Great video. I drive daycabs for Amazon who paid for my CDL in full. However I'm looking for somewhere where I feel I'm treated as a driver and respected as a driver without having to worry about the ridiculousness that is being an Amazon Associate. My dad retired from Yellow after 35 years with all endorsements. I'm looking at getting my endorsements, and moving on to someplace better. But you're right you can always do a tug test but you never know for sure until you look at the locking jaws. My dad told me a story how one time he tugged and everything was good but he checked the jaws and one of them wasn't locked. So he let the mechanic know and took a different truck. My dad was old school, started in 72. I have learned a lot from him. He taught me that trucking is about helping out other drivers and being safe about it.
Great video Mark. I work at XPO and do mainly late afternoon, evening and early morning appointment deliveries and pickups and occasional line haul runs. I remember the first time I ever hooked a set by backing a dolly instead of spotting it. Took me 35 minutes to get it hooked. Now I can do it in 5 minutes. Takes some practice but saves your back big time only having to lift the dolly once (twice on triples).
We call it "hero-hookin" when someone has a dolly hooked up to their lead trailer and they back both up to hook up to the rear. Ive been doing it for 2 years now and am just starting to learn how to control the rear dolly when its already hooked up to the lead but still not good enough to hero hook lol. I watch guys in the yard do it and an jealous to death. Just gotta keep practicing I suppose
Hey mate I'm curious as to why you guys don't just do what you said at the start, hook your lead up to your dolly then back it under? That's how we hook up road trains and it seems much more sense.
@@MarksTruckingLife ah yep fair enough cob. When you've the room do you just do it as you've shown? Or hook you lead to dolly then back it under your dog trailer?
For some places it's company policy. When I worked at Yellow we were allowed to do it the way you described because yard switchers were the ones responsible for hooking linehaul drivers' sets. If you're doing that for 8 hours or more it's a convenient way to save your knees. I work for XPO now as a linehaul driver. You hook your own sets and the company doesn't allow any other way but the traditional way. Learning the other way is convenient though. Especially when your dolly is off a bit and you know how to pivot it with the trailer instead of struggling trying to correct it.
I waste a lot of time looking for the trailers in Dallas ( Grand Prairie) I wish Saia was like OD and tell me exactly where the trailers are located on the yard.
We use Samsara. I think it has a gps, maps system on it but I’ve heard it’s not great. I just use Google Maps on my iPhone. If I didn’t go the same place everyday, I’d probably buy a good one.
In 40 years of driving, I’ve never chained up a big truck. I might be able to get it done if I had to, but I’d be the last one to tell anyone else how to do it. 😎😎 What terminal are you at?
@@MarksTruckingLife I'm out of Fontana ca I did p&d for 15 years now I switched over to linehaul I'm on extra board now same here I've never chained up but I can get it done if I had too
Yes it is we have alot of freight coming in so we bin busy linehaul is a bit easier than p&d but u have work nights on line both sides make pretty good money people are great 👍
