OT: Levergun forumn truckers

3leggedturtle · Post by **3leggedturtle** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:43 pm

Well my first trip with Roehl they sent me to Newark New Jersey, so am no longer a east coast virgin. saw NYC from 2 miles away. Took I80 thru Pennsylvania on the way out sure is alot hillier and prettier than i thought it would be. On the way back went thru Wheeling, WV, would like to spend a week there. Ended up in Cynthianna,KY nice little town. found a Marlin camp carbine in 45auto for $300. didnt buy it, but he had a lot of decent deals there. Its Dryden Pawn and Gun dont have phone# for it but he is on internet. Also does anyone want to buy a 16" Contender barrel in 45/70?

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:49 pm

Todd, be careful what you wish for. A week in Wheeling? You might be "blessed" to wait there waiting on a load some time. It all depends on dispatch.

shawn_c992001 · Post by **shawn_c992001** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:57 pm

Todd come on down south in the state, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Post by **Hobie** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:16 pm

The roads in WV are MUCH improved from 40 years ago!

Coldfingers · Post by **Coldfingers** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:05 am

Todd,

Figgured there had to be a gear jammer or two here.

I don't get to drive on real roads much. I Line Haul from Fairbanks, AK to the Prudhoe Bay oilfields. A thousand mile RT on a two lane gravel goat trail with grades hitting the 16%mark. The Dalton Highway in all it's glory. I mostly pull tankers loaded with fuel oil to feed the frenzy of production.

We are so lucky up here. Our bridge scale lets me get away with 103,000 lbs gross weight with a four axel trailer. We are so heavy, the trail so long and difficult, weather so nasty that they give us "extra time" to drive in our HOS. Godda be a conspiricy I say...work harder, sleep less!

The bright side is that our trucks are looooonnnngg (288 inch wb or better) and have some serious horsepower with fully locking rearends.
I still hang iron alot though. Way too much these last few trips. Wore through a set of tripple rail Triggs in four trips.

I do love the Dalton though. NEVER a dull moment and no trip is the same. Ever.

Those Ice Road Truckers are candy butts

Roll on big wheeler...

Scotty

HEAD0001 · Post by **HEAD0001** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:37 am

Hobie wrote:The roads in WV are MUCH improved from 40 years ago!

That is not true. We did not have any roads 40 years ago. Tom.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:13 am

Hey Scotty,

What's the $$$$ like up there for that gig?

Rusty <><

Old Time Hunter · Post by **Old Time Hunter** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:27 am

Scotty, ran that route back in the late '70's...was big money in it's day! Suppose you can now run it in a couple of days, back then we had some runs take a week. Worst part was in late summer when the bogs moved on the perma frost.

3leggedturtle · Post by **3leggedturtle** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:30 pm

I bicycled the Dalton hiway in July of 1997 i loved it up there. Does your company need more drivers. My goal is to live up there in 1-3 years. 2 hills i remember most from the raod was Gobbler's Knob and Camelback,and Attigun Pass was pretty good to!

Post by **Hobie** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:45 pm

HEAD0001 wrote:
Hobie wrote:The roads in WV are MUCH improved from 40 years ago!

That is not true. We did not have any roads 40 years ago. Tom.

Now I KNOW that's not true, many of them are EXACTLY the same as 40 years ago. But now, you have some 4 lanes and interstates where none existed (I-64 fer instance).

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:08 pm

Wow, Excellent. Coldfingers, yep, that fits. I last hung iron in 1998! When the roads are so bad that "iron" is required (for CA that includes a slight drizzle), the truckstop is THE place to be; real men are out on the roads, us lightweights are flirtin' with the waitresses!

JollyWhiteGiant · Post by **JollyWhiteGiant** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:22 pm

I run regional foodservice. no hanging iron allowed in the upper midwest.

Did the OTR thing for a while, lord I love going into Lewiston ID. nice gunshop there.

DBW · Post by **DBW** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:10 pm

Todd Mayo wrote:Well my first trip with Roehl they sent me to Newark New Jersey, so am no longer a east coast virgin. saw NYC from 2 miles away. Took I80 thru Pennsylvania on the way out sure is alot hillier and prettier than i thought it would be. On the way back went thru Wheeling, WV, would like to spend a week there. Ended up in Cynthianna,KY nice little town. found a Marlin camp carbine in 45auto for $300. didnt buy it, but he had a lot of decent deals there. Its Dryden Pawn and Gun dont have phone# for it but he is on internet. Also does anyone want to buy a 16" Contender barrel in 45/70?

I delivered a load of beer last Saturday in Queens. NYC sucks and the extra pay isn't worth the aggrevation. With an hour left before my 14 came to an end I hightailed it to the Vince Lombardi rest area in NJ which meant crossing GW again. The next day I took a load up New Hampshire which meant crossing the GW again. Return trip was a load I picked up in Providence, RI back down across the GW. Today I drove from one side of Atlanta to the other... twice.

shawn_c992001 · Post by **shawn_c992001** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:03 pm

If you guys who drive trucks would all park up for one day and not buy any fuel, maybe the price of it would come down. Possibly even park up loaded one day, you could bring the country to it's knees and gas/diesel prices down.

DBW · Post by **DBW** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:03 pm

shawn_c992001 wrote:If you guys who drive trucks would all park up for one day and not buy any fuel, maybe the price of it would come down. Possibly even park up loaded one day, you could bring the country to it's knees and gas/diesel prices down.

Unfortunately that isn't likely to happen. Higher prices are forcing independent owner operators to park their trucks and look for other forms of employment. My older brother parked his truck a few weeks ago and is now looking for a local driving job. He hates that it has happened but he needs to feed his family. The problem that I foresee is that eventually the high cost of fuel is going to impact the cost of everything, even at Wally World, which means that it's going to affect everybody to some degree, especially those who can't afford to do without the basics. I believe things are going to gradually get worse before they get better... if they ever do.

Coldfingers · Post by **Coldfingers** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:58 am

Rusty...The run pays about $800.00 (average for most company's) with "extra" when we go out past the security checkpoints at Deadhorse into the oilfield itself or out on the iceroads.

Oldtime Hunter...we still get the long trips. A good blow up on the flats will pin you down for a few days, avalanches on Chandalar & Atigun Pass will keep folks from crossing and the occasional wreck ties things up. It only takes a minor miscalculation of temperature, traction, and gravity to have you wedged inbetween the guardrails on on the BoyItSucks (Koyukuk hill)
If everything goes just right

I can make a round in 38-42 hours and still get 8 hours sleep and a little nap north of Atigun. Usually though, I use up about 48 hours to make a RT.

Todd...If you are serious, send me an email. There is ALWAYS a demand for good drivers with a combination of common sense and patience. Experienced haul road drivers don't get to sit around much. Plan to come up in the springtime as you realy need time to memorize the road before the darkness settles in and the hills slick up. Nothing worse than going off the top of the Beaver Slide in the blowing snow, at night, in the wrong gear

Hitting Oh S#!^ corner at 45 aint good either

The road is in the transition time now, frost heaves, mud, ice, snow, freezing rain etc...difficult at best and then you have the darn wagon picking up about 4,000 extra pounds of frozen muck as you pick your way along the trial. A few hundred caribou to dodge adds to the excitement.

All my best.

Scotty

Coldfingers · Post by **Coldfingers** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:05 am

Giff...The Dalton has one truckstop... Coldfoot, the farthest north truckstop. You have to hang iron to get there, but waitresses make it worthwhile

Gryphon Black · Post by **Gryphon Black** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:18 am

Can't tell you how glad I am to be out of that gig. I ran OTR with KLLM for a little while, and a few other outfits off and on. Left that all behind with a big sigh of relief.
But I did get a chance to see a few places, and I don't regret that.
Now I work another end of the freight transport biz, loading and unloading ships at the dock. I still drive trucks, but I get to go home every night, and it's a union shop.
I still see drivers regular though, cause somebody has to haul those containers out of the port! You never really get away from it, I guess.

Take care out there, and come home safe.

Gryphon

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:10 am

Coldfingers,

Do y'all still run according to DOT hours of service and such?

At 48 hours for a RT you can only make like one of those a week right?

How many actual miles is that RT?

Coldfingers · Post by **Coldfingers** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:53 pm

Rusty,

HOS in AK is 20 hours on duty, fifteen of which can be spent driving, followed by 10 hours in the doghouse.

Prudhoe is 520 miles from the refinery, speed limit on the Dalton is 50.

The only scalehouse along the route is in Fox (just outside FBKS)

I log 12.5 hours up, 11 hours home, and the rest of the time in the berth.

Honest

I can "just" squeek in 3 trips in an 80 hr week...just. I try to do only 2 per week but P.Bay sure burns alot of fuel oil. A portable drill rig will burn my tanker load in one day.

Keeps a feller busy adding up the little boxes

dbateman · Post by **dbateman** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:58 am

heres a a pic for all you truckers

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:30 am

That looks more like something you'd find in a convoy going by Baghdad than on the slope.

Old Time Hunter · Post by **Old Time Hunter** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:20 pm

darn dbateman! That is one heck of a 'bugger bar'!

Coldfingers, we used to get $600 a round back in '77 plus a hazhard pay for tough loads and conditions. Rigs were not very technically advanced back then, best one I ran had a 1693 Cat 4&1/4 horse with 5 & 4 twin stick no jakes on Cat's back then...had to run retarders, single bunk, but still had a 270" WB. The dogs ran the K-series Cummins, strong on top end of RPM, but a joke out of the hole, a couple of 12V72 Detroits and V892's, worthless for any thing but a pony motor for a real engine like a Cat. Road was gravel...is it still like that?

Made over $40k in '77 & '78, paid off my college and bought my first house after two full years came back off the slope with 'bout $75k in the bank.

Coldfingers · Post by **Coldfingers** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:04 pm

If I had my druthers, I would take the doubles/tripples endorsement off my CDL

Thankfully, experements in pulling a "set" up the Dalton failed...miserably so I might add

OldTimeHunter...The state keeps putting chip seal on sections of the road. Works about like pulling a set did

. Great the first season, then goes to h#!! in a hurry and there is nothing that can be done, unlike the gravel, which can be tuned up with a blade and water truck. PLENTY Of gravel left, even though it looked like 4000 pounds of it came home on my tractor and tanker this am.

Am running one of the Cummins 565 ISX's in the KW. She'd pull a Cat in half. At 103,000 lbs I can get up Atigun in 4th over at 21MPH. Should be able to use 5th direct when we make the switch to #2 fuel.

OT: Levergun forumn truckers

OT: Levergun forumn truckers

Hey Coldfinger

Re: OT: Levergun forumn truckers