Am I Touched In The Head ?

Ok.... don't answer that. Lol

But seriously, I can't be the only one out there that looks forward to "the dangerous roads," can I ?

I actually enjoy the challenge of Cabbage Hill, Grapevine, Etc... (as long as I'm not on a tight schedule of course)

You said not to answer. I crack myself up.

If you want a challenging road I welcome you to take some of these state routes in Eastern CA. Had to go on them a few times and I can't recall ever being so terrified haha.

30mp curves for 33 miles, narrow roads where trucks have to slow down to pass eachother because we're inches from taking the mirrors off, and best of all extremely narrow cliffs at 7,000 elevation. All in a damn fuel tanker truck that is surging.

What the heck did I get myself signed up for!!!???

I drove over I-70 to Denver a couple of weeks ago so I could do a reset in Denver and didn't think twice about it. I should have, since this new truck's jake brakes are set to "Teenager's Honda Civic mode" (loud but ineffective) and I had to use the trailer brakes a couple of times coming down the hill.

Once I drove US 14 from Greybull to Ranchester instead of the usual route. It was a bit like Daniel B.'s eastern California, only with a flatbed instead of a giant Molotov ****tail behind me.

I drove over I-70 to Denver a couple of weeks ago so I could do a reset in Denver and didn't think twice about it. I should have, since this new truck's jake brakes are set to "Teenager's Honda Civic mode" (loud but ineffective) and I had to use the trailer brakes a couple of times coming down the hill.

Once I drove US 14 from Greybull to Ranchester instead of the usual route. It was a bit like Daniel B.'s eastern California, only with a flatbed instead of a giant Molotov ****tail behind me.

Giant molotov ****tail!

Rofl I cant breathe!

Even I wouldn't say I looked forward to the more dangerous stretches, and I'm one that partakes in a number of dangerous pursuits. But I did love that every day out there was completely different and you never really knew where you were heading next. I loved the variety of life on the road.

Yesterday I was travelling and pulled into a service plaza at the bottom of a hill. A truck came in as I was walking inside and you could smell his brakes pretty good. He wasn't smoking or anything, but that smell is unmistakeable. It still makes my heart flutter a little bit.

Daniel, I know what you mean! I pulled a food grade tanker for a year and the stupid truck didn't have Jakes! Man, that was hairy at times. And trust me, it's not comforting going down those mountains out west having fruit juice or honey instead of gasoline. You don't have any baffles, and you don't land any softer at the bottom of a canyon, but 48,000 pounds of honey or juice makes the animals happier I'm sure......at least the ones you didn't land on.

Even I wouldn't say I looked forward to the more dangerous stretches, and I'm one that partakes in a number of dangerous pursuits. But I did love that every day out there was completely different and you never really knew where you were heading next. I loved the variety of life on the road.

Yesterday I was travelling and pulled into a service plaza at the bottom of a hill. A truck came in as I was walking inside and you could smell his brakes pretty good. He wasn't smoking or anything, but that smell is unmistakeable. It still makes my heart flutter a little bit.

Daniel, I know what you mean! I pulled a food grade tanker for a year and the stupid truck didn't have Jakes! Man, that was hairy at times. And trust me, it's not comforting going down those mountains out west having fruit juice or honey instead of gasoline. You don't have any baffles, and you don't land any softer at the bottom of a canyon, but 48,000 pounds of honey or juice makes the animals happier I'm sure......at least the ones you didn't land on.

We haul 52,000lb of gas in each load which puts us at 80k. Surprisingly the trucks only weigh 28k, but thank God they at least have jake brakes! No worse feeling than a squishy brake pedal.

I'd say I like them and other challenging drives in that they keep me fully engaged. Doing I80 across Nebraska with the cruise on you almost get the urge to get up and go in the back for a sandwich and something to drink.

No worse feeling than a squishy brake pedal.

Only one worse feeling..........seeing smoke coming from your brakes. That stupid truck had some kind of valve issue one time and the trailer brakes quit working, I only had tractor brakes, and didn't know something was wrong until I was halfway down the mountain. And no Jakes of course. Wound up smoking the tractor brakes a little, the only time in my career that happened, but that's not so bad considering I was grossing 79,000. And of course by the time I could tell something was wrong there was no place to pull off, other than the shoulder. I knew I would get it down safely but knew they'd probably be smoking a little, and they were.

And to make it worse a couple knuckleheads had to tell me about it on the CB! "Hey tanker, your brakes are smoking."

I'm like, "I know! Be quiet for God's sake. I'm hoping not to let the whole world know about it!"

Geesh! That was hairy.

When I got it to the shop the mechanic didn't believe me at first. He's like, "I don't know how the tractor brakes could work, but not the trailer brakes."

I told him I didn't know either, but when one set is smoking and the other is cold to the touch it's pretty unmistakeable evidence. And of course he did indeed figure it out. It was a valve in the tractor that quit working.

If you ever find yourself grossing 79,000 without Jakes and without trailer brakes, don't go down big mountains. That's today's issue of "Words To Live By"

Im shocked they didnt jump to default and instantly blame you the driver.

Not long actually I was taking out my Vapor Hose from my hose box and it fell and smacked my blue glad hand and broke it right off. So I had to drive back to the terminal with a disconnected blue air line. Now that was a fun experience thankfully I wasn't loaded.