My grandpa was a truck driver. He told me he hated bobtailing (driving with no trailer) because he didn’t get paid for it.
this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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When a semi drives without a trailer, it’s called “bobtailing”, and can be dangerous. Semis are designed for the weight of a trailer, and not having that weight there throws the balance off.
Just have your mother sit in the back.
Yes but like any vehicle, if you know your machine and drive within its limits, it's fine. The only exception I can think of is when you're on the freeway and you suddenly encounter a patch of extremely rough road that you're going too fast for.
Very true. That’s why I was careful to say CAN be dangerous, not IS dangerous. Skilled truckers are some of the most capable and safe drivers on the road.
Skilled truckers
I have met truck drivers that can (and have demonstrated) back their trailer up to a cargo dock blindfolded.
I've met some that can navigate turning radii (radiuses? Radiens?) smaller than my old Nissan.
And then I've also met some that couldn't figure out their 13ft tall trailer can't fit under a 12ft 8 bridge...
For the most part though, in my experience truck drivers are better drivers than 97% of regular drivers.
A bit true of larger trucks too. Long ago when we had an RV trailer and a dually truck, it rode and drove the best when it had a full load behind it.
Not necessarily unsafe, but similar for vans too. With nothing in my RWD vans cargo bay it’s quite easy to break traction. Especially on cold tyres.
Other than size It’s no different than an empty pick-up in rear-wheel drive.
Actually it could be safer, depending on conditions, if you’re equipped with locking differentials.
Although some pick-ups have that too, so… depends 🤷♂️
As a former truck driver: can confirm. It was mostly freeing because I could actually go to Walmart or do laundry in the city without worrying about where and how to park.
Also, without a trailer it accelerates a lot faster. Like, genuinely spending more time shifting than accelerating. Feels weird.
Do you still start in 1st? Do you skip gears?
I don't know anyone who starts in 1st even with a full load. Maybe some very heavy haul guys.
In a bobtail, I would routinely take off in 4th or even 5th, in a 10 speed.
Another thing to consider is the amount of torque available.
I have on occasion went through every gear without ever needing to accelerate. Did you know that in a semi trucks, bobtailing, in top gear, that idling the engine will still have you doing about 40 to 45mph.
And due to all the torque, it won't really be lugging the engine either to idle in gear while rolling on flat ground.
Awesome, thanks for the detailed answer!
The truck I was driving had a DT12 (12-speed) and it would shift 1-2-4-6-8-10-12 if I remember correctly. Even with only 7 gears to go through, it still took forever. Maybe it wasn't actually more time shifting than accelerating, but it sure felt like it lol.
I don’t drive any more, but I’d start 18-speeds in 3rd and hit every 2nd gear on the way up
Sooo: 2-Low?
Because, technically speaking, an 18 speed is just an 8 speed with power dividers.
1L, 1H, 2L, 2H, 3L, 3H, etc up to 8L, and 8H.
So where it gets interesting is low and reverse. Observe:
The gear shift only has 6 positions: R 1, 3 on top, and L, 2, 4 on the bottom. Then you flip the range selector to High and then the gear shift becomes: R-High, 5 7 and Low-High, 6, 8.
But there's also a power divider on the shift, usually thumb activated that further divides those gears.
Which means Reverse can be split again.. But so can reverse High. So you wind up with Reverse, Reverse High, then reverse High low and Reverse high high
And Low becomes even funnier: Because you can split low into low and low low, and low high into low high low..
But what's even more interesting is that generally, gear ratio of Low high and 4 are very close, almost identical.
3L
It is pretty fun to drive around without a trailer in ETS2
My only experience with driving trucks is in the Truck Sim games, but I agree.
Semi trucks haul ass when you have 600 bhp, a shitload of torque, and nothing in the back. Just don't take a corner too fast or you will regret it.
This is why I refuse to wear bras.
I tried wearing a bra once.
Boy was my wife pissed. Yelling about wearing out the elastic and shit. I haven't tried since.
I guess you could skip every other gear or something?
Take off your trailers and burn em
Or you can let bo burn em
Muscle memory.