Comments By Harvest

I Found it

Lol. Yeah, I remember that trip. I spent a week there that day.

Harvest, look at this as just another learning experience and build off of that knowledge. Imagine how much easier it'll be the next time.

I honestly hope the "next time" isn't for a long time 😂 Or at least be able to drive through at night with less traffic.

Wow, talk about baptism by fire!

Tough assignment for anyone, let alone for a driver right out of the gate. But now you’ve been there, done that and survived the trip, I assume with your truck and trailer intact. Stand proud, man- that’s a great accomplishment in my opinion.

My company goes to Hunts Point, but it’s our only voluntary location. I haven’t volunteered yet but I’ve been across the GWB several times on my way to Connecticut. Other company drivers say it’s not too bad, but the ones who have told me this are all seasoned drivers. Kudos to you!

I may of murdered a few curbs, and honestly did hit one of those tall thin cone type things that was on a curb. But it stood back up right away so it was fine 😂. Honestly a STUPID oversight on my end was going into the city, I forgot to slide my tandems all the way forward. They were still set in the middle. I had to jug handle a few turns to make em, and just make sure not to hit the driver speeding around when I was doing it.

Leaving the city was also stressful, I got kinda lost. Traffic was bumper to bumper in the city at one point. There was a lady selling fruit standing in the middle of the road that had me stressed.

Also a NYPD officer was directing traffic at an intersection, dude waved me to come through like a "hurry up" wave. Good thing I was paying attention because 2 people walked right into the middle of the road in front of me. I was so tired at the end of the day I ended up actually paying for reserved parking at a TA 😂

Also, does anyone know why in NYC, on the truck route there will be signs saying overpass height is 12'8 but normal semi's can fit under it? I stopped when I first saw it, and then I saw another big sleeper truck just go through.

This past week I got my first load, it was to the "Food Bank For New York City". At first, I said I was uncomfortable taking this load. Besides CDL school, I have not driven a truck in over 2 years. But they told me if I don't take it, it will be the only load until Monday... So hesitantly I took it, looking back in hindsight, I should have put my foot down on not going. Not worth the risk, I can go the rest of my life without seeing NYC ever again lol. People park in travel lanes, drive crazy, will go around you on the shoulder. Super tight turns where you have to force room, people trying to sell things standing in the middle of a crowded road where you gotta turn. GPS was going CRAZY, its a good GPS, Randy Mcnally that the company gave me. But it kept rerouting me constantly, or not knowing where I was at. I kept missing my turn, there is a tricky part on Food center drive where you turn into what looks like the oncoming lane on the other side of the median, but it isn't.

The worst part is, I was stuck on the George Washington Bridge over 2 hours. So even with running hard using all my hours, rarely stopping, the load was late. The receiver said it will be rescheduled for Tuesday, so the company had me bring the trailer back to the yard. I was worried I went through all that for nothing, but they told me I would still be paid for the miles I drove. Anyone else ever deliver here?

One thing is for sure, I will NEVER EVER accept any load going east of the George Washington Bridge ever again haha. But it was a confidence builder, I feel like if I can drive through that, I can handle any city. It was a dumb load to put me on, and I should of stuck with not going.

Ok, I know I’m exposing my ignorance here, but what is SWR?

Standing Wave Ratio

There is a setting on the radio where you are able to see what the SWR is when keying the mic. This is a measure of the power output reaching destination in ratio to the power reflected back to the transmitter. The higher the number, the more potential there is to damage the radio. Get that number up to 3 or 4 and it will fry the radio before long.

I bought a fire stick still using factory coax. Could only afford to currently get one until I get my first paycheck. Took the antenna off the other side. I got the SWR down to 3.5, I assume I will get better performance once I get another antenna for the other mirror.

It was more frustrating of an operation than it should of been. I had to buy a adjustable wrench from Pilot, THEY WANTED 12$ for is 🤬. Brought it out to the truck to take the factory antenna off. The base for the antenna came with it and it had me stumped for a minute. Didn't know how to put the firestick on since it was a male connector I was seeing on the mirror. But then I remembered that the base for the antenna was still on the factory antenna. I tried for 10 minutes to get it unscrewed with a single wrench but couldn't and I wasn't about to buy another 12$ wrench. So I walked into the Pilot with the wrench I bought and the factory antenna. Went to the tool wall and just *borrowed* another wrench to get leverage to unscrew 🤣nobody said anything. Add that to the list of things I need for the truck when I am home, a tool set.

I am wondering if having no antenna mounted on the other mirror is negatively affecting performance since a coax is still running to that mirror. Until I get more funds, 3.5 should be okay for now right?

I also bought another power cable for my CB so I didn't have to have the 12v plug coming down from the CB. The one that came with the radio wasn't working it seemed when I wired it. So I thought it was defective and bought another one. Only to realize it wasn't powering on because you need to have the key turned to accessory or on for it to power the CB 🤬was a frustrating time lol

The question also about the firestick. I see the top is adjustable to tune it. However, I see that the lowest position of the firestick is what gets me the lowest SWR. Should I have gotten a smaller antenna? I think I got the Firestik 2 version.

Debating getting a Stryker 447HPC2 because it is easy to convert to a CB. But I need to do more research about powering the thing before going that route. I really do find the CB to be allot of fun and at times useful. Reminds me of game chat when playing Call of duty sometimes lol

On both my kenworths, the 2020 and my present 2022, I've has Goodluck with the stock coax and antennas. I have a bearcat 880. I calibrated it per the instructions. It gets decent range, depending on terrain, factors etc.

I ended up having the stock antenna break on the 2020 randomly while driving and swapped them both out to 4' firesticks. Worked fine. I'm running the stock 4' kenworth antenna on mine and they get the job done.

Interesting, I wonder why I get such high SWR after calibrating. Truck has duel stock antennas. I wonder if using a 12v dash outlet has a negative effect on performance. I use the plug that like a gps plugs into.

Back OTR, I got a 2020 Kenworth. Super happy with this truck, very comfortable. Sadly been sitting in the yard for a day waiting for my first load 😕 atleast I have everything moved into the truck and some time to get things set up.

I got my Bearcat 880 installed that I kept from when I used to drive. Kenworth has a very nice CB installment location. However the power wires don’t seem to work. Not sure if it’s the truck, or if a fuse is blown on my power wire cord. So I had to install with a 12v plug. Really ugly having that wire come down, but it will due for now. Not sure how it affects performance either.

Until my first paycheck, I just have the factory antennas installed. This truck has duel antennas on both mirrors. That is one question I had. How different is setting up 2 antennas vs one? I have a really high SWR right now. Channel 19 is 6.5. From my understanding to tune a CB, go to channel 1 in calibrate. Hold mic button and turn the calibration to the line. Then go to channel 40 and do the same thing.

Any advice on what antenna I should be using for duel setup? My last truck, I didn’t know much and got one of the big “terminator” antennas, and always had pretty high SWR even with tuning. Is the factory coax really not that good? I know most people don’t use a CB anymore, but I do always find it pretty entertaining and occasionally useful info.

Yes, using the seats and arm rests for dips, squats, decline and incline push ups, top bunk for kneeling pull-ups, reverse pull-ups. To do the pushup, extend from feet on the bed, hands on the cushions of left and right seat, then one handed and lead change.

It's entirely possible to achieve progressive overload and failure on each set using creative body weight exercises. Adding bands to the workout helps, along with a weight vest.

I've picked up a bit over 10 pounds of lean muscle gains but reduced waistline at the same time.

Ill have to do some of those, pretty new to body weight exercises. Before I started going to the gym, I was never even able to do one push up. Even as a kid, since I was always fairly obese. Biggest worry going back OTR was my health. I just gotta take the time to get healthy foods and exercise. It's so easy to be in a rush and just get whatever fast food at a truck stop. Wish they had more delicious healthy options there.

If you're 100% not at fault it will not affect your employment opportunities. You are right to report it because it's not just your MVR they look at. Most trucking companies will hire companies to THOROUGHLY go through your criminal, driving and accident history. One of the things they check are insurance databases. Even if no citations are issued and there is no record your MVR there will be a paper trail if anyone involved notified their insurance company. Willful omission of an important fact on your application(your accident) WILL have a negative affect on your prospects even if you were not at fault.

I don't want you to give up and quit before you get your CDL so I won't go into what's involved in Prime's background check.

I worked for Prime before for a bit, they are who I originally got my CDL through. And yeah I know they have a pretty extensive pre-hire process. First job I ever worked for where they actually called previous employers from multiple years, and wouldn't hire me until they actually got ahold of previous employers. Even called the vape shop I worked at when I was 19 lol.

Shouldn't be too bad then, no criminal record at all, zero tickets or infractions. Accident was 100% not at fault, was stopped yielding to traffic for a left hand turn, signal was on. Car that was far behind me didn't slow at all and rammed into the back of me.

About to go OTR again when I am done with my test. In the few years I have been out of trucking, fitness has become a huge part of my life. I lost over 100 pounds so far, and love lifting weights. I plan on getting an adjustable dumbbell set, and a collapsable weight bench to use after my shifts. Can hit most upper body muscle groups with just dumbbells.

Does anyone else do resistance training while on the road? Any tips or equipment you could recommend? I feel like everyone would be staring at me at the truck stop lifting weights outside my truck, but who cares. I never used resistance bands, but that could be a good option too. I wouldn't thing 100 pounds of extra weight from dumbells would be too much of a issue, since allot of people travel with passengers anyway.