Comments on: So very, very wrong…

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:41:09 +0000

Thank you for another lesson in heavy haul.

uhh ohhh…… I think I’m starting to like this.

By: tyro [handle]

tyro [handle] — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:22:20 +0000

Like your honesty Everitt. Not too common these days

By: Everitt Mickey

Everitt Mickey — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:55:48 +0000

Every segment of trucking is a speciality….except possibly the initial phase of pulling a box. Everything is built upon the basics learned by pulling a box . For example my “career” has been mostly platform trailers (step decks, double drops, etc)..in steady progression from legal to oversize. Over the years I’ve learned enough to get by on. That being said I have NO CLUE as to how to pull a reefer, yank a tank, haul cattle( or other critters) or bed-bug. I would approach any of those alternate career paths with a great deal of fear and trembling.

It’s soooo much easier to Haul a hundred thousand pound piece of construction equipment. No fear of it dying on me, getting too hot and spoiling, or blowing up…shoot….scratches don’t even matter (much)…after all it IS a dirt mover….and most times comes “pre-scratched”.

By: Donna

Donna — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:55:32 +0000

I think truckers are the smartest people I know. When I first met my husband he used to tell me what a dumb hillbilly he was - he proved himself wrong the first time I was with him and he had to load feeder cattle. Here I am an educated woman and he was like I have “X” amount of cattle that needs to go in the trailer - how would you divide that up? I knew how many cuts in the trailer there were (including the nose, jail house, & back) but yet I was standing there like “Duh…I don’t know.” And by the time I figured it out - he and our boys had already loaded cattle in the nose because he knew where to put them when he asked me. *sigh*

My hats are off to you all

By: Larry Sheldon

Larry Sheldon — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:52:09 +0000

And don’t forget to include working out how much fuel you can take on, how long it will take to get the right-rear pin un-stuck, how long it takes to crank the landing gear down and back up so you can change the fifth-wheel setting, and be sure to factor in a howling wind and freezing drizzle running down your neck.

By: Mark Spearman

Mark Spearman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:03:16 +0000

I know what the BS stands for, but what is the EE?

Depends on your definition of “harder”. Can you figure these things out with a few days of little or no sleep?

By: BobM

BobM — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:14:11 +0000

Well I come from a long line of truckers. Drove for years before I retrained as a merchant marine. Now I operate a full time business on the internet called G5 Business Directory. I can assure you people no mater how easy you think your job is trucking is no easy task at all. My hats off to the truckers of America and in times like this with high cost of fuel I am in your corner 100 percent. Keep Hauling boys and lets hope you guys are getting some high friegt rates.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:03:03 +0000

I think with 10′ spread axles you get 20,000 lbs apiece on each trailer axle. That’s what I got, anyways. Led to an interesting situation where I was 1200 lbs over gross but my axle weights were fine. Luckily I discovered this on the cat scale and not a DOT scale. Ended up bypassing the only DOT scale on my route because the shipper was already closed.

By: Everitt Mickey

Everitt Mickey — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:02:03 +0000

I think you probably make more….take home. (with benefits…gee…what are benefits?)

As to whether it’s harder or not? How often do you rassle with half inch chains? …or Tarps? or two inch shackles….on a ladder…in the rain.

Oh….not that kind of hard. That’s merely physical.

Well how’s about writing us a program to “axle out” a load. Maybe one for a six axle lowboy….a seven axle stretch lowboy….a five axle stepdeck…and oh yeah….how’s about one for a nineteen axle perimeter frame trunnion?

Make that variable according to tractors please. Taking in to consideration the nonstandard state laws would be an added plus.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:56:43 +0000

You can’t just say a job is harder. There are easy trucking jobs and really hard labor intensive trucking jobs and everything in between. Some trucking jobs require math like Mick’s, mine I never deal with weight but space, cubic feet or linear feet and sometimes I have to pack like I’m playing Tetris.

There are so many different trucking jobs a blanket statement can’t be stated, especially on a trucking blog.