Golfhobo is still around, but mostly posts on the weekends.

 

Well, I said I'd be gone as long as he was moderator. I like Rev a lot, but my real name and company came up in a thread where I was trying to "get real", I deleted my posts and Rev un-deleted them. I couldn't have that, too paranoid about things that can come back to bite me.

I hope Rev continues to post.

But, I'm not much good as an O/O right now. Been off work, tractor as been sitting out in the driveway for seven months now. I just got body slammed last October, three OOS orders in three weeks, a speeding ticket to boot! (1 mph over the limit is how it went down). My first OOS was because I forgot to pull a dump valve on my trailer, I had it "fixed" BEFORE the cop wrote the OOS ticket! At the time, I figured it was better than over weight, my last over weight for not pulling the dump valve cost me $500!

Second OOS, I got the ticket in a speed trap, some may know it, it's the divided highway from NC into SC ending up around Spartanburg. Looks like interstate, no other cars around, driving in the right lane, 46k lbs pushing me down the hill...speed limit changed to 55 mph somewhere, cop could have gotten me for 15 over, and isn't that careless, or something like that!? So anyway, I had checked my tire pressure all the way around the truck and trailer the day before. A valve doesn't close right, air leaks out, cop finds a flat. OOS. Damn!

Last OOS, I'm freakin' bobtailing back to the house AFTER I've quit my job! Pulled into a McDonalds in Southern Indiana to scribble in my comic book, thinking I'm pressing my luck if I don't. Oh yeah, I was pushing my luck alright, left the comic book in the restaurant and got nabbed at the scalehouse two miles up the road! OOS, no log book, and I had to sit there for 10 hours until it was dark before I could move!

OOOOOOoooooo, rough just thinking about it. But, seven months out of work, starting to rack up debt now, I have to do something.

Come back, Rev! You were a great guy, just a sh@tty mod! :lol:

 

OMG, you ever get the idea somebody is trying to tell you something?

 

Musicman, I don't know if that's facetious, but that is EXACTLY what I've thought.

I've been to college, I had even started grad school, I felt is was God who led me into trucking because there were church things going on in my life that had nothing to do with me trying to become an accountant or CPA or whatever.

I taught English overseas for three years, unmistakably some higher supernatural power led me over there (I call him Jesus, but I'm trying to speak in terms more people can relate to)

Yes Musicman, this has been so uncanny, I've wondered if the trucking phase of my life has now passed. I don't want to offend anyone, but I wasn't a born trucker, I had a lot of interests and ambitions, I got into trucking because I'm partial to eating and to not sleeping under overpasses.

Could it all be over now, after 15 years, really!? How about this, two weeks ago I talk to this secretary, I'm supposed to show up the next morning for orientation at 7 am. Looks like the perfect job, hauling cement. Two trips a day, park the truck at or near the house every night, no weekends, $1,000 + per week (company gig).

Well, I've got questions about orientation, how long it lasts, should I get a motel, do I have to go to the home office like the chemical tanker owner ops...? I call back the boss that afternoon and he's offended that I called! Accuses me of calling every half hour, just says be here at 7 am tomorrow, that's all I need to know. Total butthole, most guys can at least be nice while they're hiring you, they've got plenty of time to turn on you later. Well, I couldn't believe it, perfect job, complete jerk for a boss, I turned it down.

HELLO UP THERE! ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING!?

 

I don't think that Rev will be back. It is his choice. He is always welcome back should he choose to do so.

It sounds like you have had some difficult times of late, lowrange. Out of service tickets can be tough. It can wreck your safety score. We all need to be diligent in our inspections and pre trips. States are out of money and the trucking industry is looked upon as a cash cow. Many dot personnel are getting away from the weigh stations and out on the open road where they are doing inspections along the side of the road. I was in South Georgia a few weeks ago and saw 3 trucks pulled over in the middle turn lanes on highway 84 between Jessup and Savannah. The weigh station was closed. I saw another watching traffic for his next victim.

Good luck getting back to work.

 

Why do you think Rev won't be back, did he piss off everyone!? LOL

I don't beat myself up over the OOS violations anymore than I brag about never having a FMCSA accident, a DUI or a felony. Oftentimes it's more about getting caught than being perfect.

If guys were doing their pre trips like they are supposed to, every morning you'd see hazard lights, headlights, and guys walking around and crawling under there trucks in truck stop parking lots. But, that's not what you see.

Never in a big truck, but there have been times when I could have been tagged for having one too many had the stars been in alignment. Hey, 20 or 25 years ago, before DUI was such a big deal, one of my favorite past times was a quart between my legs and a drive in the country.

How many of us have never thought, "damn, baby, *****!!!", thinking about what might have happened in some traffic situation. I thank God I never had a serious accident, nothing more, nothing less.

And now, CSA 2010. Whatever, unemployment being what it is, competing with foreign manufacturers more and more everyday, I suppose the DOT can run off a bunch of drivers and yet there will be plenty.

 

I think Rev was a good contributor too. Oh well.

As far as good habits go....they pay for themselves. Be diligent and it will save problems and money. I find that pre trips and good logs were mostly a habit that I needed to get into. And I'm not perfect....nobody is. But you don't have to be perfect..every good habit is money saved.

 

I didn't mean to suggest there aren't good and bad drivers, or good and bad habits.

What I would say is this, bad things can happen to even good drivers in this industry, I seriously doubt anyone has it all covered, doing everything by the book all the time. I once almost got into a really bad wreck because I pulled over in a snowstorm to help someone and took a stupid pill getting back out on the road. I'm sure I made some guys crap in their pants and cuss the dickens out of me, too- good thing I didn't have my CB on. Someone could say to me, 'well, if you always did your logbook in your tractor you'd never leave it at McDonalds.' To that I'd reply, 'well, whatever.'

Then, I think sometimes there is a tendency to look down upon the failings of others and not see our own shortcomings. Like I said, I look and see the truckstops in the mornings, where are all the guys doing pre-trips?

And yes, there are people out there who are just careless or accident prone and probably shouldn't be in the business

 

That is an understatement.

 

And that's going to change....Now, when CSA will make drivers responsable for that stuff, it will be too much at stake. And those who don't, will catch up quickly.
Sorry for the strike of a bad luck Lowrange!