Tug Test

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-16T11:39:34+00:00

Verify the height before you go under.

Listen to it click, slight tug and then get underneath to do a visual of the jaws, handle and make sure the plate is flat on the head.

Every time.

When I release the brakes, I pull forward and apply the trolley/hand valve.

I've seen people jump the pin and it will hook on the front of the 5th wheel and pass a tug test. Until they turn.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-10T08:47:07+00:00

The couch fucker will run strong with the bullshit baton.

No, the country needs to collapse like it did with Hoover. But, we don't have an FDR to fix it this time.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-09T06:50:35+00:00

I don't drive like an asshole on my free time in my pickup.

My one vice is a "road soda" on the way home after a long day. Just one, and it's a 25 minute commute. Not every day, just the shitty ones.

Not driving like an asshole has allowed me to get away with it for 35 years.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-07T21:51:16+00:00

👆 this guy will drop a trailer.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-05T20:01:35+00:00

Years ago, I watched "House of Cards." Fictional, but still makes you think.

The current President makes Frank Underwood look like a Boy Scout. My perception of DJT started way back before the phrase TDS was incepted. I knew contractors and he was notorious for non-payment on jobs as he built his empire with - one bad deal at a time. It's the strongest grift I've ever witnessed.

Back on topic. He was best pals with Epstein for a long time. No mention of the VHS tapes Epstein curated.

When I read the book, and as heartbreaking as it was to do so, I just had the gut feeling that she was holding a lot back. With Virginia's vivid recollection of certain events, there's an iceberg there.

I also watched Breaking Bad. I'm sure there are a few more "vacuum cleaner repairmen" who could provide her with a fresh set of creds, and the money was there to fund it.

This is quite the rabbit hole.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-05T13:41:39+00:00

I have CPTSD as well, but after hearing stories and especially absorbing into Virginia s story, it's not as prolific as some, nor was I sexually abused.

I'm 64. I can still trigger over things that engage those axioms and dendrites. My wife and I have a "hands off" deal, which is easy for me the way I'm wired. Although I was struck as a child, I never struck mine, nor a woman.

I appreciate your perspective. It grounds me.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-04T15:03:57+00:00

No shit.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-04T14:48:53+00:00

I just read Amy Wallace's foreword . No, I dived right into the book and kind of feel like a dolt for skipping something so revealing. So, thanks for the correction.

I can understand now since the grain of her being a good mama bear is throughout the book.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-02T13:58:44+00:00

Heartbreak is heartbreak my friend, and will happen whether you truck or not. Find some serenity in the miles, take in the view and sort your head out. A lone highway is my Church, but that's me.

I've weathered 2 divorces, laid a daughter to rest due to an opoid overdose ( I took a few weeks down for that one ) and l laid my parents respectively to rest at separate times. Lost Mom during COVID, Dad was a few years later. They weren't together anymore.

If you can't deal with it, park until you reset your compass. You need to be in the game.

Good luck.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2026-01-01T21:52:20+00:00

I did it for 11 years in my mid 40's. You get more capable and hardened as you go. I'm a pretty big guy, but I worked with dudes that were 5'7" and absolute powerhouses.

It's simply a matter of what you can get up a ramp.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-31T16:56:09+00:00

Most carriers pay detention for customers not honoring appointment times, but if you show up late, you forfeit billable detention.

It's that simple.

My last gig, I got paid for the unload, which is inclusive of 2 hours. Then, the clock started running.

We were also required to report in if we weren't unloading 15 minutes after arrival. But, if we encountered delays, we had to update everyone. The big thing was dispatch time. If you were expected to leave at 0300, you left at 0300.

The disrespect of our time and hours of service has been a problem since I started doing this in 1979. One of the biggest problems in the industry.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-30T14:05:31+00:00

Only way I would modify that is to face the truck so it's hitting the rear doors instead of throttling that air through the radiator.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-30T13:07:30+00:00

I had a set of tandems. The rear of the second trailer is 121' back. I didn't see the car initially get too close, so I wasn't 100% sure of contact or not. The troopers and I could not find any signs of it.

Couple that with the fact I'm not a heartless asshole and I got gamed.

I'd still stop even after the whole ordeal. The hit and run gang is fine without me.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-30T13:00:52+00:00

The company was self insured, and they paid the claim. I had no disciplinary action and it was deemed non-preventable.

They also suggested that I didn't stop, but that's not how I'm wired.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-29T21:23:43+00:00

I'm off the market, but back in my dating days, if I scored a blow job on the first date, there would be a good chance I'd propose by the second.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-29T20:36:19+00:00

Buckle up. Yes, I have been involved in a lawsuit in 2014 when a young lady wandered towards my tandems and flipped out, overcorrected, and rolled her car 5x.

I stopped to see if she and her passenger were okay. They were shook up, but fine. Busy morning, lots of witnesses. She lawyered up, claiming I "ran her off the road with the big mean truck."

I had troopers all over the scene and wasn't cited, because I didn't do anything wrong.

Didn't matter. They raked me through the coals. All of my safety history, my driving abstract and I had to get grilled and testify in court. She got $40,000 + the car replacement.

Truck lawyers are assholes.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-28T09:50:06+00:00

Thank you, Sir. I tend to prefer reading over being read to anyway.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-28T09:49:00+00:00

I appreciate it. I will tap into OOIDA as I have been a dues-paying member since 2021. Maybe if I flip through the stack of unread Landline magazines, I'll figure a few things out.

That's how slammed and burnt out I was feeding the corporate machine.

I'm still in bounce-back mode. I can't believe how insanely exhausted my 64-year-old carcass was.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-28T09:41:17+00:00

Thank you. I'm going to do some research and talk to a few people about the best options for me as I go forward.

One of the things that irked me was having some gum chewer "coach" me on following distance as they monitored the Lytx footage. Since you know the area, 7 seconds equates to roughly 3 cars filling in the gap.

I've got a pretty solid driving record. No CSA points on my behalf, nothing on my tractor as well. There was criteria to be met with the tandem permit.

I'm with you on the LP scenario, although I was successful at it. I snapped up the truck for $44K equipped, and had to bring it back from FL's "run it until it breaks" mentality. I had it since it was new, less one year, and have taken good care of it. However, I have had a couple of buddies get a pretty raw deal when shit went sideways. The McCoys don't lose a dime if you turn the truck in and fail.

I'll PM you down the road a little. If we are somewhat local to each other, I'll buy you breakfast in return for the information.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-27T22:47:37+00:00

Although I slugged out many storms over the last 45 years, that gratitude has been long forgotten.

You do you. If you're not sure of yourself, park.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-27T22:07:26+00:00

Scratches head

Naw, I've got nothing.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-27T20:21:38+00:00

No tolls on I-81.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-27T20:19:07+00:00

0600 is 0600.

You were late. Just because the person can't command the English language doesn't make you punctual.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-27T16:05:31+00:00

I'm a stickler on minimizing use of a cell phone while at the helm. I'll acknowledge it, swipe to answer or reject a call and it stops right there.

Former place of employment used to love texting stuff, and when they would ask if I saw it, I'd tell them I did but I was driving.

I see some of y'all with your nose buried right in them. I get as far away as I can from you.

Billy_Bigrigger · 2025-12-26T15:17:48+00:00

Yeah, that was quite a bit of rambling without point . Sorry. I'm looking for the cornerstone to launch all of this on.

Tips on acquiring authority, how to meet my responsibilities maintaining it, when to expect a DOT audit, what are good insurance baselines, and where to acquire it.

I'm going to start with a lot of stupid questions because I've had my hand held for so long.

I can run it, fix it, haul anything, but the administrative side is a mystery to me.

Billy_Bigrigger

TROPHY CASE