Comments By ButtonUp

I saw a central driver with a multiband antenna on his driver side mirror. I asked him about it on the cb and he told me it was good for ten to 160 meters. I have often thought about getting a multi mode-band radio. Yaesu used to have one for about 750 bucks, and I believe it had a antenna tuner as well. I got my general class license in 2000 (when you still had to pass a code test).

My truck had the same problem yesterday. Changed the fuel filter and today went fine. Lots of drivers on the CB going through a lot of fuel filters. The shop said it was probably the fuel starting to gel, but I am religious with antigel so I dunno about that. The guys on the radio blamed it on the quality of the fuel.

Diesel gels at 17 something degrees, so I add antigel at 19. Cummins engines without the new modification get a bottle and a half per tank. I add a bottle per tank every time I fuel if the temp is twenty or below, and/or forecasted to go that low that night, so the concentration is pretty high. I have a Cummins as well. Company pays for my antigel so no big deal for me. I just picked up a case of twelve as a matter of fact.

I see EXPERIENCED drivers, owner operators, you name it, look like idiots trying to back ALL THE TIME. It's NOT just the new drivers!

Experienced drivers will tell you, "You'll sometimes nail the spots you think are trouble, then struggle spotting a trailer that seems easy."

My best advice is to get out and look if things aren't going the way they feel they should when you're inside the truck. A lot of times getting out and getting the big picture makes it a lot easier and alleviates the over-steering and over-correcting. Wow, all I have to do is keep the wheels straight and I'm right in there! Whereas, from inside it seems like you got to crank all the way from the space, all the way toward the space... does it ever end?

The key thing to remember is that ANY driver after running out his or her clock, fighting fatigue, trying not to pee their pants, and steaming over the jerk that just cut them off, can find difficulty backing if they don't learn to rise above the emotions and execute.

First, I am stealing that joke!

Second, enjoy your time with your family!

Thirdly, as a veteran driver tells me often, things in life happen for a reason. Some choose to believe it, some don't. But, perhaps you avoided a deadly accident, or were there for your family at a time they needed you, because you were where you were when you were.

Enjoy your time with your family!

Yup, I paid bills online through my smartphone. When I needed to send a check, I used the banks bill pay on their website. I had my mail held at the post office.

Totally awesome! Congratulations!

I agree that once you go solo it makes it easier to improve in MANY areas of driving. I don't know why instructors and some trainers decide to tell you everything to do, and not tell you why or tell you why in a sufficient manner. I think if they were more patient and had you get out to look at the situation from outside every few steps it would make it easier to understand what is going on. As a new student or driver, the view from inside the truck can be deceiving.

I feel I had to self-train myself due to trainers that didn't understand how to do their job well.

There's a guy that works the same shift and route as myself... yesterday we got back to the terminal at about the same time, and when I got out to look at my setup before backing in, he came around the corner of one of the trailers looking all flustered. He had tried to blind-side back into a spot, and someone had parked their bobtail blocking part of it. There was a row of bobtails on the opposite side, and he'd found himself stuck in-between the bobtails! I spotted him to help him get out of the predicament, and he kept steering the wrong way. Even after telling him "all the way right!" he would start turning left. What he perceived from inside the truck didn't coincide with what was going on outside. This is an older guy that has been driving longer than I have. It can happen to anyone. Which I mention to strengthen my point as regards students and new drivers. I am not a trainer, and I wasn't trying to train him as I was really trying to help him get out of the situation before the yard supervisor came over... which was mainly to save him some embarrassment... I did briefly try to explain WHY I was telling him to turn it the opposite direction, but the goal was to get moving quickly. I can see how trainers just want to "get it over with" and give directions instead of instruction, so to speak. My instructor in school when teaching the parallel park, for instance, just walked me through the steps, "turn left, turn right, there you go, now get out and admire your work." Well, I had no idea what I just did, really, because I was just following instructions, and when I had to do it on my own the next few times it didn't work out as well. I failed the evaluation at school, then failed my first test due to the parallel park. It wasn't until I spent much time thinking and observing to break it down in a way that made sense to ME that I passed with a perfect score the next time I took my test.

I write all this to basically say AWESOME JOB in support of your effort.

Backing in at night stinks. I have found getting out to look an extra time or two helps, I've had to get out with a flashlight to see that I actually wasn't going to hit anything because I couldn't see anything in my mirror. Also, when you are backing, if you ride your brake just a little, you'd be amazed at how much the brake lights will light up the area so you can see behind you, and even between the trailers on your sides.

When I was in training I would usually stop at least once during the night for a 15 minute nap. I tried everything else... coffee, jogging around the truck, you name it. For all the effort it took to pull off in a truck stop and get some coffee and what not, I would still be tired after I hit the road again. It didn't matter how much sleep I had beforehand... and I always drove nights. I always started to feel it come on about 3-4 in the morning. The 15 minute nap solved the problem every time. I might still feel "tired," but was not fighting the urge to nod off at the wheel anymore. I drink caffeine in some form pretty much constantly, anyway.

A 15 minute nap is a quick and effective fix for a very dangerous situation!

Looked over into the passengers seat and no one is there,,,,,,,, reminded me of when back in 1978 ,, when I left the ground Solo the first time

I don't think any of us will forget the first time we drove solo!

Or, when we passed our CDL test.

Except... 1978... did you even need a drivers license back then?

OMG!!! I thought i had it bad. The fact that this guy is on the road is scary. He is a threat to everyone and needs to be stopped. I cant believe how much dangerous behavior i see on the road. I will come up on a semi losing its lane and driving erratically and as i pass them i see feet on dashes and cell phones in hand, texting. Crazy **** and it ****es me off.

Report it to their company. After enough complaints come through their safety department won't be able to overlook it. A lot of the idiots are owner operators though... I will admit, I have called 911 to report a few drivers as being impared. It may not get them off the road, but maybe it will make them think twice about what they're doing after they get stopped and inspected a few times.