergencies. My wife actually encourages me to get out of the truck and enjoy a decent meal once a week because we do with a lot of hours, crazy ones at times and you really do need to separate yourself from the grind.

That's misusing PC even though that may not be your intent. If you go to Walmart you would need to return to your current location prior to going on duty to head to your pickup due to it being the direction you'll be headed.

The requirement to return to the point of origin was dropped.

I had an interesting discussion yesterday with the one and only lease operator on our dedicated fleet. He likes to talk. He insists he's leasing because he makes more money than the company drivers.

He came on board while I was on my year long medical leave due to my vision issues. When I came back he expressed his pleasure at meeting me. The reason he gave for being glad to meet me was, "You are legendary around here - everybody speaks highly of you." I think he thought he might impress me yesterday when he announced to me, "I made $210,000 this past year."

Of course he looked puzzled when I said, "You know you can't B.S. me that easily. We both know you produced $210,000 in revenue, but that's a far cry from how much money you made. I know you're smart enough to know that number. So, tell me what you actually took home before income taxes."

He blurted it out quickly. I knew he had it established. "Well, because of all my write-offs I actually made $68,000." I made him grin uncomfortably when I said, "Write-offs are just expenses. That's what they are. What you need to do is learn to control those expenses if you want to earn more than these company drivers."

"Oh, I'm definitely earning more than the company drivers," was his response. I didn't bother to give him my numbers. I took some extra time off this year, and ran mostly on re-cap hours. I just barely broke through into the six figures level. I am very happy with my position here at Knight. The pay is great and the account suits me well. I'm eight years in here. That includes the one year I was out medically.

I will reach my million mile status on this account this year. That will be accomplished all with the same company, same dispatcher, and same account.

In addition to my income, Knight has a performance based program that grants company stock to drivers with an excess of 500,000 miles. That and the company dollars contributed to my 401K are just cherries on top for me.

Who knows Old School, maybe that guy will learn a thing or two. I do have to say that him bragging about a 210k gross to the truck is really pretty weak and he definitely needs to rethink his decisions lol. I’ll have to sit down and break down the numbers for the year. I track all my loads and settlements but my wife runs the books and the budget beyond that. Once I have a chance, I’ll post in here as well.