The immigration is worse than you think
- Thread starter Onewolf426
- Start date
Grayfox
Professional
I spent a sizable part of my career working in the trucking industry. Most people have no idea of how serious or dangerous it is. An old trucker told me once: "If you make a mistake at work, you might get fired. If I make a mistake, people die!"
They need to burn this guy as bad as possible and then go after his employer and lock them up too.
They need to burn this guy as bad as possible and then go after his employer and lock them up too.
Onewolf426
Hellcat
They need to go after California and Washington State as well for giving him his CDL.I spent a sizable part of my career working in the trucking industry. Most people have no idea of how serious or dangerous it is. An old trucker told me once: "If you make a mistake at work, you might get fired. If I make a mistake, people die!"
They need to burn this guy as bad as possible and then go after his employer and lock them up too.
TEXASforLIFE
SAINT
when i went to renew my cdl i told them i just want my class c and no m or a. i got asked why and replied it's a big responsibility and with my neck issue i don't think i'll ever drive 1 again. the conversation went on for some time before i told her i only drive for myself and use it for farming purposes. she goes that's fine just keep the a as you don't want to try and get it later as they make it more difficult (Texas) to get new 1's and limited by how far and where you can drive (i already know this stuff). as long as i don't put farm tags on the truck or trailer(s) i'm not restricted at all. usually doesn't stop most with farm tags anyways. dropping the m (motorcycle) isn't going to bother me 1 bit. i just need to get my hazardous endorsement so i can haul liquid fertilizer. cost to haul per ton is crazy even for a full load discount. i started driving trucks when i was 12, but not on the highways. i could drive up to 10 miles before getting there (highways). practice backing up to docks and chutes.
Old_Me
Emissary
retired from it after over 40 years...(as well as instructing)I spent a sizable part of my career working in the trucking industry. Most people have no idea of how serious or dangerous it is. An old trucker told me once: "If you make a mistake at work, you might get fired. If I make a mistake, people die!"
They need to burn this guy as bad as possible and then go after his employer and lock them up too.
"sometimes when you think you are right, you are DEAD WRONG", i was told decades ago when i first started.
stupid people think those U-Turns in the highway medians are for everyone
they are posted for EMERGENCY USE ONLY, and a stupid person missing an exit, does not constitute an emergency.
there was a time when many companies when i first started out, DEMANDED at least 3 years experience, or "up to" 10 years for specialty hauling such as gasoline.
case in point..Werner out of Nebraska..when the "old man" owned it and ran it, his DEMANDS were 3 years experience, before the HR dept even looked at your resume.
now like so many other companies, "seat meat" is all that is important to them...
meaning...."got a pulse?...... you got a job"
then comes the "nuclear judgments" at court time......
and people IN THE industry cry, biotch, moan and groan about those, "nuclear judgments"
well, hire fools, undocumented immigrants, or low IQ people, you get what you paid for.
no..trucking IS NOT a rocket science job...
but one IS driving an 80,000 missile down the road at high speeds, yes even 55 mph...is high speed given braking distance, stopping power, load weights, mechanical condition....they DO NOT stop on a dime, and give you back 9¢ of change.
and above all else...the safety on the roads, depends on the competence or lack of....... the driver....
This. Calculate the energy in that 80,000 lbs moving at 65 mph. It’s huge! Truck drivers require a serious skill set to control that much force. As an aside, I get similarly concerned when I see mom and pop, who’ve never driven anything bigger than a Mercedes climb into that 48’ Prevost motorhome bus, pulling a trailer (or a 1 ton truck with. 45 ft 5th wheel) head down the road
. I’m an old guy myself and I do drive a small (29 ft) motorhome, however I spent my younger days squiring a fire truck around at speed and held a commercial license to do so. Lots of folks in campers have never driven anything bigger than a car. Big, heavy vehicles handle a LOT differently. To me, anyone driving an oversized vehicle should be required to prove their competence to do so. You have to. Prove you can handle a 600 lb motorcycle before you can legally go down the road with it, but a 30k lb vehicle? Nah, your skill with a 3k car is enough….
Old_Me
Emissary
correct, and those motorhomes pull a trailer as well.This. Calculate the energy in that 80,000 lbs moving at 65 mph. It’s huge! Truck drivers require a serious skill set to control that much force. As an aside, I get similarly concerned when I see mom and pop, who’ve never driven anything bigger than a Mercedes climb into that 48’ Prevost motorhome bus, pulling a trailer (or a 1 ton truck with. 45 ft 5th wheel) head down the road
no, they do not need a CDL, just an "ordinary" license.
way too many videos showing the driver losing control of them, and "poof" shrapnel all over the road, vacation ruined, and possible lives lost, all cuz "they always wanted to travel"
buy a dammed conversion van instead numbnutz's
Model 457
Master Class
One of the many different part time jobs I had while I was attending college was fueling city owned vehicles in the evening. The city had a huge paved yard with a repair shop. Mechanics would work a swing shift servicing and repairing vehicles while me and another guy spent 4 hours fueling everything. I thought it was the coolest job. I got to drive all sorts of heavy equipment to the pumps to fill them. Back hoes, graders, front loaders, street sweepers, etc. I remember one time I got there around 3:00 PM. The boss told me and another guy to go to the tire shop to pick up a 10 wheeled dump truck. Outside of fueling activities in the yard, I had never driven anything that big nor was I appropriately licensed to do so. Red and I must've argued for 10 minutes in the parking lot of the tire shop as to who was going to drive that thing back to the yard. Neither of us wanted to drive it back. I finally lost 2 out of 3 Rock, Paper, Scissors and pulled that beast out of the lot. We had to take the 10 freeway to get back to the shop. I was scared to death! That was the very moment I realized real truckers have blind spots, cannot stop like a car, and cannot merge / lane change easily. From that day on, I drive with a whole different level of courtesy towards trucks. If I see that signal come on, I back off and let them over versus speeding up to not get stuck behind them (it drives my girlfriend crazy). I make sure I stay far enough back that I can bee seen in the mirrors. I avoid their blind spot at all costs. I move over to let them merge onto the freeway, and if I see one coming fast in my rearview mirror, I get the hell out of the way.
SL66
Professional
About once every year or two around here a truck driver is killed hauling pulp wood because some kid in a Honda darts in front of him. Some times multiple cars at a time, they just have to take that gap. Forcing the driver to swerve and surrender his life so he doesn't kill others.
TEXASforLIFE
SAINT
here's a FACT about a trucks braking system................brakes/braking distance is shorter when loaded than not........doesn't mean that it won't get stopped in time tho. just imagine if the morons in charge make the truck manufacturers start using anti-lock brakes.
i had a young female trucker try to run me off/into me and i'd been right at the cab for quite some distance and she was even looking at me when changing/or trying too lanes.
.i had a young female trucker try to run me off/into me and i'd been right at the cab for quite some distance and she was even looking at me when changing/or trying too lanes.
Model 457
Master Class
I didn't know whether or not anti-lock brakes had been invented for air brake systems. According to the all knowing google, anti-lock systems do exist for air brake systems and are required for commercial vehicles manufactured after some unspecified date.here's a FACT about a trucks braking system................brakes/braking distance is shorter when loaded than not........doesn't mean that it won't get stopped in time tho. just imagine if the morons in charge make the truck manufacturers start using anti-lock brakes
i had a young female trucker try to run me off/into me and i'd been right at the cab for quite some distance and she was even looking at me when changing/or trying too lanes.
TEXASforLIFE
SAINT
i believe it would be a take away rather being supposedly helpful on semi's! anti-loc brakes are for people who don't know how to use brakes in less than ideal conditions. i wish that i could remember how the question was worded on the Texas cdl air brake test. i got the question wrong according to the no-knowledge test writers. if i'd answered it correctly according to them it would cause a jack-knife situation. back when i remembered the question i asked several truckers and they answered the same way i did and gave the same response when i told the the correct answer. whomever wrote the test has probably never driven a combination. on paper it might seem correct, but not real world.
Bassbob
Emissary
Anti-lock brakes are a take away from all vehicles.
TEXASforLIFE
SAINT
EXACTLY!
Old_Me
Emissary
if i recall, on that question, if just 1 automatic slack adjuster was not operating correctly, the other brakes would cause that jackknife, since not all brakes are working properly...or something like that.
if i recall, in the CDL class another instructor was teaching and i as his assistant, the students are told to "stand on the brakes" otherwise then the anti-lock feature is useless. so one set of wheel not braking, and that trailer is gonna swing out..
i cannot recall all of it, that was back a few years ago.
Grayfox
Professional
I remember it well, Late 1970s. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 121 went into effect. The requirement for anti-lock brakes on heavy trucks with air brakes. The early systems absolutely sucked! Caused more accidents than they prevented. They were constantly breaking down and never worked right. In fact, the truck drove better when they didn't work.
What was worse, there was a yellow light on the dash that told you when it wasn't working right and if that light was on DOT would shut you down on the spot. Those damned things were a PITA for many years.
My company sent me to school to learn how they worked and how to fix them. I didn't get a day off for months because that's all I did and they were always broke.
Thankfully, they finally made anti-lock systems that work much better. But I'd still rather not have it at all.
BTW: FMVSS 121 has been amended and rewritten many times since then because nobody could meet the requirements.
What was worse, there was a yellow light on the dash that told you when it wasn't working right and if that light was on DOT would shut you down on the spot. Those damned things were a PITA for many years.
My company sent me to school to learn how they worked and how to fix them. I didn't get a day off for months because that's all I did and they were always broke.
Thankfully, they finally made anti-lock systems that work much better. But I'd still rather not have it at all.
BTW: FMVSS 121 has been amended and rewritten many times since then because nobody could meet the requirements.
