N00b Questions You (Probably) Have But Were Afraid To Ask!

I run cruise except in (relatively) heavy rain and traffic. With adaptive cruise, when it's engaged and somebody cuts you off to take an offramp it will slam on the brakes. To me not using CC invites problems like blood clots in the legs, esp the right leg. Plus it's just plain uncomfortable. Since I'm old (according to Rainy) and comfort is very important to me.

I never use cruise control. I don't find it tedious at all to keep my foot in it.

You might not be aware of it, but you probably **** off other drivers on a regular basis.

It's very annoying to be driving with your cruise set at 60 and be near someone that's fluctuating between 59 and 61, or thereabout.

Can't understand why anyone would choose not to use the CC on an open highway (barring weather/traffic concerns).

That explains a lot. *innocently whistles a Dixie tune.*

Let's face it: The first year or two of driving professionally can be pretty tough and somewhere along the way you realize you don't actually *know* some fundamental things that you really should know. Either it was a situation that never came up during training, or maybe something you forgot but is now relevant. We all have these questions. I know I do. But after driving for a year or so, we shouldn't have these questions, right?

WRONG!!

Everyone is different, and some things just take a little longer to remember. Or you actually never thought about it before and now you're curious.

I definitely have some questions I'd like to put out for our more experienced drivers that might seem obvious, but to me they're not. I'm asking the questions some of you might not want to ask yourself.

1. Does a bobtail have to go through a mandatory weigh station?

2. We all know we're not supposed to use Jake/engine breaks and/or cruise control during inclement weather because it can cause skidding. How much precipitation is the cutoff? What exactly is going on in the truck that causes the skidding in these circumstances using these tools? (Basically, WHY can't we use these?)

3. What exactly is DEF and will my truck really shut down if it runs out?

4. If Channel 19 is the "general" channel on the CB, what are all the other channels for?

5. If I'm at a truck stop and there is a craft beer or wine that is unique and I want to transport it unopened until I get home, is that legal? If so, what are the rules?

6. What is a parked regen and when will I know if it needs to be done?

7. What are the basic scheduling criteria for general maintenance? For example: How often does the oil need to be changed? How often do I need a tune up? Do they have similar maintenance requirements like a passenger vehicle?

8. Do those little deer whistle things actually work?

9. Will driving while off duty start my drive/14 hour clock? Can I off duty drive if my hours have not yet come back?

10. What exactly is a differential lock? When would I need to turn it on?

11. Why in the world would you want to slide your fifth wheel?

12. 10 speed manual transmissions seem to be the norm. But I've heard of trucks with 13 and 18 gears. What are the extra gears for?

13. When sliding tandems , how important is it to make the weights match the drives? Also, when at weigh stations, are they looking for balance between axles or are they just making sure each axle and the overall truck isn't overweight?

14. When fueling, are both fuel tanks completely separate or can the truck be completely filled using only one pump? (Some really out of the way fuel islands don't always have satellite pumps.)

15. If you lose a light while driving but it will be some miles before you can safely pull over to replace it, can DOT still cite you for it?

Ok. I think that's all I have for now. Please feel free to contribute to this thread!

3. Diesel exhaust fluid....helps catch pollutants before final emission, and YES the truck will shut down if it runs out or even THINKS it is out. I'm currently in the shop because of this issue. Didn't run out but truck thought it was empty.

5. My dispatcher told me that you cannot have alcohol in your truck, even unopened. I asked if I could transport a bottle of wine home.

10. If I am correct, the differential lock splits the power to the drives between both drive axles. It's supposed to be beneficial in slippery conditions. I have only used it twice in the snow.

Sorry if these questions were answered already. Thread is pretty long!

The off duty driving thing is still confusing, and the situation that prompted it is happening right now. I've been sitting at a receiver long enough that between here and my shipper plus my drive time, I'm about to run out of hours. But I won't be here long enough for a sleeper reset, and I can't stay here on unloaded. If I run out of hours, can I still ODD to the closest truck stop (about 20 miles from here)? Because I'm in off duty status now and the time is still counting down, will it go into the negative until I change the duty status? Will that negative ticking away put me in violation?

I hate the stupid 14 hour rule.

Miss Miyoshi wrote:

The off duty driving thing is still confusing, and the situation that prompted it is happening right now. I've been sitting at a receiver long enough that between here and my shipper plus my drive time, I'm about to run out of hours. But I won't be here long enough for a sleeper reset, and I can't stay here on unloaded. If I run out of hours, can I still ODD to the closest truck stop (about 20 miles from here)? Because I'm in off duty status now and the time is still counting down, will it go into the negative until I change the duty status? Will that negative ticking away put me in violation?

Hate to be the bearer of bad news MM, but unfortunately "yes" the above scenario is definitely a DOT HOS violation. We have debated this subject to exhaustion and unless you are bobtailing, off-duty driving isn't an acceptable or "legal" log status on a public road. No idea how Prime would handle this, but Swift would probably put a driver on safety-hold until completion of a log class. And this sort of thing is almost always flagged in a daily log audit.

I am no expert on this (cause I never need it), but can't you do a split sleeper with this, 2 hours...? Edit your logs (if you can) back two hours placing yourself in the sleeper. That will buy plenty of time to get to the TS and shutdown.

I've done that before, and the problem is I lose out on those two hours of sleep. I have to be at my next shipper by midnight, 60 miles away. I should be in full sleeper by now for my 10 hour for that to even happen. I don't have my bills yet. My FM so far has said I have time, but heneber I've done the split I get stuck in a cycle of all splits, mostly due to the fact I'm running regional and all my runs occur in one drive day. I actually had a near collapse because of how broken up my sleep got after doing it for 4 days straight and had to ask for an entire day to just sleep and reset my internal clock. I get asked why I don't "just sleep" at the customer, but remember that sleep cycle problem I was taking meds for that Prime wanted me to discontinue? I can't just fall asleep at the drop of the hat. It's now noon, and I started my day at 2300 the night before. I'm tired, but I don't know what to do.

Oh, and I don't bother asking any log questions to our logs people because they ALWAYS say you need a logs class and you lose a whole day without pay if you so much as ask a simple question. That's why I have you guys. ;)

Also, I thought you had to do the 8 hours first, then take the 2 later. I've never once had any hours come back after only 2 hours in the sleeper.

Miss Miyoshi added this:

Also, I thought you had to do the 8 hours first, then take the 2 later. I've never once had any hours come back after only 2 hours in the sleeper.

I have read more than once on here that the two hours will work. But like I said, I am not the expert on this and I could have it wrong. I have some time to kill, I'll search through some older threads on this and clarify this for you.

Taking a two and then an eight just pushes your clock forward to the end of the two hour break, but you don't get any time back until you have completed the eight hour sleeper break. You only really see the benefit of it doing rolling splits.

Miss Miyoshi added this:

Also, I thought you had to do the 8 hours first, then take the 2 later. I've never once had any hours come back after only 2 hours in the sleeper.

I have read more than once on here that the two hours will work. But like I said, I am not the expert on this and I could have it wrong. I have some time to kill, I'll search through some older threads on this and clarify this for you.

Found it: Split Sleeper HOS Rules