Unique tractor turning method - GIF

[neilbourjaily]

I had a 30 year career in distribution of fresh produce, industrial level. We, the company I worked for, loaded scores to hundreds of trucks per week, mostly straight loads not partials. I understand trucks, the problems of driving them safely, and the problem trucking companies have attracting drivers. Line drivers never get home. They have no family life. On top of that there is no real future in trucking. Certainly, part of the problem is the abusive way in which shippers and receivers treat drivers. 10, maybe 15 years from now it'll be entirely self driving. And that is a GOOD thing.
There is a terrible shortage of drivers, an even worse shortage of competent drivers who know how to show up on time and be safe about it. The driver shortage is causing an increase in trucking rates because truck supply lags truck demand. That truck shortage is a rate limiting step in the growth of business.
Long-haul trucking is a lousy business for young people. Interestingly, there is a supply of retirees who want or need to work. These people already know how to show up on time. They can be trained to operate safely; they want to see their grandkids and know that getting home safely is 3/4 of the battle.
Here's a bridge solution for the industry. Hire retirees. They only want (need) to work for a few years. By the time they are ready to quit, self-drivers will be the norm. The industry will get a ready, willing, and safe-thinking workforce. These current retirees don't need a 30 year career. They only need a few years of income. And they'd enjoy seeing the country.

[ranald]

My take on it is: most folk who buy suv's buy them because they think they are safer but dont realize that the driver still needs to "drive to the conditions" or pull over somewhere safe(for all road users). I spoke to a lady, yonks ago, who rolled a troopie full of people when negotiating a 90 deg corner at about 45 kph. She assumed that she could drive it like her old compact.

Funny how many guys want to have a safer vehicle for the family (to do the shopping) but the driver hasn't learnt to control such vehicles.

I have seen many near accidents where at least one driver did nothing to avoid the situation. When I learnt to drive, I was taught to keep constant focus on everything happening on the road & have an escape plan. We all know that it is easy to do with constant practice= our minds are computers programmed to do what ever we train ours to do. These days many drivers wont cross a full middle line or fog line as "it is illegial" despite imminent danger. snow /sleet/ice compounds the inexperience behaviour.

[Jon]

The average consumer also has a distorted understanding of exactly what elements of driving contribute most to safe winter driving; almost certainly from over-exposure to advertising. They are caught up on terms like "SUV", "4WD", "Anti-Lock Brakes", "All Season Tires", etc. For the mountainous winter terrain where I live, with many winding canyon roads, I see it roughly in order of importance like this:

1. Driver skill level.
2. Studded snow tires.
3. Everything else.

[Toolmaker51]

I remember a decade or so ago driving from New York to Nevada for some Christmas time R&R and tookthe route through Colorado. Apparently my route was preceded by a heavy storm that left about two inches of packed snow / ice on the road. There was literally a SUV upside down (wheels pointing to the sky) about every quarter of a mile. I kinda thought that people in Coloradowould know how to drive in bad weather. Not a chance.

Even stranger is that most of the vehicles off the road where SUV’s. Of course that leads one wondering why but I will avoid my perspective as it would likely offend an SUV owner or two.

I don't or won't own a SUV. My status has never been measured by 4 wheels [sometimes 2 though].
Bulk of SUV owners are victim of advertising "you can go here, you can do this, come back from there..." nonsense; thereby convinced of their new found invincibility. Sorry!
Drive down any street. Take pictures of SUV's, even most 4 x 4's, with dirt in the wheel wells. Maybe, if they forgot to hose down the driveway.
Sorry!
Hereabouts evidence another vein of SUV jockeys; as if 24" wheels and O-rings for tires enhance SU handling portion of SUV...
Sorry!

[Frank S]

While in Kuwait I had a Mitsubishi Pajero here in the states it would have been called a Montero it was a 1998 year model but with a 3.6 turbocharged engine not the standard 3.0. A 4 Sp auto with 2 sp transfer and an additional 2 sp box attached to the transfer case. Traction positive rear end not positive traction big difference, with an interlocking transfer case to lock the rear to the front diff Hardened sheet metal and 3/4" thick glass all the way around 10 ply 265 70 16 tires desert sand tred pattern.
a rear anti sway brace that must have been close to 2" in diameter anti sway brace in front that would have been about the size of the ones found on most 1 ton pickups The company gave it to me because they felt I would be more comfortable driving something that felt more like a truck than a car and they were right. I put 300,000 Km on it from 2003 to 2009 it couldn't be hurt unless I was to run over an IED up in Iraq which thankfully I never had to find out in all of my trips to Basra and Baghdad I liked the big square box shape of it and could haul a 1000 KG in the back. in 2009 the company bought me a 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer with the 4.2.
I hated it at first because there was no foot room for my size 13's until I had a body shop beat the hump in the floor by the accelerator peddle flat. giving me anohter couple of inches. the Chevy IMO might as well have been a vega as far as being able to go the places that I often needed to go but after a few years I almost got used to it. I pretty much had to after I went on vacation in 20011 and loaned my Pajero to one of my engineers who managed to crush a HM2 with it the first day he drove it. it was still derivable so they didn't bother trying to repair it the HM2 was hauled away to the scrap yard. They gave the Pajero to one of the mechanics as a service vehicle He trashed the insides of it in a few months.
IMO there are SUv's then there are pretenders and none of them made today fit in the first classification. If it has a truck style frame then it is an SUV as long as it doesn't try to look like a car. everything else might as well be vegas and pintos

[Xironworker]

To frank s everything you said is very true yet it is hardly the drivers fault. I came up in pretty much the same atmosphere in northern ca, the logging community, I remember those derelict trucks dragging a few logs to the mill in fort Bragg ca ( back then two or three logs made a load they where so big ) and these guys were pros hardy ever an accident. There’s a picture, I believe, of a truck hanging from the Albion Bridge in Mendocino County. Have said that I can hardly believe it’s the drivers fault if I were to blame anyone I would have put postit on the industry and of course the states legislatures. any drop in the standards belong to them and their cronies. Or maybe I mis-understood the point of your well thought out and written post/article.

[Frank S]

Xironworker; you are partially correct and fully correct in certain aspects of the topic of accidents and industry standards.
here is the way I look at it.And bare in mine this is just 1 man's opinion whit 10's of millions of miles behind the wheel of just about everything that runs on wheels except for a train, for more than 50 years and not to be confused with folks like a friend of mine who has a 10 million mile safe driving award. I can not say that personally.
Ultimately the responsibility rests on the shoulders of the person who is driving any particular type of vehicle to #1 have familiarity with the vehicle he or she is driving. This includes its size weight capacity power speed maneuverability acceleration and breaking.
#2 Never to exceed any of the a fore mentioned.
#3 driving skills and experience to avoid situations which will result in an accident.
#4 to always be aware of their surroundings by following the 6 sided driving rule Front, back, left, right, top, and bottom.
#5 treat every vehicle as if it was going to handle like a brick on ice if the so called enhanced safety amenities fail.
#6 never allow themselves to be distracted by passengers,things, or occurring events inside or outside of the vehicle
#7 drive as though everyone else does not know what they are doing, and try to anticipate what they may do when something arrises.
#8 always watch what is going on in front of the 2 ,3 ,4 or even 8 vehicles ahead of you when ever possible.
#9 take as much control of your 6 sided driving as possible try to maintain as much comfort zone as possible especially in front and to the rear. Always assume that your fancy anti lock brakes do not exist. or your automatic driving robot IE breaking sensors obstacle avoidance ETC.is inebriated. Think of your vehicle as if it is going to behave like a 37 Chevy with bald tires but will out run a Bugatti with a W12 engine.
Now when it comes to industry standards and cronyism as far as I see it most things have not been done in the interest of safety but rather in interest of filling pockets. especially when it pertains to driver training today kids are forced to take a driver's education class ( Not that that is a bad thing) I myself took driver's Ed I had been driving my own vehicle to school for 2 years before I took it. But then again I had been driving farm vehicles and equipment from the ripe old age of 8 years old. I tied wood blocks to the pedals of the old 49 Ford flat bed truck so I could drive it in the hay fields while the older bigger boys and the adults cold load the hay.
I used to ride beside my dad in Grandpa's old Mack and shift the gears with the 2 gear shift levers while we drove from Texas to Colorado through the mountains.
The first time I drove the old truck on that trip by my self I had just turned 14 no one was with me because pop was in the hospital and Grand pa was recovering from a heart attack. I made the whole trip without incident until I was about 30 miles from home when our county sheriff pulled me over. the next day I was before the judge and he issued me a letter of hardship I had my chauffeurs license allowing me to drive a truck a month later.
Most of my friends who have driven over the road for many years got their break by riding as a swamper in a truck for a couple of years learning the do's & don't's of the road. Now days truck drivers get a few weeks in a TDS truck driving school then they are put with a trainer for a couple of runs then turned out on their own. Are they professional truck drivers? IMO not. At least not until they have a few years behind the wheel. and then only if they actually learned anything. Otherwise they are nothing but steering wheel holders
That's my rant hope it doesn't offend too many folks.

[MeJasonT]

Easier to plough two blocks then plough out the break then finish with the head rigs surely, like one would do with a fixed furrow plough. All this time and energy spent reversing the furrows and trying to turn on the spot, it would be quicker raising the plough, driving twenty yards setting the plough down and carrying on. Lot less stressful. Did i mention my father Sydney Thompson was world ploughing champion in 1957,1958 lost to Canada in 1959 and won it back in 1960 with a pair of Clydesdale horses. he always claimed the Canada win was a fix, they awarded the prize before the end of the ploughing match - they were supposed to have until 3 PM to finish. They even caused an international incident when they refused to plough in one match as Africa had been banned from attending, the decision got overturned and the match went ahead. I myself have ploughed many a furrow (about 3 compared to my dad) with a Ford 6600 which is now my pride and joy after our family farm is now no more. My father would walk up to 15 miles with the horses, plough just over an acre then walk back before dark. Its strange now seeing contractors pulling in to fields near our house with huge tractors an 12 furrow ploughs, by the time they are once round they are heading back out of the gate. A large field near us is around 20 acres, nothing like the plains of America.

you guys type so fast my post from the UK is out of sync by the time i send it - sorry

[MeJasonT]

In regard to driving safely. I realised when i had a motorcycle i was the best rider in the world 10 seconds before i came off. Complacency and over confidence are the killer. Speed is not the problem - braking is, if you don't brake when you should, if you don't break in time or you break when you crap yourself then you usually end up in trouble. in a straight line at 200 mph in a serviceable vehicle you should be fine.

[Frank S]

In regard to driving safely. I realised when i had a motorcycle i was the best rider in the world 10 seconds before i came off. Complacency and over confidence are the killer. Speed is not the problem - braking is, if you don't brake when you should, if you don't break in time or you break when you crap yourself then you usually end up in trouble. in a straight line at 200 mph in a serviceable vehicle you should be fine.

One of my biggest peeves when driving is someone following me too close for my comfort.
My vehicles are usually much larger than those who are following me so they can't see what I see. I almost never have to stand on my Brakes but if something jumps out from the side of the road right in front of me you can bet my #13 EEE is going to stomp a hole in the floor unless i'm on Ice or wet roads My pickup is heavy enough in the front and rear that all 4 tires are going to rip asphalt before they will skid. I have larger calipers in front and 3 sizes larger wheel cylinders in the rear than the truck came with plus because IMO Ford's RABS system was junk when new it has been removed I removed the vacuum booster and replaced it with a hydro booster to have even more pressure. I'm like Yosemite Sam when I say whoa I mean WHOA.
Just a while back we were in Abilene driving along just under the speed limit when a basket ball bounced in front of me followed by a kid darting out between a couple of parked cars well I'm stopped almost before the kid even shows his head from around the car but the guy behind me in his brand new techno car wiht its high tech equipment that slows it maintains following distance and stops automatically is against my steel back bumper before he even sees my brake lights. To the car's credit it almost got stopped in time it just barely touched my truck not even hard enough to dent his plastic what ever that thing is they put on the front of cars these days. But the Abilene PD didn't do so well if he hadn't swerved to the left he would have ploughed right into the car making a sandwich out of the poor guy.
We all got out the kid got his ball PD looked at the situation and said I don't think anyone's vehicle warrants any further action. we all had a good laugh about what could have happened then we left.
there is 2 things to this that I observed neither of the vehicles behind me should have been driving as close to the 1 in front.they were both not paying attention as well as they could have. Yeah maybe I could have been going just a little faster like doing 30 instead of about 27 but then I might have only stopped 3 feet before the kid got in front of me instead of 6 feet And I possibly could have been watching the side of the road a little better but it still would have been hard to see a 4 ft tall kid on the other side of a 5 ft tall vehicle. Just 1 more reason why I hate to have to go to a city I belong out here where all I have to worry about are Deer and cattle