Hey guys, I didn't expect to be back so soon but this Hub Challenge thing really got me raring to go!

In this Hub I'll basically be talking about euipment. What that pretty much covers can be anything from the trucks we drive to the trailers, beds, or tankers that we haul around behind us all day long.But for simplicity's sake I'll just cover a little on trucks today.

On with the trucks. There's a whole bunch of names for them, some people call them trucks, rigs, big rigs, etc. But the proper name for a "truck", is a semi tractor and when you put that together with the trailer it's known as a semi tractor trailer, tadah!! Yes, very exciting, I know.

Tractors come in all flavors, just like cars. Currently I happen to be driving a 387 Peterbilt and I got it when it was brand new! It's a beautiful truck. It's probably the best truck I've ever driven that was my actual work truck. The nicest that I've ever driven  was a Volvo and damn that truck had a smooth ride! The Pete I have now is really nice when it comes to turning radius, it's ride, and space. The down side is that even though it has a lot of space, the actual storage space is very limited.

Let's talk turning radius. Turning radius is the basically the amount of room that it takes the truck to turn around in a circle. To me this is not the most important thing about how a truck handles but it's very nice to have a truck that has a good turning radius for several reasons.If your truck takes a football field just to make a turn, like let's say a Freightliner Classic, you don't get much room for error when making turns or backing up. Not turning the wheel soon enough on a truck like the Classic when making a sharp turn in the city can mean the difference between running over a curb and whoever or whatever is on it at the time.Or it can mean a host of other problems like getting stuck in traffic making a right hand turn with cars right on your bumper and not being able to move back to adjust, or forward because you'll hit the car in front of you that was trying to make a left hand turn off the other side of the road your turning onto.Sorry if I lost you on that one,lol.

 It really is a pain in the butt having to maneuver around in tight spaces when you have to spin the steering wheel around 6 or 7 times just to make a slight adjustment to your position. Many times as drivers we are asked to make deliveries to buildings, streets, and cities that were never really designed or intended for todays big trucks and that means that when you have a truck that doesn't turn well it makes your job that much more difficult and dangerous.

Backing up or turning when you have a crappy turning radius is a matter of knowing your truck and being familiar with how it works, in short you just have to get used to it. Just know that you'll need more of everything, more time, more room, more patience, more visibility, and you have to anticipate all of this in advance or you won't make that turn or hit that hole(the space you are trying to back into, not a pot hole).

I know about freightliner Classics and their turning radius because I failed my first driving exam with a big company in one while trying to make that very right hand turn I described earlier. In my case though I actually was able to back the truck up to adjust and make the turn but the sidewall of my tire scraped the curb and that was enough for me not to pass. Yep, they are that strict.

Let's talk about ride. This really won't be long because it's kinda simple, you're truck rides smooth or it doesn't, what can I say, lol. Really though, the ride quality has a lot to do with the wheelbase of your truck, how wide it is, how long it is. But suspension and whether or not you have an air ride matters as well. Also, what kind of load, how heavy it is, where your tandems(tandems are your adjustable set of axles on the trailer, they move forward and backwards) are set and how your freight is loaded plays a part as well. The old school flat nose Petes have a nice ride because they are longer, Freightliner Columbias, while they have one of the best if not the best of turning radius's, have a wickedly bumpy and uncomfortable ride.

Space, I love my space because I'm a big guy and storage space is a good thing to have in a truck, especially if you live in your truck. When I first started out driving I lived out of my truck for about 2 years. I mainly did it because I spent so much time on the road I couldn't really see myself paying for an apartment that I only visited once every 2 or three months.Now, I have an apartment that I only see every 2 months still, but my girlfriend sure likes it,lol.

The Pete I have now is great when it comes to actual space to move around but short on storage so I've learned to be a minimalist. When I had the Columbia it was a whole other story, I carried just about everything I owned with me which made it a real pain in the butt when I had to switch trucks. Truck drivers are a real inventive kind of people some put TV's, refrigerators, showers, microwaves, sound systems, PS2's, Xbox's, sinks, laptop stands, etc. in their trucks, I've always preferred to keep it simple when it comes to all of that stuff. I mainly use what little shelf and closet space I have for clothes, books( I like to read), my computer, food, and water.

I could go into a lot of other little things that probably only gearheads would enjoy like the fact that I have a Cummins engine, Thermo King APU, Eaton Fuller 8 speed, CD player, sirius satellite radio, heated mirrors, cloth seats, king pin release from the inside of the truck, cruise control, qualcomm unit, power windows, and a nice little sound system even though it is factory,etc. but the point of this whole Hub I guess could just be the following "Trucks are like the trucking companies that own them, they all have trade offs, some are better at this and some are better at that, but it all just depends on what you as a driver are looking for and are willing to put up with."