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Old 04-27-2016, 09:16 AM   #43
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Some people have 20 maybe 40 years experiance driving and some have 1 year experiance 20 maybe 40 times.
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Old 04-27-2016, 10:05 AM   #44
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I was told when I first started driving cab forward rigs that the trick was to drive where you are sitting. Pick a spot on the lane and drive so you are sitting above that line. If you look at the wheelpath and sit above it you will be in the right position.

Takes a bit of practice but you will be surprised at where you are "sitting" to get the coach centered in the lane. I find that if I "sit" in the left wheel path the coach is positioned correctly.

Also look a bit farther down the roadway and drive to a point there. Trying to drive too close to the front of the coach will cause you to wander in the lane.
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Old 04-27-2016, 11:56 AM   #45
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No where in my response did I represent myself as a "clown" or "a know it all". I did reference to the point that I had been a professional truck driver for 15 years. I understand that you are quite proud and obviously believe that because of your 40 + years of driving experience, i.e. 750,000 miles gives you the right to reject and diminish the opinion of another. I did not try to impress anyone with the stats of my driving career, although I've driven citation and accident free for more than 3 million miles. I find it curious that you spent a good deal of time preparing yourself to drive a vehicle in which you had no experience, reading the CDL manual and practicing in a parking lot, not to recognize that practice and experience is necessary to be a safe as possible on public roadways and not to encourage other drivers to do the same. The highways and roads of America are not designed for you or any one else to experiment and practice on without some professional instruction. We require all persons applying for a drivers license to attend both classroom and roadwork, supervised by a licensed driver before that are granted a license. Why would we not require a person who wishes to drive a different class of vehicle, with nothing in common with a car or light truck, to do the same. I also have a private pilots license. I had to take many classe hours of instruction, and many hours of flight training in order to obtain my single engine fixed wing license. If I want to fly a different type and rating plane,i.e. a twin engine plane or a plane that has a different type of power plant, or glider I have to go thru professional training to get that license. Although presently there is no requirement for upgraded training to drive a Motorhome, that doesn't mean that you are automatically proficient to drive a Motorhome just because of past non type or rating experience. Driving a 40,000lb vehicle with no experience, admitting that it scares you to point of having white knuckles should tell a prudent person that they have no business driving it until they get professional training. If you or your family were to GOD forbid to get injured by some one with the lack of proficient driving skills, would you be so cavalier with opinions. The highways are not there for you to practice with the hope some day you will get better and hopefully be able to control you MH without incident. Feel free to call me a clown and a know it all if it makes you feel superior or more of a man than I. Just realize when conditions on the roadway, whether it be bad weather, road construction or any dangerous situation, know that I have done every thing in my power to be as proficient and prepared not to harm anyone or anyone's property.
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Old 04-27-2016, 01:17 PM   #46
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May I chime in with I-75 through ATLANTA at rush hour/s - nothing like it! And yes, the lanes do narrow where some dufus designed a 5 laner from a 4 laner.


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Old 04-27-2016, 01:44 PM   #47
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Looking forward to Atlanta in a few days.....NOT!!!!
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Old 04-27-2016, 01:51 PM   #48
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While looking ahead and thinking ahead may not solve every potential problem, I suggest this is a good state to achieve when driving.

Somewhere else on this forum, a retired over the road truck driver with many safe miles posted this great comment: "I never had the accident I imagined"
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Old 04-27-2016, 06:41 PM   #49
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Originally Posted by runinonempty View Post
No where in my response did I represent myself as a "clown" or "a know it all". I did reference to the point that I had been a professional truck driver for 15 years. I understand that you are quite proud and obviously believe that because of your 40 + years of driving experience, i.e. 750,000 miles gives you the right to reject and diminish the opinion of another.
My apologies if you translated my mention of "clown" and "know it all" as an attack on you personally - that was certainly not my intent. My use of those terms were intended as a generic reference - I suspect we've all met a few of those over the years. As far as the "right to reject" ... surely you understand each and every one of use has the right reject anybody's opinion. As far as "diminishing the opinion of another" - I don't see my comments as "diminishing" your opinion but rather a presentation of another point of view.

Quote:
I find it curious that you spent a good deal of time preparing yourself to drive a vehicle in which you had no experience, reading the CDL manual and practicing in a parking lot, not to recognize that practice and experience is necessary to be a safe as possible on public roadways and not to encourage other drivers to do the same. The highways and roads of America are not designed for you or any one else to experiment and practice on without some professional instruction.
I think my mention of my personal preparation is proof of my recognition that training (acquiring relevant knowledge), practice and experience is necessary. "Experimenting" typically refers to something groundbreaking. Learning to a new competency possessed by millions of others certain isn't an "experiment" in my book. With regards to "practice" - every mile driven is "practice" ... no driver is a "finished" product. Some are simply more "practiced" than others.

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We require all persons applying for a drivers license to attend both classroom and roadwork, supervised by a licensed driver before that are granted a license. Why would we not require a person who wishes to drive a different class of vehicle, with nothing in common with a car or light truck, to do the same. I also have a private pilots license. I had to take many classe hours of instruction, and many hours of flight training in order to obtain my single engine fixed wing license. If I want to fly a different type and rating plane,i.e. a twin engine plane or a plane that has a different type of power plant, or glider I have to go thru professional training to get that license. Although presently there is no requirement for upgraded training to drive a Motorhome, that doesn't mean that you are automatically proficient to drive a Motorhome just because of past non type or rating experience.
I can concur with many of your points in this regard. However, licensing is also a revenue generator - and in many cases does NOTHING to improve safety and everything to improve somebody's revenue stream. This same concept applies to "mandated training".

I suspect that the vast majority of folks driving RVs today are legally licensed to do so - based on whatever rules that apply to their situation. If required to jump thru more hoops to be legally licensed - I'm reasonably confident that I and pretty much anybody/everybody driving an RV today would have jumped thru them to be "legal". However, I'm also pretty certain that many - if not most - of us would be able to discern which (if any) of those "hoops" truly added value from the perspective of real safety improvements vs the realization that we just made a contribution to some governmental agency's coffers.

Said another way ... I think most of us are far more motivated to be competent and safe RV drivers out of concern for the well being of us and our families and out of acknowledgement that most of us are driving what represents a HUGE financial investment our RVs represent than because "mandatory training and/or licensing requirements" are in place to make us that way.

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Driving a 40,000lb vehicle with no experience, admitting that it scares you to point of having white knuckles should tell a prudent person that they have no business driving it until they get professional training....
You and I view an admission of "white knuckles" very differently. While I don't have a pilot's license - I have jumped out of perfectly good airplanes a couple hundred times over the years. Prior to my first jump, I received professional training and was as prepared as one can be for somebody who's never jumped. Despite successfully completing all the training - you can rest assured my first jump was a "white knuckle" experience. The OP in this thread was simply honest about how he feels about negotiating city traffic at his current level of experience. Training doesn't eliminate "white knuckles" - experience does - and EVERYBODY / ANYBODY on the road today (regardless of what they're driving) started with the exact same amount of experience - ZERO.

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.... Just realize when conditions on the roadway, whether it be bad weather, road construction or any dangerous situation, know that I have done every thing in my power to be as proficient and prepared not to harm anyone or anyone's property.
I don't think you're unique in this regard. I feel the same way ... as I'm sure that most of us feel. We simply acknowledge comfort and confidence grows with experience ... and that only driving will bring that experience.
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Old 04-28-2016, 07:05 AM   #50
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May I chime in with I-75 through ATLANTA at rush hour/s - nothing like it! And yes, the lanes do narrow where some dufus designed a 5 laner from a 4 laner.


Bronk
I presume you were on the bypass as big rv's and trucks are generally prohibited from driving I-75 through downtown Atlanta. I will be heading north there on Sunday with my rig.
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Old 04-28-2016, 07:08 AM   #51
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Anyone care to venture a guess as to how many large MH drivers had any formal big rig training?
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Old 04-28-2016, 07:54 AM   #52
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Anyone care to venture a guess as to how many large MH drivers had any formal big rig training?
I would say very, very few. Most probably less than a couple of percentage points.
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Old 04-28-2016, 10:35 AM   #53
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I presume you were on the bypass as big rv's and trucks are generally prohibited from driving I-75 through downtown Atlanta. I will be heading north there on Sunday with my rig.
Semi's, yes. I've seen those signs. As a "6 wheeler" though, there is nothing I've seen or heard of prohibiting me from proceeding through downtown Atlanta. Though it may be a coin toss for some, over the years we've found it to be time effective to just deal with it, vs. any other option.

That said, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, especially somebody struggling.

Dayton, with it's permanent construction zone (concrete barriers, sometimes placed erratically, next to uneven pavement), can sometimes be even worse.

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Old 04-28-2016, 02:05 PM   #54
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Can your recommend a training facility? I am about to go full time and, initially, will be travelling in Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and eastern California.

I have seen some ads for RV driver training but it was always distant from Austin and I had had no means to evaluate the trainer qualifications.
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Old 04-28-2016, 02:26 PM   #55
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This may sound stupid but my coach has a sweet spot and it's 63 MPH,it handles perfect at that speed,it feels completely different at 60 or 65.I really think they all do,you just have to find it.
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Old 04-28-2016, 02:29 PM   #56
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Can someone explain what the "cheap handling fix" is and how to get it?
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