[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

Split ten?

I drove a Cascadia in CDL school. Nice tractor.
I drove International Golden Eagles for CRST with the Super Ten grinder box. It was nice making half the shifts with my thumb.

Eaton Fuller 10 speed. I am still pretty terrible at shifting. I can do it pretty well about 90% of the time, but when the Navigo is telling me Right Lane now, cars are swirling around me, I'm trying to get my speed down 10 under the exit ramp speed at the same time--I can have a buffer overflow and forget which gear I'm in, or get the speed/gear wrong. I'm working on it. How long did you drive? Isn't a Cascadia a newer model?

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Nice job Neal. CDL can be hard to obtain. I have been in the industry for 20 years. Only on the others side as dispatching, load planning, management and sales. Currently as an agent for Landstar. Driving the 11 hours is something I just can not do. The folks that drive for me love it and would not change a thing. At Landstar we are all independent contractors. No forced dispatch. Our contractors do well. If this career is something that really works for you think about purchasing your own rig. Contract on with a outfit that suits you.

Thanks, Chris. I'm pretty good for 11 hours, even when I don't get enough rest. I am definitely tuned in to stopping if I am fighting sleep, I won't press on if I cannot do it.

I'm going to drive for Schneider for 1 year,get my OTR experience, then we'll see. It's too early to tell how this will work out, remember I was a teacher for 6 months? O/O is appealing to me, I can take the loads when I choose, as much as I want. For a guy who prizes his free time, that would be nice.

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

CONGRATS ONKEL! My[/SIZE] 1977 Freightliner with Cummins 290 fuel-squeezer/12 speed Roadranger(photo below); No power steering, no cruise control, no trailer brake(foot valve only) no jake brake and AC sure to die at Gila, Arizona in 120 degree weather! My sheepskin cover air-ride seat was state of the art and I actually had a Whistler radar detector and a CB 'radidio'! Our pumps were governed, sealed units so we used to pull out of Ft Scott, Kansas and pop our own stingered units on-a termination offence. But it was fun: ran everything from copper out of Amarillo, onions out of Marfa, sugar out of Houma, LA, tuna fish, new tires and all US paper products to all 48 states for three years: avg 350 logged days a year and was the company salvage driver...as necessary. Midwestern was so bad safetywise, it had to have its own insurance company! @ Wolfertz: Donner Pass! your forgetting Raton, Cajon, Tejon, Rabbitears and Parley's! All controlled looong descents.

@Neal: learn to adjust your own brakes in sequence (trust not the mechanic) and always play randomly with the instrument switches while minding the gauges; if one switch burns your finger tips...you've got a big problem! A metal Jake switch did that to me(dead-short) in DEC/78(cold BBY) on I-80; I had just enough time to pull over, disconnect all Batts and jack up/over the cab to find the melted wire in the main wiring yoke leading to the solenoid cylinder interrupters on the brake compressor-Luckily, I had suitable spare wire for a fast-fix to get me 100 miles into Cheyenne, Wyoming. This is a common cause of so-called random mystery tractor fires.

Wear your ear protection always so you don't get tinnitus like I did (50% hearing loss). Especially with those whining Detroits!! Do not pull into little bars in the winter time in Minn.(Moosebar?)...even for a Hamm's or to use the phone even with autos/pickups parked alluringly out front...those could be Ice-fishing bars hauled onto one of the 10,000 ice-covered lakes...one of our guys did and ended up swimming!. The truck and paper loaded trailer were completely under water.

Aktungbby, you sound like you're an old school trucker with worlds of experience!