Adus
Member
I'm an eccentric weirdo too. Pick someone else.![]()
My favorite...
I'm an eccentric weirdo too. Pick someone else.![]()
I am not interested in latching on to or trying to emulate anyone or anything. All I am wanting to do is learn and hone my skills as a listener and practice my craft.
I really don't think the general public as a whole has any sort of definetive view of truckers, except what they see on the road. It is rare these days that anyone takes the time to learn something new about someone else. What is your story?
I had my first set of trucker interviews this morning, a father and son, trucking tradition passed down as it was meant to be. I have yet to review the footage and the audio but I know what I got was pure gold. There was everything, high mountain drama and sincere appreciation of the job they are performing. Family, friends and life on the road and it was not rolled into a neat little package, it was sloppy and filled with emotion, day to day grind, life on the road that requires a cast iron stomach and rubber butt as they stoically put it.
Old school ideas like CAT is the only engine worth a hang, wind out your rpm to 2,200, never use the clutch, log books are for chumps, have to cheat to get by, 4 mpg is acceptable as long as it's a CAT, any truck that's not a Peterbilt is crap...Injun.... as an "old guy" I'd be real interested in what "old school" methodology you think "doesn't work anymore"?
"Old School", as I was taught, is "Learn your job. Learn your equipment. Use your brain to think your way through problems."
"New School" today, as I see it in the "new trucking", says "You're stupid. Let the new tech do the thinking".
In Dec we took delivery of a dozen "computer controlled" Super Tanker trailers for hauling temp sensitive chemicals like MDI/TDI. "New Management" has 100 of them on order. As I type, there are 3 MDI loads sitting in the terminal yard; refused because they were delivered way below the minimum heat range. Now other than the fact that the "new breed" ain't checking them every 2-4 hours in transit like they're supposed to there's a problem. This "old guy" figured it out pretty quick on the road and cured it. As delivered, the temp perameters are set way too low. They are manually adjustable if you know where to look. Have I told "management"? Hell no..... "tampering" with equipment is grounds for dismissal. Passed the word to the "old" head mechanic though..... he's leaving soon anyways. He told me that he'd already discovered that but "management" dismissed the idea with "That's not possible".
BTW, "Dad" didn't teach me. He was a railroad engineer dating back to Steam Engines. He did teach me how to run a diesel/electric locomotive and shunt RR cars when I was 12. He died when I was 14. I learned trucks from my "old school" guys who wouldn't put up with any crap from a "new guy".
I must say that was a good article. I really can't feel bad for the guy riding around in that old rig. He can easily upgrade for a nice used freightliner classic or something better what he's running now. But I do respect his hustle.
Old school ideas like CAT is the only engine worth a hang, wind out your rpm to 2,200, never use the clutch, log books are for chumps, have to cheat to get by, 4 mpg is acceptable as long as it's a CAT, any truck that's not a Peterbilt is crap...
I could go on and on.
You should notice I made a distinction between truckers and people who drive trucks for money. My point was that there are great truckers coming from all directions and the "daddy" method isn't necessarily the only way it's "meant to be." I've learned a lot from old hands over the years. I've also learned from younger, newer drivers. You don't have to be a third-generation driver to be a great trucker and family lineage doesn't mean squat to me. Either you, yourself, can do the job or you can't and it doesn't matter who taught you.
I believe a "spike" is the little handle off the right side of the steering column that operates the trailer brakes independent of the tractor. It's also called a "Johnson bar" or a "trolley brake."
Operative words: "used to be." Lot of "old school" guys can't get past that.Ok, gotcha and for the most part I can agree.... with a couple of exceptions in your examples because I know where they came from.
1. Cat used to be (right up into the 90's) the engine when it came to power and reliability, especially in hilly country hauling heavy loads. 4 to 5 mpg was average for all the "big three" (Detroit, Cummins, Cat) when really working them hard. But Cat stayed together far longer than the other two.
2. Pete used to be the "dream truck" because they were still basically a custom "customer's specs" truck that had everything optional when you ordered one. Aluminum frame? No problem. Your choice of air or spring suspensions, complete drivetrain, interior, you name it. And they weren't just thrown together on the assembly line. Only thing that approached them was a Western Star when they were a stand-alone brand.
Us old farts still remember those days with a fondness. Especially when viewing today's cookie-cutter, buy what we give you plastic "trucks".
Uh huh, that's what I learned to call them. They will soon be part of history/lore as the move towards "brake by wire" progresses.
They shouldn't have to.Operative words: "used to be." Lot of "old school" guys can't get past that.
Less doom & gloom.Consider this.... someday you guys are going to be "old guys" too. Given the current mess of things what are you gonna be able to look back on as "The Good Ol Days"????
They went the way of DeSoto, Eagle, Saturn and Edsel, and for the same reasons: The market demanded it or they couldn't keep up with technology and regulations. Their loss.They shouldn't have to.![]()
They shouldn't have to.or they couldn't keep up with technology and regulations.
They went the way of DeSoto, Eagle, Saturn and Edsel, and for the same reasons: The market demanded it or they couldn't keep up with technology and regulations. Their loss.
I'd like to get a Saturn. But they're gone. I could live in the past and ***** about a great car being unavailable...or I can just go buy a Dodge.