Driving Heavy Equipment on Highways and Off Road.

You can make a good living driving stuff like this...you can also die.

This is a Coil Rig. I drive these all the time. And if you are about to begin driving something like this I think you should read what I have to say. I have been driving really big stuff for over a decade. I don't mean just on paved roads, I mean everywhere. Logging roads, goat trails, fields, highways, ice, snow, mud, tiny yards, gravel. Anywhere. Drove snow plows for a couple seasons too. I have thousands of hours behind the wheel and I have never wrecked. If you want to learn read on. If you know everything then I guess you already stopped reading.

The most important thing is leave your ego at home. If you are prone to frustration or road rage you have no business behind the wheel of anything. Especially something like a rig. You need an insane amount of distance to stop. Patience and relaxation should be your guide. When dispatch sends you out on a five hour trip with a four hour deadline you will be late. Just accept it and if anyone tells you that you are late tell them that it was the best you could do in the time you had. When you are travelling you are usually in the right lane which is also the merge lane. If you see someone coming down the ramp to merge into your lane make a hole. Speed up if you have to but slowing down is better. Most people won't realize how long you are until it's too late.

As much as you can. Seriously. Don't draft anyone. The closer you are to the vehicle in front of you the less you can see and the less time you have to react. You will also lose more windshields to rocks. People will see the gap in front of you as a place to be as they play their passing games. Don't take it personally. Just hang back and maintain your distance. If you do end up in close traffic and something big is in front of you blocking your view look at the shadows of the vehicles in front of the one you are stuck behind. Keep an eye on the traffic ahead of the guy in front of you. If you see everyone stepping on the brakes half a mile up the road get off the gas and slow down. In crappy weather like snow or fog find someone who isn't driving like an idiot and get behind them. Then back off till you can barely see their tail lights. If any wildlife hops out in front of you do not swerve to avoid it. Feel free to slow down but if you try to swerve you're going to fold up and your rig will crush you to death. Don't worry, Bambi won't hurt you. You'll feel a little bump and see a puff of fur. You might lose a headlight but you won't get hurt smoking a deer. If you ditch just stay straight. Do not try to steer back onto the road because you will flip over and you will die.

In a car you really only pay attention to what is close to you. In a rig you look at everything you can. You need a really long time to stop. Even more in bad weather. Slow down in storms and fog. Look ahead and behind as much as you can. Check out the cross traffic a mile up. Is there anything big and slow coming up? Is there a knot of cars ahead stuck behind a cop? Is there a tractor crawling along? Is there some idiot towing a junk car with a rope doing thirty? Is there an accident and people rubber necking? Is there a chunk of wood on the road or the skin off a retread? Are people slowing down for a really bumpy section of road or railway tracks?

Like it or not sometimes you have to drive thru a town or city. Traffic lights are designed for cars, not rigs. You need more time to stop. Look at the crosswalk lights. They will turn to "Don't Walk" a few seconds before the light turns yellow. This gives you a few more seconds of warning and time to stop before your red light. If there is no crosswalk light check out the cross traffic light for cues. If you time it right you will never have to come to a complete stop. Speaking of stopping.... When you stop in traffic you should be able to see a car length of pavement between your front bumper and the rear bumper of the vehicle in front of you. This is so if the vehicle in front of you breaks down you can pass it without backing up into traffic. Never speed up to make a light. Always take the safer option of slowing down to hit the red light. Never stop on railway tracks. Never shift going over railway tracks. If you blow a shift and can't get into gear again you're gonna have a really bad day. Tracks are usually at an angle to the road which will blind you in one direction. At the last second turn your tractor so your front bumper is parallel to the tracks when you stop to look. This will let you check out the rails in both directions. Straighten out as you move forward. Don't forget to listen for a train too.

What goes up must come down. If you are going up a hill there is probably a down-slope on the other side. Lose your speed going uphill. And don't bother accelerating going down. You'll gain plenty without trying. Always stay in gear, you lose almost all control of your rig speed when you are out of gear. And if you're a heavy rig ignore those "Do not use engine brakes within city limits" signs. Hot brakes won't stop you. Hot brakes can set you on fire. If you have to choose between making a bit of noise to maintain control of your rig and burning your brakes follow your heart. If your trailer tries to pass you accelerate or touch your trailer brake lever. It goes against everything you know to accelerate to regain control but that's how you do it.

If you find yourself somewhere interesting you're gonna have to make some choices. Locking your diffs gives you traction, but makes it almost impossible to steer. The most challenging off road situation is downhill on a muddy logging road with a sharp curve at the bottom. Go down slow and at the very bottom unlock your diffs then turn on your engine brake. The rig's nose will dive down putting pressure on your steering tires (hopefully) allowing you a second of steering. If this sounds terrifying it is. Especially on the side of a mountain or somewhere crazy. And use chains. If you're thinking about them you need them. Best to put them on just in case before you are a foot deep. Stay tuned for an entire Instructable on chains from me in the future.

Your hubs are a major failure point. If you have to park in or drive through water your hub oil can get contaminated. Just the normal heating and cooling of your hubs can draw water into your hubs and ruin it. If your hub oil has water in it it will look milky or layered in the little window. Water in your hubs will also freeze in your hubs and crack your hub windows. If it looks or feels wrong just change it. A blown hub seal will spray oil all around your rim if you are driving. if you see this you cannot drive. When you stop to check your load always do a tire and hub check. A bad hub will be hot and may even be smoking. If you are touching your hubs to see if they are hot use the back of your hand. Nothing more annoying than a burn on the palm of your hand when you still have to work. In the winter a hot hub will melt the snow and form a star of dirty ice radiating out from the hub. Check your hubs and load often. Scales have thousands of dollars of infra red cameras pointing at your tires when you drive in to see how hot your hubs are. That is how important hub heat is. And before you hit a scale clean your reflectors and lights. You almost never get pulled in if they see you have recently cleaned your lights and reflectors. And if you do get pulled in and pass an inspection get a printout of the pass. The only thing that can improve your company carrier profile is that piece of paper and they won't offer it. You have to ask. If you improve your carrier profile you are the first person to get a raise and the last one to get the axe.

Everyone is an idiot. Never trust a turn signal or the lack of one. Everyone is trying to kill you. I am a pebble on the shore of the sea, I let the waves wash over me.