Comments By G-Town

Wow Mr. C… sorry to hear of this. I’m 63… physically not what I was just 5 years ago, and thank God every day for my relatively good health.

It’s called black water. And it is worse than raw sewage.

I have two sets of boots…because one of our customers receives numerous chicken waste; dead birds, biddys, hatchery and manure. I need to walk through it in order to tend to the rear of the trailer. Especially awful after a rain!!!

All of this ends up in compost used to grow… soybeans and corn. Which ends up in chicken feed.

Circle of life in lower slower Delaware and Maryland.

A single axle tractor typically has a fixed position fifth wheel. If it’s a tandem axle moving it to closer to the rear is advisable.

John did they train you?

Okay so, in addition to driving a chip trailer and lowboy, I’m in a tri-axle or quad axle about 1-2 times per week. I learned to drive 40 years in a tandem.

These trucks when loaded handle different from a semi. All of the weight is concentrated, and tends to be top heavy. 21 tons in a 18’ long body is a huge amount of weight. The load will also shift if hard braking or cornering. Stay upright. You also need to check how the loader distributed the material. Inexperienced or lazy loaders tend to heave the material causing a greater amount to build-up on the curbside of the dump body. Considering you’re hauling dense aggregate, even more important to check if the load is balanced.

Dump trucks will roll over quicker than a semi. Go slower through turns. More finesse is required in traffic and also greater following distance. Even with your lift axle lowered, you have heavy, concentrated weight with 1 less pair of brakes to stop with. Use that Jake! I set mine to high all the time.

The big tires are called hi-floaters and are designed to give the steer axle a larger footprint of weight distribution. Very common on dumps and cement mixers. When off road they will not dig in to soft earth as much as a standard tire. They are no more prone to blowouts that a standard tire. Check and adjust your air pressure every day, these tires take a larger volume of air. An under inflated tire is far more likely to fail. Check them (drives and lift axle too) thoroughly before moving, especially when frequent off road trips are made. My only word of caution on the floaters; exercise care in the rain. When empty plowing through a large pool of water, they will hydroplane.

Good luck!

U-600. Such an odd setup. Mack also made a construction version of this called a DM-600.

Thanks for sharing.

First truck I drove was a Sidewinder. The pic isn't the truck I drove, but it looks a lot like the one I drove, right down to the color, for the now-defunct St. Joe Paper Co.

TwoSides wrote:

Definitely not mad about the increase but am a little upset. I'm still planning on leaving and anywhere else I go I will take a hug pay deduction.

I do not understand how a pay increase has you even a little upset. Was it them calling you into the office? Nothing wrong with that… it’s your insecurity messing with your head (guessing). That or some other cause is something you should address.

I also do not understand why you’d still want to leave them… they are noticing you in a positive way! Called it out. Gave you a raise…praised your performance; what else do you want or need?

Start with a new company and you’ll be proving yourself all over again…with possibly worse management. You never know…

The Devil you know is better than the one you don’t know. As time goes on hopefully the positives will far outweigh the negatives… honestly what occurred was awesome!

Our kind of close quarter maneuvering…

Running the loader at a job site…

How does one pass an MVR?

Look…I reread all of the replies; nothing inappropriate, just truth based on our experience.

I’ll reiterate what I said;

“Trucking companies want trustworthy and responsible candidates”.

Hey if you don’t want experienced drivers trying to help you, then you’re right this isn’t for you.

Good luck.

Big week Moe!

Dennis I commend you for doing the right thing and having the shipper rework your load. The devil is in the details. Nice job.

400lbs per hole for 6” on-center spacing is a good rule of thumb.

Destiny, trucking companies seek candidates who are responsible and trustworthy. You drove on a suspended license. That doesn’t bode well for your chances. Sorry… it’s the truth.

One of our responsibilities is to maintain current registrations and other documents, not to mention a valid CDL requiring a medical recertification.

You are competing with many people with pristine driving records.

I wish you luck.

Rickapedia replied on this. RIP 🙁

Absolutely!

I should make some "documentation" that allows me to drive on the wrong side of the road. 

When you're in a daycab people don't question it. We're the real Truckers .

Thanks Anne! 😉🤙

Dennis not sure where you are (Michigan was last known location) or where you are headed, but many states do not have kingpin laws; meaning you can set the tandems where they need to be to scale legal. I have posted a chart of all the states kingpin law numerous times. Search on “kingpin law” and you’re likely to find it.

One thing you don’t want todo is braking while your steers hit the rut or pothole (crater if in PA). This shifts weight to the front of the truck, steer tires are more likely to be damaged. Protect them steers!

When I’m off-roading; throttle through it.

Very cool… early 50’s. To the right of the KW conventional is a White Mustang. Quite a spot Davy!

WOW a Bullnose KW COE! How about this one G-Town.

Every Time!!!

To this day I still GOAL before getting under a trailer. Same thing holds true once coupled, check that the fifth wheel locks the kingpin and there are no gaps between the fifth wheel plate and upper coupler.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

1. Never back completely under the trailer until you do a GOAL to check the height. Every Single Time.

Awesome gig. All the best!

ATA Truck Driving Championhip

Daniel, congratulations.

I’m curious, what does the competition consist of? What are the events and how many drivers compete? It would be interesting to know more about this.