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NA4BH
11-04-2010, 12:43 PM
I was traveling the Interstate today and saw an over-sized load with escort front and back. The front vehicle had the mast that checks for bridge and overpass height on it. The truck was not that far behind. My question is, what if the front vehicle finds a structure that is too low for the load, what do they do? This truck had already passed the last interchange (by a mile or two) and the median (or medium as you hear quite often :lol: ) was such that he could not drive through it to reverse route.

Does the load become a new tourist attraction where it sits, or does the driver hope his back up skills are perfect?

NQ6U
11-04-2010, 12:59 PM
If the pilot car driver has done his homework properly, he already knew of any impaired vertical clearances before they even started the trip. The mast is just sort of a double-check, looking for something that wasn't previously noted, low-hanging wires being the most common thing encountered. And although it's a less than ideal situation, any truck driver worth his salt can easily back up a trailer for a mile or two if necessary.

N2CHX
11-04-2010, 01:07 PM
any truck driver worth his salt can easily back up a trailer for a mile or two if necessary.

And this, my friends, is why I don't drive a truck for a living.

KG4CGC
11-04-2010, 01:14 PM
what if the front vehicle finds a structure that is too low for the load, what do they do?
Depending on how much clearance they need, the first order of business is to see if deflating the tires will get them through.

NQ6U
11-04-2010, 01:23 PM
And this, my friends, is why I don't drive a truck for a living.

Kelli, if you're backing in a straight line, it's actually easier to back up a 53' semi-trailer than it is the type of trailer you might pull behind your car. They react to steering input much more slowly than something like a boat trailer so they aren't so likely to get you all crossed up.

KA5PIU
11-04-2010, 01:24 PM
Hello.

I have had to back a truck up nearly a mile. ;)
Sorry people but it comes with the job.

N2CHX
11-04-2010, 01:28 PM
Kelli, if you're backing in a straight line, it's actually easier to back up a 53' semi-trailer than it is the type of trailer you might pull behind your car. They react to steering input much more slowly than something like a boat trailer so they aren't so likely to get you all crossed up.

Really? I didn't know that. I figured it would be much more difficult to back up a tractor-trailer. The very thought of it makes me cringe. I can back up a small trailer -- another thing my father taught me. One day I was parked behind a store, getting boxes from a cardboard dumpster for moving. This truck pulled up and was trying to back up to the loading dock. He must have been inexperienced because he backed up and pulled forward for -- I swear -- like 10 minutes trying to line the truck up. After seeing that I figured it must be next to impossible to back one of those things up and make it go the way you want it.

N2CHX
11-04-2010, 01:28 PM
Hello.

I have had to back a truck up nearly a mile. ;)
Sorry people but it comes with the job.

Oh Rudy >swoon<

NQ6U
11-04-2010, 01:42 PM
Really? I didn't know that. I figured it would be much more difficult to back up a tractor-trailer. The very thought of it makes me cringe. I can back up a small trailer -- another thing my father taught me. One day I was parked behind a store, getting boxes from a cardboard dumpster for moving. This truck pulled up and was trying to back up to the loading dock. He must have been inexperienced because he backed up and pulled forward for -- I swear -- like 10 minutes trying to line the truck up. After seeing that I figured it must be next to impossible to back one of those things up and make it go the way you want it.

Backing into a dock is a whole different kettle of fish. Depending on how it's set up, that can be a real bitch. I've had a few where it took me ten or more tries to hit the door properly, especially if it required blind-side backing or there was limited pull-up space in front of the dock.

N2CHX
11-04-2010, 01:44 PM
Backing into a dock is a whole different kettle of fish. Depending on how it's set up, that can be a real bitch. I've had a few where it took me ten or more tries to hit the door properly, especially if where required blind-side backing or there was limited pull-up space in front of the dock.

Well, shows you how much I know about trucks (not much). I've had (and have) truck driver friends, but never even rode in one much less tried to drive one. Ice Road Truckers is an interesting show though.

w3bny
11-04-2010, 01:48 PM
I was traveling the Interstate today and saw an over-sized load with escort front and back. The front vehicle had the mast that checks for bridge and overpass height on it. The truck was not that far behind. My question is, what if the front vehicle finds a structure that is too low for the load, what do they do? This truck had already passed the last interchange (by a mile or two) and the median (or medium as you hear quite often :lol: ) was such that he could not drive through it to reverse route.

Does the load become a new tourist attraction where it sits, or does the driver hope his back up skills are perfect?

Dont you know Astron fightin sticks when you see it. It was a 18-wheeler gud-buddeh dx-pedition...

Bunnehman did dun said that...and ahm down on the flipside...que-ssss-El? <bhoo-wheep>

W7XF
11-05-2010, 08:36 PM
Hello.

I have had to back a truck up nearly a mile. ;)
Sorry people but it comes with the job.

Cowthief, that means you did pass J.B. Hunt's backing-up class.

KG4CGC
11-05-2010, 08:40 PM
Cowthief, that means you did pass J.B. Hunt's backing-up class.
Ha ha ha eeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww!

VE7DCW
11-05-2010, 10:08 PM
Cowthief, that means you did pass J.B. Hunt's backing-up class.

I'm trying to figure out where the part about the blackhawk helicopter gets inserted into the equation by Rudy ..... :lol:

73

NQ6U
11-05-2010, 10:59 PM
I'm trying to figure out where the part about the blackhawk helicopter gets inserted into the equation by Rudy ..... :lol:

Rudy's given up on the Blackhawk and gone over to a Bell Model 47.

http://www.eaa.org/photos/1001/gallery/Helicopters_-_Rotorcraft/Bell47G2_1.jpg

WØTKX
11-06-2010, 10:09 AM
It's from falling asleep in front of the Muntz Radiation King as a kid...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTxjVtBJYCY

N2CHX
11-06-2010, 10:15 AM
Cowthief, that means you did pass J.B. Hunt's backing-up class.

Is JB Hunt like the scourge of the trucking industry or something? There's a truck stop not far from me that I used to buy gas from because it was cheap. They always had a sign on the door telling JB Hunt drivers they were not welcome.

NQ6U
11-06-2010, 10:24 AM
Is JB Hunt like the scourge of the trucking industry or something? There's a truck stop not far from me that I used to buy gas from because it was cheap. They always had a sign on the door telling JB Hunt drivers they were not welcome.

Hunt has the highest driver turnover in the industry because they have a reputation for treating their drivers like shit. As a result, they'll hire anyone and end up with the dregs of the driver pool, the drivers who can't get a job anywhere else. Think about what your average truck driver is like, then think about what the dregs of that...community must be like and you'll get an idea of who drives for Hunt.

KA5PIU
11-07-2010, 12:15 AM
Hello.

JB Hunt is the bottom of the barrel.
You work for them for a few months to get training and experience from a big carrier.
I wanted to go to KBR halliburton but only had construction and cattle hauling experience, nothing from a major carrier.
But KBR no longer hires US citizens as a rule and moved the headquarters to the UAE.
The US outsourced a government contractors jobs.

W7XF
11-07-2010, 01:10 AM
Is JB Hunt like the scourge of the trucking industry or something? There's a truck stop not far from me that I used to buy gas from because it was cheap. They always had a sign on the door telling JB Hunt drivers they were not welcome.

Kelli... you're talking about Jim's there in Buffalo. JB Hunt WAS banned there years ago due to a spat between management and JB Hunt's fuel department. NY State Police started to end that ban that winter when they forced Jim's to allow JB drivers to park there while the Thruway was closed due to snow. But, the policy ended when NY refused to renew their fuel sales licences until they rescinded the no JB policy.

W4RLR
11-07-2010, 02:34 AM
Kelli, if you're backing in a straight line, it's actually easier to back up a 53' semi-trailer than it is the type of trailer you might pull behind your car. They react to steering input much more slowly than something like a boat trailer so they aren't so likely to get you all crossed up.I'll say. I'm the son of a long-haul trucker, but the longest trailer I tow is thirty feet of fifth-wheel RV. Backing up a standard trailer and a fifth-wheel trailer are two different animals. The standard trailer is twitchy. The fifth-wheel takes forever to turn when going backwards. And I have to go backwards after every trip to put the thing away.

W4RLR
11-07-2010, 02:38 AM
Is JB Hunt like the scourge of the trucking industry or something? There's a truck stop not far from me that I used to buy gas from because it was cheap. They always had a sign on the door telling JB Hunt drivers they were not welcome.Well, I did hear from a driver from a competing firm that J.B. Hunt was an acronym, which stands for JOHN BOY HAS US N---ERS TRUCKING.

N2CHX
11-07-2010, 02:39 AM
Kelli... you're talking about Jim's there in Buffalo. JB Hunt WAS banned there years ago due to a spat between management and JB Hunt's fuel department. NY State Police started to end that ban that winter when they forced Jim's to allow JB drivers to park there while the Thruway was closed due to snow. But, the policy ended when NY refused to renew their fuel sales licences until they rescinded the no JB policy.

Yep, that would be the place. I always wondered what that was about. It seemed like a pretty harsh thing to post on your door.

w2amr
11-07-2010, 05:02 AM
Hello.

I have had to back a truck up nearly a mile. ;)
Sorry people but it comes with the job.Maybe you should have stuck with engine rebuilding.

KA5PIU
11-07-2010, 05:48 AM
Hello.

JB Hunt was, and is, banned from quite a few places.
The primarily Mexican carriers are liked or disliked.
You can look at the safety history of carriers.
http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx
But JB Hunt is far better than some of the smaller carriers who hire what they do not.
Holding Hazmat and running into Canada both require a clean background and good driving record.

W1GUH
11-08-2010, 02:12 PM
Hunt has the highest driver turnover in the industry because they have a reputation for treating their drivers like shit. As a result, they'll hire anyone and end up with the dregs of the driver pool, the drivers who can't get a job anywhere else. Think about what your average truck driver is like, then think about what the dregs of that...community must be like and you'll get an idea of who drives for Hunt.

Wow. Sincerely, I never would have expected to hear that about J.B. Hunt. When I'm on the highway, it's those trucks that always seem to be the most courteous and safest drivers. They never try to pass another truck on an upgrade (meaning that they won't pass and will block the road), they never seem to be in an inordinately long convoy, they always signal appropriately, and don't even seem to tailgate inappropriately. I've also heard this from at least one other source. Again....WOW...THAT's who those guys are? Well, maybe, but still...I'd much rather be on a highway filled with J.B. Hunt trucks that any other.

w2amr
11-08-2010, 02:51 PM
Isn't Mike Hunt a relative?:chin:

NQ6U
11-08-2010, 02:55 PM
Wow. Sincerely, I never would have expected to hear that about J.B. Hunt. When I'm on the highway, it's those trucks that always seem to be the most courteous and safest drivers. They never try to pass another truck on an upgrade (meaning that they won't pass and will block the road), they never seem to be in an inordinately long convoy, they always signal appropriately, and don't even seem to tailgate inappropriately. I've also heard this from at least one other source. Again....WOW...THAT's who those guys are? Well, maybe, but still...I'd much rather be on a highway filled with J.B. Hunt trucks that any other.

The reason they don't try to pass another truck is because Hunt trucks are severely governed and the drivers know they'll never make it. As for the other stuff, well, YMMV. I've seen both courteous drivers and dick-heads from every company including J.B. Hunt.

W1GUH
11-08-2010, 03:23 PM
Isn't Mike Hunt a relative?:chin:

Him, and his brother York.

w2amr
11-08-2010, 04:08 PM
Him, and his brother York.
http://www.ilovewavs.com/Effects/Music/Sound%20Effect%20-%20Rimshot.wav

KA5PIU
11-08-2010, 04:19 PM
Wow. Sincerely, I never would have expected to hear that about J.B. Hunt. When I'm on the highway, it's those trucks that always seem to be the most courteous and safest drivers. They never try to pass another truck on an upgrade (meaning that they won't pass and will block the road), they never seem to be in an inordinately long convoy, they always signal appropriately, and don't even seem to tailgate inappropriately. I've also heard this from at least one other source. Again....WOW...THAT's who those guys are? Well, maybe, but still...I'd much rather be on a highway filled with J.B. Hunt trucks that any other.

Hello.

JB trucks are so heavily monitored it is not funny.
They now have a satellite tracking scheme in the trailers that can tell them far more than just where it is and how fast it is going, they can ping the inside of the trailer with ultrasonic and RF transceivers and tell how full it is and even identify some items.
The modern plastic pallets now have embedded transponders and the old ones have a tuned ultrasonic port.
There are 16 ultrasonic "notes", and that is the old system!
And this is just the trailer, you can just imagine what is in the tractor.
Everything from what gear you are in to idle time is tracked down to the second.
Lane position is monitored and if that were not good enough there is that sign on the back that gives the unit number and an invitation to call, 1-800 2JBHUNT.
Everything the driver does and says is tracked at the terminals and every piece of paper is accounted for.
That and the fact that the trucks run 67 MPH with foot pedal and 64 with cruise and there is no real desire to get very wild.

n2ize
11-08-2010, 04:25 PM
One of my eldest cousins was a truck driver for many years, driving the big rigs up and down the east coast. he is probably retired now. One Christmas even when he and a few of my cousins were drunk, one of my younger cousins, a punk who thought he was a big shot because he learned to drive a truck, walked up to my other cousin (the one who drives the big rigs), gave him a nasty sneer and told him, "You can't drive a truck... you couldn't even haul my fathers lunch". Needless to say a fight ensured. There was a Santa Claus over the house who was actually a cop and friend of my uncles, and who came over to entertain my very young cousins. So as my 2 cousins are cussing and fighting Santa comes over to break it up and quiet it down and Santa nearly gets beat up.

Can you picture this scenario. The house decorated for Christmas, on the TV are Christmas carols and narrators talking of "its a season of joy, peace, and good will", meanwhile 2 guys are cussing and fighting over trucks, Santa is getting beat up... Merry Christmas to all. LOL