Can You Spot The Impostor?

Hey Heavy C...I was hoping to amuse with that!

Yeah that one I shot is the Baby Pool version. There are others with 5 points and two lanes. Pennington 202&206 is fun during rush hour. My favorite (tongue-in-cheek) is on 322 through Rowan University. Impossible to get through it without running on the sidewalk. Lots of fun on a Saturday morning in the spring.

I’d like to see some of your spots. We too have stores where a 48’ Wagon is recommended...that’s as far as it gets. The WM 48’ vans are for running NYSTW doubles. I’ve only been under them 6x in over 5 years.

I’ll send the second set of video tomorrow. Thanks for commenting.

Hey Heavy C...I was hoping to amuse with that!

Yeah that one I shot is the Baby Pool version. There are others with 5 points and two lanes. Pennington 202&206 is fun during rush hour. My favorite (tongue-in-cheek) is on 322 through Rowan University. Impossible to get through it without running on the sidewalk. Lots of fun on a Saturday morning in the spring.

I’d like to see some of your spots. We too have stores where a 48’ Wagon is recommended...that’s as far as it gets. The WM 48’ vans are for running NYSTW doubles. I’ve only been under them 6x in over 5 years.

I’ll send the second set of video tomorrow. Thanks for commenting.

I am now subscribed to ya on YouTube, G-Town. 😁

Hey Heavy C...I was hoping to amuse with that!

Yeah that one I shot is the Baby Pool version. There are others with 5 points and two lanes. Pennington 202&206 is fun during rush hour. My favorite (tongue-in-cheek) is on 322 through Rowan University. Impossible to get through it without running on the sidewalk. Lots of fun on a Saturday morning in the spring.

I’d like to see some of your spots. We too have stores where a 48’ Wagon is recommended...that’s as far as it gets. The WM 48’ vans are for running NYSTW doubles. I’ve only been under them 6x in over 5 years.

I’ll send the second set of video tomorrow. Thanks for commenting.

Below is a shot of our Bar Harbor store. If you have a 48' with a day cab you can hug the outside wall like I marked in the picture. If you don't stay far enough outside then you won't make it. Some of our outside carriers that deliver for us, go up in sleepers. They have to blind side in from the road. Which during the summer months can be ridiculous because of pedestrians and cars parked on the side. It's definitely one of our least favorite stores

Hey Heavy C...I was hoping to amuse with that!

Yeah that one I shot is the Baby Pool version. There are others with 5 points and two lanes. Pennington 202&206 is fun during rush hour. My favorite (tongue-in-cheek) is on 322 through Rowan University. Impossible to get through it without running on the sidewalk. Lots of fun on a Saturday morning in the spring.

I’d like to see some of your spots. We too have stores where a 48’ Wagon is recommended...that’s as far as it gets. The WM 48’ vans are for running NYSTW doubles. I’ve only been under them 6x in over 5 years.

I’ll send the second set of video tomorrow. Thanks for commenting.

I am now subscribed to ya on YouTube, G-Town. 😁

Hey thanks MillionMiler.

Hey Heavy C...I was hoping to amuse with that!

Yeah that one I shot is the Baby Pool version. There are others with 5 points and two lanes. Pennington 202&206 is fun during rush hour. My favorite (tongue-in-cheek) is on 322 through Rowan University. Impossible to get through it without running on the sidewalk. Lots of fun on a Saturday morning in the spring.

I’d like to see some of your spots. We too have stores where a 48’ Wagon is recommended...that’s as far as it gets. The WM 48’ vans are for running NYSTW doubles. I’ve only been under them 6x in over 5 years.

I’ll send the second set of video tomorrow. Thanks for commenting.

Below is a shot of our Bar Harbor store. If you have a 48' with a day cab you can hug the outside wall like I marked in the picture. If you don't stay far enough outside then you won't make it. Some of our outside carriers that deliver for us, go up in sleepers. They have to blind side in from the road. Which during the summer months can be ridiculous because of pedestrians and cars parked on the side. It's definitely one of our least favorite stores

Big respect Heavy C...that’s a 9+ on the difficulty scale.

I’ll try to send a few to check out. Warminster PA is a good one...during fall lay-away container season, blindside off the public road. The DLs try not to send new drivers there.

You now know why I will not let go of my short cab. “Love it” for the very reason you displayed, money truck!!!

My first run was from Chicago to Hunts point in the winter.

I found very quickly what I was made of. xD

Listen, the first six months I was out on my own, I was scared to death and drove like 98 year old. As well I should. I had an okay trainer, but I had to learn a lot on my own; and still learning to this day.

Now I drive like a 60 year old. I am getting better. ;P

My orientation, we started with 35 people. About 11 made it through training. After my first year, 3 guys were left, one who I knew personally and became a contractor/trainer.

We met up recently at the yard. He started out in dress shirts and jeans. I dressed nice for orientation as well. He now dresses in overalls and grew an amish beard. I wear A-Shirts and jean shorts with Simpson racing shoes.

We looked at each other for the first time and laughed our asses off. We talked about our experiences, what we learned, how each others families were doing.

Now I drive a 18 T680 Kenworth, 12 speed auto, got it with 250 miles.

But, sometimes I miss my '14 T680 9 speed. 500k, burned a gallon of oil a week, vibrated like a Catholic Sorority House on Saturday night. But it gave me a special feeling I when I drove through Nevada Highway US-50 for the first time.

A truck doesn't make the man. A driver makes themselves; through the choices and experiences, through their life.

Sorry, getting wax poetic.

Better late than never...hopefully we’ll have some fun with this.

These two videos were shot last Saturday, essentially 4th of July Weekend. Please realize that the camera was mounted on a pedestal facing the road. At no time did I compromise safety or hold the device while the truck was in motion.

The first video was taken entering the side road entrance headed to the store and navigating through a small, less than impressive Jersey Circle. Can’t wait to hear the “yawn” from Rainy when she sees this JV circle.

Click the link, unite sound if you want to hear my “Hollywood” narration skills (LOL)

Flemington Side Road Access & Jersey Circle

Second video shows accessing the dock through the Parking lot and then setting up by using the upside down question mark approach so that the tandems end up right inline with the dock. Not perfect video, but at least some fun...there is a second set I’ll post that is more descriptive and hopefully more helpful taken at the second Saturday stop...

Flemington Store Entry and Setup

I appreciate you putting these up for all to see, G-Town. Thank you!

I'm too wiped tonight to do much but hit the rack. Nothing like that 1am live unload and we'll call ya when it's done. I parked the tractor in a nice, dark, quiet corner. Called wifey cause I promised I would. And 15 minutes later crawled in the bunk to catch a quick nap. Wouldn't ya know that was the quickest unload of 20 tons in trucking history? They called about five minutes after I crawled on the bunk. Go figure!

I'm sure everyone needed to know about that, which is another clue its bed time. Can't wait to catch those videos tomorrow. Again, thank you for making and sharing them. That's a little bit of work to do all that. Much appreciated!

Second set of video. Taken at Hackettstown NJ store, much smaller, tighter store. I think the narration is a bit more descriptive.

First video shows access to the back of the store approaching the dock. I am clearly a Novice when it comes to taking video...at the end of this one; that will be obvious (No, I did not fall out of the truck).

And as I stated in the first set, at no time was safety ever compromised.

Hackettstown NJ dock access

Second snippet is the setup for a 45’ angle back. It’s blind (not blindside) because until the cab clears the corner of the store, you can’t see the dock door. Keep in mind the road to the right is a public access road. We are supposed to stay clear of it during any maneuver.

Hackettstown NJ setup

Next couple are an explanation of the setup and how-to get in the hole. Notice the position of the tractor in relation to the trailer. It’s already set to head for the hole with next to no steering input, or adjusting.

Hackettstown NJ G.O.A.L.

Hackettstown NJ G.O.A.L. Pt 2

Hackettstown Curbside G.O.A.L.

And finally the actual back. Enlarge your screen on the spot-mirror so you can see the image of the trailer as it progresses back. It’s more difficult to keep the heavy truck moving here because the dock is dead flat and not pitched down towards the doors like most of the stores. You’ll see a spot where I give it a “nudge” with a bit of throttle.

Hackettstown NJ Back

I’ll try to do this again from time to time to focus on helping the newer drivers understand the importance of setting up to better align with a dock. Makes backing much easier.

Those were great. Especially the mirror view on the last one. Had to zoom in on my tablet, but could at least see the rear view. Can't wait until I can just smoothly do it like that.

Docked last night with open space to my left, but a trailer on the next dock to my right. Had to GOAL about 5 times before I was lined up where I wanted to be. Then probably 7 or 8 pullups to get seated squarely. Only my second real dock attempt. And it was pretty awkward.

The description for the dock setup was great. And looked great. Sometimes I can find that perfect angle when trying sneak into a parking spot, but most times I still need to wiggle around a little bit before I get a decent line-up like that.

Funny thing is, I can picture the mechanics of the whole thing. I can even accurately describe the setup and execution fairly well. But in no way does my mental picture ever translate to my execution.

A few weeks back I nailed a blind side 45 into a parking space at a truck stop with only 2 goals and 1 pull-up. Was a great day! But I'm still pretty jerky on the brakes during any back.

Thank you for the videos, and the time spent uploading them, etc. Look forward to more!

The description for the dock setup was great. And looked great. Sometimes I can find that perfect angle when trying sneak into a parking spot, but most times I still need to wiggle around a little bit before I get a decent line-up like that.

Funny thing is, I can picture the mechanics of the whole thing. I can even accurately describe the setup and execution fairly well. But in no way does my mental picture ever translate to my execution.

That really is the key Jeremy. Set-up. If you get the setup right, any back can be "easy" or "smooth". You get that setup wrong and your gonna spend an hour trying to fix it. Knowing how to properly setup each individual back will come with time.