Some More Experiences Gained, Lessons Learned, And A Question Or Two...

Hello again,

Once again, I haven't been able to get on here for a while to get updated, and I'm still behind a bit, but want to share with y'all...

First, I want to mention that my backing skills have greatly improved.

But in all actuality, it's really my confidence and attitude that have improved. Honestly, in the very beginning, I would go out of my way to find a parking place that was "an easy back" or better yet, a pull through, just so I wouldn't have to back the darn thing.

Of course, I am still not the best, but you know what? I can do it! Most of the time it takes me a few minutes longer, and/or I do a few more pull-ups then a more experienced driver; but, well, the difference is: Now, I know that if I take my time, make small adjustments, and get out and look, I will get her in the hole.

The thing is...

I had this image in my head that everyone out there watching me back up was an experienced driver who was "laughing" at me. But after being out here for even a little while, I've come to realize that, while there may be one or two out there who are laughing, more times than not, they are laughing because they remember what it was like to be brand new out there, and are glad they don't have to go through that again; and the rest of the people, have all been very encouraging, and often times even willing to get out and help me. In fact, several times, I've had people that have offered some great advice. Sometimes it helps, and sometimes it doesn't; but I never know when that one person is going to say the same thing, in just the right way, and another piece of the picture will click into place. I don't have the whole picture put together yet, by far, but I sure have a lot more pieces in place then I did just a few months, even weeks ago.

And then it really sank in... The fact of the matter is: with all the turnover in the trucking industry, there are a lot more "newbies" out there then "experienced" drivers, and the chances are that driver watching me is just as new as I am. Duh! Then one night, I had parallel parked and was watching some poor guy trying to park in front of me, and I realized that he had even more difficulty than I did, and he never did get it "right", but he got it "close enough" and he shut down.

A few nights later, I'm at a truck stop, waiting till midnight to get enough hours back to get home for my hometime, and there is a guy trying to back into the last spot left in the lot, which is between two trailers and the fuel island is in the way. So I get out of my truck to go into the truck stop to go potty real quick before I start driving, and I couldn't stop myself, I went up to the guy and say "are you in a hurry? I'm going to be leaving in about 10 mins and my spot is in a really easy spot to back into. If you can wait just a few minutes, you can have my spot." Ummm... What was I thinking???? The poor guy says to me, "well, I could, but if you could just spot me, I think I can get it backed into here." Ummm... hello! Why didn't I think of that? So I run back and spot him, and he does a few pull ups and then he gets out and comes back to see where he is, and he says "maybe, I will just take your spot after all?" His confidence was giving out, so I tell him "No, no, you're really close now, you almost have it." And I explain to him what he needs to do to get the trailer back in the spot. He says "Oh, ok" and hops back in the truck and parks it in the hole in about 30 seconds. It was a total win-win for both of us. He got some experience and confidence, and I got some experience and another piece of the picture fell into place for me, by being able to "see" what he had to do; but I also learned that a lot of the other truck drivers out there that I was "assuming" were laughing at me, are really in the same boat as I am.

Why do we always assume that everyone else has been doing this for a long time?

Anyway, now I have a question:

Do your break lights go on when you engage the engine brakes? I'm just wondering because sometimes I want to use them, but if I have someone too close to my rear, I want them to be aware that I'm slowing down, you know, so I don't get a free colonoscopy. I'd prefer not to have someone go up my rear unexpectedly. Anyway, it just occurred to me that if I use my jake brakes, that the poor person behind me, might not be getting the signal that I'm slowing down, and end up, in my end. Just saying...

WEll..... .I hadta laugh a little, cuz I'd asked this very same question. The brake lights do not come on when you engage the jake/engine brake. And some people behind you, who are not watching what THEY are doing, may be caught by surprise....But this old trucker decided long ago that I couldn't be bothered by what 4 wheelers decide to do behind me...so I don't look in my mirrors, unless I'm changing lanes, or something like that. Theres nothing you can do to change whats gonna go on behind you ( tho I guess you could softly place your foot on your brake pedal, so they will know your slowing down). As a rule, if they are that close, they are to close..........And while your worrying about the 4 wheeler behind you, you aren't watching the real serious stuff going on infront of you...which you DO have some control over... .

But this old trucker decided long ago that I couldn't be bothered by what 4 wheelers decide to do behind me...so I don't look in my mirrors, unless I'm changing lanes, or something like that.

I've gotta say, not watching your mirrors is borderline insane. I've avoided numerous wrecks over the years by knowing what was happening behind me.

Maybe someone is tailgating you so you'll want to increase your following distance to prevent having to hit the brakes hard and getting yourself in a wreck.

Or someone might be rushing up through traffic from behind you at a high rate of speed. You wouldn't want to change lanes right in front of them and have them blast into you and go pinballing across the interstate.

Dozens of times I've had various emergency vehicles coming up from behind and was able to move over to let them by.

One time I was loaded real heavy and was coming down a mountain at maybe 35 mph. I looked in the mirrors and here comes two trucks flying up behind me side by side. Well, the guy behind me in my lane didn't react in time to be able to get into the passing lane quickly enough. Luckily I had plenty of shoulder to work with and was able to speed up just a bit and move over onto the shoulder before he got to me. I'm not 100% sure to this day whether or not he would have hit me if I hadn't made those evasive moves but it would have been really, really close.

Recently my ma avoided a wreck by watching her mirrors. She was on a 2 lane road and was stopped while waiting to to make a left hand turn. She saw in her mirror that the guy coming behind her wasn't paying attention and was going to blast right into her if she didn't move so she took off straight ahead. At the same time that guy noticed her and slammed on his brakes. Luckily, no contact was made and everyone was safe but my ma said he would have slammed into her if she had stayed where she was.

The idea that it's pointless to watch what is going on behind you because there's nothing you can do about it is 100% false. That theory needs to be thought through a little bit better.

The way I was taught is the west coast mirrors are the past the convex mirrors and the hood mirror is the futre ,what's happening in the past ya have no control over the future ya do,so watch ur west coast mirrors to let ya know what ya may be able to do to avoid a collision but don't change the future in doing so BC it may result in a collision much worse.

in that fact what it means is use the west coast mirrors for backing and lane changes,the convex mirrors show further back so a slight adjustment may set ur future to a better path.

Come on you guys. The bottom line is you should always know what's going on around your vehicle at all times. You have to be aware of as much as possible, and that definitely includes what's going on behind you.

The idea that you're only going to use certain mirrors for certain things or not use them at all at times shows quite a lack of awareness of what it takes to be safe out there. You have to consider every possibility, be aware of everything going on around you at all times, and be prepared for anything.

If you can't list numerous examples off the top of your head of how you could get involved in a wreck based on something that is happening behind you then you haven't thought through the possibilities very well at all. What's going on behind you can be every bit as dangerous as what's going on in front of you.

And think about this - what if you have to make an emergency maneuver to avoid something that happened immediately in front of you? If you haven't been watching your mirrors all along you won't know if someone is next to you or about to be next to you. The time it takes to check your mirrors, process the information, and then make a decision about whether or not you can safely change lanes might be the difference between getting in a wreck or not. If you already know where vehicles are all around you then you instantly know what moves you can make in an emergency. For instance....

I was in the left lane going about 50 mph on a divided 4-lane highway in a 78,500 pound tanker. Suddenly, as if trying to commit suicide, a 4-wheeler going the other way started to make a left turn across our lanes, realized he wasn't going to make it in time, and in a panic jammed his brakes and stopped dead completely across my lane. Fortunately I had been watching my mirrors so I already knew there was traffic on my right side and I couldn't move that way. Instead I had to go around him to the left, run through the grass median for a short ways, and brought it back up onto the roadway without a scratch. The wreck was avoided. There was absolutely no way on Earth I had a chance to look in my mirrors to see what was next to me before making a move. I reacted instantly and still only missed that car by about 2 feet. If I had hit him, he would have been dead. If I had gone to the right I would have run over at least one or two four wheelers that instant and God only knows what else that moving pile of wreckage would have taken out as we crossed through the intersection we were approaching. Could have killed several people easily.

You have to know what's going on around you at all times, and that includes the traffic behind you.

I understand where ur comin from brett but what i was tryin to explain is that if ya press ur brakes ya cant run back to the guy behind ya and tell him hey put down ur phone im goin to brake at this moment,so ya cant control what he is goin to do.lets face it phones and computers drive the cars now not the mind of people.if ya have a person beside ya it should only take 15 secs to pass a big truck well ive had some take up to 2 mins to pass me ive counted just to test it and to my no surprise they had a laptop on the seat or a phone in hand.

so if ya have one thosse people beside ya yea ya can tap the horn does it do any good no so ya just brake and pray.if hes not payin attention then yes ya will have an uncontroled collision,i almost had one just today a big truck was turnin into a truck stop i slowed turned my turn signal on guy races up to sit besid me ok well movin over is gone,so i brake harder while lookin in mirror to see another car go bout under my trailer.now im not bout to run back there and tell him hey im brakin or trun to the left,that is what the futrue part is,and if i turned to the right oops crashed into truck goin into truck stop.

thats what i was explaining.