RowdyRebel

I've found that by being smart and acting average or slightly below, people expect less from you. Then when you slip up and reveal what you've really got between your ears, it takes 'em a while to pick their jaw up off the floor. Kinda like a "sleeper" car....looks like a hunk of junk, but the engine is hopped up, drive train solid, and it'll blow the doors off that fancy show car any day of the week. However, if you live your life trying to prove to the world how smart you are, you alienate people who might think you are arrogant. You also look like a fool each and every time you slip up and reveal that you aren't quite as smart as you've led people to believe you are. You'll get much farther in life exceeding expectations than you will by not living up to them. However, it is a fine line you've got to walk. If you come across as too dumb, you'll never be given the chance to show what you know. That's where a lot of people go wrong....they come across as too dumb. You'll never fit that bored, stroked, supercharged big block under the hood of a "smart" car, and everybody knows it.... ....but damn that'd be a wicked fast car if'n ya could! Engine would probably account for 90% of the car's weight...power to weight ratio would be tough to beat...

...and here I thought the jokes had run out. This thread has been kinda dead lately.

Cash flow....in one hand, out the other. I keep HOPING to someday make some money, but every time I think I'm getting somewhere, I get kicked in the teeth. Finally got one of the biggest mistakes I made starting out behind me, though...just dealing with the aftermath now.

It's fun when things are going right. Even on the bad days, though, it beats driving somebody else's truck. In all honesty, I don't think I could go back to driving a truck that is owned by somebody else...not hauling freight, anyway. Maybe I'd drive somebody's wrecker for them...but that's pretty much the only way I'd go back to being just a driver with no ownership interest in the truck.

I drove my 500,000th mile as an O/O. Sure as heck doesn't feel like all that long, but come to think of it I'm only a month and a half away from 5 years since buying my Mack. Time sure is a-flyin'!

Like I said, it boils down to the actual training, not the school they used to get their CDL. I was lucky and had a trainer who had been around long enough to know enough about the job to pass on some of that knowledge to me. Most of these "starter" companies (including the one I began my career with) will take a still-wet-behind-the-ears rookie and make them a trainer after 90 days or so. When you have a "trainer" who still doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground, what can he possibly teach? For example, how many times have we been at a truck stop or loading dock and seen a "trainer" trying to teach a student how to back up and it is apparent the trainer still can't back a tractor trailer...TEACHING a skill which he is not yet proficient? ...then again, when they are only locked into a 1 year employment contract-for-school situation, they've only got a short time to use & abuse them to squeeze 'em for all they can get from them. I'm of the belief that a person shouldn't be allowed to train until they have 10 years experience...and at least 3-5 of those years ought to be at the company they are training for. For one, companies that provide training would have to treat their drivers better in order to get them to stick around long enough for them to become trainers. Not only that, but if these starter companies suddenly lost their supply of fresh butts to cycle through their revolving doors due to the lack of qualified trainers, they would have to rethink their business model. When drivers become a valued asset at a company, they will be treated better...paid better.

When I was OTR, I had a pair of flip flops. They resided in my shower bag and the only time they were worn was to protect the bottom of my feet from the scuzzy shower floors. I had my boots on again before I walked through the truck stop back out to the truck.

I went to a 2 week CDL school...and then out with a driver-trainer for 3 weeks before being turned loose in my own assigned truck. When in school, I barely had any time behind the wheel because I'd do each range exercise one time just so I'd know I could do it...and then I'd hand the wheel over to the other guys who obviously needed the practice more than I did. My grandfather had taught me how to back a trailer as soon as I could reach the pedal on the lawn tractor, and I had been being paid to drive since my 18th birthday. I started out delivering flowers in my own vehicle (holiday help) which led to a part time position driving their delivery van. In college I taught people to ride motorcycles, and then after I finished 4 years and went "home" again to figure out what was next for me in my life, and drove wreckers for 6 months until that company was bought out. I had just got my class B permit and was being trained into the heavy duty wrecker. They had a semi tractor and a 53' enclosed car hauler trailer, but it didn't have a clutch in it until the day before the company was sold. I moved out of my parents house....back to where I had gone to school. Lower cost of living, and I figured I could get a job driving a wrecker here. When that didn't pan out, I decided to look for a bigger vehicle to drive and applied at one of the starter companies, albeit one that has not yet been mentioned in this thread. Anyway, at the CDL school I was one of 5 people who took the road test on the first possible day...and the only one who passed. I got the heck out of there ASAP because I had better things to do than hang around to see who else passed on their first attempt. I will say that I got lucky. I was picked up by a driver-trainer who had been around a while. He was closer to my parents age than my own, and had grown up on a farm hauling grain and such. He had been an O/O in the past, and had gone to work at this company +12 years before I hired on. He had been around for a while and knew what was going on. I was on his truck for 3 weeks before the computer went haywire and I got to bobtail from OKC to the main terminal with no dash gauges. Rather than taking me out for another week, he felt I was good enough to be turned loose early. Funny thing is, he had said he'd have a CB handle for me by the time I got off his truck....guess I didn't screw up bad enough to earn one. 11 years later, I STILL don't have one. Sure, I've been called just about every name in the book....most of 'em I can't repeat....but nothing has really "stuck". So does that mean I'm unprofessional or unsafe just because the only "training" I had consisted of 2 weeks in CDL school and 3 weeks out with a trainer? I'd like to think not. It isn't the length of time it takes to train a person how to drive a truck....everybody has different life experiences prior to climbing behind the wheel. Some people pick up on things quicker than others, too. If it only takes a person 2 days to get proficient enough to pass the CDL test, I see no reason to keep them in "school" for 3-4 weeks unless the school is also teaching rules & regulations, log books, etc....all of which could easily be learned if a person would simply read that little green book. Even with the "book" stuff they teach you, I was ready to get on with my life after the first week....yet at that point there were still some in the class who had not even been able to pass the written tests to get their permit. As for the "on-the-job training" that takes place, THAT is where most of the problems lie. Too many companies treat that truck containing the "trainer" and the newly issued CDL as a team operation. The "trainer" doesn't know any better, because 3 months ago HE was the trainee with the newly issued CDL....and his 90-day-wonder driver-trainer did the exact same thing with him. With too many of these companies, you can go to their school and get your CDL, go through their training program, go out on your own for 3 months, and become a trainer. Then you've got a student on your truck with you and NEITHER ONE OF YOU has ever seen snow from behind the wheel of a tractor trailer....and in some cases, it is possible that neither one of you have seen snow other than on TV or in pictures. But, you're still a "trainer". You can't TEACH what you do not KNOW, and you aren't going to learn enough about this job in 3 months to be a competent trainer. It is that lack of competent training that is the REAL problem.

I've seen that movie and thought it was aptly named. As for spelling, my fiance gets aggrevated at me because I actually type out what I'm trying to say when I send her a text. I've been laughed at as well when I ask the waitress or whoever else might be nearby to translate the gibberish the fiance sent me so that I can know what the heck she was saying. I've also been on the phone with a person at the main office and had to listen as they actually spoke in text....."W-T-F"....just say the damn words. If you think it is apporpriate to abbreviate them in a proffessional setting, it should be just as appropriate to say them. If it is NOT appropriate to use that sort of language in a proffessional setting, perhaps you should not reference those words at all. Sometimes when I'm being less-than-serious, I might purposely misspell a word or two....type in a manner which expresses the words I'm using more closely to the way I'd say them while having a similar discussion face to face with a person...but that doesn't mean I'm unaware or unable to form a proper sentence. I still don't understand why you would lump Rednecks in with the stupid, lazy, and ignorant, though, and quite honestly I'm still offended by the remark....seeing as how I are one.

I find it offensive that you would categorize us Rednecks in amongst the likes of the stupid, lazy, and ignorant. Rednecks are known for their ability to use what they've got to get done what needs getting done....even if that involves thinking a little outside of the box and using things in what you might consider to be an unconventional manner. While it might appear crude or leave you scratching your head trying to figure out how anyone could come up with such an idea and utterly amazed that it actually worked, the bottom line is that our solution to the problem we faced got the job done. Not everybody has a robust bank account and a nearby parts store to effect a "proper" fix. Sometimes we just gotta make do with what we have until such time as a "proper" repair is able to be made.

This was actually printed in our local paper a few years ago...."What you tolerate, you encourage"

I spotted one of those critters yesterday at the local Mack dealer....CX tractor pulling a landall trailer. I was gonna post the pic and make a poll out of it since I'm not sure what to think....but no need for duplicate threads. 1) Sacreligeous 2) Oughtta be a law against it 3) At least they know who makes the better truck 4) Better than a V*lv* running around with Mack lettering Well, that was my progression of thought on the matter....from my gut reaction to seeing it up through thinking about it a little bit.

Exactly. When I'm in the truck, I'm in the truck to work. I don't need a seat that resembles a lazy-boy recliner. I don't need traction control, electronic stability control, ABS, automatic transmissions, or any other feature added to trucks these days to idiot-proof them. I can drive my own damn truck and don't need the truck trying to take over for me. And I view drivers side air bags as a HUGE negative feature in a truck. I never have cared for them, and don't really need or want one in any vehicle I'm driving. None of my current vehicles have them...not even my pickups....and if I ever do buy a new-enough truck to have them, the first thing I'd do would be to physically remove them. They have a nasty habit of turning an otherwise minor fender-bender into a total-loss situation because of the damage they CAUSE to the interior of the vehicle...busted up dash, blown out windows, etc... Not only that, but when I'm out in the woods having a little fun (or at a job site or ridiculously rough haul road), the last thing I want to have to worry about is a particularly harsh dip, bump, or jolt causing my steering wheel to blow up in my face. If you don't want to chew on glass, wear a seat belt and most importantly DON'T CRASH!

Dang...that didn't take long. I was on a day trip down to Tuscaloosa...stopped about 30 minutes out to let Dozer out since I didn't know how long I'd have to wait before I could dump off. Anyway, I get back in the truck to go and the seat back is no longer locked in place. I managed to get it so that it wouldn't go back, but every time I'd lean forward, the backrest would follow. So, that seat had to come out. I still have the old seat that was in the truck when I bought it...but I pulled it out for a reason. It's wore out, none of the air (lumbar, etc.) worked, so it really didn't offer ANY support and was extremely uncomfortalble. Not only that, but it's a wide seat....and I'm not wide enough to fit in it, so the arm rest is a bit if a reach for me. I do still have the seat that USED to be the jump seat....I unbolted it from the base when I built a seat Dozer could climb up onto (he's not allowed on people chairs). The base, however, was not air ride...and had a convenient storage box...so I bolted Dozer's chair onto the OEM base. So, I had to figure out how to get a non-air-ride seat to bolt onto a Bostrom Talladega 915 air-ride base. I think I got 'er licked. This was the bottom of the broken seat ...and the bottom of the seat that I had to get to fit onto the air-ride base the broken seat came off of ...the seatless air-ride base Adapter plate fit like a glove.... Went together pretty easily This one shows Dozer's seat, too. Anyway, I'm not too happy with that Bostrom seat that broke...wasn't even all that old (bought it maybe 3 or 4 years ago)....

I've gotta go finish putting things away for the night outside....be back in a bit to see if anybody guessed right. Hint: It is for the Mack....and goes inside the cab.

I've got a '47...was my grandpa's. One of these days, I'll get it running again. Last time I had a chance to work on it, it wasn't getting any spark....also needs rims & tubes for the back tires. Then the hydraulics are going to have to be gone over since everything creeps...bucket wants to dump and lower unless you keep pulling on the levers. I'm thinking it might be in the control valve...if I remember correctly, grandpa rebuilt the cylinders, but never messed with the control valves. Oh well.... Dangit. I thought I had some pics on this computer, but I guess not. I'll have to try to find 'em...I know I've got 'em stored somewhere.

Those I could deal with....kinda the old school hot rod look....and you still have full use of the bed.

ummmmm....why? I don't even like the poseurs who put those silly stacks through the bed of a pickup....on a Mustang? Absolutely wretched.

College Shuts Down Dorm Room Bible Study Fla. high school student reportedly suspended after disarming gunman Y'all are getting to be as bad as Maryland! Boy, 7, suspended for shaping pastry into gun, dad says

That statement there is painting things with an awful broad brush. My state rep in the state legislature has been in the news a couple times, and every time it happens the only thing that prevents me from standing up and applauding what I'm hearing is my seat belt. The guy definitely speaks on my behalf....but then he's an NRA member, his family owns a small trucking company, and he's fiscally conservative. Almost as good as being in the state house myself. Sure, every once in a while something comes up that I don't exactly agree with, but at least I can see where he's coming from. They may be few and very far between....but there are some good ones out there. My rep gets acknowledged at 4:50 & speaks 4:55-6:30.

As much as I dislike that commie bitch, and although I don't doubt for a second she'd confuse "human nature" with "criminal nature" in order to believe such an asinine hypothesis, I just couldn't in good conscience NOT look into that "quote" further. I was HOPING to find video of her saying it....or at least a quote from ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/FOX...one of the major news outlets....but the only thing I could find was this...from the Palookaville Post...which seems to be more-or-less along the same vein as the Onion.

Yup...too many people make threats, and once you utter the words you can NEVER follow through. SOMEBODY will remember what you said and suggest you as prime suspect #1 if anything of the sort should ever happen. On the internet, your words are right there for anybody to find...and there are quite a few people who never had to actually DO anything to get themselves locked up...the idle threat was enough to reserve them a room at the gray-bar motel. Take the case of that ex-cop out in Calif***ya...posted a "manifesto" online detailing who he was going to target and why. Nobody cares why, but his chances of success were limited once that manifesto was discovered because now they knew 1) who they were looking for and 2) where to focus their "protection detail" resources. Why give them that? What purpose does it serve OTHER than preventing you from successfully carrying out your intentions? No. If you are serious about what you want to do, you keep it to yourself. Don't breathe a word of it to ANYBODY. Don't put your plans to paper. Don't do anything which might lead somebody to believe that you MIGHT be planning something. As far as anybody else is concerned, you have forgiven and forgotten whatever it was that might have provoked your rage. Calmly and patiently and privately devise your plan, and when the proper moment presents itself, you carry it out. No witnesses. No accessories. Remember, 3 can keep a secret if 2 are dead. Just as you didn't warn anybody what was to come, do not brag about what you have done...not even after the statute of limitations has expired, because if it becomes known that you are capable of doing something and it happens again, guess who is going to be looked at extra close? Threats are made by those who do not really wish to act. If you really want to act, forgive & forget...and patiently wait for the right moment.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/02/court-to-review-speedy-approval-ny-gun-controls/?intcmp=obnetwork Looks like the law is being challanged...and the court is going to hear it.

If you're lettering a new truck, I like the blue with the silver shadow better than the silver with the blue shadow....but if you're talking about stripping the black/silver off of the existing truck to replace it with one of the two, I'd vote against that. Getting ALL of the old lettering (and the glue) off is dern near impossible and takes quite a bit of time & effort...and even then, sometimes you'll be able to see the remnants of the old lettering shows on the paint. Hell, I've owned my truck for nearly 5 years now and if the light hits it just right you can STILL see where the previous owner had their markings on the door. Unless the current lettering is peeling off and looks like crap, I'd just leave it alone.

The last new car my grandfather bought before he passed away was a 1995 Ford Contour. 4 door, 5 speed, 6 cylinder car. The only "problem" was that he wanted a red car with a red interior. They told him he couldn't have it that way...that if he wanted a red interior, he'd have to have a white or black exterior....and if he wanted a red exterior, he'd have to choose either a black or tan interior. He asked the salesman "Does Ford offer red paint as an exterior option?" "Yes" "Do they make a red interior for the car?" "Yes" "Then they can put them together. Are you going to place the order or will I have to take my money down the road to another Ford dealer who will get me the car I want?" He got his car. They can put together any options they choose to offer. If they say they can't, they are lying to you. That salesman may not know how exactly to enter in the order...but he can call someone to assist. NOTHING is impossible, as long as you are asking for options available on that product line. If I'm spending MY money on a brand new vehicle, it WILL be built to my specifications...or else I'll take my money elsewhere to somebody willing to put the options I want together in exchange for my money. The manufacturers prefer to build every car the same....it is "easy". Just like a lot of these housing subdivisions....they have 2 or 3 different architectural designs repeated throughout the neighborhood...because it is cheaper, faster, and easier to build the same house over and over again rather than to have to figure out what is needed for each individual home. These mass-produced cars and cookie-cutter houses are made to be found acceptable to the general population. Not everybody fits into their mold, though...and sometimes they fail to understand that simple fact. I'm sure you can still get a new truck spec'd any way you want it. It might not be easy to convince the salesman to place the order...and if you are asking for something completely out-of-the-ordinary, it'll cost you....but they CAN build it for you...even if the dealership that sold you the truck has to finish setting it up for you. Depending upon what you are asking for, they might not be happy about it...they'd prefer you just make do with one of their cookie-cutter trucks....but money talks.