Re: [MV] Biodiesel and the FDC/Getting a CDL, etc

From: MV (MV@dc9.tzo.com)
Date: Sun Sep 18 2005 - 09:41:24 PDT


No clue.

In other news.. Myself and a friend of mine are working to get our
Class A CDLs. For those of you who have thought about it and not done
it, I have to tell you that so far the process has been more of a
paperwork shuffle than anything else. In Indiana the written test is a
3 part test. General Knowledge, Air Brake, and Combination vehicle. I
had 45 minutes on Friday so I decided to take the plunge and just walk
in and see if I could do the test. Studying consisted of 15 minutes in
the parking lot, breezing through the CDL manual. The general knowledge
test was 50 questions - not entirely related to what was in the CDL
manual, more like a common sense test than anything else. I got 6 out
of 50 wrong and thought I flunked. I passed.

The test cost is $0 and can be repeated everyday. I think they only
have perhaps 1 or 2 versions of the test and they let you see which
questions you got wrong after you take the test.

If you are fairly bright and have some automotive knowledge go allocate
about an hour to do the general knowledge test and I bet that you can
sit there and figure it out without studying anything. It's all
multiple choice with three answers for most questions.

In short, if you want a CDL, think of it as a paper shuffle process
rather than a real test and you will be better off. The bar is pretty
low.

Now I haven't done the driving test yet, but I have driven a lot of
equipment so I don't expect to have much difficulty with that.

I decided to do this after being hassled on the side of the road for 3
hours with my marginal CDL rig (ok, so it wasn't so marginal - 10 ton
trailer behind 28K gvwr rated truck) while I paid riggers $200/hr to
wait for me to load a machine. Total roadside harrassment charge that
day was 3x$200 + actual BS ticket of $135 for no IFTA license of
$735.00. Talk about painful. And the DOT officer knew that I was
paying $200/hr for the riggers to wait - I told her so. The lady did a
total roadside truck inspection on me - yet she never checked the fuel
for dye.

Once you get your CDL you are set for life pretty much except for the
yearly physical (which we should all get anyway - imo).

So if you like big trucks or have to use them once in a while, I
recommend doing the paperwork shuffle and going for it.

Dave

MV wrote:
> Anyone know what the fines are for having dyed fuel in your tank?
>
> Dave
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> James Shanks wrote:
>
>> Off road Diesel does have a higher sulfur count
>> than highway Diesel. I have hauled over a million
>> gallons of the red stuff as well as tried it in
>> my truck once when I ran out of fuel and it was
>> the only fuel available. I did notice an increase
>> in power. Don't get caught with it in your fuel
>> tank if running on the highway...BEEEGGG
>> FINE$$$$$$$$$$$$
>>
>>
>>
>> --- Ryan Gill <rmgill@mindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> At 8:16 PM -0500 9/17/05, Sonny Heath wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thanks for the post Bjorn, I always enjoy
>>>
>>>
>>> them,
>>>
>>>> I have a question , Does offroad diesel have less lubricating
>>>> qualities than onroad diesel?
>>>
>>>
>>> Unless it's a different blend of distillates, kerosene and such then
>>> it should not. It should
>>>
>>> be a difference of a dye or not.
>>> --
>>> --
>>> Ryan Gill rmgill@SPAMmindspring.com
>>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>> | | | -==----
>>> | O--=- | | /_8[*]°_\
>>> |_/|o|_\_| | _________ | /_[===]_\
>>> / 00DA61 \ |/---------\| __/ \---
>>> _w/|=_[__]_= \w_ // [_] o[]\\ _oO_\ /_O|_
>>> |: O(4) == O :| _Oo\=======/_O_ |____\ /____|
>>> |---\________/---| [__O_______W__] |x||_\'60 Daimler Ferret '42
>>> Daimler Dingo '42
>>> Humber MkIV (1/3)
>>>
>>
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>>
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