Must be true, they are getting them free.
I just went up to my old building to pick a package up, and one of the supes told me that by next year, the whole center will be LNG. Tractors and package cars!
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Must be true, they are getting them free.
I just went up to my old building to pick a package up, and one of the supes told me that by next year, the whole center will be LNG. Tractors and package cars!
CheddaHead
Member
I much rather prefer a diesel over the lng's.
Acceleration is choppy and it seems like when you accelerate at a low speed with no weight, and let off the gas, it will continue to accel for a few more seconds. They are very quiet though, and I'm sure they are easier to start when cold as well
Acceleration is choppy and it seems like when you accelerate at a low speed with no weight, and let off the gas, it will continue to accel for a few more seconds. They are very quiet though, and I'm sure they are easier to start when cold as well
639OldTimer
Member
My best advice for a new feeder driver is simple....respect the equipment! 2nd on the list is leave yourself plenty of room between you and the vehicle in front of you. You can't always control the "space" on the other 3 sides but "space" in front gives you enough room to react to whatever occurs in front of you. Lastly, take your training to heart. If nothing else, you'll see the difference it makes in your everyday driving and being able to "see" problems and plan/react accordingly!
MaceFremonti
Well-Known Member
639....hmmm....Burt?
Knothead
Yep.
Feeder tip number eleventeen: After pulling the pin on the fifth wheel to disconnect your RENTAL tractor from your trailer, dump the air from the rear suspension before pulling away to avoid ripping the kingpin off the trailer with the rear crossmember. Someone in my building had some 'splainin to do yesterday because of this.
MaceFremonti
Well-Known Member
During peak last year one of our guys had an older POS rental. The fifth wheel on this particular rental had a nasty habit of pitching forward when dropping a trailer and staying in that position. You had manually lift up the front of the fifth wheel and rotate it back before you could couple another trailer.
One cold and snowy day our driver was at his meet point and had dropped his trailer but he didn't realize his fifth wheel was angled forward. Luckily his outbound load was sitting on a sheet of ice because when he went to back under the trailer the forks of the fifth wheel hit the front of the trailer and BOOM the trailer went sliding backwards about 15 feet!
The sound woke up just about every sleeping driver at the truck stop.
One cold and snowy day our driver was at his meet point and had dropped his trailer but he didn't realize his fifth wheel was angled forward. Luckily his outbound load was sitting on a sheet of ice because when he went to back under the trailer the forks of the fifth wheel hit the front of the trailer and BOOM the trailer went sliding backwards about 15 feet!
The sound woke up just about every sleeping driver at the truck stop.
UPS4Life
Well-Known Member
Why?
If it's too far forward, and you take too sharp of a turn, well....guess
CheddaHead
Member
I seriously doubt that. Unless that trailer is well, well over 40k and those inclines are as steep as a mountain...
MaceFremonti
Well-Known Member
Saw a guy once completely FUBAR the rear of twin screw rental when he went to hook up a pup and the 5th was forward. Funny thing was he thought the fifth wheel was not locking in so he kept pulling a little forward and ripping it backwards. By the time I got his attention the damage was done.
UPS4Life
Well-Known Member
The pups are all you have to worry about with the 5th wheel, in addition to the 5th wheel make sure you pull the mudflaps off. If you have a long box and have it slid forward it's a much smoother ride.
barnyard
KTM rider
There is a center in the NE, someone here posted about it, that has a wrecker in the winter that hooks onto all outbound loads to pull them up the hill of the outbound lane.
OPTION3
Well-Known Member
doubt it all you
like...it happens regularly...and the trailers are not overweight...just HEAVY
doubt it all you
like...it happens regularly...and the trailers are not overweight...just HEAVY
guyinthebrownbox
Well-Known Member
I disagree on the LNG pulling power. However, it's not a deal breaker. I'll take one over a sterling or international any day. The quiet ride makes it worth it
Also the noise you hear between shifts is compressor surge. It's air trapped inside the turbo piping pushing back against the turbo once the throttle plate closes.
Also the noise you hear between shifts is compressor surge. It's air trapped inside the turbo piping pushing back against the turbo once the throttle plate closes.
OK! first week of training is done. what can i say? i'm feeling a little overwhelmed-and i've been getting my butt kicked every day. it's like my first day as a package car driver all over again lol. But...i'm not discouraged. One thing i learned from package was that it takes at me a while to become fully proficient. but my trainer says that i grasp the concepts, and that's what he's aiming for.
biggest issues so far:
Pre trip. just have to remember all the points that are listed. i get the general idea that you start at the front of the truck and do a sweep all the way around, from top to bottom.
shifting. getting smoother, but i still get lost in the gears. or i don't have the right speed when up or down shifting and i end up grinding.
managing my space in traffic. i'm pretty good at managing my following distance, using the seeing habits. i just have to get better at judging traffic so i don't have to make any sudden movements or drastically reduce/increase speed.
turns with doubles or the 53 footer. the concept looked easy enough in the dmv book LOL. but it's a whole different scenario when my trainer is yelling at me to turn in because i lingered in the outside lane too long before switching lanes. but as with everything, i'm confident i'll get better by the end of the class.
My trainer is pretty tough on me, and he likes to push me. but i'm cool with it. he'll yell a little if i'm messing up but i'm not taking it personal.
it's a totally different world. for 10 years it's been "rush rush rush"...now i've got everyone telling me to slow down
it's gonna take some work to undo all that conditioning. but i'm really liking it so far. i'm on the bottom of the seniority list, and i'm a rookie again but I think i've made the right decision to transition to feeder.
edit: i'm in a class with 2 other guys, and they both are having second thoughts about sticking with it :\
biggest issues so far:
Pre trip. just have to remember all the points that are listed. i get the general idea that you start at the front of the truck and do a sweep all the way around, from top to bottom.
shifting. getting smoother, but i still get lost in the gears. or i don't have the right speed when up or down shifting and i end up grinding.
managing my space in traffic. i'm pretty good at managing my following distance, using the seeing habits. i just have to get better at judging traffic so i don't have to make any sudden movements or drastically reduce/increase speed.
turns with doubles or the 53 footer. the concept looked easy enough in the dmv book LOL. but it's a whole different scenario when my trainer is yelling at me to turn in because i lingered in the outside lane too long before switching lanes. but as with everything, i'm confident i'll get better by the end of the class.
My trainer is pretty tough on me, and he likes to push me. but i'm cool with it. he'll yell a little if i'm messing up but i'm not taking it personal.
it's a totally different world. for 10 years it's been "rush rush rush"...now i've got everyone telling me to slow down
it's gonna take some work to undo all that conditioning. but i'm really liking it so far. i'm on the bottom of the seniority list, and i'm a rookie again but I think i've made the right decision to transition to feeder.edit: i'm in a class with 2 other guys, and they both are having second thoughts about sticking with it :\
