Finally Rode With A Veteran

I work full time delivering sodas, and I got an on call gig for Sunday which is moving trailers and tractors from one rental place to another.

All of the people who have taught me drive the tiny trucks for coke and they drive them like cars

I keep my part time job for the experience and camaraderie- it's older guys who are more laid-back than the drivers at my FT job. The ppl at the beverage place are very uptight and competitive for **** that doesn't matter.

Last week, we had to transfer trailers, and I rode with a 30 yr veteran (bull hauling, food delivery, otr driver) and I've never had such a smooth ride in a tractor trailer.

I noticed he doesn't rush to take off from lights, but he gets closer to cars in front of him than I do.

Almost driven for a year, but I still got a lot to learn.

Is the regional driving more laid-back?

Does your driving get smoother with practice?

This post might seem mundane, but i felt a connection to myself with his driving, cause I'm a pretty chill driver

I actually think you've been driving longer than me as I've only been doing this for four months now - the first two and a half were straight otr which I loathed - most places seemed to treat you as a number, another piece of meat - which goes to one of your questions which for the last month and a half being on a dedicated account I can say is much smoother as they unload you asap. As for driving and that getting smoother - I've not had any issues as for driving forward - I think either you can drive or you can't and just because you can get a license doesn't mean you should be driving and we know there are a lot of people out there on the road who shouldn't be driving - four wheels and eighteen - for me the backing has taken some time, getting better but I doubt I'll ever be comfortable backing in between two obvious owner operator Peterbuilts so cautious I will forever be as far as that goes - backing into bays well that's another thing and I'm getting more comfortable with that but will always still take it slow and make damn certain the only thing I ever bump are the bumpers of the bay.

John smoothness comes with experience. Plain and simple. New drivers lack that on all levels. Some folks think rushing either because of traffic or the eld is going to get them there sooner. All it does is aggravate them and puts them constanlty on high alert. Slow down relax and just get the job done.

Last week I had a driver pass me on I-40 hauling the mail through the mountains in ashville NC. He was failing to maintain his lane on the curves and almost hit a car making a lane change while he was still in my sight. I just shook my head. 15 miles later when I pulled into my customer his truck was sotting in the staging area for live unloads. The have a seperate lane for their company trucks and companies with drop privileges. I was a drop so I parked and went into the security office. He was in there and looked at me and said “oh I passed you up the road”. I said yes sir, but I’ll be gone long before you. He walked out and the guards commented how much of an ahole he was. I said I could see that by the way he was driving. They said he pulled in about 2 minutes before I did.

Sallier we don’t all bite, lol. Always be cautious and don’t hit anything. After 9 years I still struggle at times. Slow and cautious is always the best approach.