swisschris62

You could also come up with the next greatest gizmo idea, go on shark tank and hope somebody bites.

You hear the cop in the video... To him the shooting wasn't really that much of a problem but the fact that they came out at 6 pm to do this kind of thing...now that's a little out of line. Please guys ...can we keep our shootings from the hours of 10 pm and say 4am....

What actually defines rich? Lots of money in your pocket? Kinda f'ed up huh?

Btw...that's a great picture of you and your dad in 73! Picture has a lot of "story" to it. I think pictures are great.

I don't stop and ask for directions but I do call the places where I'm going. I can tell you I'm amazed at some of the answers I've gotten over the years as to where they are. You would think people would know where they are and could explain what they did to get there. Not always the case. I'll ask but I always double check. You can't expect people to understand how big a truck really is or how much room we need. All the google earth type programs have made life much easier. If I'm going somewhere I haven't been before, I get the satelite image of the building and can then see what driveway I need to use and everything. I prefer doing it like that as opposed to doing a 20 mph crawl down the road in front of a 60,000sq. ft building looking for an entrance with 4 wheelers rolling behind me getting annoyed.

Doing it as a couple is ideal only if you have the right partner to do it with. The space is small if your not 100% happy together. I typically knock down 3 - 400 miles at a clip without stopping. My bladder is trained I guess. I'm glad my drivers seat doesn't double as a toilet. To think that we are driving down the highway sitting on toilets just seems a little too wierd! Just to set the record straight ( I sure wouldn't want you confused about this)... When I said I have a pee bottle, it doesn't mean I'm driving down the highway peeing in my bottle. As a matter of fact, most of the time I use the rest room just like you would use ( except I'm going in the other door). My pee bottle is for that middle of the night pee when I'm in bed and don't have my boots on. It's for those times when it's 30 below and the winds cranking at 60 mph and I don't want to deal with it. I explained how my morning starts...I make a pot of coffee every morning. I drink about half while inspecting my truck and playing with Hannah. Before I split...I pee. The other half a pot I drink while I'm cruising down the road. I have it all set up so I can make fresh cups of coffee with fixin's while driving. I go 300 or 400 miles and then stop, inspect truck, inspect load, fuel, eat, play with dog, oh yeah ...and I pee again and then do it all over again minus a fresh pot of coffee. I hold myself to one pot a day ( usually). I hope this clarifies it for you. Don't feel wierd for asking though it's a common question. I go with my wife to her office parties when I'm around and am asked this fairly often. Seems like you regular people who work in fixed locations have a very close bond with your bathrooms and would feel lost without them. Have a great day!

The double eagle sleeper....still a very popular sleeper for long haulers. I've been driving Pete's all my life but now there all pretty much made by the same people. I will never buy a new truck again. My truck has just under 1.5 million miles on it and I will continue to rebuild when it needs it. The new trucks are crap. I also wonder to myself why even though they come out with new truck models they never really improve the aerodynamics when they know the aerodynamics suck. Still I wouldn't buy a new one. I like my simple CAT engine without all that extra useless crap on it. Next winter I'm rebuilding again. That's when Ill be stretching my frame another 30" and putting a big house on it. Stay tuned... Yeah watching trucks being built is neat. I've been to the peterbilt factory in Denton several times.

You do know most of what you see on that show is staged and fake....right? The driver Dave Redmond I've known for years. He used to lease on where I'm at.He really is a hot head like he is on the show. When he interviewed for the show they liked that he was out spoken and a hot head and thought it would be good for the " show". They wanted him to act like a nut and would make him retake scenes over and over which would piss him off even more. If you know what your looking at you realize how ridiculous some of their "scenes" are. It's like a comedy. I've only watched bits and pieces of episodes mostly just to get a laugh at what they try to pass off as "real".

Sounds like he was a cool guy. Sorry for your loss but glad you have happy memories. I lost my dad to Alzheimer's 3 days before Xmas last year. It was the hardest 2 years of my life before he died. My dad was an owner op like me. He loved trucking. Where I grew up your options in life were trucking, logging, farming or fighting forest fires When I was 5 or 6 he started letting me go on smaller trips when he knew he would only be away overnight. Our overnight trips always turned into 2 or 3 day excursions. My mom would let him have it for keeping me out. These trips became longer and longer. My mom got over it early on but I remember the school used to call my mom ( since they couldn't call me and my dad) and would give her grief that I wasn't in school. This fight between the school and my mom and dad went on for years as the trips got longer and longer. My dad would go to the school and defend his actions regularly. My dad would ask the principle if he thought I was a nice kid and respectful. The answer was always yes ( half the time they might have been to scared to tell him any different) . He would then tell the school how if I was a nice kid and respectful to adults then he was doing his job. The more the school bothered him the more pissed off he got at them. Then came the 9th grade. The school year had just started and 3 weeks into it I was really lost and totally frustrated. He got home and saw me like that, looked at my new text books and decided right then and there that what they were teaching me ( or trying to teach me )was totally ridiculous. He made one last trip to the school soon after that and he never made me go back. In 1984 I was crushed between a car and truck while helping someone get their car started. I ended up in a hospital bed for about 3 months. In comes my dad one day and he had this big book in his hand. He hands me this book and tells me to learn it and then take the test in the back of the book to make my mom happy. The book was this big fat GED study book. The test in the back of the book wasn't the real test but rather only a practice test. I was laid up for about 2 years. I ended up taking the real test during that time and passed it. My mom was thrilled, my dad was happy that my mom was happy. To this day I could call my mom and I could ask her about my high school diploma and she could go to her desk drawer and pull it from a folder. I don't know if she realizes now that it was ridiculous to bug my dad about it ( which I didn't know she was doing at the time). I know at the time she thought it was quite the accomplishment. Apparently the school would fill her head with all these nightmare scenarios if I didn't get that diploma and she would quietly worry about that. Someday I need to get all my old photographs put on the computer. I've got like 3 shoeboxes full. Any suggestions on an easy way to do this so I don't have to do them all one at a time?

I'd imagine they could twist that into a racist comment too...

Thought I seen someone comment to that effect on here. Couldn't remember if it was here or a truck forum I'm on and thought it was you. Don't even know how I put all that together. Maybe a similar name on the other forum. Anyway, don't really matter either way. I don't have a problem with dot for the most part. Can't ever say I was treated unfairly. Didn't really mean to pry...

Does it really matter? That mo fo is moving! I've said this many times and think I even mentioned it here..at those higher speeds when you come up and pass other vehicles they almost appear to be moving backwards. You can see it happening in the video.

One of these... http://www.amazon.com/Carhartt-Arctic-Quilt-Lined-Overall/dp/B0041T42LY EXACTLY.... Being a flatbedder I've got coveralls for warm weather, insulated overalls for crappy weather and a full arctic suit all by carhartt. They never leave the truck. I beieve in being prepared for anything, anytime. I've seen some crazy weather in the mountains over the years when you least expect it. I also adjust my brakes, grease the truck and fix a lot of my own stuff. Coveralls and wet wipes can save the day sometimes! U DOT down there?

Remember, I told you I love it out here. I mean I really love it and other than putting a little extra pollution into the air because my engines been tweaked ( ) and because I'll run a little harder then the average bear I ttry and tread lightly on our beautiful planet. I rarely sleep at truck stops because they are gross. Piss bottles everwhere...it sucks. I have my little hideaways where I sleep and been using them for years. I wake up in the morning and want to smell fresh air. I like the peace of being away from all the racket a truck stop brings. I wake, I make my own breakfast and play stick with my dog. Between playing with my dog, eating, thoroughly going over my truck and having coffe it's usually about an hour and half. Waking up in a truck stop just isn't as enjoyable. Here's my co pilot Hannah watching me do my inspection. #2... Watching the mirrors like a champ. Can't get close to the truck without her knowing it

This is my good friendsBobby and Janes. This is a 110" sleeper. Another very popular size sleeper for us long haulers is the 135" sleeper. They will make them 200" if that's what your wish is. Inside they have all the comforts of home and have everything an rv would have. When they go trucking they stay out 3 - 4 months at a time. They are in their 60's, married, run as a team, and been trucking for 40 years. They are both retired military. I always tease them by calling them "hobby truckers". You see they mostly haul all our military's secret shit. They will get to California with a load and then relax in the warm desert until the next secret load needs to be shipped. Sometimes they sit a day or two, sometimes a week or two. When they run, they make real good money...real good by anyone's standard. We both lease to the same company ( arguably one of the best in this industry ). We have approx 2000 owner ops, about 200 of which are these guys. We are not the only company that hauls this stuff but we are one of the few. Personally I don't haul this secret stuff but I do haul a good amount of military stuff. So anyways, these guys sit out there in the desert, shining their trucks, with lounge chairs and bar b ques all set up living the life. They mostly run the south in winter, where the drivings easy and the sun is shining so their trucks never really see dirt. I must admit, I too have mostly opted for the southern route thing in winter too as I've aged and been afforded the ability to be more particular. When my wife retires in 3 more years, I too will be stretching my frame and going with a 135" sleeper and we will then truck together although she has no desire to ever drive. The only reason I haven't done it already is because you give up weight and maneuverability and currently I still want to be able to load heavy when I have to and I still currently take loads to places they may have a harder time with. In this picture I posted, our company was given the oppurtunity to haul the World Trade Center steel.we were a convoy of about 60 trucks surrounded by police escorts and ran up 95 to JFK in ny where it was stored in a hanger. We all donated our trucks to the cause. Here's a pic of us lined up at the George Washington bridge waiting for them to close the bridge for us. It was all very cool! So I never meant to drift like this but...I dug up a pic of a big sleeper so you could see and there was a story behind it all. Sorry...but if you like trucking stories...then I got stories

...hick, (stumble)....... I, I knoow seberal... hick... peeble that you should ......have their jobs hick.....

One last little piece of advice... I don't know your dads financial situation or if your looking into this to get him a present for Xmas but if the budget is limited right now then he would be much better off getting things to make himself comfortable on the road in a truck which sorta becomes your home. Chances are they aren't just going to turn him loose. I don't know who he went to drive for but I do have my hunches since there's not all that many companies that take on rookies in the long haul biz. They will be telling him his routes and where to stop for fuel. Even with his directions handed to him, he needs to take the time to make sure they are correct. Don't ever assume directions are correct! Here's something I've personally run across many times over the years... Pick up a load in LA, destination Pa.... Done it for 30+ years! no problem...so off I go because I know my way around. I've never been to the actual destination so when I get close the morning of I call the place a) to let them know I'll be there so they can be ready for me and b) I need directions for the best way to get there. Surely they will know, they work there and drive there every day , right? I call and get ahold of the person who works there and commutes there every day and probably been asked this same question lots of times... They give me directions and now surely the last few miles of my trip will be a breeze. Not so...the person on the phone goes to work every day in a CAR. They are not thinking big truck! Sure sometimes you'll call and they'll know perfect directions and will even warn you of routes not capable of handling a big truck but other times they'll sound just as confident as they tell you directions only there's a low overpass or a bridge that can't handle your weight ( HUGE fine and even worse if you take out the bridge) or simply a turn that you won't be able to make. So bottom line...you always have to check that map! A tv/DVD, a microwave, a fridge, a wireless service so you can get internet, coffee maker just to name a few things might make life on the road more comfortable to start then a GPS that is priced higher because it's " truck friendly".

My personal cut off is 30 mph. If I don't feel confident and safe doing at least 30 mph I shut it down. Any company that would insist you continue when you don't feel good about the road conditions would be a company you need to get away from. When driving conditions are bad a big truck does have advantages over 4 wheelers. That being said, if not operated properly it can also get crazy real fast. Theres definately a right and wrong way to go about it. The snowy picture I posted with clear roads was a storm that started about 10 that night. When I started that day ( early in the am ) it was snowing fairly hard and the roads were completely covered. This wasnt long after the sun had come up and already nice and clean!

Thanks... It's easy when your handed this sort of material

Ditto what wolver said... Facebook has a page...trucker daily fail A lot of the guys stuck under low bridges will blame it on gps. I don't care how "truck friendly" it says it is I dont care how many additional inputs you can put in it such as height and weight. Anyone who's been out here for a minute will tell you they're crap and it's not just because were stuck in our old school ways. That being said, I've got a PC miler. Back when the flat screen models first started appearing it was probably the best when it came to being truck friendly. GPS should only be used as a mile counter and maybe a reminding system that your exit is approaching soon. First and foremost he needs to get a truck specific map and learn how to read it. Until he's familiar with the highway system he needs to use it. I suggest he spend 15 minutes before each load using that map and writing down his directions and then double checking to make sure the gps is sending him the same way. They sell a nice laminate one that is updated yearly ( although you don't need to buy a new one yearly). It has everything in it a trucker would ever need to know. An accident of any kind is the surest way of never getting into a good company hauling freight worth hauling, especially when your starting out. He is 100% responsible for that truck, where it goes and how it gets there.

Up in the Adirondacks. I took the picture because the scene looked so quiet and clean and peaceful. When I started that morning the roads weren't quite so nice. Some of the perks of having an office in a truck. Hours and hours of beauty anytime of year, regardless of the weather...

Snowy view from the office...

What wolver said... Most of the storms in winter run west to east. I've run all the way across many times with a storm right at my front or back door and never seen it. If you can time it between storms your golden. Keep in mind that if there is a storm behind you 5 hour days isn't going to keep you out of it unless it's moving REAL slow. In that case you'd be better off chasing it as opposed to it chasing you. With a little common sense you'll be fine. My 3 days holed up in a truck stop because of closed highways is an extreme storm which you won't encounter unless you really plan poorly. I live out here on the highway the majority of my time...sometimes getting stuck in these monster storms can't be avoided in my situation. One suggestion, snow ...not so bad, just be a little more cautious. Ice whole different story...find yourself a nice warm room somewhere...it's not to fool with. In snow storms it's mostly the dummies that end up in ditches ( that and those invincible 4 wheel drive suv's)...ice on the other hand can put the most careful driver into the ditch. If you do get caught, take pics! Storms can be beautiful!

West of Chicago the train travels through some beautiful country. Trains are also nicer. Amtrak in the north east isn't so nice. Speaking of amtrak....a really beautiful ride and really worth taking is the route between LA and the Bay Area. Follows pretty much right along the coast.

I figured that's what was going on. It happens every night of the year...your just not out here that time of day usually ( obviously). In virginia it's actually illegal to sleep on the ramps and there's those days when DOT will come out to the rest area and write tickets to everyone who's out there. Blow outs can throw huge chunks of rubber...we call the big hunk of tread that you see laying on the road " gators" when we warn each other on the radio that it's laying there. Driving over them can do lots of damage. I seen a guy in a trans am hit a chunk of rubber on 81 just outside of Knoxville years ago. I saw it before he hit it. Not sure if he saw it and thought he could just drive over the top of it or if he didn't see it. Well he hit this slab of rubber and destroyed the front of the car and sent him careening into the woods. Blow outs is another real good reason to stay away from trucks on the road. Personally I only buy virgin tires, not " caps". Costs more money up front but you usually don't have this problem. Virgin tires and thoroughly inspecting your truck every day can go a long way in preventing this. Btw...I LOVE what I do. Wouldn't want to do anything else but I'm not happy what's happened to the industry as a whole.