|
Post by truckertom on Sept 14, 2003 16:15:03 GMT -5
I had a student quit on me on sept 13, his comments were that he didn't know that OTR drivers had to live in their trucks. I found out later that his wife gave him an ultimatum. She had reluctantly given her permission at first because he wanted it so bad, and then pulled the leash when he started enjoying it. He also ratted me out saying he didn't get enough driving time.
I have always been known for working the snot out of my students so if he didn't get enough driving time with me, what would he find to complain about with one of these coffee swilling, scratch-off Lotto-cherry master 2000 playing, break taking every half hour instructors?
He had to go home to mommie....he would have made a terrible driver anyway.
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Sept 23, 2003 9:15:01 GMT -5
Oh, all these questions....I can't handle them all!LOL!
A spring brake is really a mechanical brake, it is not an air brake at all. There is a huge spring in the chamber that stays collapsed when air pressure is applied to it. When the parking brake valves are pulled out, it evacuates the air that is keeping the spring collapsed and the spring is what applies the brake shoes to the drum....not air pressure. Air pressure is what keeps the machanical spring collapsed and the parking brake off. It is best if you let the brake mechnic work on these items, I saw a driver start whenching the bolt on the clamp holding the spring in......not smart. That spring will explode when un caged, taking the top of your head off. People have died not knowing what they were doing with spring brakes.
In the old trucks before spring parking brakes, they had a band brake that went around a "spool" at the back of the transmission(s) that when calmped tight kept the drive line from turning. If your air pressure droped below 45 lbs.....nothing happend! They did not have a auto reset like the new trucks have today. And the old parking brake did not always keep trucks where you left them.
|
|
|
Post by flyboy2610 on Sept 23, 2003 19:58:38 GMT -5
And the old parking brake did not always keep trucks where you left them. Remember the Dave Dudley/Charlie Douglas song "Where's the truck?"
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Sept 24, 2003 22:15:49 GMT -5
"Remember the Dave Dudley/Charlie Douglas song "Where's the truck?""
Yes I do. Someone told me a story where a trucker got out and forgot to set his parking brakes and the rig rolled into the front of the Troopers car while the truck driver was in the cop car getting his ticket! Lifes most embarassing moments needed to put that on the TV show.
|
|
|
Post by SilverBullet on Sept 28, 2003 7:51:22 GMT -5
Last year I was driving a 1996 Freightliner pulling a flatbed for a Stone Company here in town. I was making a local delivery just outside Birmingham. I was loaded with 16 pallets of stone building block at about 3 ton per pallet. (96000 lbs) plus the weight ofd truck and trailer, (roughly 30000 lbs) total of approx. 126000 lbs. So I was just a little overweight. Anyway, I pulled into this church parking lot, set the brakes, and got out to ask where they wanted me. I got about 3/4 of the way down the trailer when I noticed the truck was rolling. Needless to say I never moved so fast in my life. I got into the truck and got it stopped inches before it slammed into the side of a brand new mini-van. The good thing? Nobody seen me running like a fool to get my truck back under control.
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Sept 29, 2003 10:31:57 GMT -5
Let me guess.....auto adjusting brakes? I don't trust them too far, they never grease them during a service.
|
|
|
Post by SilverBullet on Sept 29, 2003 18:17:20 GMT -5
Let me guess.....auto adjusting brakes? I don't trust them too far, they never grease them during a service. You got it... Although this company left alot to be desired in their maintenance dept. One of the trucks I drove had slack adjusters that were so badly worn, that you had to adjust them a couple of times a day. Think they'd replace them? Not a chance, it's cheaper for me to get under there with a 9/16 wrench. That's the main reason I am no longer in their employ...
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Sept 29, 2003 20:33:04 GMT -5
I Mechaniced for awhile, the local Mack dealer offered to put me through the factory engine school, and the company I worked for let me go when they found out. Then Dallas Mack pulled the offer off the table to keep peace with the company that let me go. (political...truckand part sales).
The drivers asked "Who's going to work on our trucks?" Can you beleive it? I actually fixed things when they broke. What a concept!! A mechanic that fixes trucks.
|
|
zzzztinazzzz
New Member
keep it simple it stays simple
Posts: 1
|
Post by zzzztinazzzz on Oct 1, 2003 19:04:23 GMT -5
I am a driving instructor and have been for several years. It never fails to amaze me that just when you think you have seen it all, then along comes someone else who shows me other wise.
I have learned however that if you watch a persons personality long enough you can find a subject that the person can relate to and then try some sort of comparison to what you are trying to teach. It has not failed me yet, but I am sure it will someday.
I also try to use "show and tell" with these "new drivers" before I try to get them to learn the concept of--1-2,1-2 in double clutch shifting.
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Oct 3, 2003 18:29:34 GMT -5
Reading a student is important, and a talent that most drivers don't have. I have been able to get through to many students that reached a stalemate with other instructors. Most of the time the pivital point turns out to be communication. I earned the nickname of "special ed" for awhile.
And for all that communication, you still have to take a %100 pay cut to become an instructor! It is a crazy gig! I always use the Adams Family finger snap for double clutching! LOL!
|
|
|
Post by JiminyCrickett on Feb 7, 2004 16:28:51 GMT -5
All of us have had or will have a student/trainee that asks what to him/her is a serious question, but lacks thought. Imagine student, yard instructor, and road instrucor just coming into the yard shed from starting trucks in our wonderful Ohio winters. Scene set?
Student: "We don't really go out on the road in this weather, do we?"
Yard instructor: " Of course. All you have to do is drive fast enough to keep your tires clean."
Student: "How fast is that?"
Road instructor: "You need at least a triple digit truck. You ready to go? The road truck is warmed up!"
Both instructors then stepped outside to have a smoke while the student remained in the yard shed looking like a blank piece of paper. (The student had already demonstrated a very good sense of humor).
This actually took place last winter where I teach.
Just a little sunshine to share while watching more s... fall.
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Feb 7, 2004 20:33:49 GMT -5
I know this sounds bad, but I had a student ask me how a jake brake works. So I told him that is causes the pistons to change cylinders.....I was joking! He beleived me.
So I had to explain before he left the school, I would hate for that one get out.
|
|
|
Post by JiminyCrickett on Feb 9, 2004 21:19:57 GMT -5
Tom, Changing cylinders............Hmmmmmm! Must be what makes all that noise . What a novel idea! BTW, suprise, suprise, we finally got the regular road truck out of and off of the ice today. Will wonders never cease. Oh yeh! I just want a twin stack Mack with a window in the back ;D.
|
|
|
Post by truckertom on Feb 9, 2004 21:27:54 GMT -5
I am just sure that the first Autocar I ever drove is in some junkyard somewhere. I guess by now it would be considered an antique.
I wish I had it back to restore. I wonder if you can still get parts for a 250 Cummins?
I NEED to win the Lottery!
|
|
|
Post by fozzie on Feb 28, 2004 10:04:22 GMT -5
Do any of you instructors get to the point of teaching your students to drive without the clutch?
Two of our instructors have at times demonstrated the technique of shifting without the clutch. Driving without it seems so much more intuitive than messing with the extra motions of moving the pedal twice for each gear.
One instructor told us that when we get out with a company trainer, the first thing they may do is tell us to "loose the clutch". However, they have to teach us to drive using the double clutch method.
I may start training myself when I get the chance to be alone at the wheel around the campus.
|
|