Friday
August 29, 20008

This blog is in response to “Son of a trucker man”. I must be losing my touch. I’m sure that everyone out there wants to know what it feels like to be sitting up high and looking over that entire open road with a million and one lunatics behind the wheel of a 4 wheeler (that is a car for all you non-truckers out there). Well first of all let me tell you that everyone in a car has no idea how hard it is to stop an 18 wheeler. They take every opportunity to cut in front of you. I’m sure the thought is that, I’m not going to get trapped behind this slow truck, so they zip in front of you with no regard for safety. Now this would be ok, but the safety I’m talking about is mine!
Now for the perks of trucking. Being in the big rig gives you a view that is something to behold. It’s another world up there. You can see a whole lot further down the road and take in a lot more scenery. Yes yes, I can anticipate your next question. Does that scenery include the beauties in the cars passing you? Well of course it does. Do you think all the truckers out there drive with blinders on? Not the last time I looked! Also, you must remember that some of the less inhibited people on the road like to see what response the can arouse from you. This opportunity has not been afforded me yet but I can’t deny that I would be flabbergasted if this occurred to me.
As for the actual driving of an 18 wheeler, it is very different from a car. The manual transmission of Ted’s truck has 10 forward gears and one reverse. When you start going thru them, there is a flip switch on the gear shift that must be in the down position. After going thru the first 4 gears, you flip the switch and start over in the first gear position. That is actually 5th gear. The difference is that you have to keep the engine rpms up to at least 1500 rpms while doing this. It is difficult to do if you have to be applying the breaks for some reason. The term double clutching is not understood by most people. The clutch is not depressed all the way when you do this. You go about ½ way and come out of the gear you are in. Then release the clutch and rev to 1500 rpms. Again depress the clutch ½ way and go to the desired gear. Nothing to it right? That is what I thought too. I’m sure the gears of Ted’s truck will appreciate it when I master this. I am better but still have a ways to go.