Subsim Truckers

[TarJak]

Its a metal frame welded onto the front of your rig for keeping meat out of your radiator grille.

[nikimcbee]

Are you going to do any hauling up in the oil fields in North Dakota. I hear that's where all the tanker action is? Every you ever make it out to Ore-gone, I'll buy you a rockstar, or coffee.

[TarJak]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Are you going to do any hauling up in the oil fields in North Dakota. I hear that's where all the tanker action is? Every you ever make it out to Ore-gone, I'll buy you a rockstar, or coffee.

Is it anything like this? http://movieclips.com/uvH7-mad-max-2...-under-attack/

Typical day hauling tankers on the roads of outback Australia.

Maybe this bull bar is better:


Nope, that's not a bull bar! This is a bull bar:

[Wolferz]

Congrats on your accomplishment Neal. Getting the license is the hardest part. So you're pulling slosh wagons for Schneider? I feel for you. But, you're not nearly the traffic jam a Swift truck is.
I hauled van expedited for CRST and our rigs were governed at 63.5 MPH though we could get'em going much faster down a decent grade like Donner Pass. Are you running team? That's where you can knock down some serious money but you'll work your butt off doing it at eight hours on and eight off. Oregon and Washington are beautiful places to drive through. I'm force retired now or I'd still be out their jamming gears.

Tell us about your tractor.

[Onkel Neal]

Yeah, you were a driver, I remember now, and Swamperat, I think,


My Gretchen is a 2011 Freightliner Cascadia, with a Detroit Diesel engine. She's got 281,000 miles on her, so still pretty new.

[Wolferz]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Yeah, you were a driver, I remember now, and Swamperat, I think,


My Gretchen is a 2011 Freightliner Cascadia, with a Detroit Diesel engine. She's got 281,000 miles on her, so still pretty new.

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.

[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.

[Aktungbby]

CONGRATS ONKEL! My 1977 Midwestern 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. < strongly resembles my baby# 8485 & home on the road. My favorite route: NATCH'>

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

Congrats on your accomplishment Neal. Getting the license is the hardest part. So you're pulling slosh wagons for Schneider? I feel for you. But, you're not nearly the traffic jam a Swift truck is.

[Onkel Neal]

....and then the Swift driver said," hold my flip-flops and watch this!"

[Onkel Neal]

What Does Tesla's Automated Truck Mean for Truckers?

On Thursday night, Elon Musk rolled out Tesla's biggest gizmo yet: a fully electric semitruck. The Semi can go a whopping 500 miles between charges, hauling 80,000 pounds along the way. And it can sorta, kinda drive itself—on highways, anyway. The truck comes with Enhanced Autopilot, the second generation of Tesla's semiautonomous technology, equipped with automatic braking, lane keeping, and lane departure warnings.

Well, interesting, 500 miles between charges is about right for HOS. But, I wonder if HOS will change if the driver does not have to be in control of the vehicle?

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by TarJak

Nope, that's not a bull bar! This is a bull bar:

I JUST watched that movie the other day. Awesome movie.

Anyway, there are some days where this job sounds appealing to me....driving the road....no bullcrap to put up with...just me, a big truck and the road.

However, doesn't that get boring after a while? The guys who do it for years and years and years?

What did you guys do to stay entertained out on the road all the time? Was it worth it?

[TarJak]

Do you guys have B-doubles and road trains over there?

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by TarJak

Do you guys have B-doubles and road trains over there?

We run doubles in some states. No road trains...yet.

[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!