Driver Confidence

Well thanks for building me up everyone. I've made it to Knoxville tonight, and I'm headed to PA. I'm gonna get some much needed sleep and a shower. I agree about there never being a routine day for sure.

Dan

Dan, I'll share a few thoughts with you, that may help you develop that confidence.

When it comes to the bad days, those are normal. You can research sports performance in athletes, and quickly see that they have some days when they are not their best. With all that money at stake, if it happens to athletes, it also happens to the rest of us. Good common sense however can compensate for those bad days in trucking, if you take time to slow down and keep your head clear.

One thing that affects backing and turning to a certain degree, are the position of the tandems. If they are all the way to the rear, your turning radius is a much longer arc, and it is easier to take out something or someone in a turn. As a general rule, I rarely ever slide them back past the 7th hole, except for when I am backing into a tight spot. In this case, it makes pointing your trailer much easier, and eliminates most trailer swing that can catch you off guard.

Speaking of trailer swing, I had a guy one day a few months ago, back into my trailer. He was attempting to back in beside me at a truck stop, and caught the front corner of my trailer with the back corner of his trailer. Before I could get out of the bunk, and get my clothes on, he had pulled up, and backed into my trailer again. Luckily, it wasn't my tractor he hit, and the damage was minimal to the trailer.

After showing him that I had a horn in good working order, I got out and we had a meeting. He explained right off the bat that he had an application in at Walmart, and that if this incident was reported, he would never get the job. I explained to him that the accident department would have to decide which way it would go, because there are other drivers who work for my company that pick up the phone and call the main terminal , anytime they see another of our trucks involved in an incident. I explained to him, that I couldn't afford to let the accident department hear about the incident from anyone else.

So anyway, after we started talking, he explained to my why he didn't get out and look. He stated that he had his tandems so close to the tractor on the other side of the space, that he thought there was no way he could hit me. I explained to him that he had additional trailer swing, caused by having his tandems slid so far forward, and that was what he didn't account for.

When possible, you want to eliminate the variables, because the variables are what your brain can't account for consistently. That is one reason I won't use a removeable windshield on a bike. The wind resistance when the windshield is in place, changes how the bike steers, especially in a curve. Instead of having to constantly compensate for this, I simply ride without a windshield.

Same goes with my tandems. I like to leave them in the same hole as often as possible. Sure it is a pain to get out and move them 4 holes on a light load when I don't have to, but my turning and backing radius remains consistent, and I have eliminated a few of the variables that could have had me on the phone with the accident department.