Do you still have a CDL?

[BIGNASTY]

Snorking

Lots of drivers made the comment that I don't know how you can haul gas!! I told them it goes in the big tanks behind the tractor like everything else does. I never gave it much of a thought, in my time hauling gas I have seen some pretty bad truck wrecks and very few times did the tanks rupture, they are tougher than most people think.

I was following another driver in a separate truck we had just pumped out a Drivers mistake at a station and refilled his screw up to make things right. It was dark and someone had dropped a wheelbarrow on the road, the lead driver hit it and it went up under the truck took some of the plumbing out on his first compartment. It holds about 20 gallons just in the plumbing. with the gas leaking and the sparks from the wheelbarrow the gas ignited, It looked like that movie back to the future when the car left flames on the road

I had just became a Driver Trainer and at our saftey meeting I brought this accident up, I commended the driver for doing a superb job, it is a natural reaction to swerve to miss an object, he said he seen it but remembered us telling him you swerve in a tanker YOUR GOING TO ROLL THE SOB!!! he said when he looked in the side view the flames where chasing him down the road so he put his foot in it to out run it. He couldn't but he didn't know that at the time. All of our trucks had cameras in them mine caught the happening on video. More pucker than actually dangerous.

In every tank trailer I have ever seen there are two valves, one is down where the driver opens it to unload product, the other is built into the tank where the plumbing is attached to the compartment in the trailer. It kind of a saftey thing that worked in this case if not it would have been a pretty big hole to fill.


At the refinery and just about every place we went there are cameras recording everything that is done, the worst thing that I had seen is the accident in Texas at the ARCO rack. It took out something like 15 people THAT WAS SICK!! Managment didn't want me to use that in our saftey meeting, I insisted that they do!!! our accident rate went to nothing in one hell of a hurry, I was more Leary of Rack problems rather than on the road or in station problems.

RVTRKN

No Problem. :-laf

 

[BIGNASTY]

No, this is a dealer meeting. Parts and service have seminars, we get to discuss what is not working vs. what does work. The service guys will get updated on new warranty procedures, etc.
The best part for me is meeting vendor reps, all of the big players are there such as Cummins, Eaton, Meritor, Horton, Hendrickson, etc.. We talk, exchange cards, maybe even tip a couple at the bar. The result is I have shortcuts to people that can help me. Sometimes it works the other way, the reps will contact us for our input in the real world.

It really is worthwhile, plus I think that they are taking us all to Universal Studios Monday night.

It lasts for four days.

Mike.

I like those kind of deals as a driver trainer we went to other places to learn other ways of doing things and then they would have a special gift for the drivers and their wives, we went sailing on a old 3 mast ship for a day, it was pretty cool. The best was a couple of days at a NASCAR driving school just for the drivers. My Wife went and her Parents happened to be in FL at the time they came up to watch. There was 3 of us that got to go on to the advanced class and let it all hang out, the other drivers were having a great time yelling and screaming. When I took my turn, Penny was sacred **** less because we were going pretty damn fast. This was the best thing I Ever got as a gift from work. She was beating and slapping the Crap out of me when I got back to the pit, Hold on Baby im the best!!!! :-laf now excuse me while I clean out my britches

http://www.drivepetty.com/experiences/experience-of-a-lifetime
http://www.drivepetty.com/experiences/advanced-racing-experience

 

[jelag]

I was asked about how the state new that I had a cpap.... under the new standards for medical.... you no longer can see your primary doctor unless he is now certified to provide this physical... so I was sent through my medical program to another doctor now certified to do the physical under the new standards.... one of the questions on the new review process is do you use a cpap..... its in my record, which the doc has access to... so now I have to have a new medical every year... under the federal program to drive out of state.... if I stay in state than I don't need the to meet the new requirement....

What bothers me the most is they want to certify each machine when I get the physical... another 2 hours lost and I'm told my old machine... with no recording device in the machine will be allowed in the future... they actually want to track the hours of use annually on the machine.... if you want to just cheat... you'd just turn it on and let it run... and the hour meter runs...

BTW - I was in Calgary when the province had a large crack down on a scam... they have a third party provider do the testing and certification.... the province had a large group of accidents and started to track where the drivers had gotten their CDL.... they found that one location had certified something like 4500 drivers over a 3 year period... almost of them from another country..... moving to Canada.... who couldn't speak much of the language.... let alone really drive a truck... The company only had 4 or 5 employees and there's no real way they could have taught and tested that many people... the province as I understand later pulled all the licenses ..... I'm doing this from memory.... and don't have the facts in front of me... if there's someone from that area that knows the facts better than I remember them please chime in...

 

[BIGNASTY]

Jim

Long ago I heard that Commercial drivers in Canada don't run log books, any truth to that?

BIG

 

[BIGNASTY]

I remember that picture, I'll hunt for it while I'm in transit tomorrow. Have to fly to Orlando for a Freightliner event (dog and pony show).

Mike.

Mike not that it matters, but the wife said that you might use the key words Carman Miranda to help you find the pictures, I took the bowl fruit off the table put it on the top of my head wrapped the checkered table cloth around my waist and did the Cha Cha dance for them, im not sure if that picture got on TDR

Hows the Dog and Pony show going ?

BIG

 

[Shiner]

I keep mine current, I even keep the Hazmat current. I haven't used it in years. but its nice to have. you never know when it would come in handy.

I keep mine current as well, although when it is time to renew, I will let hazmat go, not worth the $$$ to keep and is not hard to get, just $$$.

 

[Larry Willard]

I keep mine current as well, although when it is time to renew, I will let hazmat go, not worth the $$$ to keep and is not hard to get, just $$$.[/QUOTE

That's what I did along with the same reasoning. Now I am thinking about just going to a non commercial A license to stop the need for an annual physical. Really don't see driving commercial anymore.

 

[DHayden]

if you want to just cheat... you'd just turn it on and let it run... and the hour meter runs...

Most CPAPS record much more than hours, you can easily see if the machine is "just on" or you are actually using it.

 

[Wayne M.]

I need it for my job.

 

[jhenderson]

If I could earn my living without it, I’d drop it tomorrow.

 

[RVTRKN]

Yes I still have mine and converted it to Nevada lic.

 

[HBellmyer]

The other day I received a periodic questionaire from our Department of Public Safety - Medical Division. They contact me every year wanting to know if I can still see, what my blood glucose levels have been running, and of course wanting my doctor to give a statement as to my general health. I think this is a responsible thing for them to do, and I am also concerned enough about my health to go to the doctor every six months. All of this is mandated because of my continuing refusal to relinquish my Class A CDL. I haven't been behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler in two years and can't imagine getting back in the saddle.

Is there any logical reason why I should continue to keep it in lieu of a regular driver's license? I'm pulling a 9,000 lb. fifth-wheel. Does Canada require a CDL?

- Ed

The peoples republic of Maryland requires you to get a physical every two years and submit documents completed by a doctor to maintain your CDL. Since I am retired I do not need a CDL so I dropped the CDL but kept the class A. No more paying for physicals....

 

[slowmover]

I keep mine current as well, although when it is time to renew, I will let hazmat go, not worth the $$$ to keep and is not hard to get, just $$$.

Background investigation is same as concealed carry or TWIC. Fingerprints, etc, by third party Federal Gov vendor. They set an appointment for you.

This is separate from the written test at the state. Different fees, etc.

Cannot let medical expire. Or basic license expire. It’s start from zero if you do not keep them up.

Medical conditions are used to weed out intelligent older men. Crooks at your state DMV grease the way for young, stupid foreigners. Between those two groups, which is the real threat? High blood pressure, or congenital lack of visuo-spatial skills? (Mirrors are useless to those incapable of time-distance equations).

Make no mistake about “safety” as one of many code words across society for easing in the “replacement population” to your children & grandchildren.

.

 

[Killgore]

Well yes, and maybe no. Even though certain things are mandated at the Federal level, the individual states are still allowed a certain amount of latitude. Case in point: several years ago we sold our small farm and became full-timer RVers deciding to travel, have the flexibility to visit friends and relatives without being an inconvenience, and the option of leaving when I made them mad. For tax purposes I quickly realized it was to our advantage to make Florida our state of legal residence, and it was quickly accomplished with the assistance of Escapees RV Club; all nice and legal. In the process I had to surrender my Alabama Class A CDL and was issued a Florida Class E license. WTH! This won't do! But, as I was about to embarrass my wife who was standing there, the licensing agent told me that if I wanted a Florida Class A CDL all I had to do was trot myself over to the doctor and bring them the 'long form'. But, but... "Bub, if you want the CDL you can get it in the future by getting a DOT physical and just submitting the form; but you don't need it. Your Class E allows you to operate any size recreational vehicle". Okay, but why all the confusion between states, especially since I religiously got DOT physicals. "Because Florida still issues health cards and requires you to carry them and Alabama maintains health records on a computer data base." Well I may have had smoke blown up my backside, but that's the story as I remember it. I saved some dollars and time by not monkeying around with the system, and finally admitted that at nearly 76 I'm through being a commercial driver.

 

[RVTRKN]

Nevada only requires you to retake the Hazmat, with proof of residency and birth certificate, of coarse this is if you have a clean driving record. It took me awhile though, the RV park I was at, that I rented on a monthly basis, wouldn't sign the document that it was my address. I couldn't use the house address because I had it under lease for another 6 month. I didn't want the lic. going to that address. In all, it would have been real easy if I had the house when I arrived in Las Vegas.