Tri-axles. My old man owns a tri-axle business. This means that my middle school years were filled with air horns, air brakes, jake brakes, and a whole lot of grease (by choice)! The summers during these years were consumed with Fort Building and Truckin'. Ten through twelve years old were spent in way like I had a full time job. Wake up at 6 be in the truck by 7, haul coal, stone, or blacktop until at least 3. I'd like to say that I did all the hard work, but I slept during the first two or three loads and then only worked the dump control, air horn, or other small things. It was pretty awesome because I got to go to work with my dad everyday, and you won't believe how much I learned about trucks!
CB radio. Of all the things I worked or help fix, I rarely touched the CB radio. To this day, I have no idea why. All the other truckers that we were running with knew I was there and who I was, but they never heard my voice over the CB. For some reason, I was shy... which is saying something about me. Plus, there is definitely a "trucker-CB" language that one needs to master before just jumping on the radio waves. If any of these truckers would stop by the garage when I was there, I would talk at length with them, but I just refused to talk with them over the CB. All of my remarks were conveyed through my dad.
80,000 Pounds of Patience. One thing I learned about dumptrucks is that people generally do not like to be "stuck" behind them. Many a driver will cut of a tri-axle going full speed downhill, just so they do not get behind them. Generally speaking, when these trucks are unloaded, they can hold their own concerning speed. But even at full speed on the highway, drivers will risk their lives (to the point of passing on the shoulder) to get past big trucks. It may be one of those things that you won't believe until you see... I didn't. This observation about driving taught me patience before I even had my driver's license. Road rage is something you will never see from me because of my time spent truckin',
Fix it. Clean it. Repeat. After work on weekdays and most of the day on weekends, my dad and I would take time to fix anything wrong with the truck, and clean it--inside and out. I kind of just supervised the fixing, fetched tools, climbed into areas too small for my dad, helped with little things, and commandeered the cleaning task! I was a grease ball most of the time--my mom is a magician with laundry! It's really incredible.
How this helps: Patience, mechanical knowledge, driving skills, responsibility.
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Blessings to each of you! =)
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