2011 - PNW Mini Rally 5 - Bridging Truck Recovery

[Hammer]

I also have my CDL and current DOT med card.
Not sure if I will be available those days, and if so, that is a LOT of extra driving considering how much driving I do on a normal basis....

 

[quarkz]

Hammer,
Thanx, it is good to know that there are others in the 'area' we can go to for questions if needed. Sometimes I just wish this state wasn't so big. What ever made the Govt. think it would be a good idea to put a Nuke related lab way out in the middle of nowhere?

I think Adam and I can put together a successful recovery and with Kevin/Oso's enthusiasm this should be a great event.

I am calling over to Pasco today to see how one of the driving schools does their CDL B.
Then I can work to become one of the CDL club members.

 

[OSO]

How is the poll going Tony? I think the wheel cylinders are 1.75" bore .Will check out today.Kevin

 

[Hammer]

remember, if you have a CDL driver with you, you only need the permit to drive.

 

[Hammer]

Also, anyone have a lowboy? Be easier to haul it over and not worry about it. Granted, fuel would cost a bit, but it would allow for a safer time frame of fixing things.

 

[quarkz]

Kevin,
Still only 3 Steel soldiers and me and two friends.

Hammer,
I do not know anyone with trucking equipment much less a lowboy. I did get a uship bid of $1300 to move the truck. But I would rather put the money towards parts for the M328.

remember, if you have a CDL driver with you, you only need the permit to drive.

Do you mean a cdl learners permit or a trip permit?

I did contact the WSDOT today easy process to get the wide load permit, even have an office in Pasco. Then once we leave the interstate I need a county permit, but they are free.

As for CDL school, $2100 (2 weeks at 40hr/week) for CDL B at a trucking school and about $600 thru Walla walla comm college, but that is an hours drive each way each day and the days are 4 hours, so it will be 4 weeks of time.

I gotta find some way to get the lab to pay for it or get reimbursed through continuing education, but it doesn't fly with a physicist wanting to further his career with truck driving.

 

[scoutmanadam]

when you go to get your CDL i would recommend going ahead and getting your class A. Never know when it may come in handy, although i dont know how they work the classes now as far as the diffrent classes. all that has changed since i got mine

 

[quarkz]

It is almost like they want me to drive a truck for a living not as a hobby.

Maybe the govt. should come up with a rule that if you want to experiments with something, anything, you first have to get a degree in physics and understand how the world works first.
Or if you are going to have kids, get some sort of schooling?

But I hear you on the CDL A. None of the places I found in my searches today list that much, then when you get someone on the phone they don't have anymore information other thatn when the next class is and how much you are going to be charged.


Maybe I need to find out what is legally needed to be considered a farmer, they seem to be able to get around some of the CDL requirements.

 

[scoutmanadam]

i believe farmers can drive 100 miles as the bird flies from there land, but i dont know how it effects what you can haul and what not. i do know that the truck has to be marked with the name of the farm though.

the state is making it harder and harder and more annoying to get every year it seems. i see where they are coming from on some points but some are ridiculous. when my grandpa got his, all he needed was someone with a CDL to sign a note for him...times have certainly changed

 

[hwcurtice]

Tony,

What lab do you work at? Not PNNL?

 

[quarkz]

Yep, that is the one.
Radiation Detection and Nuclear Sciences
Detector Development

 

[scoutmanadam]

sounds cool

 

[hwcurtice]

Yep, that is the one.
Radiation Detection and Nuclear Sciences
Detector Development

You must know my friend Scott B, then. He's the guy I went to visit over there last weekend.

 

[Hammer]

I do not know anyone with trucking equipment much less a lowboy. I did get a uship bid of $1300 to move the truck. But I would rather put the money towards parts for the M328.

Do you mean a cdl learners permit or a trip permit?

I meant the learners permit. You only need to have your DOT physical and take the 'written' tests at the local DOL. The tests are pretty darn easy really, and are on a computer. So you just skip the ones you don't know, and do as many of the ones you know until you are forced to take the ones you skipped. Stupidly easy really.
If you are going this route, I suggest the class A. It is actually required for towing anything with a GVWR greater then 10,000 lbs.

If your got your permit (good for one year), you can drive the trucks as long as a CDL driver is with you. Which, for the sake of this trip, would cover your butt for the trip back, and let you switch drivers as needed.

I have a flat bed trailer, but it doesn't look like you can get that front section of the bed any lower then it already is. If not for that, you can load it on it, and lower the windshield, top, exhaust stack, etc. And be under the height limit.

 

[scoutmanadam]

hammer is right about the written test, most of it is common sense stuff with a few number questions thrown in about when air compressors come on and off and what not. if you read the book threw once, there is no reason anyone couldn't pass it

 

[quarkz]

Adam,
I think it is, I have an underground lab and everything. Did you catch the dedication at PNNL on the news yesterday, I saw one report that showed the overburden piled on the lab, I think it was KEPR-TV.

Harold,
I don't know a S.B. an electronics guy S.M. The lab is actually pretty large.

Hammer,
Now that is a great idea on the learners, I will try to get that done.
I have a plasma and a saws all

Adam,
I don't know about the test. I am a know it all, but I don't like tests that make me prove it.
i know the CDL manual is online.

 

[scoutmanadam]

i saw a quick thing on the news about pnnl but didnt catch what it was about. the book is online, and also free at the dmv if you want to try and push your way through the tide of people to get one. that office in kennewick is always standing room only

 

[quarkz]

I know that first hand. I had to do an inperson license renewal back in sept.
I think I picked up a copy then. Funny part was I showed up early on a monday, and only after waiting for 2 hours did I find out that they are open tues-sat.

 

[Josh]

One thing you might also check out. I know WA could be different. But I called ODOT about not requiring a CDL for non comerical purposes. They told me if the truck trailer combo was under 80,000lbs and I owned the truck, trailer, and wasnt hauling anything for proofit, they said a CDL was not required. If it had airbrakes, Then I would have had to get an airbrake endorsement, but not a full CDL. You might want to call WASDot and see if they offer the same.

 

[Hammer]

WA isn't so forgiving on it.
But the learners permit is an easy way around most of the issues you will have.