road service plans

[cody]

I'm looking into road service plans, I've reviewed the archives and read what I could find but most seem to date back a while, I'm wondering what you guys would recommend for a plan that would cover me somewhat on the road with the bus and why.  My biggest concern is a blowout, even tho my tires are new.  I'm going to buy a spare but some tell me to buy the spare but not a wheel because road service will put the spare on my wheel on the side of the road, others tell me to have a mounted spare handy, the leaders appear to be Coachnet or Good Sam, any ideas?

[TomC]

I have Good Sam Emergency Roadside Tow.  In Dec I was on the way to Las Vegas when I sprung an engine fuel line leak.  Made it to Baker, Ca where I bedded down for the night.  In the morning walked to the tow service and they have had many service calls through Good Sam and nothing but good to say about it.  Within an hour of the call the Landoll trailer was at my bus and we were loading it.  Since Barstow was closer, but I wanted to continue to Las Vegas, I had to pay the difference of $115.00.  The tow would have been $750.00 without Good Sam.

Personally do not carry a spare.  When I drove truck (along with the vast majority of trucks and buses) I also did not carry a spare.  In the 21 years of driving NEVER had a front blow out-picked up a nail for a slow leak that made it flat overnight though.  The vast majority of flats is on the drivers.  The steers pick up the debris and more or less throw it into the rear tire-especially on the rear of a tandem or tag axle.  If you get a flat on a dualer, just drive at 40mph to the next truck stop.  If you get one on a tag release the air pressure on it and if possible tie it up off the road.  The best prevention is to be checking the tires constantly.  When driving, I stop about once an hour and go around and feel the temp on the tires.  A hot runner will be low on air.  Also have the Duran wireless tire monitor that screws into the tire stem.  Nice to be able to pull up the tire pressures while driving.  Also can monitor the towed too.  Good Luck, TomC

[DrivingMissLazy]

I stop about once an hour and go around and feel the temp on the tires.

WOW. It is really hard for me to imagine anyone doing this with even all recaps that are bald. LOL

I occasionally would use my temp gun when I stopped at a rest area, but did not do this every time. Never in 15 years had any problem. I did maintain new tires that were within the date code at all times and I never carried a spare or ever had a need for one. If I had ever needed one, I would have removed a bogie or dual to get me to the next tire shop.
Richard

[TomC]

Richard-just a habit I got into when driving truck.  Good Luck, TomC

[DrivingMissLazy]

Absolutely nothing wrong with that in my opinion. I think it is hard to find many that are as conscientious as that.
Richard

[belfert]

Richard-just a habit I got into when driving truck.  Good Luck, TomC

How did you make any money driving truck if you stopped every hour?

Stopping every hour to check tires seems like overkill to me.

[Busted Knuckle]

Personally do not carry a spare.  When I drove truck (along with the vast majority of trucks and buses) I also did not carry a spare.  In the 21 years of driving NEVER had a front blow out-picked up a nail for a slow leak that made it flat overnight though. Good Luck, TomC

Tom this time last year I was driving a friend/competitor's H3-45 in Texas and had a right steer tire BLOW! I'll tell ya it is a hair raising feeling with a load of people on, in the hammer lane passing a car @ 75 (+/-) mph! The tire was not under inflated either! We also check or tires religously when we stop. But I also agree in all the years I drove truck I only ever had 1 other steer tire problem and it was with a brand new just installed (3 hrs b4) tire. But it was an installation issue!

How did you make any money driving truck if you stopped every hour?

Stopping every hour to check tires seems like overkill to me.

Brian a short stop every so often is less consuming than a blow-out, call service truck, wait for service truck, wait while service guy does work(cussing about damn buses), wait while service guy confirms payment is valid situtation! At least in mine and Tom's eyes! Besides it don't take that long to stretch while doing a quick walk around which helps ya stay fresh an able to go hrs longer! 

[coolbus]

Cody

I've got Good Sam roadside assistance and would highly reccomend them to anybody. I, too, researched several different providers, but ended up with Good Sam.

One of the reasons I chose it is because the coverage carries over to any of my other personal vehicles, or any vehicle I (or my wife) happen to be driveing. My kids are covered too, even if they are not with us.

I recently had a engine driven air compressor go bad while about 1500 miles from home. Good Sam sent a large flatbed trailer & had it towed (hauled) to a Detroit shop. Probably cost them over 500 dollars. Didn't cost me a dime (other than my annual premium - $79)

Later that night, around midnight, I had a blow-out on the tag axel. Good Sam said they don't have anybody in the area to repair the tire, so they were going to have it trailered (again) to the nearest tire shop! I opted to remove the tag tire, chain up the axel, and drive home the last 800 miles that way.

Roadside assistance is one of the best means of 'peace of mind' you may ever buy!

Mark

[cody]

I appreciate all the good information, I'm swinging towards Good Sam for the coverage, it sounds like the out of pocket paying is minimal, thats always a good thing.  I know we never want a blow out but it does happen, even with new tires, or a simple thing like a plugged fuel filter when you don't have the spare with you, these things can sure turn an enjoyable run into a headache in a hurry, thats what I'm trying to avoid.  Like I say, I'm swinging towards Good Sam but each program has it's strong points and bad points, thats what I'd like to compare.

[belfert]

Personally do not carry a spare.  When I drove truck (along with the vast majority of trucks and buses) I also did not carry a spare.  In the 21 years of driving NEVER had a front blow out-picked up a nail for a slow leak that made it flat overnight though. Good Luck, TomC

Tom this time last year I was driving a friend/competitor's H3-45 in Texas and had a right steer tire BLOW! I'll tell ya it is a hair raising feeling with a load of people on, in the hammer lane passing a car @ 75 (+/-) mph! The tire was not under inflated either! We also check or tires religously when we stop. But I also agree in all the years I drove truck I only ever had 1 other steer tire problem and it was with a brand new just installed (3 hrs b4) tire. But it was an installation issue!

BK, do you really stop every hour with a loaded charter bus to check tires and such? 

I agree you can't drive all day and all night without stopping, but it seems to me that every five hours or so to look things over would be good enough.

I stop fairy often when I'm driving alone, but still not every hour.  My longer trips will have multiple drivers so we would probably switch every four or five hours at which time things can be checked over.

[DrivingMissLazy]

BK, do you really believe that stopping every hour would have permitted you to discover the defective tire? I personally sincerely doubt it.
Richard

[Dallas]

DOT regulations require that commercial drivers stop within the first 50 miles after loading and every 2 hours or 100 miles thereafter.

Back in the olden days, when trucking was still fun, I would often put on 900 to 1000 miles over night in order to make a delivery. I'm sure Tom and Bryce did the same.

Those one hour intervals between stops on the side of the road were what I looked forward to just to get out of the seat for a few minutes, pee, check the tires and the load, run around the truck once or twice and hit the road again.

To make the stops worthwhile, you don't stop in a truck stop, you'll waste a half hour getting in and out if you do. Mostly you stop on a ramp or in an empty rest area or even at a wide spot in the road.

The name of the game is to make money, money is made by putting on miles. You will put on more miles consistently by stopping very so often than you will if you keep trying to push yourself onward. You won't be a liable to fall asleep at the wheel and you will be fresher when you get to the other end.

Do it your way, but this is how it worked for me.

Dallas

[DrivingMissLazy]

I have to believe that most OTR drivers do not abide by the DOT rules then. Otherwise I believe you would see a lot more trucks parked beside the road. It seems that I seldom, if ever, saw this unless there was a breakdown. My general rule was to stop about every four hours for a potty break, or sooner if momma wanted to stop for breakfast. LOL
Richard

[Busted Knuckle]

BK, do you really stop every hour with a loaded charter bus to check tires and such? 

No Brian yer right I do not stop every hour! But I do stop every 2-3 hrs max! 1st off because even when there's a "restroom on board" it's best if they don't use it! Also most of the time the passangers want to stretch their legs as much as I do! I meant to point this out in the last post but I forgot to!

BK, do you really believe that stopping every hour would have permitted you to discover the defective tire? I personally sincerely doubt it.
Richard

Again NO, not always! It didn't that time, as we'd just fueled right at an hour before it happened! But you stand a lot better chance of catching a "HOT" tire problem if you do stop every couple hrs! No I don't stop every hr on the hr! But you'd be surprised how many time a group will want the bus to stop here & there "for just 1 minute!" LOL! ! yeah right Lady whatever you say we'll stop for "just 1 minute!" and an hr later we are on the road for an hr or 2 and "can we stop here for just 1 minute?" And when we do stop, I walk around and check them each and everytime I stop!

DOT regulations require that commercial drivers stop within the first 50 miles after loading and every 2 hours or 100 miles thereafter.

Yeah right! like anybody really does that! LOL!  But now days I do stop every several hrs, but back then even if the freight did walk on and walk off it didn't talk! (unless you understand moo, MOOO, MOOOOO) LOL! But those were not the majority of my loads! I did more "chicken truck'n than I did "cow truck'n" LOL!

Back in the olden days, when trucking was still fun, I would often put on 900 to 1000 miles over night in order to make a delivery. I'm sure Tom and Bryce did the same.
To make the stops worthwhile, you don't stop in a truck stop, you'll waste a half hour getting in and out if you do. Mostly you stop on a ramp or in an empty rest area or even at a wide spot in the road.

The name of the game is to make money, money is made by putting on miles. You will put on more miles consistently by stopping very so often than you will if you keep trying to push yourself onward. You won't be a liable to fall asleep at the wheel and you will be fresher when you get to the other end.

Do it your way, but this is how it worked for me.

Dallas

Amen! Once the chickens were all tucked in, or the last box of produce was on, the next stop was a CAT scale.Then the ride was on, 150-300 =/- miles, quick walk around, and so on and so on. Then the next time I'd stop at a truck stop would be when the truck needed fuel, and I'd grab a snack,and sometimes a quick shower and away we'd go again until we were either close enough, or at the delivery point to "rest peacefully!" When hauling perishable goods (at least back in the day!) there is no such thing as good rest until the load is off and the bills are signed!
And that's how it worked for me!
BK ! 

[Dallas]

Richard,

You would be surprised how many drivers don't stop and make the checks... however, I owned my trucks and my tires, I liked getting every last mile out of them I could.

This also brings up logs. Every vehicle check is required to be logged. Logs show increments of 15 minutes. If the check takes less than 15 minutes, you aren't required to show more than a line that goes from "On Duty Driving" to "On Duty Not Driving" back to On duty Driving" with no time in between. Years ago, we could get away with fudging on the checks. Nowadays with modern electronic logging such as the larger companies have in their trucks, it's not as easy to get away with as it once was, although it's still possible.
You will also find drivers that never leave the seat of the truck even when they do stop. They don't care because it isn't their equipment.

Oh, and since All Log books are federal documents, and it's against the law to lie on a federal document, the log books MUST be true!

Another point is that you probably aren't out on the road at the best time to drive... midnight to 05:00. And even if you are, when it's dark, you can't see the trucks pulled off the exit ramp or on the back road for a quick runaround.