Comments By Bingo

I don't think you could have done it any better. The flatbedder was an idiot and he was lucky you and the guy in front of you could think and act quickly. I'll bet he doesn't sit on the tracks ever again, lol.

What are those cylinders you see on the side of some older tractors? They sit in front of the doors on the cab and have little holes around the top.

Plan for that stuff but every once in a blue moon you'll get a day like I had today.

660 miles. Six scale houses. Got a CLOSED or a BYPASS on all of them. No traffic, no accidents, no cops, no equipment failures. It was WEIRD!!

Total run time with a 45 minute break was 11hrs and 40minutes.

On a Friday. I'll take it.

Had about 610 yesterday, lots of road construction though and a major thunderstorm for about 400 of it. For a newbie driver, going up and down hills when it is raining and hailing so hard that you can't see much and dealing with 20mph gusts of wind and hydroplaning can be pretty nerve racking. Luckily I have plenty of experience in adverse conditions in personal vehicles and my trainer was right next to me guiding me through it all. He told me if I got scared at any point to pull over and he would drive, but I knew I could handle it and could use the experience. Most of the thunderstorm stretch was just rain and light winds though.

Bingo! Denver you say? Delivering or just passing through?

Camped next to 270 for the night. We will be dropping the load off tomorrow.

Discovered a new one going through Denver traffic today:

3. Cars will cut you off at a distance that displays an utter lack of knowledge of your braking distance.

Thankfully I was going slow in traffic and had a light load.

So, I am just a newbie learning the ropes, but so far I have already discovered a couple Murphy's Laws for truckers. What are some laws you more experienced folk know?

The ones I have learned so far are:

1. There will always be road construction on every trip, no exceptions.

2. That car/pickup WILL try to pass you on the right. Even if your turn signal is on to return to that lane.

By the way, at the end of the day yesterday, I discovered the right combo of movements to get it into second. So it's not so bad now. Still trying to avoid it though, lol.

If it has windows it has A/C. Just not the modern kind.

Somehow, the 90 degree air that comes in through the windows just doesn't seem that refreshing. =P

It is pretty nostalgic of a ranch pickup my great uncle had when I was a small child though. The dashboard is the same color and has those stars on it, though his ford was a pickup.

I have been driving seed trucks for my brother-in-law's farm while I wait to go to CDL school, and I thought I would share a fun one with you lot.

It is a '69 cabover Ford turdbucket (I think that's the technical term) with a two speed rear end. It has little engine power, no power steering, no second gear that I can find, no seatbelts (I don't think they were required back then), and of course, no air conditioning.

I think most people would do well to live their lives by the wise words of the Pantera song "Walk".

"Be yourself, BY yourself. Stay away from me."

It's just a matter of respecting everyone else. If people aren't comfortable with your particular oddity, keep it to yourself. Don't bother others with it because that is what creates conflict.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to deal with this intrusion at least for the time being, so this is my advice for women: there are creeps (as rare as they may be) that will take advantage of this situation, so be prepared. As a trucker, you will likely be unable to use the buddy system, but if you always have a pocket knife on you (useful for a great many things besides defense) and maybe even a small pepper spray/mace/teargas canister on your keychain, you will easily be able to effectively defend yourself from attack. This will give you peace of mind and if you ever see a suspicious character in the restroom, just discreetly put your hand on it so you can whip it out instantly. And if it's just a peeping tom and you have pepperspray, get him in the eyes anyways just to teach him a lesson. You will feel like it was worth buying a new canister. ;)