This is something I could never understand. Years back, I worked on a jobsite in Brooklyn, N.Y., Coney Island to be precise. I lived in NJ, the route I took to get there for the most part was crossing the bay at the Verrazano-Narrows, (Verrazano Bridge) taking the ramp to the Belt Parkway, following the Belt Parkway to the Coney Island exit.
For the time that I was there, over 1 year, where the F train crosses over the Belt Parkway in Coney Island, a tractor trailer would peel off the roof, collapse a trailer or any combination thereof, often times once a week, or a few time per month. The thing that gets me is that the connecting highways are clearly marked, they had sensors with alarms, etc., yet these truckers still hit that darned bridge, and I am surprised at how much that bridge could take, you could see the marks on the steel. In NYC it is very easy to understand, Highways are OK for trucks, Parkways are not. The drivers were usually placed under arrest, the company responsible for the clean up and removal of vehicles and freight. Signage from all approaches is very clear.
I agree, the professional demeanor of truck drivers today is not what it was. Remember the days when they would always stay right, flashers on when going up hills etc. ? Now they talk on there cell phones, weave in/out of lanes, and so many other things. Cripes, don't get me started, I just was on a building construction site and a loader operator was driving the loader and texting at the same time ! This site is shared by beverage center, so the public and these clowns have to share the same street, people are nuts today, everyman for himself, and you had best watch the other guy, he is the one that will do you in.
I've had my CDL since the feds required it, I had a Class 1 (NYS) several years prior to that, and logged in plenty of miles behind the seat. When took the CDL test, it was not the take home or open book, I studied and got 100%, most was common knowledge. I've kept a clean driving abstract and maintain a current D.O.T. physical card. Driving, be it a car or commercial vehicle is serious business, and as far as I am concerned there is a degree of professionalism required.
Where height is concerned, get a ladder and measure it yourself, I always do any vehicle I drive. I don't care what the sticker says, or what is told to me, measure it ! I've been put in situations where its been close on height or too low. Stopping and getting out of the vehicle may not always be practical, especially on a highway, but taking a chance that you will clear is absolutely stupid. I had to move a 235 CAT through Newark NJ many years back, dopey operator lead me into a real jam, streets to narrow, and a major (multi track-P.A.T.H. train above) tressle. I stopped, and had to figure out how to get out of this situation. Upon measuring, I determined that all I had to do was unbind the stick and boom of that excavator, extend and lower it, drive under the tressle, it was clearly a no truck route, then determine how to get back to RT 1-9 down a narrow street. I did it without a hitch, you can't take chances, either you know or you stop and get help, prior to proceeding. Accidents happen, things can be mismarked, road elevation raised and such, but for the most part these situations are pure stupidity.
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Today's Featured Article - Gatherin of the Orange - by Rick Nikolich. In July of 1998 I was talking to fellow Allis Chalmers collector Mike Schilling about the annual "Gathering of The Orange" AC show coming up in August of 1999. He got this wild idea that we should get a convoy of AC tractors and drive them from Charlotte, Michigan 105 miles to LaGrange, Indiana.
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