By
Rick & Christine.
 .
Close Call!
Well, one full week of driving
65-foot tractor/trailer combinations around the city of Fresno and, amazingly
enough, no one in the class has squished, bent, or broken any vehicles
or pedestrians yet. I do, however, have the dubious honor of being the
first student in the history of the school to get stuck making a right
hand turn with a SHORT trailer!
Yep, I was just pulling a
little 27-footer and I swung out too wide on the turn. My poor old 60-year-old
grandma instructor had to climb out and stop traffic so I could back up
and complete the turn. How embarrassing! Of course I do have several excuses
for this mishap. You see, I was told the very first day that I should always
pretend as though I had a big, long 53 footer behind me. This way I would
get in the habit of taking the corners wide.
That is exactly what I was
doing. Also, I had been driving a flat-nose cab-over truck earlier that
day that corners VERY well. When the mishap occurred, I was in a Volvo
conventional that must have been the inspiration for the song, “Give Me
Forty Acres and I’ll Turn This Rig Around”. So, those are my excuses, but
bottom line, I screwed up.
Wish I could tell you it
was my only one! The scariest moment I have had so far was on my night
drive when a fellow student was driving. We both heard a hissing sound
like an air leak. Leaking air can be very serious in a truck that relies
on air pressure to operate the brakes. I was in the back seat and the first
thing I did was look at the air gauge.
It showed we had normal pressure
and it was not dropping. No worries. For some inexplicable reason though,
the student driving the truck reached up and pulled out the big red knob
on the dash. The big red knob is NOT something you want to mess with when
cruising at 35 mph on a busy city street! The big red knob is the EMERGENCY
TRAILER BRAKES and it locks up the tandems on the trailer. When this happens
your trailer may start skidding, changing lanes, and possibly even decide
to pass you if you don’t handle things properly.
Our weary instructor woke
up REAL fast! He slammed the knob back in just as the brakes were beginning
to set. I was still staring in shock with my mouth open. I just couldn’t
believe the guy pulled the knob. I don’t think these instructors get paid
enough.
Although it may not seem
like it, everything is actually going very well. The first people will
be taking their DMV road tests at the end of this week and I suspect I
will be in that group. I am almost ready. Christine is not very far behind.
She just needs a little more practice backing. Who knows, by the next article,
I may be fully licensed to operate an 80-ton truck on the road.
WATCH OUT FOLKS!!! ‘till
next week,
Rick
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