The start of week three of truck driving school saw me settling into a familiar routine with familiar people. I was in the groove by now, and not missing billable hours or insurance litigation one little bit. But there was still plenty of work to do.
Each morning was spent in the classroom covering topics like Federal regulations on hours. A driver is restricted to 11 hours of driving time and 14 hours of on-duty time in a day (with some possible exemptions). There is a 70-hour maximum over 8 days (or 60 over 7 days if you are not a 7-day-a-week driver). We learned about dealing with specialized things like tankers and hazardous materials (HazMat), as well as more general things like the importance of sleep and healthy diets to maintain alertness.
Week three out with the trucks saw some marked improvements in our skills – and therefore in our confidence. I went most of the way around the I-465 beltway that week, and it was the most relaxing drive I had experienced so far. There is not a lot of extra room in those lanes, so being side-by-side with other trucks is not the most fun thing to experience. But it is a much nicer experience than being next to another truck on a narrower city street. Both drivers need to keep the rigs between the lines, and as long as that is happening, it works out. I suppose that as long as you are paying attention it is not hard – which seems to be a general rule in life.
The harder thing is to keep the rear trailer wheels off the white line when on an entrance or exit ramp. A trailer will follow a different track than the tractor, with the trailer cutting a shorter corner. Rolling on that white line is a great way to fail a CDL test, so a driver needs to hug the outside line with the front of the tractor in order to keep the trailer tires in the lane. In an intersection, it is necessary to drive straight longer than you think you need to, then turn very hard at the last second – this keeps the trailer more-or-less where it should be and keeps the rear tires from running over curbs. Or Toyotas. Or pedestrians.
We have all seen those placards on the backs of big trucks proclaiming that “This Vehicle Makes Wide Turns”.
This school teaches that the method of going wide before a right turn is a dumb way to drive, because it allows room for inattentive drivers to fill the spot just vacated, only to be run over during the turn. Instead, we are taught to stay in our lane before the turn but to use an extra lane in the cross-street, and if there is traffic there to simply wait until there is room.
Also, it turns out that the test on pre-trip inspections and air brake checks that I thought I failed in the first week, I would actually have passed at the CDL test site. The school was trying to make sure we had lots of margin for error, so graded the exercise tighter than we would see at test time.
We had more companies come in to talk to us – there is lots to consider and plenty of options. I think we heard from eight potential employers by the time we were through, everything from hauling fuel for a chain of truck stops to running for a bulk food company. We heard from more than one of these employers that this is the only school in the state they recruit from. There are apparently a number of driving schools that are better at teaching people enough to get through a CDL test than to safely drive a truck. We also heard from the company that owns the school.
The main takeaway for going to work in trucking is that there is a trade-off between pay and desirable hours. You will make more the more you are away from home, and you will also make more if you are willing to load and unload trucks as part of your job. Bob the teacher looks on loading with disdain – “They call those guys lumpers. You are learning to be a driver, and I don’t know why any driver would want to be a lumper.” I am sympathetic to Bob’s view – but for another reason. At age 63, I have a limited amount of time left in this career and do not see the need to risk injuries from handling cargo. I will plan to let others handle the cargo and I will drive the truck.
Bob also gave us his unofficial and personal take on each of the employers, including the highs and lows of that kind of work. He spent most of his driving career as an owner-operator driving flatbed trailers that carried materials for events. He was an over-the-road trucker who finally tired of life away from his family and hired on with the trucking company that runs the school. Not long after, he was approached about teaching at the school and he has been there for several years.
Time was moving quickly and we were starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
A background in delivery is helpful. Whether it’s flowers or auto parts.
Basics include:
Don’t say anything not related to the delivery
Walk the fine line of getting your shit off quickly and making the receivers mad. They do not really want to talk to you. A nice haircut helps.
After you pick up get the €#%** OUT of there as quickly as possible.
Check the paperwork and do your log books soon but if you stay at the dock inevitably some pin head will run out with “a few more things you need to take” and you lose an unpaid hour (or two) and maybe miss the delivery window, losing a whole night.
When I was in my 20s I worked at a retail store, and spent much of my time in Shipping & Receiving, so I got to experience this from the receiver’s end. It was interesting to see how various truck drivers handled the unloading.
We were a relatively small store, so while we had a loading dock, everything was done by hand truck (or just by hand). Sometimes this took a while with larger deliveries, and while most drivers were great to deal with, some got pretty grumpy at us. We were often told that union regulations stipulated that the drivers could take the boxes to the back of the truck but no further, although some drivers did give us a little extra help just to get the job done quicker.
One memorable time, I noticed of a few pallets in the truck that contained boxes marked “Buick.” The driver mentioned that his next stop was the local Buick dealer, and I told the driver I bet those were brochures for the next model year’s Buick. He said “Let’s See” and opened a box an gave me a few brochures. That was the best delivery ever.
Good luck on your new adventure. As a safety and compliance manger with 20 years in the industry, your reflections and instructions are accurate. Keep to FMCSA HOS and certify your logs everyday. A good pre & post trip with On Duty time shown on your logs makes for a good day. DOT inspectors look very closely at everything during a roadside inspection and will find something. Unsecured fire extinguishers, burned out lights, low tires are a favorite. Don’t leave the yard with an unsafe trig – keep the maintenance and safety depts on your side. Keep all your documents accessible and current.
I was told that certain companies get either good or bad reputations with DOT/State Police inspectors who decide who to pull over for inspections at weigh stations. My company has a good reputation for maintenance and log-keeping. Other companies do not, and they get their trucks inspected far more frequently.
This series may be the most insightful so far, and that’s saying a lot, JP. I’m astounded at your ability to adapt, your ductility, and I’m glad to be able to read this, as you are a great writer and it’s very easy to picture the situation.
Best of luck with this endeavor.
Thanks, Rafael!
Darn spelling… I meant rig, not trig!
Last note. Beware of companies that pay by the mile. Many have drivers sit at terminals, often far from home, for extended periods. This keeps drivers in reserve, costing them little and making you no money. Stuck in traffic or waiting for a load? You don’t see a dime. Getting paid hourly is much less stressful, plus even if there aren’t any loads, good drivers are often selected to work in the yard, moving equipment and helping out.
Jug handle vs. Button hook. It seems that’s one rule that’s connected to car driving as well. Seeing cars do the jug handle thing – usually cars for some reason operated by elderly drivers – always drives me crazy in terms of unsafe practices, and I can see how it would be so much worse in a tractor trailer. In fact, there have been several high profile accidents involving the deaths of cyclists here in my area due to cyclists filling the gap created by a truck making a jug handle turn…much to the cyclist’s detriment.
The “jug handle” – AKA the “country right”!
Once you learn some of these safety practices, it is amazing how often you see drivers (some trucks, but especially cars) violating them. Tailgating is a big one. We were taught that 8-12 seconds of following distance is the goal, but that can be hard to maintain in traffic unless you are slower than everyone (which is how we maximize that distance.) But wow, some trucks just snuggle right up to the trailer of a truck ahead. I can only imagine what a gory sandwich that could make in the event of a quick stop, with a relatively flimsy cab clapped between two fully-loaded trailers.
Best of luck in our new career .
-Nate
Thanks Nate!
Very good stuff here.
Thank you for going through this, and writing it up for us.
This means a lot!
When I started, I wondered why it would take 5 weeks to learn how to do this. After I got started, I could see how much there was to learn. And I am still learning with a little more experience each day.
JP, I really enjoyed this. Reading about the different right turns, with the correct one being the “button hook”, will have me paying attention to such things when in traffic. I underwrote motor truck cargo insurance for a couple of years and learned about different requirements for different types of cargo. I’m thinking of that now within the context of now having a friend who’s an actual trucker. Looking forward to the next installment.
Same here, having handled cases over the year that involved trucks. I learned a thing or two about them then, but those things have really been put into perspective with this experience.
And remember just a couple of weeks ago, when a news story from Louisville showed a truck cab dangling over the Ohio River, held up only by the coupling to the trailer (called a king pin, which latches into the fifth wheel). I recall in class someone asked “Bob” how strong those were, and he told us that one could support the entire weight of the tractor. I saw those news pictures and thought “Bob knew what he was talking about!”
Especially with long 53 foot trailers I suspect the wrong jug handle turn is the only one that will work sometimes in tight quarters. Wisdom though on making lefts and not turning too soon, wisdom that many pickup and auto drivers could stand to learn as as they turn as soon as they enter the intersection, are pointed straight at a car in the left hand turn lane, have to straighten out, then turn again.
Multiple nights a week I have a left-hand turn onto a narrow street. Rather than a classic jug handle, I was taught to take up two lanes of the one-way street before I start the turn, but keeping close enough to the curb to prevent another car from getting in the gap, and keeping a close eye on the mirror as I start turning. It is situations like these that make me scratch my head at the idea of autonomous semi trucks.
The turning maneuvers are very interesting, and like Joe said above, I’ve got something new to pay attention to in traffic now.
Two years ago my wife and I had planned to rent an RV for a vacation (in part to see how we like RVing, in part just because it seemed fun). And I immersed myself for quite a while in books and videos about how to drive RVs and buses. All sorts of things like wheel tracking, tail swing, etc., that we generally don’t worry about with cars, but I found it very interesting. Unfortunately, our vacation plans fell through at the last minute, and I haven’t picked that back up again, but I’d still like to at some point.
Those are all factors to think about with a vehicle like that – long wheelbase and long rear overhang. It was pointed out to me in class that it is a head-scratcher that we in the trucks have to undergo expensive training and special licensing, while any Joe Schmo can hop into a huge RV and hit the road. Which is why I try to give them plenty of space when I see them on the highway.
Most people don’t give trucks a break. i give them plenty of room at intersections and when I pass a truck, I pass quickly, turn off the cruise and get by quickly. Same for a truck passing me, I’ll back off maybe even touch the brakes so are side by side time is minimized. In a day or two, I’ll be heading out for a 1600 mile trip home, all 53 feet of truck and RV trailer.
One of my biggest developing pet peeves is cars that merge onto highways at a leisurely speed that is neither fast enough to get ahead of me or slow enough to slip in behind me. Traffic can often prevent me from changing lanes, and I find myself having to accommodate merging cars that are apparently not thinking at all about me in the big truck.
Another is the one you mention – cars that will hang on my flank so as to prevent a lane change if, for example, I come across a disabled vehicle on the berm. It is especially maddening because in Indiana, trucks have a speed limit 5 mph slower than for cars, so cars should have no trouble passing me.
I should add that almost all trucks have speed governors, which explains how it can take forever for one truck to pass another. My current truck is governed at exactly the 65 mph maximum speed limit – which is really irritating when I slowly overtake someone going 1 or 2 mph under my speed.
Wow, you hit two thoughts. One, I share the same pet peeve. With a running start up to the freeway you can’t do better than 55 mph. Two, in driving through the Tehachapi Mountains today I was bitchin about a truck passing 5 other trucks by 1-2 mph. Why not stay in the line with the others. My 15 says, DAD, the trucks have govenors and they can’t move faster. I’m like saying “what you talking about Willis”. Now I have to tell him he was right. Gee, thanks JP!
Jug handle vs button hook – makes sense if the right turn is into a wide enough road but into a narrow one I guess you end up with something between the 2? And ging left get as close to a button hook as you can?
Interesting to hear also that as trainee drivers you were canvassed by fuel tanker companies, perhaps as hazardous as it gets. Was this with a view to immediate employment or a thought for the future?
“Was this with a view to immediate employment”
Yes, this particular operator of truck stops (or “travel centers”) kept on-site tankers who would make regular trips to fuel depots to keep the fuel flowing at the pumps. They told us that they would prefer to hire someone fresh who had learned good habits and train them over hiring someone with experience coupled with lax safety habits.
Fuel tanker work pays very well (as it should!). Fiery explosions are not common but they do happen.
Then there are the idiots nonchalantly cruising up the ramp and don’t even both to look before they merge. I tend to give them a blast with the air horn to get there attention.
Would be nice when they train truck drivers to teach them that IT IS OK to back off the throttle for 10-15 seconds to let the slightly faster truck by.
I was coming up the Kansas Turnpike one night, got stuck behind two dueling trucks. One in each lane, doubles in the fast lane and a set of triples in the slow lane. Took about five miles to accomplish the pass as all of us behind them backed off and watched those trailers dancing back and forth, just waiting for that big gust of wind to finish this competition.
I routinely let up on the throttle when another truck is passing me slowly. Nothing good can come of two trucks next to each other for five miles.
Because I drive lightweight loads, I can almost always gain on other trucks when going up a decent-sized grade, even with the governor. so that is where I do most of my passing when speeds are closely matched.
Tanker and bulk hauler operations usually means your home every night. The fun part is getting used to product slosh as some trailers do not have bulkheads or compartments. Acid trailers, propane, anhydrous ammonia, black oil, shingle petroleum are some of the trailers we had that had no slosh control. The one unusual haul we had was tanker loads of the base product for STP motor oil treatment. Those trailers were so clean inside you could eat off the tank.
Way late to the party here, JPC, but as always, good stuff.
Regarding the Jug Handle vs Button Hook method for a right turn, I wanted to comment the other day when this ran, but was too busy at work to reply. You’ve taught me two new terms, supporting the argument that you learn something new everyday on CC!
As a car driver, this was something I’ve always observed, and make sure I give the truck a break for what they need to do. We have an intersection right off of the I-695 beltway that is frequented by very long, but only 10 wheeler tractor trailers. These trucks are likely very lightweight despite their length, because they’re from the Schmidt Baking Company, which is located near this intersection.
From Belair Road (US-1) north to make a right turn onto Rossville Blvd is a perfect place to observe the kind of turns you are talking about here. Most do the button hook, but a few are known to do the jug handle, when nothing is in that right lane, straddling the right and right turn lanes. The button hook can be tough there as these very long trucks don’t always have the room with people waiting in left turn lane on Rossville Blvd.
Where I’m going with all this is my pet peeve with inattentive car drivers that think they can jump in there when the truck needs to swing wide. Surely if they regularly drive through this intersection, they’ve noticed these very large bread trucks and should prepare to give them a break!
Thanks for this series. Hopefully it will enlighten some drivers who read it!
The intersection circled in purple: