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Post by Drafter1964 on Dec 20, 2003 19:23:18 GMT -5
OK here is a good one to ask. I was wondering how the truckers handle a trailer that tracks bad. I just completed my Backing test at the school I am attending and I ended up with a trailer that traked really bad. I had done the straightline backing in the morning of the test and went through 4 times without a wobble. I get this piece of Junk trailer and I ended up driving over a line once but I sweated while I was doing it. All of the other backing excercises on the test were made doubly difficult with this trailer. I Managed to pass the test but with not nearly a good a score as I was capable of. Do you think the school does this on purpose?
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Post by Rachelle on Dec 21, 2003 0:32:18 GMT -5
OK here is a good one to ask. I was wondering how the truckers handle a trailer that tracks bad...and.....Do you think the school does this on purpose? How do drivers handle dog trackers? You have to make up for the off tracking with the tractor. If the trailer tracks left, you have to purposefully keep the tractor farther right than normal and vise versa. Major pain in the butt. Trailers off track because they've been curb checked too hard and/or too often... Trainees sometimes laugh about curb checking, but I can't see anything at all funny about it because the result is the dog tracking. This also makes backing more difficult, as you have noticed. And no, they don't do that on purpose. Trailers at driving schools suffer a whole lot of abuse, along with clutch brakes and transmissions. Trailers suffer at carriers, too, but probably not quite as much.
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Post by Drafter1964 on Dec 21, 2003 23:06:17 GMT -5
Trainees sometimes laugh about curb checking, but I can't see anything at all funny about it because the result is the dog tracking. This also makes backing more difficult, as you have noticed. And no, they don't do that on purpose. Trailers at driving schools suffer a whole lot of abuse, along with clutch brakes and transmissions. Trailers suffer at carriers, too, but probably not quite as much. Thanks for the feedback Rachelle. I know what you mean about trainees laughing about it. There is one Cone that the instructors have dubbed "Grandma" It is on the course in a wide right turn and the object is to get as close as possible without hitting the cone. I believe the purpose is for those right turns out on the treets where you have to get as close to the curbe as possible without rolling over the cone. I heard some guys talking aout taking the cone out on purpose and I said Well what if it is your own Grandma and 7 of her grandchildren standing on a curb. Would they want some other trucker to "take them out" too when making a turn. They told me I was taking things a bit too seriously. And I replied I am taking this all seriously because I hold truckers as very good and professional drivers as well as safe and I found it appalling even in training that they would purposly do this. I will have plenty of time out there to practie these skills but I will never stop trying to improve my skills as a driver. The moment I think I am a "Super Driver" Is the moment I drop my guard and something will happen. How was your run Rachelle? I hope it was good and that you are spending some well earned time at home over the holidays.
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Post by Rachelle on Dec 21, 2003 23:27:31 GMT -5
How was your run Rachelle? I hope it was good and that you are spending some well earned time at home over the holidays. Thanks for asking... Just got home yesterday - ended up staying out almost two and a half weeks. I'm not used to staying out that long and couldn't wait to get home. Haven't even begun to think about Christmas shopping... doesn't even look like I'm putting up the tree this year. (Pathetic, huh?) Anyway, I for one am glad to hear that you feel serious about curbs and such. Some drivers don't care and they never will care while they drive someone else's equipment. Better go - would like to surf the posts and all, but I am forcing myself to remain in front of the 'puter just a little bit longer... (Can you believe I'm wading through something like 800+ emails? ?? YIKES! A large number of them were spam, of course... penile enlargement, low mortgage rates, online prescriptions...) Talk about an out of control InBox.
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Post by truckertom on Dec 22, 2003 21:47:49 GMT -5
"Trailers at driving schools suffer a whole lot of abuse, along with clutch brakes and transmissions."
Amen to that, I hate it when a student takes it all like a big joke. But most of them try really hard to keep the curb checks to a min.
You you 3 types of curb checks.
#1 is the "rub" no problem as long as you like transparent side walls.
#2 is the "roll over", that is when you run the trailer tires up on the curb, happens from time to time. Try not to bust 4 cases of Whiskey from Tenn. on the floor.
#3 is the "sidewalker". This is when the trailer goes up over the curb, up on the sidewalk cracking the walkway and causing the city to have to pay a crew to come out and repair it.
But I have to add a #4. The "Doll houser". This is where your trailer goes beyond the sidewalk, past the sprinkler system and runs over the childs doll house sitting on front porch.
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Post by Arcflash on Dec 23, 2003 12:04:28 GMT -5
Thanks for asking... Just got home yesterday - ended up staying out almost two and a half weeks. I'm not used to staying out that long and couldn't wait to get home. Haven't even begun to think about Christmas shopping... doesn't even look like I'm putting up the tree this year. I sooooo know how you feel. I just walked in after being out 25 days. Dogs didn't even know who I was anymore! hehehehe. That was way too long, I started making alot of mental errors and basically wasn't worth a crap the last few days.
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Post by Phantom56 on Dec 24, 2003 4:45:55 GMT -5
"Trailers at driving schools suffer a whole lot of abuse, along with clutch brakes and transmissions." Amen to that, I hate it when a student takes it all like a big joke. But most of them try really hard to keep the curb checks to a min. You you 3 types of curb checks. #1 is the "rub" no problem as long as you like transparent side walls. #2 is the "roll over", that is when you run the trailer tires up on the curb, happens from time to time. Try not to bust 4 cases of Whiskey from Tenn. on the floor. #3 is the "sidewalker". This is when the trailer goes up over the curb, up on the sidewalk cracking the walkway and causing the city to have to pay a crew to come out and repair it. But I have to add a #4. The "Doll houser". This is where your trailer goes beyond the sidewalk, past the sprinkler system and runs over the childs doll house sitting on front porch. Don't forget to include the new addition to the list thanks to the decision to replace regular curbs with 18-inch high "trucker proof" curb walls on some roads around Schneider's Carlisle, PA Operating Center and training school. I saw some of those street corners my final day of training and they look like the walls at some Nascar track after a big wreck. What was funny to me was that I did most of my driving at night and I went around those corners in the dark with no problems. But my final road trip was in the daylight going in the opposite direction and I finally got to see what a lot of the routes I had been driving look like with more than just headlights and streetlights to illuminate the scenery. I imagine that the students who ran that course during the day were intimidated by those walls while I simply did the corners thinking I was working to keep the tandems off a regular four to six inch tall curb. If I had known they were monster crash wall capable of grinding the edges off a set of wheels I probably would have been one of those who ended up leaving black marks and scrapes on those corners.
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Post by truckertom on Dec 25, 2003 10:40:05 GMT -5
I would rather roll over a curb than a BMW. But that is just me. Others may well have another opinion.
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Post by Drafter1964 on Dec 29, 2003 11:56:38 GMT -5
I would rather roll over a curb than a BMW. But that is just me. Others may well have another opinion. Amen to that. I drove one of those big a$$ed cranes in the army and a Buddy of mine who also drove the same things turned one of those tight corners in one of those tiny German Towns and run over a Volkswagon. So I am kind of paranoid turning corners in that big ole 18 Wheeler.
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Post by truckertom on Dec 29, 2003 22:09:10 GMT -5
I used to drive a Euclid R-50, one of the BIG quarry trucks at a crusher, it makes your car seem really small at the end of the day!
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