I-80 from Salt Lake City west to Reno is dangerous!

[AlconburyBlues]

Wow. Speed limit is 80 so I had the cruise control set to 80 like an idiot. I started to notice some of the turns were a little tight for 80. But once I passed Winnemucca it got worse. I was curious there were no tight turn signs (arrows and yellow speed warning signs) the whole way. Some of those turns are more like 70 max.

But then that last tight right sweeper coming into Reno came up. I was holding the G29 wheel so hard to the right and BAM! I actually hit the wall first time in 4 years! LOL I was on the road all the way from Fort Collins, so it was a long drive. I guess I was tired and didn't even think of hitting the brakes. Funny thing is though, ZERO damage! WTF?

EDIT: My apologies to those that thought I was new to the series and played it like a game. I have been playing for several years and just had a raw moment. And simply making fun of my little "incident" by sharing it with you. Cheers!

[brownging1]

Sometimes it just gets too real. Time to slow down and look at the wonderful scenery.
brownging

[gallagher4005]

In truck driver training, driver's are told to "Drive according to Conditions".
Not all speed signs are trucks.
SLOW DOWN and take it easy.
Remember: IT'S NOT A RACE.

[Das_P0m]

Just because a sign told you 80 is ok it doesn't mean that it's suitable for a big truck to get around curves. There are several roads on the map where you not just go full allowed speed because you can. I remember some curves going almost 90° and the speed limit was set to 50 or 60. Good luck with that...

[Wolfgang]

A speed limit is not the speed you have to drive. You are allowed to drive slower and you should do it when you aren't 100% sure that you can not handle the vehicle at that speed and conditions.

[Twitching Finger]

I've always had a rule of thumb, IRL, that I drove 5mph under posted speed limits. Same in game, I guess it's hard to break old habits.

That and I laugh when I see a train of cars behind me (In Game) while trying to pull a grade.
I guess it's some kind'a deranged revenge lol..

I also think it would be cool to have shipping containers (they might already, I don't own all the DLC's), and allow us to go into ports and have a crain take the container off the chassis, like in real life..

[AlconburyBlues]

@Kracka, I usually do the "5 under" rule also. But my ETA was starting to match my minimum delivery time from all the delays. Plus being literally over-tired didn't help.

BTW, I used to have a job operating those cranes from dizzying heights.

[cygnusx1]

Originally posted by Kracka:

I also think it would be cool to have shipping containers (they might already, I don't own all the DLC's), and allow us to go into ports and have a crain take the container off the chassis, like in real life..

:summer2019vehiclepig::summer2019vehiclepig::summer2019vehiclepig:

The first 13 years of my career, I ran my own truck (1994 Freightliner Classic XL) and leased it to 2 companies that I pulled containers for out of Port Newark\Elizabeth. Those guys driving those 6 wheel cranes got some "Balls". There were times it looked like they would tip making a turn at some pretty fast speeds for a crane.

But I totally agree that it should be integrated into the sim! Watching them go right around and above your rig and chassis to load or unload your container never bored me and always amazed me.

One time, I watched a trucker next to me get his chassis and rear truck wheels lifted because he didn't unlock his pins. LOL, Rookie!!

[AlconburyBlues]

@cygnusx1, I rarely operated the mobile cranes. They freaked me out. I was mostly in one of the "fixed" cranes overlooking the vessels at about 60m up in the air.

[anomaly.va]

80 is the limit, not the minimum. Anyone who does 80 in a tractor-trailer is an idiot. You need 800 feet to stop from 65 in the best of conditions, and it only gets worse the faster you go.

Now, I won't say I've never done it, but it was usually on small hills. As a rule I never actually reached the speed limit most of the time. I found that 63 is good in a 65 or 70, 58 is good in a 60 or 65. Good fuel economy and you have enough time to stop in most cases when idiots do stupid things, like cross two lanes to make an exit at the last second, etc. And, of course, you get to enjoy the scenery a little more.

And yes, that stretch of I-80 is a bit dangerous, but not just because of the 80 mph speed limit. The weather in Nevada is quite crazy, just like New Mexico. I was eastbound with a load coming through Sparks with the temperature hovering around 30. When I started seeing signs of ice, I backed off from 65 to about 50. About five or six people just couldn't stand it, they just HAD to get around my slow-ass truck, right?

Before they even got a half-mile on me, I see a pickup doing 360s in the hammer lane, bouncing off the jersey barrier before coming to a stop sideways in my lane. There was no point in braking further, I wasn't going to make it and all that would have done was get me jackknifed and take everyone out.

What was the shoulder at that distance was an exit ramp occupied by a Subaru to my right, whose driver fortunately figured out why I was signaling right and backed off. First Subaru driver I ever saw that paid attention. I blew off the end of the ramp into the shoulder just in time to miss that pickup by inches.

Make good MONEY, they said...
See the COUNTRY, they said...
It'll be FUN, they said...

[AlconburyBlues]

@anomaly.va, I knew I would get at least one critic. I usually do drive as I would IRL. But the drive was long, and I was getting tired, and it's not real. So... I made a mistake. And I am making fun of myself for it by making this thread. I am not afraid of humility. I am human.

Now as far as you calling me an idiot. C'mon buddy, that wasn't too nice. We are here to learn from our mistakes, and have fun at the same time, right?

[anomaly.va]

Originally posted by AlconburyBlues:

@anomaly.va, I knew I would get at least one critic. I usually do drive as I would IRL. But the drive was long, and I was getting tired, and it's not real. So... I made a mistake. And I am making fun of myself for it by making this thread. I am not afraid of humility. I am human.

Now as far as you calling me an idiot. C'mon buddy, that wasn't too nice. We are here to learn from our mistakes, and have fun at the same time, right?

Sorry if it was taken as an attack, wasn't intended as such. I guess I should have clarified 'in a REAL tractor-trailer', and further clarified as 'ALL THE TIME'. So I'm hopeful we can shake hands and call that a misunderstanding. I don't think there's a real trucker out there that hasn't had to push it at one time or another.

I'm guessing you missed the part where I said I wouldn't say I'd never done it. Like you, I usually drove under the limit IRL -- 63 in a 70, 58 in a 65. But I once had a heavy load through hilly country that was pushing the limits of what was legally possible before idiots put me 6 hours behind. Under the veiled threat of being stuck at the receiver for a day or two with no pay, I Georgia overdrive'd across the lion's share of WY / UT / NV, rolling 1700 miles of a 2000 mile trip in two days. And after ALL that, missed the slot by 5 minutes because of a wrong turn at the last second that took me around the block. I was AT THE YARD, LOOKING AT THE SIGN, and it looked like the gate was on the other side.

After dispatch gave their accolades on making up six hours in two days, I told them not to expect it as normal, because I would not do it again.

As for gameplay, I routinely have to break the rules, and I really don't like that. I try to avoid urgent delivery loads, because I, too, have noticed that the more skill you show and the more you level up in this game, the more they throw at you.

[AlconburyBlues]

@anomaly.va, It's all good. I didn't take it that poorly. I know you are an awesome contributor to the ETS2/ATS community and it's forums. I was just making a point that after 5+ years of playing SCS works (if you include the 18WoS series, make it 10+), and trying to be serious about it the whole time (as if it was a real job making real money), eventually you are going to have a moment or 2 where you just let go, remind yourself that it's just a game, and drive like a madman to get the job over with. (Especially when you should have gone to bed 3 hours earlier.) Call it stress relief.

Although I wouldn't say doing the speed limit is a madman. I have had times in the past where I was pulling 40k+ kilos at 90mph, knocking AI cars off the road, driving down the middle of a carriageway, blowing reds and stop signs, etc. Now THAT is a madman, LOL. But now that I'm done letting that all out, I'm back to normal again.

BTW, on the slowest roads or in towns (15-35mph) I do the speed limit. On the medium speed roads (40-60mph) I usually do the speed limit minus the retarder threshold and set my cruise control to that. At the higher speed limits (65+mph), I do that minus another 5-10mph depending on how straight the route is and how much traffic is on the road.

[anomaly.va]

Yeah, unfortunately there are quite a few roads out there that will bite you if you tempt the fates.

[lrrcp90]

Originally posted by anomaly.va:

80 is the limit, not the minimum. Anyone who does 80 in a tractor-trailer is an idiot. You need 800 feet to stop from 65 in the best of conditions, and it only gets worse the faster you go.

Now, I won't say I've never done it, but it was usually on small hills. As a rule I never actually reached the speed limit most of the time. I found that 63 is good in a 65 or 70, 58 is good in a 60 or 65. Good fuel economy and you have enough time to stop in most cases when idiots do stupid things, like cross two lanes to make an exit at the last second, etc. And, of course, you get to enjoy the scenery a little more.

And yes, that stretch of I-80 is a bit dangerous, but not just because of the 80 mph speed limit. The weather in Nevada is quite crazy, just like New Mexico. I was eastbound with a load coming through Sparks with the temperature hovering around 30. When I started seeing signs of ice, I backed off from 65 to about 50. About five or six people just couldn't stand it, they just HAD to get around my slow-ass truck, right?

Before they even got a half-mile on me, I see a pickup doing 360s in the hammer lane, bouncing off the jersey barrier before coming to a stop sideways in my lane. There was no point in braking further, I wasn't going to make it and all that would have done was get me jackknifed and take everyone out.

What was the shoulder at that distance was an exit ramp occupied by a Subaru to my right, whose driver fortunately figured out why I was signaling right and backed off. First Subaru driver I ever saw that paid attention. I blew off the end of the ramp into the shoulder just in time to miss that pickup by inches.

Make good MONEY, they said...
See the COUNTRY, they said...
It'll be FUN, they said...

saw a JB hunt driver running 75 with his curb inside trailer tire on fire the other day.
guess he didnt have a CB because he never slowed down.

[AlconburyBlues]

Yeah the UPS drivers I work with on my 2nd job are pretty good about pre-checking their trailers after hookup. But the Amazon guys next to us in the same building? Um, no. I consistently see Amazon trucks pulling out with flats, or doors not secured, or brake lines not attached, or talking on the phone while trying to shift and then slamming on the brakes for employees pulling out of the parking lot and stalling their engine in the process, etc... idiots.