Profile For Ducky

At this moment, my go-to YouTube trucking channel is Nic and Carla. Still somewhat new to trucking, they share their stories, successes, opportunities and adventures in a way future drivers can visualize and learn from. Never sugar-coated, some strong language, and real. Nope, not instructional as to succeeding in trucking directly, but a well edited, fun look at a team trying to make good decisions, enjoy the lifestyle, make money and figure it out.

Almost had a claims issue because I failed to notice this. They pinned my chute to the trailer ceiling,

The load was still frozen, but outside of the customer's specs, and it was an issue. I now know to inspect the load and speak up, take pictures, and voice concern when necessary. Ultimately, it's my responsibility.

Y'all ever had issues that could have been avoided by simply paying more attention rather than hurrying away like I did in this case?

Thx guys...yea g-town, the front drives. Thanks for the explanation. I knew there had to be one!

I have seen this twice now, both times at truck stops.

Typical 53 foot combo rigs, no heavy haul or extra sets of axles, and axle 2 drives (front) aren't touching the ground. The latest one I witnessed must have been nearly 2 inches off the pavement , on level ground. It was VERY obvious, yet no one seemed to notice, or alert the driver, or frankly seem concerned.

I'd like to know what causes this in case it ever happens to me. Am I missing something simple?

Thanks for any insight.

Bright, sunny, warm day on a two-lane highway. I'm going to be on this stretch for 100+ miles, so I'm already thinking other drivers are going to be inconvenienced by my slow governed truck. Plenty of passing lanes though, so all is good. I thought! Eventually, I caught up with a truck *gasp * and settled in safely behind, at a whopping 55mph. Cool, I get to pass at the next passing lane☺. Nope. Not today! The driver pulled into the right lane in the passing zone, and, wait for it... sped up to 63. Drats! Then the lanes narrowed back and the driver dropped back to 55 again. Oh well, maybe next time. Naw. This scene played out over 100 miles. I eventually starting laughing at the fact he/she just didn't quite grasp the whole passing lane concept, put on the cruise control, and settled in for a nice stress-free drive. I'm going to arrive at my destination safely, what's a few minutes.

Now for the truly magical part. I was on US89 coming from Utah (Beaver area) to Flagstaff AZ. I never knew such beauty existed on American roadways. I was blown away by the views and landscape of this amazing stretch of creation.

It was a great day to be a truck driver, indeed. I was thankful for the opportunity to be able to cruise through, relaxed, and take it all in.

Delivery was made, another picked up, and future journeys are always a day away.

Looks like Illinois either wanted to get a jump on CVSA "Operation Safe Driver Week " or something. Either way, this upcoming week will have agencies across the US participating in this campaign, so everyone please be safe.

As I am changing fleets, I asked my fleet manager for 5 minutes phone time to express appreciation, but also to ask how I can improve going forward. He works as many hours as I do it seems, and I value his feedback.

1. Drive safely Always. Back safely, goal, and take care to fix any equipment issues.

2. Trip plan properly. Even if it is a run you have done a dozen times, circumstances change. HOS is key and he stressed the management of HOS over and over again.

3. Communication. Be precise, and realistic regarding ETA and PAT. Don't be vague and more QC messages are better than too few.

I'll miss this FM.

Oh, and I forgot to mention one thing that might help, Kenny. If you can, find the person in orientation who seems to have the same motivation to succeed as you do and begin a conversation. I did, and although awkward at first, he stood in pouring rain late at night scoring me on pretrip while everyone else was tucked away sleeping comfortably, lol. Mason was his name, and I never properly thanked him for his time and consideration.

We were not prompted for anything and they don't allow a pretrip sheet or list in Kentucky. You either know it or you don't.

The examiner just stood there and took notes/scored us as we did our pretrip.

This is exactly how I was tested by our company's examiner, and we are a third party tester. He simply read me the rules, and got silent. He even seemed agitated when I asked should I start? It was MY pretrip after all.

After I finished he said "you did great, but you didn't point to or touch the pushrod on the slack adjuster."

Thinking back on that, I can't recommend strongly enough the importance of study, study and study pretrip.

That 12v box oven Steve mentioned has been a workhorse and provided many tasty meals for me. Love that thing!