The Rocking Chair (Old School Trucking in the 21st Century)

Was running up 75 one night a few years back, north of Atlanta when I saw a truck hit his hazards, start braking and make a beeline towards the shoulder.

"Northbound bigtruck...you okay?"

What would you do?

"Keep going. Dont pull over. I will run your front door. Kill your headlights. You should have enough battery to get to a shop. You dont want to pull over in this area."

Perfect!

#####...we got ourselves a Rocking Chair. I hit my hazards and ran front. Hand cut all his lights out. Old Timer rode his donkey and brought up the rear. The goal was to make it to the TA at the 296. Even had another driver step out a half mile in front of me and cleared a path flicking his brights and his hazards. Most traffic got out of the way. And for the ones that are afraid of falling off the shoulder, we left laned it and went around. Synchronized trucking at its finest.

In no time, we made it to exit.

"You got it, Hand?"

I've never been one for sitting on the shoulder, waiting for a service truck...even when I was a company schmuck. Would you believe that we passed a County Mountie? I think he knew what we were doing. Was actually quite fun, and we got a driver to where he needed to be to get some help.

Had an incident a few years back running turbine blades. One of my guys hit a curb the wrong way, and damaged his right front hub. We were running up US 287. I asked the driver if he thought he could limp past the Childress coup (20 miles), because I was going to put the hammer down, get to the Freaky Jesus Truckstop, drop my blade, and bobtail back to get his trailer, so he would have a better chance of limping to the Freightliner shop in Amarillo. So, my 3rd truck got in behind him and stayed with him, and I put the hammer down. Got to the Freaky Jesus, dollied down and dropped the blade. Told my rear pilot car to stay with my blade and I was going to run back with my front car to grab the 2nd blade, and have the wounded truck's front car to follow him to the shop. My 2nd truck called me and told me to stand by, because he believed he could make Amarillo. They made it. he dropped his blade and bobtailed to the shop. Next morning, we were all ready to go. In my line of work, team driving is 3 trucks, 6 pilot cars, 9 people, 1 goal. And when something goes wrong, it becomes 1 big rocking chair.

I'm still trying to figure out why I like this job so much.

 

Awesome.

For those of you who may not know, the Rocking Chair was something we would usually do for a rookie driver. Put Rookie in the middle and ride nose to tail. See, we didn't have the trainer stuff, and so usually, a rookie's first run ever in a truck was a solo run. The boss would send us out with the rookie, and that's how we'd run until we gt to our destination. Some times, you would meet women trying to travel on the interstates for the first time ever, and they would be scared as hell. Put her in the Rocking Chair.

I still use the Rocking Chair, but usually with a rookie blade hauler, or in a crane move (multiple trucks going to the same place) with a driver that's pulling his first OSOW load. Only thing is, we don't run nose to tail (it's illegal with OSOW in most places)we do a mile to 5 mile spread. Lead driver to the rear so if Rookie gets into a bind, you can help him out.

instead of sticking a driver in a trainer's truck for six weeks, I would run him for a week or two in a trainer's truck, then a Rocking Chair for a week,and then have him shadow a veteran driver for two weeks, THEN have him run solo. Why?

1. Experience IS the best teacher. 6 weeks in a trainers truck hurts the people that can catch on quick, and it allows an idiot to get his hand held long enough to slip through the cracks. You're coming down a steep grade. Your front door starts slowing, and gears down. If you have a question about which gear, he can tell you what gear he's running. Every time he taps the brakes, you will see it. You will see how he loads his trailer and he can help you to load yours. And you will be making more money than that 'training pay'. You will be able to see how he sets up his turns and mimic what he does. Elogs, time management, fueling,...etc.

Now here's the kicker: it would give you the experience you need much quicker, but it will kick your arse mentally, especially if you put the miles down. But by the 2nd week, the body should become accustomed, and so when they're ready to turn you out solo, you WILL be able to stay in the saddle. Win-win.

2. More fun for you and the veteran driver, and both of you have your privacy..it's not like you're living together sharing a bunk. So there would be less instances of personality clashes.

 

Hey friend, we don't start our trucks up to be average, right?