What is one key thing about your job that you still struggle with?

Posted by SuperReleasio64@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 25 comments

I've been at my company for 8 months now and I can't back a converter dolly for shit. If I hook it up to my lead trailer then I'm decently good at snaking it into the tail trailer but if I try and just back the dolly by itself then oh lord things get ugly. It's like watching a toddler try and back a truck on ATS lol. I actually practiced my ass off to back both lead and dolly together because apparently backing 1 thing up at a time is a foreign concept to me.

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north_coast_nomad@reddit

i struggle with how in hell im accepting low bar poverty level pay.

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pianodude01@reddit

Ive been driving for 4 years and I still don't understand split sleepers...

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disturbedrailroader@reddit

Like 90% of truckers don't get split sleeper, so you're not alone. I understand the general concept, but the details elude me. If the ELD doesn't calculate it for me, then I guess I'm taking my 10.

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Different_Zone_8999@reddit

I can't figure out how many hours you receive back after finishing a split sleeper; the calculations never seem to match up.

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disturbedrailroader@reddit

The basic gist of it is like this: say I take 5 hours total between securing, tarping, untarping, and unsecuring my load one day. That reduces my 14 down to 9. 9 is less than 11 so my drive time is also reduced to 9. If I stay in sleeper at least 2 hours, I get those 2 hours added back on to my 14, which will also include 2 hours added to my drive time, essentially giving me my full clock to drive with.

There's more to it that that, but that's all I needed to know when I was flatbedding so that's all I bothered to care about.

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Emergency_Ad1152@reddit

Almost. Your clock would still the same until you finish your 8 hour sleeper berth. So let's say you worked for 5 hours, off duty for 2, worked for 9 hours, slept for 8 hours, NOW you'd get those 5 hours back on your clock and work for 5 hours.. off for 2, and the cycle continues.

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disturbedrailroader@reddit

I knew I was messing it up somehow... Thanks for correcting me.

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ArtisticAd9404@reddit

I run almost exclusively split sleeper. It makes my days so much easier, but I’m constantly trying to calculate it so I know when I need to stop or how much time I’ll have later.

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DaSaw@reddit

It's one of those things that looks more complicated than it is, because we explain stuff in words, but words are a poor way of conveying math.

But working with split sleepers is very much like running on recaps. If you understand recaps, you can understand split sleeper breaks.

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ArtisticAd9404@reddit

Angled parking/docking. I avoid it at all costs because I can’t do it for shit. Give me a tight ass 90 degree dock backing in off a street in Chicago and I’m gold. Give me a football fields worth of room and a 45 degree, and I make Swift look professional.

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SuperReleasio64@reddit (OP)

I'm the exact opposite lol. I can't straight back or 90 back vans for shit but I can 45 all day long. I also ran flatbed for a long ass time so that might explain it lol.

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bizzywhipped@reddit

It took me 5 months for backing to click

I have my T but never backed a dolly, like others said, from the videos I’ve watched- you have to do some set up first.

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Irishgoodbye777@reddit

Five months?? Took me five years

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COATHANGER_ABORTIONS@reddit

Lmao fuck

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oasuke@reddit

This makes little sense. 99% drivers that pull doubles can back a dolly, but 99% cant back trailer + dolly but apparently that's easier for you? Well congrats. In all my years of pulling doubles I can count on my hand the amount of guys that can do it.

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Cardinal_350@reddit

Why aren't you staging your dolly in front of the pup first? I never in the years I pulled doubles ever had occasion to back up a trailer with a dolly on it.

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SuperReleasio64@reddit (OP)

At first I started doing it because I find it easier than backing converter dollies by themselves. Then it got cold and my frozen ass didn't want to be out there sliding on ice trying to push the dolly around so I would come in on the weekends and practice hooking up with empty trailers. After I go good at that I just stopped trying to back the dolly by itself.

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Apmaddock@reddit

Did you read? He said he finds it easier to back than together than the dolly on its own.

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ADrunkChef@reddit

Tarping a single coil. I don't know why I can pin that shit down properly.

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disturbedrailroader@reddit

Have you tried tenting the front of the coil? I have this thing about my tarps flapping so I need to fix it if I see it.

Essentially, get most of the tarp's excess material in front of the coil. You want the tarp in the rear to just barely be touching the trailer. Next, pull the sides of the tarp in front of the coil to the opposite sides (right to left, left to right). Then, pull the front of the tarp down at a diagonal so that it makes contact with the trailer near where the tarp ends. Get some bungees on it kinda half-assed just to hold it in place.

On the back, pull the top down first against the coil, then pull the sides to opposite sides and lock the whole thing down with bungees, including the ones you previously half-assed.

Keep a close eye on it until you go do your first securement check in 25 or so miles. Whatever you see flapping, lock it down. You should be good after that.

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1Stack_Mack@reddit

Backing without lines on the ground and no other trailers around. Sometimes it's embarrassing and I hope no one is watching. 😔

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Hairy-Internal2307@reddit

Washing the taste of cum out my mouth.

Cum from the petro taste way more bitter than the loads I get at the loves.

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