Cause I'm drivin a truck, drivin a big 'ol truck...

BattleRifleG3 · 05-02-2006, 02:09 PM

Just thought I'd share briefly that I recently had the honor/horror of driving the biggest U-Haul truck available. A friend needed to move and that truck was all they had available, and I was the only one who knew how to drive a manual transmission.

Well I'd say that experience was almost as new to me as learning to drive a stick was for WolfHuntress. I wonder how much was just the technology and how much was the truck being a piece of crap. I mean I've driven a Ford truck whose transmission was dieing, and one time when the clutch didn't work, but dang...

For one thing, could they make the shifter any more wobbley? I couldn't tell what gear I was going into half the time. And the gearing was all different - it had reverse where cars have first, and first gear was almost like a low range. Usually started in second. Shifted up pretty fast, except that the disparity between 4th and 5th was HUGE. Still don't know how those things move on the highway - certainly didn't have the strength-to-weight ratio I'm used to.

Never drove a diesel before, but I was relatively comfortable with it. It started up better than I would have expected. Of course maneuvering and parking that thing was an ugly affair. Came close to squishing a Neon, knocking over a fence, and ran up on my share of curbs. But at the end of the day my friend was moved and no one was hurt, except for me after taking a few falls carrying stuff.

In short, I think I did ok, it was a learning experience, and I can see why people go to school to drive these things.

WolfHuntress · 05-02-2006, 02:40 PM

Pity about missing the neon

. The biggest thing I've driven would be the van from camp...it didn't go too well, in part because I forgot to take the e-brake off. But backing those suckers up is a pain in the arse

Big Dog · 05-02-2006, 03:18 PM

When I worked for U-haul in the late eighties, they were starting to replace all the old 24's with manual shift with the newer air-suspension autos - guess they still have some old manuals around! Heck, we still had an open trailer dating from the 40's when U-haul started. A buddy tried to lose the paperwork on it when he took it home as a loaner, so he could keep it - no dice! They actually keep pretty good records.

My first experience driving a manual-shift truck was in one of those old 24 foot clunkers. They were giving the other newbies lessons in the parking lot when we had to move a bunch after students returned to college. I figured, Heck with this, I'll get OJT! By the time I horsed that POS across town in traffic, I was an expert! Only could ever find 2nd and 4th gears. I was hauling three small trailers in the truck, with two more smaller trailers in a big trailer hooked behind. Did that all day long. Got to where I could slide those monsters into their rows nice and neat.

wirehunt · 05-02-2006, 04:27 PM

Ani't it fun BRG

I learned in a very old ex Australian army truck from the early sixties while I was T/A on a pipe line, from memory it had around 12 + gear's, and in that old thing you had to use every one to get going. Hardly had your foot of the clutch and it was time to change gear again, it was a hard looking rig though with all the welding gear strung all over it and it was all wheel drive. Which did really bad thing's to the steering

The good ol day's

Oxford · 05-02-2006, 05:39 PM

I'm sure you had a worthwhile learning experience, BRG3. :right: And...you didn't have to stay up late studying for finals afterward either.

Several years back during one summer, when I was still teaching (pre 1989), I delivered several new two axle beverage trucks to beverage distributors in cities all over the U.S. They were new Fords, Chevy's and International's mostly, and some with automatic and some manual transmissions. After getting to their desitinations my company flew me back to Kansas City and dispatched me again, usually about two trips every week that summer.

Yes, that was a learning experience, too. Thought I knew quite a bit about driving trucks from my earlier experiences as a teenager living on a farm driving trucks and all sorts of farm implements. But...navigating those huge boxes around in heavy traffic, through narrow bridges sometimes, etc, and delivering it to a desitination I had never been too before was an experience I'll never forget, too. Even had to keep ICC log books up to date every trip.

Apollyon67 · 05-02-2006, 07:48 PM

BRG, Do you feel you took anything worthwhile from the experiance?

Oxford · 05-02-2006, 08:37 PM

AP...he might have decided to be more respectful to truck drivers, and think about using his ME degree for what it is intended.

SPOCAHP ANAR · 05-02-2006, 08:58 PM

I drove one of the large ones when I moved and the thing would bounce all over the road every time you hit a bump. I had the extreme pleasure of driving down a section of I-77 in NC that had a serious paving segregation problem where the mix would ravel out into the travel lane about 12-18" inside the white line(where your tires run). I ran the thing over onto the shoulder for about 10 miles to avoid the bumps. Dad thought I was falling asleep behind the wheel.

Gyrene · 05-02-2006, 09:26 PM

I had the opportunity to drive many of those things through the years, moving around a lot. One of them (in 1972), couldn't make it between towns without making a run for gasoline, and it was only about 80 or 90 miles between Biggs Junction, and Madras Oregon. It was a good thing that the EX was following me in our SUBARU, I was towing the Pontiac. I had to go almost 40 miles of the 80 to 90 miles just for gas, of course that first 40 miles was uphill from Biggs Junction, climbing out of the Columbia River valley.

I did drive 18 wheelers for a couple of years, for a fairly large trucking firm, around town (that is where you find out whether you can drive one or not), in state, and interstate. The first in town run was with an old 1936 Peterbilt which had an 8 speed gear box with a Johnson Bar to shift from forward to reverse. YUP! You guessed it, that was 8 gears forward and 8 gears in reverse, simply by shifting the Johnson bar. I had to back the trailer up to a loading dock, crossing Sprague Avenue in Spokane, WA and ending up with the tractor perpendicular to the trailer, (parallel to the street).

By far the biggest learning experience was when the dispatcher set me up with a tractor used for pulling 2 trailers, to pull a semi-trailer (that is a big NO-NO!). It was a real challenge to get it moving (of course it was a stick shift, 12 speed), the cab would buck and jump, lifting the front wheels slightly, if I tried too hard to get rolling. When I pulled it back into the yard at the end of the day, the dispatcher told me I could drive for him anytime.

`

Oxford · 05-02-2006, 09:44 PM

Gyrene...now that's some real truck driving experiences. I enjoyed reading about them.:nod: :right:

BattleRifleG3 · 05-03-2006, 08:00 AM

I've had a theory - As crazy as it was to drive this bugger, and as much as I could have gained from a lesson or two, I don't think I did too badly for a first time. I've wondered if truck driving may not be a bad job for collrege students over vacations. Not settled down, get to see the country, and making the most of their good reflexes and senses. Only thing is it would take a more rigorous training program over a short time in order to be cost effective. I had a classmate who drove a large vehicle in the construction industry and earned a good bit. The downside would be turnover, but I think they'd have something good to offer in the time they'd be there.

billy · 09-12-2006, 08:06 AM

every time i see one of those guys driving thru the buisiness section of my town making deliveries cramming that big ol truck in those tight spaces i think god nerves of steel!

Oxford · 09-12-2006, 09:35 AM

Hey...this thread is so old that BRG may have decided to take his Kitty and join Otter as a professional truck driver.

toolman · 09-12-2006, 10:08 AM

Welcome to the world of trucking BRG3! Did you happen to notice how the bigger the truck, the more invisible it is to the average driver? I had a young lady pull in front of me a couple of weeks ago while I had a load of 4 trucks and an overall length of around 95 feet. She pulled halfway into my lane on the interstate in Ca. and then STOPPED and turned around to see who was coming. Needless to say, she did NOT like what she saw!

05-02-2006, 02:09 PM	#1
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,401 Images: 13	Cause I'm drivin a truck, drivin a big 'ol truck... Just thought I'd share briefly that I recently had the honor/horror of driving the biggest U-Haul truck available. A friend needed to move and that truck was all they had available, and I was the only one who knew how to drive a manual transmission. Well I'd say that experience was almost as new to me as learning to drive a stick was for WolfHuntress. I wonder how much was just the technology and how much was the truck being a piece of crap. I mean I've driven a Ford truck whose transmission was dieing, and one time when the clutch didn't work, but dang... For one thing, could they make the shifter any more wobbley? I couldn't tell what gear I was going into half the time. And the gearing was all different - it had reverse where cars have first, and first gear was almost like a low range. Usually started in second. Shifted up pretty fast, except that the disparity between 4th and 5th was HUGE. Still don't know how those things move on the highway - certainly didn't have the strength-to-weight ratio I'm used to. Never drove a diesel before, but I was relatively comfortable with it. It started up better than I would have expected. Of course maneuvering and parking that thing was an ugly affair. Came close to squishing a Neon, knocking over a fence, and ran up on my share of curbs. But at the end of the day my friend was moved and no one was hurt, except for me after taking a few falls carrying stuff. In short, I think I did ok, it was a learning experience, and I can see why people go to school to drive these things. __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

05-02-2006, 03:18 PM	#3
Big Dog Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Tallahassee, Florida Posts: 10,205	When I worked for U-haul in the late eighties, they were starting to replace all the old 24's with manual shift with the newer air-suspension autos - guess they still have some old manuals around! Heck, we still had an open trailer dating from the 40's when U-haul started. A buddy tried to lose the paperwork on it when he took it home as a loaner, so he could keep it - no dice! They actually keep pretty good records. My first experience driving a manual-shift truck was in one of those old 24 foot clunkers. They were giving the other newbies lessons in the parking lot when we had to move a bunch after students returned to college. I figured, Heck with this, I'll get OJT! By the time I horsed that POS across town in traffic, I was an expert! Only could ever find 2nd and 4th gears. I was hauling three small trailers in the truck, with two more smaller trailers in a big trailer hooked behind. Did that all day long. Got to where I could slide those monsters into their rows nice and neat. __________________ Moderator of: AR15/M16, M14/M1A, New/Beginning Shooters and Militaria/Collectables.

05-02-2006, 04:27 PM	#4
wirehunt Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Otago New Zealand Posts: 651	Ani't it fun BRG I learned in a very old ex Australian army truck from the early sixties while I was T/A on a pipe line, from memory it had around 12 + gear's, and in that old thing you had to use every one to get going. Hardly had your foot of the clutch and it was time to change gear again, it was a hard looking rig though with all the welding gear strung all over it and it was all wheel drive. Which did really bad thing's to the steering The good ol day's __________________ Happy Hunting

05-02-2006, 05:39 PM	#5
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 13,022 Blog Entries: 4	I'm sure you had a worthwhile learning experience, BRG3. :right: And...you didn't have to stay up late studying for finals afterward either. Several years back during one summer, when I was still teaching (pre 1989), I delivered several new two axle beverage trucks to beverage distributors in cities all over the U.S. They were new Fords, Chevy's and International's mostly, and some with automatic and some manual transmissions. After getting to their desitinations my company flew me back to Kansas City and dispatched me again, usually about two trips every week that summer. Yes, that was a learning experience, too. Thought I knew quite a bit about driving trucks from my earlier experiences as a teenager living on a farm driving trucks and all sorts of farm implements. But...navigating those huge boxes around in heavy traffic, through narrow bridges sometimes, etc, and delivering it to a desitination I had never been too before was an experience I'll never forget, too. Even had to keep ICC log books up to date every trip. __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

05-02-2006, 07:48 PM	#6
Apollyon67 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 2,235 Images: 17	BRG, Do you feel you took anything worthwhile from the experiance? __________________ "To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish." Ben Franklin

05-02-2006, 02:40 PM	#2
WolfHuntress Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: PA Posts: 59	Pity about missing the neon . The biggest thing I've driven would be the van from camp...it didn't go too well, in part because I forgot to take the e-brake off. But backing those suckers up is a pain in the arse

05-02-2006, 08:37 PM	#7
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 13,022 Blog Entries: 4	AP...he might have decided to be more respectful to truck drivers, and think about using his ME degree for what it is intended. __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

05-02-2006, 08:58 PM	#8
SPOCAHP ANAR Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: SC-upstate Posts: 4,087 Images: 3 Blog Entries: 4	I drove one of the large ones when I moved and the thing would bounce all over the road every time you hit a bump. I had the extreme pleasure of driving down a section of I-77 in NC that had a serious paving segregation problem where the mix would ravel out into the travel lane about 12-18" inside the white line(where your tires run). I ran the thing over onto the shoulder for about 10 miles to avoid the bumps. Dad thought I was falling asleep behind the wheel. __________________ Spocrest Out!..........

05-02-2006, 09:26 PM	#9
Gyrene Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: CA Posts: 886	I had the opportunity to drive many of those things through the years, moving around a lot. One of them (in 1972), couldn't make it between towns without making a run for gasoline, and it was only about 80 or 90 miles between Biggs Junction, and Madras Oregon. It was a good thing that the EX was following me in our SUBARU, I was towing the Pontiac. I had to go almost 40 miles of the 80 to 90 miles just for gas, of course that first 40 miles was uphill from Biggs Junction, climbing out of the Columbia River valley. I did drive 18 wheelers for a couple of years, for a fairly large trucking firm, around town (that is where you find out whether you can drive one or not), in state, and interstate. The first in town run was with an old 1936 Peterbilt which had an 8 speed gear box with a Johnson Bar to shift from forward to reverse. YUP! You guessed it, that was 8 gears forward and 8 gears in reverse, simply by shifting the Johnson bar. I had to back the trailer up to a loading dock, crossing Sprague Avenue in Spokane, WA and ending up with the tractor perpendicular to the trailer, (parallel to the street). By far the biggest learning experience was when the dispatcher set me up with a tractor used for pulling 2 trailers, to pull a semi-trailer (that is a big NO-NO!). It was a real challenge to get it moving (of course it was a stick shift, 12 speed), the cab would buck and jump, lifting the front wheels slightly, if I tried too hard to get rolling. When I pulled it back into the yard at the end of the day, the dispatcher told me I could drive for him anytime. `

05-02-2006, 09:44 PM	#10
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 13,022 Blog Entries: 4	Gyrene...now that's some real truck driving experiences. I enjoyed reading about them.:nod: :right: __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

05-03-2006, 08:00 AM	#11
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,401 Images: 13	I've had a theory - As crazy as it was to drive this bugger, and as much as I could have gained from a lesson or two, I don't think I did too badly for a first time. I've wondered if truck driving may not be a bad job for collrege students over vacations. Not settled down, get to see the country, and making the most of their good reflexes and senses. Only thing is it would take a more rigorous training program over a short time in order to be cost effective. I had a classmate who drove a large vehicle in the construction industry and earned a good bit. The downside would be turnover, but I think they'd have something good to offer in the time they'd be there. __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

09-12-2006, 08:06 AM	#12
billy spiritual counselor Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: a secret lab on the shores of lake titicaca Posts: 11,970 Images: 9 Blog Entries: 146	every time i see one of those guys driving thru the buisiness section of my town making deliveries cramming that big ol truck in those tight spaces i think god nerves of steel!

09-12-2006, 09:35 AM	#13
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 13,022 Blog Entries: 4	Hey...this thread is so old that BRG may have decided to take his Kitty and join Otter as a professional truck driver. __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

09-12-2006, 10:08 AM	#14
toolman Mr. Fixit Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: abilene,tx Posts: 5,566 Blog Entries: 22	Welcome to the world of trucking BRG3! Did you happen to notice how the bigger the truck, the more invisible it is to the average driver? I had a young lady pull in front of me a couple of weeks ago while I had a load of 4 trucks and an overall length of around 95 feet. She pulled halfway into my lane on the interstate in Ca. and then STOPPED and turned around to see who was coming. Needless to say, she did NOT like what she saw! __________________ Don't be messin' with my gun!