bob mcgeeney

Big Truck Double Clutching - Why And How

1987 Peterbilt [Thu 10 Feb 2022 02:37:46 PM CST -06:00:00 UTC] Although the industry is making automatic transmissions for heavy trucks, the majority are non-synchronized. For this reason it is necessary to double-clutch when shifting gears because the transmission gears have no syncronizers. The truth is you can, but shifting a truck or any non-syncronized transmission without the clutch, Is not recommend and not everybody can do it.

The trick, which is no trick is you must match the crankshaft and trans input shaft with the tranmission output shaft and road speed using the proper gear selection that matches the engine's RPM range. Example, you wouldn't shift from first gear to fifth gear because it would be outside the engine's power band range. A typical Cummins engine power RPM band is 1600 RPM to 2100 RPM, at 2100 most engines are governed to go no higher than 2100 and don't pull at 1500. So as you speed up you run that particular gear up to about 2000 RPM then pickup a gear. You need to do this before you lose road speed and the next gear is below 1700 RPM, that would be lugging the engine. This is all very simple if you understand what does happens and what needs to happen. Considering that RPM power band, each gear is going to be about 400 RPM apart. Okay, that said let's understand more about how the clutch needs to be used.

Many drivers out there are not aware of the Clutch Brake. I prefer to call it a shift brake, when you push that clutch to the floor, if the clutch is properly adjusted the clutch brake applies braking to the main transmission shaft. The nearly exclusive time to use the clutch brake is after you start the engine in neutral with the clutch disengaged which takes some weight off the starter motor, once running and still in neutral you let off the clutch nice and easy. Let the engine warm up. Now you're ready to go, you choose the gear you want (first gear preferably) and you push the clutch to the floor, with the shifter you will feel the transmission gears come to a stop, now the shifter will slide right into gear. Do it right and no grinding occurs. Release your air brakes and let the clutch out nice and smooth.

Now comes the upshift double clutching. The biggest mistake at this point for the uninitiated is not paying attention to RPM's, the tachometer. As you approach 2100 RPM you're about to upshift one gear, you ease into the clutch to facilitate coming out of first gear then back off the clutch, now the tranmission shaft syncs with youir road speed, within a second or to you let the RPM drop some the depress the clutch again and slide into the the next gear. If you didn't lose road speed and chose the proper gear your tachometer should be a about 1700 RPM, and you can get back into the gas.

As for down shifting, as you approach 1700 RPM push the clutch in and get out of that gear release the clutch for a short second as you pass through neutral, with the RPM picked up, then the second depression of the clutch slip into the next gear. Do NOT put the clutch to the floor. For all of this to work best with the least wear and tear keep the clutch adjusted. You should have three inches of free play in the pedal, meaning three inches of no pedal resistance before the clutch actually does anything. Be aware that RPM values can vary, Detroit engines rev a bit higher, Cummins and Caterpillar engines are typically the same. All of them can be altered, but I won't go in to tha in this article.

Things New Truckers Need To Know

[Tue 08 Feb 2022 04:16:02 PM CST -06:00:00 UTC] I never attended trucking school, but I've seen posts from alleged truckers that were patently wrong. One post that made me laugh was that your dispatcher will tell you where low overpasses are and what route you must take. The latter may be true and I would never work for a company that did that. Here's the thing, you're a truck driver, you are supposed to know what you are doing. Don't rely on GPS to tell you where big trucks can and cannot go. You can buy expensive ones that do, but I still would not trust them. Buy and carry the latest published Rand-McNally atlas, read every damn road sign there is to be seen, and know how tall your trailer is, 13 feet 6 inches is the national limit of vehical height, I don't like anything over 13 feet. There are a plethora of things you need to know and it's on you to know them. As the Department of Transportation's manual for commercial carriers states, You Are The Captain On The Road. Act like it. I will mention some critical things to be aware of.

Rule 1) Never Panic! 2) Know your equipment, know your gauges, know adjusting brakes and clutches, if your company does it for you, get it done. 3) Have a CB radio, it's not a toy, it is safety equipment. 4) Have your mirrors adjusted properly. 5) Buy a top shelf padlock to lock your trailer, the American Lock A700 is pricey but worth it. 6) Check your tires every time you stop, I thump them with a meat hook, the sound will tell you if you have a low or flat tire. 7) Inspect your truck often. 8) Log books, this is a bit of a moot issue, trucks now have computers that weigh stations or DOT guys can check anytime, so you really can't cheat any more, but you still need to turn in legal logs to the company to get paid. Knowing rules on hours is on you. And last for now but not least is 9).

Make damn sure your trailer is hooked solid before you crank up that landing gear, if you're pulling tankers the rule is you never drop loaded tankers, the landing gear isn't designed for that much weight. So that is a few of the many things you'll learn, hopefully not the hard way. Happy Trails. Addendum: You will have air brakes, they are touchy. On your dash board you should have two qauges, one primary and one secondary. They should read 120 psi. At 60 psi an alarm will sound, the DOT will check that, below 60 psi your parking brakes will setup, you may not even have any brakes. If you hit the brakes and you have nothing Pull The Buttons! That cuts off air to the tractor and trailer and the parking brakes set. Hopefully they stop you. There is a yellow and a red button, older trucks may have a blue one, pull them all. The red buttom should be out if you're bob-tailing, meaning you have no trailer. It's surprising how many drivers don't know this. Good luck out there, it's not easy.

A Night On The Edge Of The Everglades

[Wed 12 Jan 2022 03:38:59 PM CST -06:00:00 UTC] During a overnight lay over waiting for pickup instruction in Miami and Homestead Fl., just 15 miles from Miami I had my truck and trailer parked at a spot I often frequented called Dade Corners. It sits at the corner of 186th Avenue (Chrome Avenue) and US HWY 41 also known as Tamiami Trail. I hang out there because I may be sent to farms in Homestead or Miami businesses the next day to pick up stuff bound for the Chicago Water Street Market.

So it's still daylight and I've got some beer and my guitar, my trailer was backed up facing some fairly deep woods. I'm sitting in the trailer, doors open, drinking beer, playing guitar and killing time. Suddenly I see and hear something in the woods, a jeep comes poppng out of the woods. Two guys on a beer run ask me if I want to party, naturally I say certainly. We get beer, I lock up the truck and we go back into the woods, about a hundred yards in, blazing a trail right over three, four inch trees. I'm bracing myself for impact and the jeep just goes right over them. So we abruptly break into a clearing and there is about 20 people there. It's a huge clearing with a pond in the middle, no alligators in sight surprisingly considering it's basically a dry swamp. Anyway I meet a bunch of cool people, drinking beer, and riding ATV's. These locals were really cool guys, then they told me something I knew had happened. We were at the very spot where something like eight DEA agents were found dead a couple years earlier. This was truly Cartel Country. Thet told me it was never solved, and some what covered up. The place seemed a bit strange from the beginning. Just a small example of the variety of people you meet trucking America.

Snowbound on The Cross Bronx Expressway

[Fri 26 Nov 2021 11:04:32 AM CST -06:00:00 UTC] It was a Friday afternoon in New York years ago when a serious snow storm hit the area. I had delivered my load of beef that morning in Manhattan. I spent most of the day looking for a load going back to the midwest, Friday is typically the worst day of the week to find anything going anywhere. That afternoon, my dispatcher found a load of lead ingots going to Wisconsin, pretty close to my home base. The load came out of Brooklyn NY. I loaded as fast as I could as the snow started to come down fast. I headed toward the Cross Bronx Expressway which is a six lane highway named Interstate 95, i-295, and highway 1. By the time I got on the Cross Bronx there was already serious snow piled up and tons of rush hour traffic.

I made it to within 3-4 miles of the George Washington bridge to New Jersey, when traffic just stopped, It was 6pm and absolutely nothing was moving. This was the first time in my career in which I was snowbound on the road. That storm stopped everything in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area and Pennsylvania. Everything was shut down down, even trains and subways. It was noon the next day before we where moving again, turned out to be twelve inches of snow in a matter of hours. Thankfully I followed one of the first rules of winter driving, which is keep your fuel tanks full or you're going to freeze.

Winter Driving

[Sat 13 Nov 2021 12:05:08 PM CST -06:00:00 UTC] It's that time of year when the snow starts flying and the amateur drivers seem to have to learn how to drive in snow all over again. I personally like driving in the snow, it does slow me down, but it's part of living in the northern tier states. When it snows in southern states where drivers are not used to it, well it's a recipe for disaster more or less. Regardless of where you live, if it snows you need to take into account many things. The road surface, your speed, the wind, the weight of your vehicle and condition of your vehicle, tires especially. That said, practice makes perfect. If your vehicle starts skidding or sliding, that is NOT the time to know what to do. Find a safe empty parking lot and purposely make the car slide, learn how to recover control, not to mention learning how to avoid it in the first place. Most importantly, never panic. If you are scared to drive in bad conditions just don't do it! Safe driving to all.

Rule of the Road

Keep Right Sign [Wed 27 Oct 2021 04:03:46 PM CDT -05:00 GMT 2021] There are many rules of the road that all too many people are unaware of. This is a common, unambiguous road sign that 11 per cent of people in the US get wrong on a simple drivers test. It means what it says, Keep to the Right. I constantly see drivers riding in the left lane when there isn't another soul on the highway. This is stupid and selfish not to mention it causes accidents. On four lane highways you use the right lane unless you are passing, with one exception I know of and this is when there is a disabled vehicle or a cop on the shoulder of the highway, it is common practice for good truckers to slide into the left lane momentarily to give whom ever is on the shoulder some space. This is pure courtesy and appreciated by any policeman or woman. Naturally this can only be done if it is completely clear of traffic. Road signs are there for your own good, read them. Do what they say.

My Favorite Car

2nd Gen z28 Camaro [11:51:59 AM CDT -05:00:00 GMT 2021] The picture on the left is a 1970 2nd generation z28 Camaro. I found one of these ninety miles from where I live in a used car lot. I checked it out and drove home immediately to get some cash, came back and bought the car. With the exception of the rear spoiler mine was identical. The split bumper and the three piece rear spoiler were optional. Mine had a one piece spoiler and full front bumper. What really got my attention on this car was it had a genuine LT-1 engine. That year only the corvette and the z28 got the LT-1.

The car ran great but after about six months, I pulled the motor to check bearings and freshen it up. I found exactly what I expected. It had a matching set of GM part numbered TRW forged aluminum pistons, matched set of forged connecting rods, perfect main and rod bearings, and a forged GM never been ground crankshaft. This engine was rated between 360-370 horsepower. It also had a factory Weiand aluminum intake manifold, Holley carburetor, high performance cylinder heads, 2.02" intake valves, screw in rocker studs, which I replaced with aftermarket, push rod guide plates, also added 'perfect circle' valve seals, and 1.5:1 Crane roller rocker arms. This was possibly the best 1st generation 350 CID engines Chevrolet built. It also sported a 12 bolt posi-traction third member rear end. I could go on about this car, but I won't. If you find one in restorable condition, grab it!

Keeping SSH Sessions Alive

[Sun 26 Sep 2021 07:46:03 PM UTC -0500] On my daily treks across the Internet I still run across people having difficulties keeping SSH connections alive. To any sysadmin and casual user, ssh is essential. My simple and time tested solution is not the TCPKeepAlive directive in my sshd_config file, although that may work but things in the kernel need to exist which I won't go into. What I do is extremely simple and effective. First of course is have ssh installed. Second is to create a file named config in your home .ssh directory. This directory is hidden hence the dot. You need two simple lines as follows:
Host *
ServerAliveInterval 120
That's it. Every 120 seconds your client will send a minimal amount of data to the remote host. Any host, probably just a ICMP ping. I stay connected regardless of what I am or am not doing. You can chmod this file to 600 octal which results in this permission -rw-------. Chown as your user/group. Hope that helps!

What It Takes To Be A Truck Driver

[Wed 15 Sep 2021 04:36:18 PM UTC -0500] When I was in high school the last thing I thought of doing upon graduation was driving a long haul truck. In my exquisite naivete at that time, I considered truck driving and drivers to be less than interesting. Depending somewhat on the type of trucking you aspire to do this was incredibly shallow of me to think of this line of work as insignificant. It is the life blood of the country. Everything consumers purchase get there on a truck.

That said, it takes a special breed to do long haul trucking. Back in the day, drivers like myself had to endure severe heat, cold, fatigue, and horrible weather. It isn't an easy profession to explain. It is far more complicated than most people are aware. With today's rules, drivers cannot bend the rules like we used to do. The rules dictated by the Department of Transportion and partially enforced by mandated onboard computers installed on all trucks makes outlaw trucking virtually impossible. This makes many products you buy more expensive. Drivers cannot get away with running beyond their log book rules. This costs time, time is money. People may think drivers just sit in a comfortable cabin and drive, not the case. Things break, you fix them regardless of weather. I always drove new equipment, things still go wrong.

As to the finer points, you must have a CDL, Commercial Drivers License. By law you must go to school for that, I never did, I learned by the seat of my pants. You will need to know the laws in every state regarding weight, bridge formulas and permits. You will need to shift 10, 13, 15 speed non-syncronized transmissions. Most people find that particularly difficult. Depending on who you drive for, yourself or a company be prepared to go to some nasty places, and back up into incredibly tight spots. You can make serious money in the business but it isn't easy. I was able to get home every week with west coast trips as an exception. With today's rules don't count on that. Trucking and marriage do not go together for that reason. You can meet a lot of people, see many places, and get paid for it. Be aware, no company hires drivers with no experience. If you make it through school there are companies that will hire you, but don't expect royal treatment, you earn that. You can always drop $150,000.00 USD on a nice tractor and $50,000.00 USD for trailer, buy authority for whatever non-exempt commodities you haul, and permits for every state you run in. Doesn't that sound fun! It is, good luck and happy trails to you.

A Secret To Accident Free Driving

[Sun 12 Sep 2021 05:04:11 PM UTC -0500] This is something a wise man told me once that made a lot of sense when it comes to driving anything. The only connection between your vehicle physically and the surface you are driving on are your tires. People may underestimate the importance of tires. Such a simple but taken for granted item that is 100% responsible for keeping you safe. The tip is this, Keep Your Tires Happy. Think about it, if you skid or slide on any surface, you may be on the verge of catastophe.
If you have ever been involved in a motor vehicle accident, chances are your tires were NOT happy prior to whatever collision happened. Pay attention to tires pressures, tread condition. Be situationally aware. Expect the other guy to do the unexpected. Don't push your tires beyond what they are capable of. You do this and you will likely avoid trouble. This may sound trivial, I assure it is not. Happy motoring.

Boston, Massachusetts

[Fri 30 Oct 2020 04:42:27 PM CDT] This is about a trip to Boston which was nothing unusual except for one thing which I'll get to. I had a load of swinging out of Le Mars, Iowa on a Thursday for a scheduled delivery on Monday in Boston. I loved this load because it paid well and gave me time to stop at home for a day. So I leave the house on Saturday. Boston is something like 1500 miles or more from Le Mars, closer to 1600 probably. All this goes into my log books, which were all lies by the way. I left the house later than I should have and ran through Chicago, and ran US highway 30 across Indiana and Ohio, slower than taking the turnpikes, but saves about $40.00 in tolls.

I was south of Cleveland and it was already Sunday, I had a long way to go and I was tired already so I did something you should never risk. As I jumped on Interstate 71 to get back up to Interstate 80 and got on the radio and asked if anyone had a Pocket Rocket. That's slang for speed. Kind of crazy to say that over the radio, but to my surprise a guy came back on the radio asking if I was the meathauler that just passed him, and I said yes, he said pull over at the next pickle park, that's a rest area to you non-truck drivers. So I pull over and a freighthauler bless his heart pulls in behind me. I get out an walk back where I meet a middle age black man headed for Cleveland. I told him I need to run straight through to make it on time, so he hands me a benzadrine, a fairly potent amphetamine. I shook the man's hand and thanked him profusely. What a super nice guy. Well, I pulled into Boston at 3 AM Monday morning. Without that guy I doubt if I would have been on time. I don't really condone popping pills, but it's beats falling alseep and waking up in a ditch or worse. It's speaks to the term Outlaw Meathauler. We were no angels but we got the job done and I'll never forget the freighthauler for his help.

Hunt's Point, Bronx, New York

[Thu 15 Oct 2020 03:32:48 PM CDT] The meat and produce markets in the Bronx is arguably the most dangerous place for a trucker, or anyone for that matter to tread. Sometimes referred to as Hell's Kitchen by truck drivers, and a well deserved title it is, the real Hell's Kitchen is historically the upper west side Irish neighborhood in Manhattan. Regardless, Hunt's Point Market in the Bronx is incredibly dangerous. Many drivers refuse to go there for the following reasons, due to the high volume of trucks coming and going 24 hours a day, every day, the number of professional thieves is amazing. I have heard bone chilling stories of guys found in their trailer hanging from a meat hook after thieves stole the beef. The first rule for going into the market is DO NOT STOP. The cops will tell you not to stop, not even for red lights, thats when they break into your trailer and they can do it while you moving. They did it to me one night but didn't get anything, I has swinging instead of boxed meat. No way are they going to lift a 350 pound half of beef off that truck while your moving. This is how to get there, I use Interstate 80 from west of Chicago, to New Jersey cross the George Washington Bridge to the Cross Bronx Expressway, get off on the BQE - Brooklyn Queens Expressway take the exit for Westchester Avenue, end of the ramp, take a left and go a short distance to Hunt's Point Avenue. This is where the danger begins, slowing down to take a right turn gives the bad guys a chance to break into your trailer or get you to stop. KEEP MOVING!

One night, just after turning onto Hunt's Point Ave., a driver going the other direction said on the radio, Hey driver, they got your doors open! Sure enough, even though I never had stopped, they got in. I thanked the driver and looked in the mirror, where I see one of my doors swinging open. This is what I did, I slammed on the brakes and hit reverse, I tried like hell to hit the Cadillac behind me, that's when I saw a guy wave at me from my passenger side mirrow and saw the cadillac veer out of the way and his accomplice run away. I had the best lock money can buy on the trailer, but these guys are pro's. I kept going until I got to the guard shack at the meat market, got out and shut my doors. Of the many times I delivered Hell's Kitchen that was my only close call. What the thieves attempted to do is get the doors of the trailer open and toss boxes of meat on to the cadillac. Too bad for them, I had swinging. Getting out of the truck and challenging them would be crazy, you'll end up dead, had I hit that car, I would have kept going, if cops ever showed up they would have known what happened and would have said I did the right thing. Personally, I wish I would have hit that car, just playin' the game and THEY knew it. That's just another night in the Bronx.

Rap and Hip-Hop

[Posted Fri 09 Oct 2020 11:48:47 AM CDT] I happen to be a product of the late 60's, 70's, and 80's music world. I love music of all kinds with few exceptions. I couldn't tolerate disco, man that stuff was to be avoided at all costs. This brings me to Rap, and Hip Hop music, and I use the word music with trepidation. As per the very definition of music, rap and hip hop vaguely qualify. I fail to see what people like about it. Anyone can utilize rhythmic, cacophonic, alliteration to the sound of a drum machine and other synthesized sounds, often with vile phrasing. I personally qualify music as musicians and vocalists, singing and playing in harmony to a good melody. This takes talent, skill, and practice. I do not hear that in rap and hip hop. Hopefully the latter will go the way of disco and disappear. That's my two cents on the subject.

A few words about Meat Haulers

When someone refers to meat haulers, they are talking about the original and rather elite group of truckers that carried Swinging Beef. What that means is when meat packing plants slaughter cattle it was typically slaughtered, dressed, and cut in halves and quarters for shipping long distances on special refrigerated trailers called Railers. This type of trailer has longitudinally placed aluminum rails on the roof of the trailer, where would hang 38-42 head of cattle. Sides of beef can weigh anywhere from 350 to 400 pounds, and are hung by steel hooks from the ceiling on the rails. This makes for a very unstable load, so only the best of drivers hauled it long distance. I was one of them. One of the particularly famous carriers of the product was Monfort of Colorado. They were among the best of the bunch, the best equipment, best drivers and fastest trucks. So fast were they, to this day the left lane on a divided four lane road is known as, The Monfort Lane. Reason being they were usually occupying the left lane. Meat processors were notorious for preparing trailers late, leaving the job of delivering perishable product on time and unscathed. Often referred to as pilled up meathaulers due to the fact the customers wanted the beef fast, and we would do whatever it took to accomplish that.

I worked for Rowley Interstate, our trucks could be found all over the lower 48 states, but primarily the east coast. New York City was among my favorite destinations. For the uninitiated, trucking is divided into categories, unofficially of course. Meat haulers/ refrigerated trucks are considered the best of the best. Tanker yankers, portable parking lots, then come freighthaulers, these are dry van type non-refrigerated trucks, then greasy steel haulers and lastly bedbuggers. We truckers all have a friendly rivalry, when the chips are down, we help each other. Steel haulers are flatbeds, and they're cool, we just kid each other. As for bedbuggers, they are a strange bunch. They stick to themselves, they rarely talk to the rest of us on the radio, and are pretty much a clique. In the late '80's I believe, the Department of Transportation curtailed swinging beef except in special cases. Reason, too dangerous, it's like pulling a bath tub full of water. I spent thirteen years hauling meat and five years pulling tanks, gasoline, diesel, toxic chemicals, and compressed gases. Tank truckers usually don't go long distance which is why I preferred meat hauling and anything else that could fit in a trailer. So that's a crash course (no pun intended), in trucking, it's not what it used to be.

Incident on FLA Interstate 75

It was a holiday weekend many years ago, but I remember it like yesterday. I had left my home town with a load bound for the Port of Tampa, Florida. I drove about 500 miles when I pulled over and slept about six hours. I woke up, grabbed some coffee and hammered down, it was now Sunday afternoon as I passed through Altanta Georgia, it's 250 miles to the Florida border from Atlanta and I began picking up four-wheelers (tourists) chasing me. I just kept trucking, crossed the Florida line, now I have perhaps a 50 car train following me, strangely there were little to no trucks southbound that day, except me. Somewhere between Gainesville and Ocala, Florida, I happened to be in the passing lane when I topped a rise in the road and in my horror I see a four wheeler making a U-turn in the median strip with his trailer/camper completely blocking the fast lane! Unable to complete his idiotic and illegal u-turn due to heavy northbound traffic I knew there was going to be a wreck. I figured he was about one mile away, and myself and the cars along side and behind me were doing 80 mph. That's 117.3 feet per second, I had less than 45 seconds to decide if I should hit the brakes HARD, or pass the car leading the slow lane train along side of me. If I stop there is going to be a wreck into the back of me and a chain reaction crash after that, so I opted to make the pass, get in the right lane and miss the camper. Seconds after I passed the camper, everyone piled up. Sixty seconds or less after I passed, there was no one behind me and in my mirrors all I saw was smoke and steam. To this day I wonder if anyone was killed. I still have vivid mental images of what I saw that fateful day. There was nothing I could do, and I didn't care to be a part of that wreck. Moral of the story, DON'T CHASE TRUCKS. If you do, keep your distance.

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