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Forty Tons
8 years ago
General
Pre-flight checklist, please.
My second week on the road is in the books. I can safely say that I've had more fun doing this than any other job I've ever had (aside from the film stuff) and I'm honestly surprised that it took me this long to get into it. I would highly suggest to anyone and everyone to get a commercial driver's license. Most of the major carriers (Swift, Schneider National, Knight, Prime, etc) offer tuition reimbursement at most commercial driving schools. It's guaranteed work for a long as you hold the license.
This week was primarily regional loads, running back and forth between Dallas and Houston. I've gotten to know I-45 very well in the past two weeks, that's for sure. In addition, every load has put my truck right at the maximum allowable vehicle weight for Texas roads: 80,000 pounds. That's forty tons, and you can feel every single one when you do any kind of maneuvers. Even the power of the DD15 struggles to move that much weight.
Next week starts off with a doozy: Edwardsville, Kansas. It's Kansas City, basically. Nine ours straight on the road. And that's just on Monday! It's shaping up to be a long week.
Also, I wanted to take a moment to make a PSA for all your drivers out there. Please exercise added caution around tractor-trailers. In the past two weeks alone I've seen dozens of drivers put themselves and other motorists in danger simply because they aren't paying attention or they assume that trucks will give them space. Twice I've had drivers shoot across two lanes or more to catch an exit, missing the front of my truck by about twenty feet. I can see why "four-wheelers" get such a bad rap from truck drivers...
Guys, it's very hard to stop 80,000 pounds. If I have dry pavement, new tires (all 18), new brakes, and perfect reaction time, I can mash the brake pedal and get the truck stopped just inside 600 feet. That's two football fields, and that's assuming anti-lock brakes are working on the truck and the trailer. This doesn't take into account the myriad situations a truck might be in, from shifting loads (especially tankers) to bad tires to wet conditions... If you dive in front of me to catch an exit or to leave a driveway, I will not be able to stop in time to avoid an accident. No matter what you're driving, 80,000 pounds will roll right through you and the truck driver will barely spill his coffee.
So, eyes up. These vehicles are hard to miss: they're eighty feet long and thirteen and a half feet high. If you're going to miss your exit, go up to the next one. If a truck is almost on top of you and you're waiting to exit a driveway, let the truck go by. Please don't let yourself become another statistic, another footnote in a trucker's training manual. Drive safe and don't hit shit.
This week was primarily regional loads, running back and forth between Dallas and Houston. I've gotten to know I-45 very well in the past two weeks, that's for sure. In addition, every load has put my truck right at the maximum allowable vehicle weight for Texas roads: 80,000 pounds. That's forty tons, and you can feel every single one when you do any kind of maneuvers. Even the power of the DD15 struggles to move that much weight.
Next week starts off with a doozy: Edwardsville, Kansas. It's Kansas City, basically. Nine ours straight on the road. And that's just on Monday! It's shaping up to be a long week.
Also, I wanted to take a moment to make a PSA for all your drivers out there. Please exercise added caution around tractor-trailers. In the past two weeks alone I've seen dozens of drivers put themselves and other motorists in danger simply because they aren't paying attention or they assume that trucks will give them space. Twice I've had drivers shoot across two lanes or more to catch an exit, missing the front of my truck by about twenty feet. I can see why "four-wheelers" get such a bad rap from truck drivers...
Guys, it's very hard to stop 80,000 pounds. If I have dry pavement, new tires (all 18), new brakes, and perfect reaction time, I can mash the brake pedal and get the truck stopped just inside 600 feet. That's two football fields, and that's assuming anti-lock brakes are working on the truck and the trailer. This doesn't take into account the myriad situations a truck might be in, from shifting loads (especially tankers) to bad tires to wet conditions... If you dive in front of me to catch an exit or to leave a driveway, I will not be able to stop in time to avoid an accident. No matter what you're driving, 80,000 pounds will roll right through you and the truck driver will barely spill his coffee.
So, eyes up. These vehicles are hard to miss: they're eighty feet long and thirteen and a half feet high. If you're going to miss your exit, go up to the next one. If a truck is almost on top of you and you're waiting to exit a driveway, let the truck go by. Please don't let yourself become another statistic, another footnote in a trucker's training manual. Drive safe and don't hit shit.
