Ask A Trucker: What’s In Your Ear? Is It Queer? Flashing From The Rear?

Once again I’m way behind and so it is catch up time. These next three questions landed in the ? A Trucker mail back on August 26th, August 27th, and September 8th, 2008.  Let’s get to them, shall we?

• Q #1:

What do you like to listen to while driving? Any favorites?

• A:

I have a stack of mixed CD’s I’ve put together that I listen to periodically with a little bit of everything on them: rap, rock, country, disco, and everything in between.  When I get burnt out on them I flip through the radio stations like guys tend to do the channels on TV. But, I tend to enjoy the sound of silence when driving.  I like to let my mind wander.  Conjuring up thoughts and ideas along the way.  Brainstorming if you will.  I bought a digital voice recorder a while back so when a worthy thought came along I could capture it, before it had a chance to drift off in the night.

• Q #2:

wat does the “clicking” on a cb mean? does it mean code for im gay? is there code for bein gay on a cb?

• A:

I hate to let you down here, but I’m totally unqualified to answer this question.

1. I don’t own a CB.
2. I’m not gay.

My guess would be the clicking is just someone keying the mic over and over.  Is it gay Morse code?  If it is, I didn’t get the memo.  If you didn’t get the memo, I wouldn’t worry about it.

• Q #3:

Okay, so over the past two weeks I did a very long road trip, putting about 1800 miles on my truck.  I noticed that when I would go around a semi, either passing and moving back over in front of it, or if I just stayed in the left lane after passing, he would flash his lights at me. Just a small flicker as if to tell me something. But I couldn’t figure out why. This happened multiple times, what were they trying to tell me?
Thanks

• A:

The obvious answer (to truckers, not necessarily to other drivers) here is they were letting you know you were up far enough to move over to the right lane.  The left lane is for passing, not traveling.  Chances are that is what they were trying to convey.  The polite thing to do in return is once you’ve moved over (or in the process) flash your marker lights at them.  The easiest way to do this is to turn on your four way flashers (hazard lights), let them blink a couple/few times, and then turn them off.

The second, less obvious possibility is that they were pissed that you came up behind them with your bright lights on.  I’m not saying that’s the case, just saying it is a possibility.  It happens all too often, so I’m putting that out there for those not in the know.  If you are coming up behind a big rig with your bright lights on, it’s going to blind them and/or piss them off, just like it would the driver of a car.

We’ll assume they were just trying to be neighborly out there on the road, letting you know you were a safe enough distance from them to pull over into the right lane.

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Ask A Trucker: The Scenic Route

This question landed in the ? A Trucker mail bag on August 22nd, 2008.  Let’s get to it, shall we:

• Q:
  

Hmmm, I want to know your favorite stretch of road in America?  I’ve driving across the county a few times, north to south, east to west, etc., and would love to hear a good place to drive.  And why you like driving there.

• A:

This question came at a very good time.  I just recently drove through one of my all time favorite stretches of road, and even manged to take some pictures along the way.  The stretch of road in question is US route 191 in Utah, which runs from I-70 down to the Arizona border.  It also runs north from I-70, but we’re talking about that stretch. The stretch we’re talking about goes right through Moab, Utah and right before you get to Arizona, it goes through Monument Valley.  Two of the most beautiful areas in the United States.  Unfortunately we were on the move most of the time, so many of my photos didn’t come out too good, but we did pull over for a moment in Monument Valley, so there are some decent pictures for me to share.  Please keep in mind the lighting wasn’t ideal, mixed with the fact that my camera sucks, but I hope you enjoy the pictures all the same.

I’ve only had the oportunity to drive through this area twice, the time before being durring the winter, and it was snowing pretty hard in Moab.  No time for pictures with limited visibility, not to mention the pictures wouldn’t show much.  But even for as little as I could see, it was amazingly beautiful.  I wish I had some decent pictures of Moab to show.  I long for the day when I can enjoy a leasurly drive through this area, stopping all along the way to take pictures.

This country is filled with beautiful sights to see, and I could go on and on, but you asked for my favorite.  It’s not the most trucker friendly route, with very few places to pull over, and not one decent truck stop along the way, but oh what a feast for the eyes.  I’ve you’ve never been through this area I strongly reconment you take at least 48 hours to do so and and when you do.  It only takes a day to drive through, but you’re gonna want to stop time and time again.

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Ask A Trucker: Home Edition

Here are a couple of questions from one curious reader that landed in the ? A Trucker mail bag on August 22nd, 2008.  Both are home related hence the title of this installment.  Both good questions that I never saw coming.  Check ‘em out:

• Q #1:
  

What kind of home do you have at home.  For instance, is it a home in a development with other similar homes, a mobile home in a park, a ranch on some acreage, a condo or townhouse, etc.  I’m not asking to judge you or anything – I’m just trying to gauge how much I would miss home being away for so long and only there for three days at a time.  If it were me, I would figure since more time was spent in the truck that I wouldn’t actually want to spend much on a physical “home” and maybe just have a condo or mobile home.

• A:

I live in a manufactured home.  It is on one acre of land in an area where two homes are allowed on each property, and each property in the area is right around one acre.  Most everyone has two homes on their land including us.  Here is a floor plan of our home:

The land and the home was bought before we become truckers.  If it were up to me I’d sell it all and just be homeless until we decide to give up trucking.  Can you imagine how much money we would be saving?  A bunch.  But it’s not up to me.  There are two of us, and a unanimous decision is needed.

The bottom line, we miss it greatly.

• Q #2:
  

Who takes care of home for you when you aren’t there, like mowing lawns or picking up mail, checking for burglaries, etc.  Do you have a neighbor or family friend do it?  I am so nosy but I just don’t have a clue how I’d handle things like that.  I don’t know if you would want a neighbor to take care of it or if you just wouldn’t want anyone to even know when you were on the road.  Wow – so many things to think about.  

• A:

It’s a big house and when we bought it we had family in mind.  The master bedroom is ours, obviously.  Bedroom #2 is where Bunny’s mom and dad reside.  Bedroom #3 is their computer room.  Bedroom #4 is where one of Bunny’s brothers resided.  I mentioned that there is a second home on the land, and that is where Bunny’s sister lives.  So as you can see, we don’t have much to worry about as far as our home is concerned while we are out of town.  They all take good care of the place and our pets (one cat, one snake) while we are gone.

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Ask A Trucker: How My Driving? Call 1-800-EAT-SHIT

This gem found its way into the ? A Trucker mail bag on June, 20th, 2008.  It’s taken a while to get to it, but I’m finally here.  So enough with the chit chat, some has asked a trucker:

• Q:
  

You know those “How’s my driving? Call 800-555-5555″ signs on the back of trucks? I’m wondering if anyone actually calls them, and if you know what happens to a trucker if someone complains or commends them. Do they get a spanking for bad driving? A reprimand? If the report is a good one do they get a gold star or a raise?

• A:

People do call in.  We hear about the complaints (none personally on us), because the company will issue company wide reminders of driving conditions and/or situations that might lead to complaints.  I’ve never heard about “at-a-boy” calls, but I’m sure they happen.

Now I’m guessing here, but I would imagine such calls are noted in the driver’s record whether they be of a good or bad nature, but I don’t think any action is taken regarding the bad calls unless there are multiple calls to substantiate the complaints.  I believe enough complaints regarding a driver’s reckless driving could result in at least a reprimand and possibly termination.  Companies don’t like bad drivers.

As far as “at-a-boy” calls go, it might go in your record, but I don’t know if it would effect your pay.  Driver’s pay tends to go up incrementally over time in most cases.  I could be wrong here, but hey, I’m not the guy giving out pay raises, so what the hell do I know.

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Ask A Trucker: Draft Dodger

Here’s a letter that made it into the ? A Trucker mail bag on June, 20th, 2008. It’s a very good question. Folks of the four wheeled variety often times see things from their point of view, while the truckers point of view is a mystery to them. They scratch their heads and “what’s up with that?” and I’m here to tell ya:

• Q:
  

This might be the stupidest question ever but why do truckers hate people who “draft”. Cars have much better reaction time if a slow down or lane change is necessary. With gas prices going through the roof, it could save a lot of money.
Guilty.

• A:
  

Hang on, there are a lot of answers to this one simple questions. First let’s go with the simple physics answer: if you are seeing a gain in your fuel economy from drafting, the trucker is seeing a loss in his. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of anyone stealing my gas, which in effect is what you are doing.

You mention cars having much better reaction time than trucks. This is true if the truck and car are side by side and they both see the same oncoming hazard at the same exact time. Assuming they have the same reaction time, the car will be able to slow down or stop faster than the truck. This is a fact.

But if the car is behind the truck, the car will not be aware of the hazard until the trucks break lights are all up in his grill. And that’s if the truck puts his breaks on. Sometimes it is easier/safer to just change lanes. If this is done with little or no notice you could find yourself face to face with said hazard with no reaction time, because the truck was blocking your view until the last moment.

Another possible scenario: a hazard comes along, but it doesn’t concern the truck, because he can pass right over it without it affecting him, and he doesn’t know you are behind him, because you are so close you are out of the trucks view. Next thing you know you have debris flying at you from under the truck. No reaction time.

According to Mythbusters if a big rig has a blow out while another vehicle is in the general vicinity the flying debris could be fatal. Again, no reaction time to such things. I’m sure you’ve seen the debris all over the highways, so you know that blowouts are a common occurrence.

Then there is the simple common courtesy, no one likes someone riding their ass. Especially at night. If and when those headlights peer around the trailer, they blind the truck driver. Believe me, I know.

Those are the reasons why you shouldn’t draft trucks just off the top of my head. I’m sure there are other reasons, but I think that’s good enough for now.

My recommendation… STOP IT!

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Ask A Trucker: Time Travel

Here is yet another letter found in my ? A Trucker mail bag on June 18th, 2008. That was a very popular day for asking a trucker questions. Anyway, let’s get on with the show:

• Q:
  

How many months out of the year are you on the road? And do you have set schedules or do you go when the company instructs you to? Thanks

• A:
  

Normally we are on the road for three weeks at a time, and then home for three days. When on the road our work schedule is dictated by the work that is available. We never know when or where we will be picking up next, or where we will be taking it.

We just kind of make it up as we go along, however there are rules we have to follow. We can only drive up to 11 hours at a time, and we have up to 14 hours to complete that 11 hours of driving. Once you are done driving you must be off duty or in the sleeper (or a combination of the two) for at least 10 hours straight before returning to duty. If all of this sounds confusing, it is. I did my best to simplify it for you. It’s actually much more confusing than this.

As far as days off are concerned we just let dispatch know when we would like to be home next and they do their best to get us there as close to the requested time as possible. It’s all far far from a perfect science. It’s just the nature of the beast.

I totally didn’t answer your question the way it was asked, but I hope this answer satisfied your curiosity. If I didn’t cover an aspect you were wondering about feel free to ask as many questions as you like, and I’ll try to be more punctual in the answering of said questions.

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Ask A Trucker: The No Zone & Road Pirates

Here are a couple of more questions that landed in the ? A Trucker mail bag on June 18th, 2008. Both from the same curious reader. Again, sorry for the delay in answering questions. I’m just getting over a serious case of funk, or at least I’m trying to. On with the questions:

• Q #1:
  

I’ve heard that long-haul truckers can get really zoned out behind the wheel late at night and it’s dangerous to be anywhere near them on the highway late at night/early in the morning. Is this really true or just a myth?

• A:
  

It can be true, but not a rule. Also such concerns shouldn’t be limited to late night and early morning, because we don’t know the driver’s sleeping schedule. The same could go for a driver at high noon.

The fact of the matter is if you don’t have to drive near a big rig, don’t. Don’t hang out behind them, because they can’t see you all the time. Don’t hang out beside them, because they have a lot of blind spots, and their view is further impaired when going around curves due to the fact that the truck bends in the middle.

That’s the honest answer. Stay away if you can. If you find yourself next to a truck in traffic, speed up or slow down, and get a safe distance from them. Normally there’s nothing to worry about, but accidents happen, and when a big rig is involved, the bigger the accident will be. These areas around a truck are sometimes called “The No Zone” and for good reason. In the illustration I included the truck has four cars around it, and quite possibly can’t see any of them. Something to think about.

• Q #2:

When you’re carrying valuable cargo do you have to worry about being “ambushed” or anything strange like that? In my industry, I know the guys who drive the big Harley-Davidson delivery trucks cross country are always on the lookout for such weird happenings and I’ve wondered about other truckers.

• A:
  

Yes, land pirates are a real threat. There are special precautions that you have to take when under certain loads, but drivers should always stay aware of their surroundings. You just never know when the unthinkable might happen.

There are even specific locations that trucking companies don’t want you stopping at, or in some cases even driving through. Along with that there are hot spots where they want you to use extreme caution. Every now and then we will get warnings from dispatch of fowl play and precautions to take. We personally have not run into any such problems, but we may be able to attribute that to the fact that we heed all of the warnings.

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