Another full timing thread

[Branderson]

Inqiuiring minds want to know ,how did you wind up driving through Columbia S C ?? I usually go i26 to Columbia take I20 to I95 go north on i95 north to 328 then south to 378/501.This way you by pass Columbia and Florence .I bet the Campground you used was Pirate Land .Was in there with my 40 ft motor home had a H--- of a time getting in and a worse getting out!!!

Coming from Alabama, I go towards Atlanta and get on 20.  20 takes me all the way to 95 and then I pass 95 and head to the beach.  The campground I stayed at was a little east of Columbia. Camden RV park I think.  The one I stayed at coming back was closer to Atlanta off of 20.  It was some minimalistic campground built by Georgia Power or something.  I will never stay there again.  They were nice and all but I hate no sewage hook ups and couldn't even make the turn to get into the dump station.  I would have been better off staying at a rest stop (which I think I will do a lot more from now on) 

[Branderson]

Noise makes fatigue.

Ear plugs, and then both of you can talk instead of yell... you hear voices better with plugs in.

A pair of those Bose noise cancelling headphones for the airplane too, if you have $pare ca$h...

Does your bus steer and stop properly?

There is no joy in fighting the machine...

Find an experienced bus driver to take yours for a spin.

Most noobs sit wrong in the chair. They all start sitting high. The old wheelmen sat down and back.

But... ultimately, you either love to drive, or you don't. The mechanical "what ifs" are a distraction that must be stifled. You WILL break downeventually, and not get home for work, so deal with that now. I have always tried to be a good employee, but if my hobby bus breaks down, and that's a problem, I guess I will wish them good luck finding someone else?

Nobody lies on their death bed wishing they spent more time being afraid of some idiot employer that did not appreciate my efforts enough to cut me some slack, rare as that was needed?

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

Hey Warrior, yesterday I drove it a small distance to turn it in to get serviced and sure enough, I was sitting high.  That explains why my back was getting tired after an hour in.  I think I'm going to move my seat a little closer and try to sit back.  Thanks for that tip!

[Lifes2short4nofun]

Can you tell me more about the tinting?  Do you just do UV tint on the front windshield and normal tint on the sides?  This interests me b/c it gets pretty warm especially when driving into the sun.

They did 5% all the way around and about a 12"-16" strip on the windshield and I think it was 20% on the rest of the windshield. 



I also saw you posting about the headlights.  I drive at night a lot because we leave after work.  I swapped out to led bulbs and it made a huge difference.

[Branderson]

Hey everyone, just wanted to do a somewhat follow up to this thread.

For the holidays, the wife and I decided to go to San Antonio from Alabama and this would be the largest trip so far.  Like some of you mentioned, I wasn't sitting comfortably in my chair before so I made it a point to first move my chair closer to the steering wheel and also sit relaxed.  I found that I had to remind myself from time to time to sit back but it was a huge difference in my back.  I actually drove from 7am to 6pm the first day and we stopped at a rest stop for the night instead of searching for an unknown campground. (another tip from you guys)  The second day we finished the trip to Texas.  We took I-20 which was a little longer but I knew that I-10 had a lot of construction. 

Now the drive back.  Well, I planned on taking 3 days max to get back which I ended up doing.  I made the mistake of going against my original plan of taking 20 back and I took I-10.  The weather was horrible, the traffic was horrible, and the construction and roads were bad.  I wish I would have just taken the way I came back.  I think the traffic was bad in part due to everyone travelling.

I don't really mind being in the interstate that much but going thru big cities suck.  I also had a few campers and one 18wheeler strangely get sucked into my lane.  I've never seen that before but there was this one strip where it seemed when they passed me, what they were towing was getting sucked into my lane.  That scared the hell outta me. 

Although the trip was better, I still think that having a job and deadlines really makes things harder when travelling.  I would much rather go 300 miles and then spend a cpl days if tired or after a hard day of travel if need be.  Before my trip, I did install LED headlights and that helped a lot when driving at night and I do prefer driving when there is less traffic at night, I hate that I can't see the back end of the bus in the mirrors.  Just a security thing I guess. 

Of course the trip wasn't flawless but every issue was my own doing.  I got a new TOAD and end up killing the battery from the drive the first day.  I also had to change camp sites after the first day and forgot to open the sewage lines and overflowed the tanks.  Awesome!

Anyway, I know this was a long story but been meaning to reply on the good and the bad.  I'm still undecided about full timing but I do know some of the do's and don'ts that I like or don't like. 

[DKO]

As has been said, the more miles you drive the better it gets. Everyone has to find their own comfort zone for hours and miles. My comfort zone has gotten lower over the years, but like Scott, we make our living out here. Most weeks, we have to make some miles, but I do try to keep it to 500 interstate miles a day. I could definitely get used to 200 miles a day, but that will not happen for us for a long time.

You also need to find some of the stress points for you and eliminate the ones you can. I always stressed over the daily in and out of unknown campgrounds after a driving day, so I eliminated that stress point. It is much easier to find a rest stop, Flying J, Walmart, Bass Pro or Cabela's crank the generator if needed and go to bed. I can also leave when I want to without worrying about waking up the whole campground.

I also do my best to hit cities at the right time.

Davy

[Bill B /bus]

I will add a couple of suggestions to the discussion.
When doing an A to B run, don't try to drive it in a big chunk. We sometimes had to leave Maine after Christmas for southern climes. We almost always stopped at a friend's farm in NE Alabama about 1300 plus miles. Usually not clear of the house until afternoon so stop for supper then make the PA line by midnight. Get up with dog maybe 6AM. Drive to breakfast. Drive to lunch stop. Maybe a nap. On the road until supper. Maybe a couple or three hours after supper. Never tired as maybe, at most, 4 hours at a time. Sometimes two days and sometimes two and half. Bottom line don't drive until tired with burning eyes. Rest early and often. That drive was I95, I495, I90, I84, I81, I40, I75, I24, I59. Least traffic was I59.


Stay off the interstates. Two lane and US highways are great. Well, except through the NY, NJ, CT, MA, NH, and southern Maine. Can be avoided by going north and then east. And secondly around the big cities then we use the interstates.

We have gone from the Rio Grande Valley to Biloxi, MS with less than 40 miles of interstate highway. With two free ferry rides thrown in as a bonus.

If you are stuck with a A to B run why use a campground?  Rest areas, Walmart, etc. You are only there for a limited time.

Bill

[RJ]

Brad -

It doesn't make any difference if you drive 75 mph or 55 mph, you're going to end up averaging 50 mph - which, btw, is what Greyhound's schedules are based on.

So that's the guideline I use whenever we're on the move.  If it's a 300 mile run, that's six hours.  A three hour run is 150 miles.  If Google Maps says it's 189 miles or 3 hours + 5 minutes, I don't pay attention to the time, only the mileage. 189/50 = 3.78 hrs in the bus.

I'm at a point that four hours driving time is about our maximum, unless it leaves us out in the middle of BFE with nowhere to park safely, then we'll run maybe another hour or so.  We're also retired, so no pressure by someone else to be somewhere - unless we impose it upon ourselves.

On a related note, the FMCSA & DOT limit professional drivers to 10 hrs behind the wheel, with an additional 2 due to severe weather.  This isn't an arbitrary rule, it's been developed over years of industry study, and is based on human fatigue factors.  Once you pass the 10-hr mark, driver fatigue becomes THE MAJOR factor in big rig accidents. Busnuts who claim they'll cover 700 miles in a day are pushing 14 hours behind the wheel, thus the potential for a catastrophic accident due to something that easily could have been avoided.  (Obviously, if both dad and mom share the driving duties, it's a different scenario - especially if one takes a nap while the other one's in the pilot seat.)

As for driver seating, ergonomic studies have found that the least fatiguing, and best back-supporting position is a vertical line between your ear, shoulder and hip. From there a 90^o angle between your back and your thigh, and a 90^o angle between your knee and your feet - which should be planted flat on the floor.  In this position, your knee and ankle do most of the work, with no twisting of your lower back - that's what really leads to back pain and fatigue.  So readjust your seat to meet these guidelines and I think you'll see a huge difference in driving comfort.

FWIW & HTH. . .

[eagle19952]

if there are more than two lanes, stay in a middle one
if not, keep to the right.
know your exits.
use your turn signal 1/4 mile ahead,and just change lanes
if they won't let you over...they will.
who ever passes you will slow down instantly, count on it
roadbreakers.com is rv friendly.

[DoubleEagle]

Brad -
On a related note, the FMCSA & DOT limit professional drivers to 10 hrs behind the wheel

The limit is 11 driving hours within a fourteen hour duty period after 10 hours off (for truck drivers).

[Bob & Tracey]

We have been fulltiming for 5 years. We are never in a hurry. We drive about 4hrs a day give or take. We drive 60mph and find the Garmin GPS spot on. We lost our 70lb dog in Aug and her loss leaves a big empty spot in the bus. We used the bus for 7 years for camping before leaving for good and learned a lot and made many changes based on that experience. This life is awesome for us but it is not for everybody.