BillyT

Years ago a driver told me a NYC officer told him if someone tries to rob you when you're sleeping in your truck shoot him get rid of the body and don't report it!! I heard it's 5 Years to bring a gun into the city! Another option is carry a nautical flare gun! Not considered a firearm in most states! Just don't miss, only one shot! Cost about 40.00 in wal mart. You can carry an unconcealed pistol in Florida but the clip must be out of reach. In the glove box for instance.

Years ago a driver told me a NYC officer told him if someone tries to rob you when you're sleeping in your truck shoot him get rid of the body and don't report it!! I heard it's 5 Years to bring a gun into the city! Another option is carry a nautical flare gun! Not considered a firearm in most states! Just don't miss, only one shot! Cost about 40.00 in wal mart. You can carry an unconcealed pistol in Florida but the clip must be out of reach. In the glove box for instance.

UD, appreciate the Straubs info! OD, I'm somewhat of an expert on sheds, the 300 buck shed at Lowe's is almost certainly painted steel with a limited life due to rust! And of course you have all that labor, and the the floor kit etc! All there " kits" are a lightweight pos, the minimum quality they can get away with! If the 800 buck shed is actually plywood (not osb) it's probably your best bet! The dudes at the sawmill are certainly country boys with a good work ethic so the shed will probably be decent quality! But the mill still has to make a profit! And they have to deliver it 20 mi and unload it. If you like the shed( or can have a buddy who understands construction who can evaluate it) you have to prepare the site. If it's ten by fifteen a pickup load of pea gravel raked level should go it! Then ( this is important,and most folks omit it) buy a roll of sheet plastic about 8 mil if My rapidly failing memory serves me! One trade name is Visaqueen, for a vapor barrier and spread it about a foot wider then the shed so you can staple it to the floor joist. The shed will probably have treated lumber floor joists,but maybe not the highest grade which is marked for in ground use! The vapor barrier will extend the life of the floor joists and has a hundred uses,as you will probably have some left over! It's cheap anyway! When you or your buddy check out the shed it should have at least two by six floor joists on twenty four inch centers. The wall studs and roof supports should be on twenty four inch centers,but no biggy,as you can reinforce these if you like,but the floor joists will be covered! I'm sure you're not sweating code where you live but the specs I mentioned seem standard on sheds. I suspect the roof will be galvinized steel like you see on most rural outbuildings. Once it's delivered you're ready to go! You didn't mention if it's painted but if not you can do that at your leasure.Since you're working you can hold off on my next recommendation,If you feel a sudden burst of ambition you can paint the roof!, but galvanized metal actually holds paint better after its weathered it will turn grey. You have to prime it with red lead or zinc cromate if you can find it! There may be a pre primed paint in colors for galvanized metal now Lowe's has the best paint dept. I recommend a light color as it will keep the interior cooler! You can probably get by with two six packs of Straub(if you're working alone)😁

It is a "pisser" OD, I was driving a single axle F750 gas burner and a single axle bankhead trl 5 big cars and pickups and a pinto on the headramp ! Blew a brake diaphragm on the trailer, no maxis! Skipped three whole gears on a 5 and a deuce let out the clutch and the tach went around twice! 10000 rpm on a 391, redlined at 5! Wasn't slowing enough so I "put it up on the hillside" all the wheels on the right side left the ground, and my wallet on the dash went out the drivers window and ended up on the pavement! It went back down in slow motion and a pine tree branch came in the passenger window and was against my cheek! Didn't put a scratch on a car or on the rig! A B model wrecker came up from Cumberland and towed me to a garage in Cumberland ! They replaced the diaphragm and I took a motel. The next day I did my drop in Cumberland and went 20 or so miles and " swallowed a valve! No surprise! They brought me another tractor and towed the 750 back to Pittsburgh. So a couple of years later Nu Car Carriers bought AT I and we all got brand new Louisville tractors and 10 car Ronald McDonald Cotrell trailers. Five axle rigs with maxis, 290 Cummins 10sp r.r. I get a load going to Cumberland, only three pintos left on the trl for Cumberland, no problem right? Wrong! I've got 8500 lbs on the trl, and by the time I get down by rte 36 my brakes are smoking! It's been a long time but I don't think I ever got to the high side! On the plus side I can't think of a prettier place to die! I found out later that several drivers have died on that road!

Teamster Grrrl my youngest son used to date a girl who was a graduate anthropologist, couldn't buy a job! She was the librarian at univ. Of fla,was getting a teaching degree the last time I talked to her! He graduated from Wake Forest on a football scholarship (thank god for football!) Was 40k a year in 94! He ended up building yachts and becoming a cabinetmaker! His older brother dropped out of h.s. and saved enough to go to computer school. He owns homes in three states and recently took a job as a bank vice president (at a significant reduction in salary) so he could spend more time with his kids! He lives In Nashville Tn and works in Pittsburgh by computer has less than two years of technical school! So college is great,but not the only way to prep. Yourself for a career (or careers) Hard work is still the main factor! Degrees in subjects like social work,philosophy,and anthropology to name a few,often take years of experience to earn a living wage and some never do! Having said that,if you LOVE a field no matter what it is you will rise to the top in that field! If you hate your work you will suffer your whole life and be miserable to be around!

Carlotpilot, some douchebag put a 12 inch dent in my pickups quarter in a parking lot it cost me 100 bucks for a quart of plain white urethane enamel a gallon of reducer and wet sandpaper and some stir sticks! I took a chance and primed it with a rattle can,looks good but I thought I was a lot of money! A couple years ago my son painted my riding lawn mower with blue rust oleum don't know what reducer,looked good!his first time with a paint gun. No concours job, but maybe we need to experiment,the price of materials is ridiculous! Maybe try mixing it to get other colors. You wouldn't paint a high end street rod with it or your high buck road horse, but the frame on your old B model, or the undercarriage etc, your old farm tractor and so on! At some point the epa will veto all non waterborne paint not in Fla yet except possibly commercial shops! I remember when DuPont Imron was eighty bucks a gallon,very toxic, do they still make it?

How about a quad box with a computerized clutch and an air operated compound for a cdl " trainer truck"?😁

My condolences very sorry.

U Bet! May they come home safe!

OD when I was hauling cars out of Pittsburgh we used to call the Oakland Md, Deep Creek area our winter resort! Lost my brakes on highway 160 near Berlin pa on my way to Cumberland md.If you've never been on it don't! About 10 percent I'm guessing!

Merry Christmas everyone! Timmy B, didja ever hear of Moose toys out of Cheltenham Vic.? My granddaughter got a really cool toy bird in a cage it records what you say and repeats it back, also sings etc! Haven't had a chance to see if it repeats everything lol the kids are around! However it's made in China and it took me as long to remove the packaging as it did to pull a vw engine or put a clutch in a 55 Chevy! They're stealing your jobs too !

That's a classic! Like the metal shed my wife bought ME for Christmas about 15 years ago the kind with 3000 little bolts and nuts to put it together! Three days, and a case of Straub beer (do they still brew that) later it was done! Was still behind the house a year or two ago! We sold the house and I go by It sometimes.Haven't been through St Mary's Pa. For at least twenty yrs! Hope Anheuser Busch hasn't bought Straub like they did Rolling Rock!

Cool manger mower man! The jigsaw is one of the most versatile tools in the shop!,the scroll saw as well! Both very reasonable too! Merry Christmas to all you guys and gals😁

Years ago a driver told me a NYC officer told him if someone tries to rob you when you're sleeping in your truck shoot him get rid of the body and don't report it!! I heard it's 5 Years to bring a gun into the city! Another option is carry a nautical flare gun! Not considered a firearm in most states! Just don't miss, only one shot! Cost about 40.00 in wal mart. You can carry an unconcealed pistol in Florida but the clip must be out of reach. In the glove box for instance.

Once again I agree with all of your insights! As far as devices that disable cell phones on cars, the technology exists but I believe the electronics lobby has blocked the implementation of it in motor vehicles,because people want to talk when they drive, and it sells phones! Also talking on a cell phone isn't illegal in many states. In Florida texting is illegal While driving,but it is a secondary offense! That means you must be pulled over for something else to get ticketed! Or the officer must see you cause an accident while texting! I forget the fine for a first offense but it's low enough that many strokes are willing to take the chance! The other problem is the emphasis on texting took the "heat" off talking on the phone while driving! Statistically it is at least as dangerous as driving drunk! The only people who should be allowed to talk while driving are law enforcement and First responders! They generally have training in defensive driving, and they generally talk in response to an emergency situation or pertaining to a detail they are on not casual bullshit! It used to be illegal to talk on the phone in Connecticut for a motorist, but I think it must be a secondary offense as almost every motorist seems to be talking on the phone!

Fast food and similar service type jobs should not be "career" positions except for management! Should be "bridge" jobs for students or part time for adults to supplement income ! Training should be available for anyone of sufficient intelligence and incentive for decent paying work for free or at an affordable rate.There are people who are unwilling to do a days work even at a good wage, but I believe most people want to improve their lives !

Blackdog, good point! They need too get off their wallets! In 1978 I welded a dump trailer for a mack mechanic who wanted to try dump trucking. This was in Pittsburgh, he was making 12.00 an hour in 1978! I made the mistake of telling him I was a driver,he talked me into training him, he had only bobtailed as a mechanic! He still owes me 90 bucks! That's ok he put an R model day cab with a 237 maxidyne with as straight 5 speed and highway gears under a dump trailer! Wonder how long that lasted?😁

41, and all you guys, every one of you is correct!! The educational system in America has been pushing all students to go to college! Not the kids fault there is an unwritten and USUALLY unspoken level of condensation for skilled tradesman! Stereotypes abound ! Greasemonkey,plumber digging around in poop, You can always drive a truck if you can't make it in college! Well,many of you have degrees and still want to drive a truck! From what I've seen most of you could easily pass college boards! My freaking co driver and business partner was an accountant at US Steel Research and a Mensa! Lost his job when the steel industry left America! We have gone from a manufacturing economy to a technological and financial one.That means that a large percentage of manufacturing jobs will never return,no matter what we do to promote them! So the majority of kids will have college forced on them and be in debt til they're 50,even if they might have enjoyed one or more skilled trades. The ideal situation in my opinion is to have college along with one or more skilled trades! The guys and gals who lost their jobs in manufacturing already have mechanical and other skills that would make them ideal candidates for training in skilled trades! Plus they've been in the real world and know how to survive! Our infrastructure is beginning to resemble the third world, who's going to replace it a banker? A computer programmer? When the steel industry went away in the 80s everyone who lost a steel related job was offered free retraining,including four years of college or trade school lets do that again! Don't tell me we can't afford it!

While the majority of what your post stated is true and obvious to any adult capable of rational thought Aaron, as soon as you mentioned the ATA the lobbying arm of the commercial truckload carriers I hesitated to press "like" In my three million miles( not bragging there are drivers who have retired with four and even five million) just want you to to be aware "I've been out there" I've been union and non union company driver, and owner operator. Any professional truck driver who has managed to stay alive and not killed any member of the general public for even a couple of years has to be aware of the role safety plays, hands down, it's #one! I believe bull riding is #1 as far as being dangerous! The number of people involved plays a role statistically! Other than teamsters and any union I was in I don't join groups and have known totally safety oriented people in all groups including ooida and teamsters.All of us who have pulled doubles know they are an "accident looking for a place to happen) but there are master freight drivers who have pulled them for four million miles without so much as a ticket! Deregulation, which almost singlehandedly created the monster that the truckload industry is today was supported by the ATA and ironically the old Overdrive Magizine and adamantly opposed by the teamsters,since any student of basic economics knows that if you're running at a two cents a mile profit (or at break even so you can establish the account and then Jack up the rate) knows you can't afford to pay a decent wage! In 1978 when union scale was 18 cents a mile JBH was starting drivers at 6 cents a mile that comes to 3.00 an hr @ 50 mph! I wonder how many drivers killed themselves and members of the general public trying to feed a family on 3.00 an hr! There is a glaring double standard at many truckload carriers that any experienced driver can spot instantly! So Aaron, I have to wonder why in terms of the promotion of safety you only mentioned the ATA? However I agree that the wages should be sufficient that you shouldn't even have to think about falsifying a log, but as long as there exists the cutthroat competition directly resulting from deregulation we can only hope for that! As the comedian Lenny Bruce used to say "is there anyone I haven't offended?😁 See Axles To Grind Car and Driver Dec 2016

Freight train, I recognize your video! Are you in Eastern Ohio my best friend is in Warren, called last nite they closed the schools while we were talking snow and cold was going into single digits last nite!

Thanks Hat City! I had my two iced teas they were made by Anheuser Busch!

It's time J Hancock lol

Anybody read about the Acura wagon that locked up its (your) brakes when it (saw) a road sign or delineater?