Newmar King Aire fire

[Rollin Ollen]

It gets worse. When I picked up my new Class A Newmar from a dealer in 2018, having had no experience driving a Class A, I asked the dealer to spend a few hours giving me some driving lessons. They flat out refused, instead claiming their insurance would not cover such education. It absolutely blew my mind, so I had no option but to take the rig out into San Diego rush hour traffic as a total newbie to get it home 150 miles away.

Our first TT was towed by a 1979 Plymouth Volare wagon. It had a 360 cid so the trailer sales guy said we had all the power we needed to take the trailer where evert we wanted. We discovered real soon that we had the power but not the weight. The first steep hill we descended had a fairly sharp turn at the bottom. We didn't like being pushed around that corner and that showed us that we had more trailer than car. We bought a 3/4 ton pickup the next week. Never trust the sales guy!

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Our state, at the time of our RV purchase, did not require any special license to drive the RV, even though the RV had a GVWR of 50,000# and a GCWR of 80,000#.
We paid someone to drive the rig from the private party we purchased from to a campground.
Then we paid to have someone come out and spend a few hours teaching us how to drive the rig in the campground with tight maneuvers, side streets and the highways.
Since the state didn’t require it I couldn’t get a license but studied as if I was going to get a license using materials for truck drivers with air brakes, even taking practice written tests to make sure I understood how they worked and the components.
We didn’t want to cause an accident based on lack of education that hurt others or ourselves.
At least the original post incident appears to impact only the motorhome and no one else.
Would be nice to understand what happened so we can learn from it, as Neal mentioned.

 

[team bradfield]

I was lucky, My father owned a construction company, I was driving trucks and heavy equipment at 16, got my CDL and drove big straight trucks with air brakes, diesel, manual 12 speed trannys hauling gravel, steel and etc. didn't start RV'ing until I was 40, got my first class A in 2023, salesman asked if I felt comfortable driving it, don't know what he would of said if I said no, I just jumped in and off I went, much easier than some of the equipment I drove in the 70's/80's

 

[DennisT]

I was lucky, My father owned a construction company, I was driving trucks and heavy equipment at 16, got my CDL and drove big straight trucks with air brakes, diesel, manual 12 speed trannys hauling gravel, steel and etc. didn't start RV'ing until I was 40, got my first class A in 2023, salesman asked if I felt comfortable driving it, don't know what he would of said if I said no, I just jumped in and off I went, much easier than some of the equipment I drove in the 70's/80's

Yep, Ohio and Florida don’t require anything but it was nice that all the friends we rode Harley’s with grew up driving semis for their family business.

Lots of training even though not required.

 

[Holdmybeer]

They just do not know the mechanics of what they are driving, and since no education is required, it is as bad as the flip flop wearing non-english speaking California licensed truck drivers that killed 3 people in Florida making an illegal u-turn.
I put it to Google's AI and it says the California practical skills test which includes the vehicle inspection, basic controls and road test are conducted only in english. How could it be you reckon non english speaking, flip flop wearing drivers pass that portion of the CDL? I asked Google's AI assistant too if english speaking truck drivers licensed in regular States ever make illegal u-turns and it said "it depends on what kind of shoes they're wearing, those wearing cowboy boots, not so much".

 

[redbaron]

I pity the person that trusts AI over real intelligence.

Facts are the 2 truck drivers had California licenses and could not pass a simple English skills test.

There is a major problem with foreign truck drivers wearing flip flops, washing feet in the sinks at truck stops, not speaking English, and making the roads more dangerous.

The state department is finally taking action to stop the new visa being awarded.

ICE and other agencies are targeting the fuel stations and weigh stations armed with Dr. Seuss and other simple English books.

Things are in motion to make the roads safer, but right now the road conditions are damgerous.

And while the enforcement agencies are actively pursuing the trucking industry, no one is even talking about the farming, recreational, or hobby drivers that contribute to the same problem.

Texas, Florida, Montana, California all contribute to the problem of the recreational, hobby, and farming issue by not enforcing the laws.

I have never seen an RV pulled over for speeding or inspection sticker issue in Texas. I feel like it’s too much of a hassle for them to deal with it.

If a threat of being ticketed existed, we would see an increase in properly licensed drivers.

The roads are dangerous due to the lack of properly educated drivers, both commercial and non commercial.

 

[Holdmybeer]

I pity the person that trusts AI over real intelligence.

Facts are the 2 truck drivers had California licenses and could not pass a simple English skills test.

There is a major problem with foreign truck drivers wearing flip flops, washing feet in the sinks at truck stops, not speaking English, and making the roads more dangerous.

The state department is finally taking action to stop the new visa being awarded.

ICE and other agencies are targeting the fuel stations and weigh stations armed with Dr. Seuss and other simple English books.

Things are in motion to make the roads safer, but right now the road conditions are damgerous.

And while the enforcement agencies are actively pursuing the trucking industry, no one is even talking about the farming, recreational, or hobby drivers that contribute to the same problem.

Texas, Florida, Montana, California all contribute to the problem of the recreational, hobby, and farming issue by not enforcing the laws.

I have never seen an RV pulled over for speeding or inspection sticker issue in Texas. I feel like it’s too much of a hassle for them to deal with it.

If a threat of being ticketed existed, we would see an increase in properly licensed drivers.

The roads are dangerous due to the lack of properly educated drivers, both commercial and non commercial.

There is no major problem with foreign truck drivers, wearing flip flops, washing their feet in sinks at truck stops. That's xenophobic nonsense.

 

[redbaron]

You would have to be in a diesel fuel lane at any truck stop in america to see the flip flops (or sandals). I have personally seen this every fuel stop for the past year.

With a gasser, you won't notice the reality, and AI won't have any data to help you, so I understand your thought process.

 

[Boat Bum]

At least they're not wearing Crocs.

 

[Neal]

I'm offering $100 for anyone that can provide a picture of @redbaron in flip flops or sandals (no crocs) at a truck stop! Be on the lookout!

 

[JBright11]

There is no major problem with foreign truck drivers, wearing flip flops, washing their feet in sinks at truck stops. That's xenophobic nonsense.

Well, it most certainly is a problem in a distribution center and it isn't only feet being washed in there. I'll have to agree that the issue is not isolated to only foreign drivers, however, there are certainly different habits on display.

 

[Holdmybeer]

Well, it most certainly is a problem in a distribution center and it isn't only feet being washed in there. I'll have to agree that the issue is not isolated to only foreign drivers, however, there are certainly different habits on display.

That's not the point. The point is using dog whistle language and xenophobic nonsense to gin up antipathy toward an entire people or group of people. We've seen this playbook before.

 

[Neal]

Let's get this thread back on track in learning lessons from unfortunate circumstances. I think the take away from this incident is to use your engine brake, keep your speed under control, monitor tire temps with a good TPMS, and pull over if needed to let things cool down. I had a time when heading east from a winter in AZ where I hit hot southern TX and had high pressure alerts and had to stop and adjust my tire pressures.

Stay safe, these are dangerous machines and most of us are not well trained to drive them and need to gain that experience over time carefully and learning from each other. Take a driving course if you can, some rallies offer them, you never know you may actually learn something.

 

[redbaron]

I'm offering $100 for anyone that can provide a picture of @redbaron in flip flops or sandals (no crocs) at a truck stop! Be on the lookout!

I do wear those---but I don't have a CDL that prohibits it.

Any CDL driver wearing those is breaking federal law.

 

[Neal]

Okay, it's humor, but I ask again (not asking) - return the thread to the King Aire fire and what we can learn from it specific to us being RV owners/drivers and how to avoid this situation.

Thanks all....