thanksgiving

This is usually a short week for those of usd in the trucking industry. Those of us who run regionally are usually home on Wednesday and then leave out again the following Sunday or Monday.  I was home on Tuesday because of Illness. I will not leave now until Monday morning. 5 days at home in a row. That's like a mini vacation. I am quite sure my wife will be ready for me to leave by then.

The freight I hauled this week was generally kind of boring.

 4th class mail to Milwaukee, Wi area.  That usually includes books and make-up.

Card board out of Milwaukee, Wi to Omaha, Ne. I dropped that load in Greenfield Ia.

From there I took a load of Glass from Cardinal glass to Pella, Ia.  Pella is the home office for pella windows and doors that are sold world wide.

From there I picked up an empty trailer and headed for home. This is called dead heading.

todays pictures

Here is my 6th grade class from Bettendorf Middle School in Bettendorf Iowa

insanity runs rampant

This is truely crazy. Last week 3117 miles. This week 3098 miles. I don't remember the last time I had back to back 3k mile weeks. This week I did not get home til saturday morning. This was due in large part to truck breaking down in Indianapolis Indiana. A/c compressor went out which caused alternator belt to break, plus starter went out.  All in a days work I guess.

wow what a week

I have not been able to write much this week. It's been a crazy week with lots of short runs, down time for unscheduled maintenance, lack of good wifi signals, short sleepless nights, and looooong days without the benefit of working all that hard.  Let me explain that last one. There is no such thing as a typical day on the road, but this was a scenerio that took place one day this week.

Got up at 6am, departed at 630 to drive and make delivery at 8am as scheduled. Picked up new load on a preloaded trailer. Drove 1.5 hours to make delivery in des moines, ia. Had to wait 45 minutes for dock to open up and them to start unloading. Unloading took 2 hours. This brings us up to 1230. Drove 15 minutes to pick up a new trailer. Spent 2 hours inspecting this trailer and getting maintenance done on it. Dispatch calling me several times for updates since I was supposed to be in Guthrie Center, 1 hour west of des moines, before 3pm. Maintenance completed at 215 and arrived in gc around 330. Departed GC at 430 with 400 miles to drive. At 9pm rolled into davenport ia for an unexpected maintenance stop. The refer unit had stopped working on the 40lbs of eggs I was carrying.  An hour later problem fixed. However, I was to tired to continue on so I stayed in Davenport that night, which left me a 3 hour ride into Chicago the next morning. With a 10 am appointment scheduled that meant I would have to leave Davenport by 6am (giving me an hour cushion). In order to leave by 6am, I would have to get up not later then 515am. By the time maintenance was completed on my trailer, and I had grabbed a bite to eat, it was midnight before I laid down to sleep.
That was all yesterday and 515 came really early this morning. Thankfully today was not as eventful as yesterday.

Happy motoring
Tom

blindsided backing

blind sided backing

blindsided backing is one of the most challenging parts of backing up.  As noted in my previous blogs semi's have many blind spots. This is very evident when blind side backing.  Blind side backing means the driver is predominately looking down the right side of the truck while going in reverse. They can only see what is in the mirrors. One cannot look out the back or side windows because there are none in a semi.  To get an idea of what this could be like, get into your car and block the back windows along with all the windows on the right side, except for the one in front.

If you were backing to the left side, the driver can open up their window and hang their head out and look down the side of the trailer.  This allows for a much better visual of what is going on.

Anatomy of a Cereal Box

Often when people buy a product at a store, they don’t think about how the product came to be there and how the trucking industry assisted in getting the product to the store.  So I thought I would take this opportunity to share a little bit of what I know on this.

Next time you are in the grocery store, take a look at a box of cereal.

The box is made of cardboard, often at places like Omaha box in Omaha Nebraska. They are then loaded on trucks and shipped to a print shop, like Nordenia in Jackson Missouri.

Print shops like Nordenia do not make the ink that they use to print. The ink is made a places like Seigwert in Des Moines Iowa. The ink is then loaded into tankers, bulk containers or 55 gallon drums and shipped via trucks to various print shops.

At the print shop, the pictures are made and printed onto the boxes. The empty cereal boxes are then loaded on trucks and shipped to places like Kellogs in Battle Creek Mi. 

In Battle Creek Mi the boxes are then loaded with cereal and shipped via truck to various distribution centers around the united states like Hyvee distribution center in Chariton Iowa or the Walmart distribution centers in Mount Pleasant Iowa and Sterling Il. From the distribution centers, the cereal is the loaded on trucks and delivered to various stores, like the ones your moms and dads shop at.

With the exception of Kellogs  in Battle Creek, I have picked up from or delivered to all of the places listed above.

a story

Im working on a story for my class.  It will be called "the anatomy a cereal box". Its the story of how a cereal box comes into being and eventually ends up in your house.

answeing questions and various other things

1. I am going to try and make a video for you guys.  This way you will get to "meet me in person". Right now, my boss will not allow me to bring the truck to the school.  His concern is safety and insurance liability.  The video will include a tour of the inside of my truck.  It isn't much to see but it's home to me five nights a week.

2. I drive for G and H motor freight out of Greenfield, Iowa. The company has been in existence since 1947 by hauling freight from Greenfield to Omaha, Ne and Des Moines, Iowa.
in 2012 we have about 60 trucks on the road. Our area of operation goes from Laredo, Texas to the south, to Bismarck North Daktoa to the northwest and then to Social Circle Georgia in the southeast. We go as far east as central Pennsylvania.

3. Some of the commodities I have hauled in 9 years of driving truck are listed below:
Drywall/building materials
Food, both frozen and dry
paper
envelopes
sand
lumber
coils of steel
ammunition
tools
machinery
and the list goes on and on and on and on.

4. I have had the honor of driving truck in 47 of the lower 48 states. Although I have visited the state of Maine, I have never driven my truck in that state.  I visited there for 3 days back in 1998 when I was on active duty with the U S Navy.

5. Getting a commercial drivers license is not easy.  You must be at least 18 years of age and complete a truck driving school. Some schools are as short as 2 weeks long and others as long as 3 months. 2 weeks is waaaaaaaaaaay to short. There is just not enough time to learn even the basics.

Time for me to sign off and get to bed in a few. I have to listen to the end of the baseball game im listening to. Im a huge fan of the Detroit Tigers!

Mr Johnson

pictures

Dear Class,
Ok, I finally figured out how to post pictures on this blog. It's only taken me about a year to figure that out!

The pictures were taken 08/29/11 at a rest area in northfield, mn.  That is about 20 miles south of Minneapolis and St Paul, commonly known as the twin cities, since they are so close together.

About my truck:
it's a 2005 freightliner with 735,000 miles on it.  From the front bumper of the truck to the rear bumper of the trailer is 75ft long. With an empty trailer and the truck being full of fuel, it weighs just over 34k lbs.  when its fully loaded it can weigh as much as 80,000 lbs.  The average automobile weighs about 4 to 5k lbs!  My truck carries 300 gallons of fuel. The average automobile carries 20 gallons.

I started driving truck in June of 2002. Since then I have traveled approximately 1.3 million miles. How many miles does that average out to in a 1 year time?

wow

I did not realize how long its been since i posted here. I am going to be reinventing myself in this blogspot. I initially wanted to use this as a learning tool for how to drive around trucks. Now along with that I am going to us this to keep in contact with my students.  You see, I am a part of a program called truckerbuddy. The purpose of this program is to educate school age children about trucking. I have been assigned a local class and will be using this blog for that purpose.

still here

Im still here alive and well. Just working on some things. Hope to have something posted soon.

tankers

Tankers

These represent an interesting challenge when loaded with free flowing liquid.  The inertia force created by moving liquid can affect the handling of these vehicles.  To give you some idea what this force is like, fill a bathtub with water then move around in it and then suddenly stop moving. A tub may only hold 40 to 50 gallons was water (approx weight of the water would be 300 to 400 lbs). tankers can hold anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of water, or more. That means upwards of 40,000 lbs of liquid moving around back there.

Because of this, tankers generally require more room for stopping distances. As discussed in earlier blogs a fully loaded semi truck traveling 55 mph needs a MINIMUM of 300 ft to safely stop.  A fully loaded tanker usually requires about 1.5 times that or 450 ft.  This distance needs to be increased as road and weather conditions decrease. 

Because the loads tankers carry are so unstable, tanker drivers will usually turn corners at a much lower speed. Please be patient.

Let’s be safe out there and happy motoring………..

forgiveness

Please forgive me for taking so long between posts. I have been extremely busy this past 3 weeks, covering almost 9,000 miles. This has consumed much of my time and drained me of energy. I am working on somethings and hopefully will be be able to get those thoughts translated into written word very soon.

in the mean time...happy motoring....

Q and A part 1

A question was recently posed to me about what to do if you are in a trucks blind spot and they start to move over.  The answer(s) is simple and yet somewhat complex.  Actually, though, there are at least 4 answers to that question, in my opinion.  I will   list them in the order I believe would be most important to least important, depending on the situation.

1)      Don’t travel in the trucks blind spots.

This is the most effective way of avoiding an accident with the truck and really needs no further explaining.  I.E. if you ain’t there they can’t hit you.

2)      Adjust your position by either;

a.       Speeding up

b.      Slowing down

c.       Changing lanes

This is most effective when you are on the open road and there are minimal amounts of traffic around. However, if you are in rush hour traffic, getting out of the way might not always be feasible.

3)      Honk your horn

Effective, but, not very effective.  Inside the cab of a semi and be noisy. Most of the trucks that I have been in have air leaks in various places. Crack your drivers side window sometime and listen to the noisy air blowing by your ear. Now add to that the noise of a diesel engine, music from the radio and it can get noisy inside these trucks.  Most car horns are barely audible in this situation.   

4)      Flash you lights at them

During daylight, this would be of no value. At night time, flashing bright lights at a truck could result in a serious accident.  Let me explain.  Take a flash light, go shine it in your bathroom mirror and then multiply that times 3.  The reason I suggest this is because most trucks are equipped with 3 mirrors on each side.  A long mirror, a spot mirror and a hood mirror.  Flashing your bright lights at them could cause momentary blindness. Turning your headlights on and off momentarily is not recommended either. This is generally the signal given to the truck driver that it’s ok to change lanes.

The bottom line is this. You have to do whatever is safe and prudent for you to prevent being hit. Each situation is different each and every time.  You have to be ready to make a split second decision based on the scenario you are in.  No matter what situation you find yourself in, you should ALWAYS leave yourself a safe way out.

As always, let’s be safe and courteous to one another. The life you save could be your own. Happy motoring………………………….

blind spots and other info

Blind spots

Driving safely around trucks: Vision Decision

Many motorists believe that truck or bus drivers can see the road better because they sit higher than the driver of a car. In fact, large vehicle drivers have serious blind spots into which a car can disappear from view.

Side blind spot: Be careful when passing a large vehicle. If you can't see the driver's face in his or her side mirror or window, he or she can't see you and may not know you're there.

Front blind spot: When passing a large vehicle, make sure that you can see the entire front of the truck or bus in your inside rear-view mirror before you pull back in front. It takes a large vehicle twice the time and room to stop as it does a car.

Most people are aware of the dangers posed by big trucks on the roadway. In an accident involving a large 18-wheeler and a small passenger car, the consequences are likely to be severe or fatal for the car occupants. Accidents involving large trucks can occur for a variety of reasons. Truckers drive for incredibly long distances, often covering multiple states in one day, trying to meet delivery deadlines for their goods. Truckers can be overly tired or under the influence of stimulants, alcohol, or other substances. In addition, trucks may be overloaded with cargo or improperly balanced, or a trucker may drive recklessly in order to reach a certain destination before a particular time. However, it is often difficult to determine the true cause of an accident because of the variety of factors involved from both parties. Just as the large truck plays a big role in the severity of an accident, the other vehicle can actually be the true cause of the accident. Most passenger-vehicle drivers do not know the difficulties and special skills needed to drive a large truck, and therefore do not understand the proper way to drive their own cars when in close proximity with these large trucks. A well-informed motorist can keep everyone on the road safe by learning about driving safely around big trucks. Large vehicles have large blind spots. All drivers are aware of their own blind spot-- an area near the vehicle that cannot be directly seen either through the window or with the aid of rear-view and side-view mirrors. Passenger cars have blind spots in the rear quarter of their cars. If another vehicle drives in this area, the driver must physically turn and look to see it. Large trucks, buses, and tractor trailers not only have a larger rear-quarter blind spot, but may also have additional blind spots to the front, back, and right side. Longer vehicles have longer rear-quarter blind spots. If a passenger car drives in this area, a truck driver may not be able to see the car and as a result might try to change lanes. Large vehicles also have more blind spots than smaller cars. Because of the elevated position of the truck driver, he or she may not be able to see cars on the right-hand side of the truck, and may also have a small blind spot directly in front of the vehicle. Trucks do not have rear-view mirrors like passenger cars, relying only on advanced side mirrors, spot mirrors and hood mirrors. As a result, smaller cars directly to the rear of the truck may not be visible to the driver. When driving your car near big trucks, remember that it has extensive blind spots. If you cannot see the truck driver in their mirrors, the truck driver cannot see you! As the driver of the vehicle that is most dangerous to all other drivers, it is up to the truck driver to be fully aware of these hazards and to drive with caution at all times for the protection of all motorists. However, passenger car drivers should be aware of the safety issues surrounding large trucks and should know how to drive when near large trucks. All motorists can only hope that as more car drivers become informed about safe driving near large trucks, the number of unfortunate accidents we see each year will decrease.   The length and width of large trucks can create special driving situations for both small and large vehicle drivers. Sharing the road with a truck means being aware of its capabilities and limitations. The following suggestions can help drivers share the road comfortably and safely: Keep well back when following trucks. In good road and weather conditions, you should leave a gap of at least 1 car length for every ten miles per hour between your vehicle and the truck in front of you-and an even greater gap when conditions are poor. At intersections and in slow traffic, ensure you stay far enough back for other drivers to see you. This is particularly important for motorcyclists. When following at night, keep your headlights on low beam. Keep out of a truck's blind spots. Trucks have a big blind spot directly behind them, so it's a good idea to position your vehicle so it can be seen in the truck's side mirrors. This will let the truck driver know you are there-drivers can then give you plenty of warning when they intend to stop or turn. Trucks have large blind spots on both sides-but especially on their left. On multi-lane roads or when overtaking, try to avoid these blind spots, or keep the time you spend in them to a minimum. Remember: if you can't see the truck driver in their side mirror, the truck driver can't see you! Overtaking: Be patient! Be patient when waiting to overtake a truck. It takes several seconds longer to pass a truck on a level road than it does to pass a car, so it's more important than usual to make sure there's plenty of clear road ahead so you can safely complete the maneuver. Don't come too close to the back of the truck before you move out to overtake. It's important to give yourself enough room to build up speed-but remember to keep your speed to a level that is safe for the conditions. You also need to give yourself enough room to return to your lane if there's an oncoming hazard. Remember that it takes a truck longer to stop. Any motorist who cuts in front of a truck and suddenly slows or stops is at risk of causing a serious rear-end crash. Even if the truck driver manages to avoid a collision by swerving or braking quickly, this may cause a dangerous load shift which itself may lead to a severe crash. Be aware that turning trucks may cross the center line. Trucks often need to cross the center line when turning a corner-particularly when they're making a left turn. A truck turning left may initially move to the right to give itself more room to complete the turn. It's important to look at a truck's indicators-not just its movements. Trucks my also swing wide to the left in order to make a right turn as well. Never try to pass a truck while it is turning. This includes passing on the right, too, because the back end of a truck can intrude across the lane during a turn. If you are stopped at an intersection and a truck is turning into the oncoming lane, you may want to back up or pull closer to the side of the road to give the truck more room. Watch out for air turbulence when passing trucks, oncoming trucks or when following trucks. When passing an oncoming truck, keep firm control of the steering wheel to counter the effect of air turbulence. If you're a motorcyclist, move to the left of your lane to avoid the worst of the turbulence, but not so far that you risk being blown off the road. Also change down a gear, so the bike has enough power to accelerate and steer into the wind gust.  If following too close (in racing terms “drafting”) the wind turbulence can shake your vehicle and end up losing control. This can be especially dangerous in inclement weather. The cure for this is obvious, back off. Watch out for splash and spray. Traveling behind or alongside trucks in wet conditions can be tricky. Splash and spray is thrown out and can make it difficult for you to see clearly. Many motorists consider this to be a nuisance and a danger; but unfortunately, there is no equipment available that could solve this problem effectively. However, there are some things you can do to help increase your safety: Keep the windshield clean and the windshield wipers and washers in good condition; if approaching an oncoming truck, turn on your wipers just before it passes you to ensure your windshield is wiped as soon as any spray is thrown onto it, and the time your visibility is obscured will be reduced