Remind me not to drive a semi up in the mountains.

[Jersey Girl]

Holy Carp Fish Batman! Notice the highway sign that says "Truckers you are not down yet". Yeah. I'm doing that.

What happens when a driver is forced to use a runaway truck ramp?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5KgKebgkwk

[MeDotOrg]

I had a friend of mine who was 'chased' down a mountain road by a runaway logging truck that had lost its brakes. I wonder if electric trucks can use any sort of regenerative braking to augment the air brakes on a big rig? I know they've talked about the advantages of electric trucks (massive torque) going uphill.

One of the closest calls I had while driving is when I was going 65 or 70 up a section of highway north of Los Angeles called 'the Grapevine' (it's near Gorman). A truck going 20 mph pulled out to pass a truck going 15 miles an hour. I had to stomp on my brakes, which is something you hardly ever do driving uphill.

One of my first jobs was to drive a camera car filming a truck 'race' for an industrial film. The film was paid for by Mack Trucks. We filmed a Mack, Cummins, and GMC trucks, all loaded with maximum loads, in a truck race from Allentown, Pennsylvania to Hayward California. When we drove through Illinois there was one of those massive Midwest thunderstorms, where the lighting strikes look like God's flashbulbs lighting up the night. Cars and jackknifed big rigs dotted the side of the Interstate. I was driving a rented camera car, a huge Chevy Wagon with floaty shocks filled with camera gear and a 16mm camera strapped to the front hood. I could barely keep up with those truck drivers, driving with maximum loads.

I have a lot of respect for those drivers.

[Gunnar]

Holy Carp Fish Batman! Notice the highway sign that says "Truckers you are not down yet". Yeah. I'm doing that.

What happens when a driver is forced to use a runaway truck ramp?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5KgKebgkwk

Given those facts, it is not hard to understand why truckers would want to avoid using those ramps if at all possible. Using engine braking by shifting down to lower gears can help minimize the overheating of the brakes, but this can seriously damage the engine, which may be a tradeoff some might not find to be worthwhile. Electric powered semis, like the Tesla cyber truck semi, can help because of its capability to use regenerative braking. Major trucking companies are now ordering them in large numbers, because, despite of their higher initial cost, they will potentially save the companies who use them literally millions of dollars over the lifetime of the trucks. Hopefully we will begin to see growing numbers of them within the next few years.

[Gunnar]

I had a friend of mine who was 'chased' down a mountain road by a runaway logging truck that had lost its brakes. I wonder if electric trucks can use any sort of regenerative braking to augment the air brakes on a big rig? I know they've talked about the advantages of electric trucks (massive torque) going uphill.

One of the closest calls I had while driving is when I was going 65 or 70 up a section of highway north of Los Angeles called 'the Grapevine' (it's near Gorman). A truck going 20 mph pulled out to pass a truck going 15 miles an hour. I had to stomp on my brakes, which is something you hardly ever do driving uphill.

One of my first jobs was to drive a camera car filming a truck 'race' for an industrial film. The film was paid for by Mack Trucks. We filmed a Mack, Cummins, and GMC trucks, all loaded with maximum loads, in a truck race from Allentown, Pennsylvania to Hayward California. When we drove through Illinois there was one of those massive Midwest thunderstorms, where the lighting strikes look like God's flashbulbs lighting up the night. Cars and jackknifed big rigs dotted the side of the Interstate. I was driving a rented camera car, a huge Chevy Wagon with floaty shocks filled with camera gear and a 16mm camera strapped to the front hood. I could barely keep up with those truck drivers, driving with maximum loads.

I have a lot of respect for those drivers.

This post reminded me of a scary experience one of my community college chemistry instructors told me he once had. He was driving down a steep slope down from the Sierras on icy winter roads, when he heard a loud truck horn from behind him. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw a huge tractor-trailer rig helplessly sliding sideways while spanning the entire width of the icy road, and rapidly overtaking him. He couldn't escape by simply driving faster without losing control of his own car in the icy conditions. Luckily he found a side road he could turn off to just barely before the helplessly sliding big rig overtook him.

[Doctor Steuss]

This gave me the random memory of riding with my dad when I was a tot, and getting absolutely giddy when he would use the Jake Brake.

"Can you use it now, Dad? What about now? Can we Jake Brake now?"

<<bdbdbdbpdpdpdpbdppd...>>

"Squeeeeeee!"

[Jersey Girl]

This gave me the random memory of riding with my dad when I was a tot, and getting absolutely giddy when he would use the Jake Brake.

"Can you use it now, Dad? What about now? Can we Jake Brake now?"

<<bdbdbdbpdpdpdpbdppd...>>

"Squeeeeeee!"

That's so cool, Steuss! My father was a Jersey truck driver. He drove a Mack pulling a lumber flatbed for a lumber company out of Newark. When I was very little, he used to take me to work with him to ride in the truck. I still remember what it was like sitting up in that cab. Anyway, I recall him telling us a story around the dinner table one night.He had to haul to PA in the mountain/hilly areas. He was going downhill and I don't know what exactly happen but I vividly remember him saying how he had to scrub the curbs to slow the truck down. I don't know if there were always Jake Brakes if so, I'm guessing that was part of the hair raising story.

FF to adulthood when I dispatched OTR semis for the Fed. Gov. what a weird life course event, right? Never saw that coming in a million years and yet, that's what happened. We had one KW conventional cab on the yard and the rest were International cab overs. I loved hearing their stories of the road!

[Doctor Steuss]

That's so cool, Steuss! My father was a Jersey truck driver. He drove a Mack pulling a lumber flatbed for a lumber company out of Newark. When I was very little, he used to take me to work with him to ride in the truck. I still remember what it was like sitting up in that cab. Anyway, I recall him telling us a story around the dinner table one night.He had to haul to PA in the mountain/hilly areas. He was going downhill and I don't know what exactly happen but I vividly remember him saying how he had to scrub the curbs to slow the truck down. I don't know if there were always Jake Brakes if so, I'm guessing that was part of the hair raising story.

FF to adulthood when I dispatched OTR semis for the Fed. Gov. what a weird life course event, right? Never saw that coming in a million years and yet, that's what happened. We had one KW conventional cab on the yard and the rest were International cab overs. I loved hearing their stories of the road!

Yikes, I can only imagine what that must've been like for him. Most of my dad’s driving was for gravel yards or paving companies, so there weren’t many crazy mountain roads for him, other than paving work on Cedar Mountain in UT. Even that work though had the trailer empty for the descent.

Thank you Jersey for sharing your memories, and letting me wander my own.

[Jersey Girl]

That's so cool, Steuss! My father was a Jersey truck driver. He drove a Mack pulling a lumber flatbed for a lumber company out of Newark. When I was very little, he used to take me to work with him to ride in the truck. I still remember what it was like sitting up in that cab. Anyway, I recall him telling us a story around the dinner table one night.He had to haul to PA in the mountain/hilly areas. He was going downhill and I don't know what exactly happen but I vividly remember him saying how he had to scrub the curbs to slow the truck down. I don't know if there were always Jake Brakes if so, I'm guessing that was part of the hair raising story.

FF to adulthood when I dispatched OTR semis for the Fed. Gov. what a weird life course event, right? Never saw that coming in a million years and yet, that's what happened. We had one KW conventional cab on the yard and the rest were International cab overs. I loved hearing their stories of the road!

Yikes, I can only imagine what that must've been like for him. Most of my dad’s driving was for gravel yards or paving companies, so there weren’t many crazy mountain roads for him, other than paving work on Cedar Mountain in UT. Even that work though had the trailer empty for the descent.

Thank you Jersey for sharing your memories, and letting me wander my own.

Now that I'm re-reading my own post I wonder if that wasn't an S&P that he was pulling? Anyway, he would occasionally drive it home and I recall feeling so proud of that big red truck (with and without the trailer) parked out in front of the house. Those are among my only good memories of him before he laid waste to my childhood. I think he mainly hauled lumber in Jersey but I do recall that one riveting story around the dinner table that held us all spellbound how he handled his truck on that steep decline in Pennsylvania! I'm surprised he didn't roll it.

He was a little guy, 5' 2", who would put you in mind of James Cagney. But apparently he was good at what he did as per his boss who kept him on for decades and loaned him his personal car during holidays or when our own car was down for repairs. It was a gray Chrysler...so fancy compared to our own car. I recall riding while sitting on the arm rest in the front seat, or standing on the seat with the arm rest up.

Isn't it weird the stuff you remember?

Jussec.

Total ringer.