Subsim Truckers

[swamprat69er]

I'm home for today and Tuesday, back up to Iroquois Falls for 8:30 on Thursday (load Wednesday afternoon) with a part load 35,000 kgs/77,000lbs. That ought to be a 'fun' ride, slop and slosh. I would much rather have a full load of 93,700 lbs/42,500kgs payload.
I will put 20,000 in the lead and 15,000 in the pup. That should smooth it out some.

[Mr Quatro]

Have any truckers here ever run into miles of squished rabbits all over the road?

I did up in Wyoming one time late at night coming out of Salt Lake City it was a flat land route with dead rabbits for miles.

I wonder what roads would look like if the Buffalo still roamed?

[Aktungbby]

Are you kidding?!! there's a movie about this! Never pass up a good thing though, 'road-kill' Hasenpfeffer "With a little Chianti Clarice"! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hasenpfeffer-rabbit-stew/

[swamprat69er]

Originally Posted by swamprat69er

I'm home for today and Tuesday, back up to Iroquois Falls for 8:30 on Thursday (load Wednesday afternoon) with a part load 35,000 kgs/77,000lbs. That ought to be a 'fun' ride, slop and slosh. I would much rather have a full load of 93,700 lbs/42,500kgs payload.
I will put 20,000 in the lead and 15,000 in the pup. That should smooth it out some.

The load got moved up one day...I delivered at 8 this morning and at noon I got to take it back to North Bay and pump it off. At that time I found out the job got cancelled until next year, so that is it for the north for this year. I will take thanksgiving (CDN) at home and go to the yard on Wednesday. I'll need to spend all day Thursday cleaning the trailers. I should be able to 'milk' it for at least 10 hours.

[Mr Quatro]

Don't forget to check in once in awhile Neal and watch out for Black ice usually on the freeway overpasses

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

Have any truckers here ever run into miles of squished rabbits all over the road?

I did up in Wyoming one time late at night coming out of Salt Lake City it was a flat land route with dead rabbits for miles.

We have a small species of mammal related to the rabbit, called a pika. The local kids call them "potguts". Anywhere in the back mountain roads around Salt Lake you can see dozens of them at any one time. While driving tourists in the mountains I once had one run out in front of my van. He was safely in the other lane when he changed his little furry mind and ran right back under my wheels. There was no way I could swerve around him without scaring my passengers, so that was all for him. Yes, you also see a lot of dead ones around.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika

I wonder what roads would look like if the Buffalo still roamed?

Probably a lot of wrecked cars.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

I wonder what roads would look like if the Buffalo still roamed?

OR an interesting convoy!

[Catfish]

I like the idea .. does not have to be a russian truck of course:

http://englishrussia.com/2014/10/17/...ned-as-a-home/

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

600 miles in a semi?
Don't you have rules for mandatory periods of driving and resting?
Over here a driver isn't allowed to be behind the wheel for more than 9h a day and only twice a week he can go for 10h. No way one can go 600 miles in that time.

US truck drivers are allowed to drive up to 11 hours. The math says at 60 mph I can knock down 600 miles in 10 hours. It's not really that difficult. I am really disciplined about getting my full 7~8 hours of sleep each evening.

Originally Posted by Rockstar

I'm assuming these days most reputable trucking companies have fuel/speed regulators installed in their trucks. And I'm sure not all trucks are calibrated using the same equipment either but they are all for the most I think pretty close. Especially when I find myself stuck behind them.

Why in blue blazes does one trucker having maybe a .5 to 2 MPH advantage over another trucker even consider passing the other truck? Only to jam up faster traffic behind him while it lumbers along with a 1 MPH advantage. Its like watching two battling hippos.

Well, think about it. If you have to cover 1400 miles, are you going to drive 2 mph slower, or pass that truck in front of you? Just be patient. How far are you going, 15 ~45 miles? You'll get there. Now you know how it feels to be a motorcycle rider like me, and you have to watch the slow-arsed cars lugging along, blocking the road.

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

Don't forget to check in once in awhile Neal and watch out for Black ice usually on the freeway overpasses

Yes sir, I am still running. Been getting pretty good miles. I'm in Atlanta on my 34 hour reset, will be heading to PA tomorrow evening. Lord, I do not look forward to snow, ice, and cold weather. They really should restrict that kind of driving to the people who choose to live in those areas. Keep me in the South, brother, where the sun shines and snow is something to see on TV and smile about.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Keep me in the South, brother, where the sun shines and snow is something to see on TV and smile about.

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

C'MON now! one little trip up I-35 to Duluth, MN around XMAS before ya call it a well-rounded career! Just have a propane torch to unthaw the shifter and a stout cable or rope with hook to yank the fifth wheel so you don't separate your shoulder or rotator cuff...and starter ether; but don't turn off the engine-24/7 if posssible! No need to thump the tires; frozen rubber all sounds alike! Check for ice (look down) on the stirrup or step before alighting from the cab into -40 degrees in poorly plowed truckstops fer that cuppa hot JOE. Do not get stopped for a violation; cops hate getting outta their warm squads and are mad at ya-automatically-ticket pens freeze! < required equipment when the heater dies! REMEMBER ": North Dakota, where the unofficial state motto is: “30 degrees below zero keeps out the riffraff.” Michigan City, Indiana earlier this year I-94...15 semis ...I've seen worse. STAY SAFE!

[Onkel Neal]

Gawd, you didn't have to show me that!

[swamprat69er]

Neal, when you do pull into a truck stop and go to park it, roll forward and back for about 10 minutes or so. (It will cool off your tires and you wont make ice under the tires for when you decide to pull out.) It cost me $50.oo to learn that lesson.
DO NOT put your trailer parking (maxi brakes) on, just use the tractor brakes for parking.

A little alcohol (Safety brake) in your red air line will help with frozen air lines and drain the air tanks EVERY day.

NEVER, EVER drive according to the other guys abilities. If you don't feel comfortable driving 60mph in the snow, then don't. Drive at the speeds YOU feel comfortable at.
I got my butt chewed off coming North through Ohio one February by a big time trucker (Billy Big Rig) because I was running at 40mph in a 60 zone pushing snow with my front bumper. 10 miles up the road Billy Big Rig trucker that did all the barking was turned around facing South in the comedian. I mosied on by at 40 mph and got where I was going without the aid of a tow truck. Feb. 1974 I-75 was closed right after I got past Lima, OH.

If you hear on the radio (CB or broadcast) that the road is closed in front of you, then find a safe haven, preferably a truck stop.

Never let your fuel tanks go below half in the winter up in the frozen north.
Even IF the price of fuel is higher in the north, most of the northern fuel is already 'winter' fuel. (Brand names) Summer fuel from down South will gell up sooner than northern winter fuel.

[swamprat69er]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Michigan City, Indiana earlier this year I-94...15 semis ...I've seen worse. STAY SAFE!

That is the reason I don't truck in the winter any more. Ya, I know, a fair weather trucker and at 68 years old I already paid my dues and don't need to pay with my life.

[Wolferz]

Where ya headed to in PA? If you're coming up to Scranton, let me know and maybe I can buy you a cup of Joe and/ or a meal.

[Aktungbby]

You're forgetting the dinner slide-show they showed us once a month over an Omaha corn-fed steak at Ft. Scott of the month's disasters. DELISHUS BBY! before shipping me out to bring back trailer/cargo salvages. It's actually the best training-no mistakes! #1 cause was always lack of sleep! I-80 through Iowa during white-out blizzards were actually the worst. You can't pull in off the I-80 cause they're not (offramps) PLOWED; much less the pumps at the fuel stop-Des Moines. And you can't stop and you can't go faster than 10 mph all the way to Omaha and Sapp Bros when the weather usually clears at the Missouri River. Visibility is 20' in the daytime. And no way the boy-wonder co-driver is gonna do any it. Boy did I love to see this: After that; it was blitz across Nebraska; a sprint through Wyoming (fuel at Bison) a dash through Utah(fuel at Salt Lake) and a serene ramble through Nevada....and Boomtown- hopefully with Donner temporarily closed....followed by a slalom down the pass (preferably in slush to keep the drums cool-I really hated chaining up), and a cruise to my own pillow in San José! 26 hrs later! After which I would awaken clearheaded to beautifully fill out the log sheets...