Learn How To Drive Truck In The Mountains.......

...I don`t care what is going on around me or what kind of BS is blaring on the CB, I drive the truck.

-Rolling Thunder

Glad you're not paying attention to the guys talking s*** behind you, Terry. That one-lane construction area is a bit constricted and is mostly on long curves. Just a little tricky. Besides, since they don't seem to have good judgement anyway, maybe their judgement on conditions ahead of you isn't that reliable either. And I agree with you RT. I have my license, I'm at the helm, I make my own call because I'm the one responsible if something happens.

You have to stand your ground on these things. If you were appropriately cautious and nothing happened, then what's the problem? Isn't that the point?

I'll have to remember to stay off the CB because I just know I'll get ugly on that type of platform. Better to focus on my driving.

-mountain girl

I have my license, I'm at the helm, I make my own call because I'm the one responsible if something happens.

You have to stand your ground on these things. If you were appropriately cautious and nothing happened, then what's the problem? Isn't that the point?

I'll have to remember to stay off the CB because I just know I'll get ugly on that type of platform. Better to focus on my driving.

-mountain girl

Very well said. That, future truckers, is the thought process that makes you a safe and well paid gear grinder...er, I mean trucker.

So my question on this is.....does the driver get into trouble for this type of situation? It sounds like he was at fault....but could it have also been a brake problem? Mechanical issue, or was it just plain driver error?

With this type of thing happening it's almost always the drivers fault. A company will look at all the possible things that could happen verses what a really did happen. Breaks overheating. Truck just came down a mountain grade. No prior issues with the truck. The fact he sent in a qualcomm message stating the breaks caught fire on the way down the mountain(found this out when I called the emergency road service line to check and see if he had a co-driver with him.) . Yes the driver will get the blame.

The driver reached the point of no return and made the wrong choice. What I mean is when in a brake over heating situation you have a choice to make and it is all dictated by the road. If you know or suspect your brakes are over heating, start to smoke is first sign, at that point to you either stop the truck asap like that driver did or, since he was already off the mountain, he could of kept going and allowed the air flow to cool the brakes down then once the smoke stops then stop the truck and check for any damage. Of course that knowledge comes with experience. It's not something that is taught.

Now if he would have still been in the mountains on the down hill side then there is not much you can do but get stopped as soon as you can.

So long story here, I've made the decision not to run a CB anymore because of the bs I hear on it

hmmmm.......the CB is an awfully valuable tool to throw in the trash because of a few jerks. I mean, there is no perfect tool. GPS is the best tool in the history of navigation but it's wrong sometimes - you just have to compensate for that. Trucks are an awesome tool for hauling freight but they break down sometimes. You don't throw em out, you fix em.

There's nothing wrong with turning the CB off sometimes - I did it quite a bit. But by God when I needed to know something or warn someone about something it was the best tool in the world sometimes. The only thing worse than listening to a bunch of knuckleheads is not being able to give or get information when you desperately need to.

I have my cb for just that reason. It has saved my bacon many times. I can count on one hand how many times i have talked on it , but listen alot. When the bs starts , the off switch works well .

I have my cb for just that reason. It has saved my bacon many times. I can count on one hand how many times i have talked on it , but listen a lot. When the bs starts , the off switch works well .

-PJ

Sounds like a plan.

-mountain girl

I had a guy ask me one time why the slow speed. I responded the little square sign that said "truck speed limit 60". Never hear from him again. Trucks like to run 65-70 through that stretch of road but I have seen too many troopers to risk that. And it is a 2 lane highway.