Memories on Monteagle Mountain
It’s called Monteagle, Tennessee, and it was the first mountain I negotiated as a brand new trucker, fresh out of school, in 2004. One of the many things they stressed to us newbies is that you don’t, under any circumstances, let the truck coast along in neutral. This is especially true on steep declines because you simply can’t rely on brakes alone to slow an 80,000 lb. vehicle on a 6% + grade. Downshifting in a big rig is a little different from a car or pickup. You’ve got to depress the clutch while shifting to neutral, then hit the accelerator enough to bump your RPMs up to between 1400 and 1700 and, in that instant when the RPMs are right, depress the clutch again while shifting into the correct gear. A moment’s hesitation and the RPMs will go back down again and it will not shift, meaning you are coasting downhill and gaining speed. Every difference of a few miles per hour corresponds to a different gear, so you’ve got to know instinctively which of the 10 or 18 gears to use to match the speed you will be going when you get the RPMs back up for a second try. Miss it again and things get interesting with speed rapidly building, control of the vehicle becoming an issue, and the knowledge that your brakes will not hold the thing back for very long without burning up, at which point your day will become the subject of newspaper headlines.
As Janet Jackson was having her infamous wardrobe malfunction, I was driving over Monteagle for the first time. I was in a “cab-over” truck, which is the kind with the flat nose. I topped the mountain at a gross weight of just under 80,000 lbs. It was dark and the headlights, like the driver of that old truck, weren’t terribly bright. I remember looking for the runaway truck ramps just in case I screwed up. It was with white knuckles that I first attempted that downshift. It’s one thing to perform that little maneuver in less than a second on a practice lot, quite another on a mountainside. Between downshifting and using the engine brake, I managed to only occasionally use the brake pedal, depressing it for 3-5 seconds (as we were taught) to bring my speed to 10 mph below the truck speed limit, before letting up so they would cool while downshifting again to let the engine do most of the braking. I vaguely remember having the radio tuned into the game and someone mentioning that Miss Jackson had a coming out party of some sort, but my main focus was that bloody mountain. Upon reaching the bottom, I felt as triumphant as if I had conquered Everest.
Since that night, I’ve travelled over Monteagle frequently, often times stopping for the night at a little truck stop on the top of the mountain. This place was “old school” when the old school still smelled of fresh paint. Autographed pictures of Conway Twitty, Roy Clark, The Oak Ridge Boys, the Mandrell sisters, Porter Waggoner, Glenn Campbell, Ronnie Milsap, Waylon, Merle, Hank Jr., and more adorn the walls, often with little notations singing the praises of Monteagle Truck Stop. The waitresses called everyone “Hon,” or “Sweetie,” or “Shug,” their cigarettes dangling daintily from their lips. It was a tough joint, frequented by tough customers and grizzled old warriors of the road. On my first excursion into the place, I found a booth that looked like it had the least wear and,…well, …it did have a really big tear in the seat. But I decided to give it a go anyway, sitting down on one side of the booth. Unfortunately for me, the seat wasn’t attached to the base very well, so the thing popped up like a see-saw on the opposite end, dumping me unceremoniously onto the floor and into the aisle. “Son,” said a nearby customer who looked like David Allen Coe, “if you wanna eat here, you gotta sit down and hold on.” A few laughs all around while I regained my seat and waited for a waitress who looked surprisingly like Willie Nelson to take my order. The food was entirely forgettable, but the character of the place wasn’t. This, I thought, was what truck stops were supposed to be. Tough but friendly people and an infectious humor that infused the place with a life of its own made this old truck stop something special. It had a definite personality.
Today I drove from Ocala, Florida up through Chattanooga toward Nashville and, for the first time in several years, took the exit on top of Monteagle to go that old truck stop. It was walled off, enclosed behind fencing, concrete barriers blocking off the parking lot. A piece of history, of trucking lore, is shut down. I circled around, slowly pulled back onto the highway and made my way to one of the “chain” truck stops that all look alike. One of the things I enjoy about my work is the chance to experience the local flavor in places across this great country. Sadly, one of the most interesting places has closed its doors. Driving back down the mountain toward Nashville, I remembered the words that Johnny Cash sang about Monteagle.
There's a stretch of Highway on Interstate 24 between Nashville and Chattanooga
That's claimed many trucker's life
And your life is in your hands when you start down that long steep grade
On Monteagle Mountain
I just rolled out of Nashville in my big rig headin' south
My eyes are on fire feels like cotton in my mouth
My whole body's achin' but I got to make them big wheels roll
I got to be in Florida by tomorrow morning with a full heavy load
I got to get passed Atlanta as soon as I can tonight
I got to try to dodge the scales and stay out of Smoky's sight
But there's one big thing standin' like a nightmare in my way
I got to top Monteagle Mountain a little bit later today
Goin' down Monteagle Mountain on I-24
It's hell for a trucker when the devil's at your door
He'll tempt you and tell you come on let her roll
Cause the mountain wants your rig and trucker I want your soul
When I started down Monteagle the brakes just wouldn't hold
I knew I was in trouble and bout to lose control
The runaway ramp was waitin' I saw the warnin' sign
I said Lord help me make it have mercy on this soul of mine
Well I ploughed into that runaway ramp and I could feel that big truck groan
My life flashed right before my eyes and for a minute I thought I was gone
But when the smoke cleared I thanked God that I was still alive
Cause when there's a runaway on Monteagle some truckers don't survive
Goin' down Monteagle Mountain...
Yeah many a good man had lost his life on Monteagle Mountain it's a long steep grade
Many a good hard workin' boy gone over the side watch out for Monteagle
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
How much did going down Monteagle for the first time feel like your first bout with reality as a soldier? Experiences where there's such a divorce between practice and reality are a common enough, but not ones with so much on the line.
And I take it you didn't find out why the truckstop closed? Just normal competition?
One more question, if you'll indulge me. When you chose to become a trucker, was part of the reason not the travel or the people but the challenge? It seems like all those beautiful vistas and unique experiences come at a high price.
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
Aaron, taking your questions in order:
Monteagle was a bit like my first brush with reality on active duty only in areas such as pulse rate and adrenaline, euphemistically known as the "pucker factor." But Monteagle was easier in the sense that the only variables in the situation were me and the elements, i.e., there wasn't a third or fourth or fifth party shooting at me while I was trying to get down the mountain. In that sense, it was easier, though still dangerous.
I suspect the truckstop closed due to the slowing economy in general, and slowing freight lanes in particular. I've seen the same thing at other older truck stops, which also suggests that they are having a tough time holding their own against the large chains. (Cont)
Jun '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
You're a born storyteller, Dave.
I feel bad that you had to drive through all of our climate change, though. It's been a rough week up here.
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
(Cont) Lastly, my reasons for choosing this line of work are varied. As a little kid, I wanted to do this. After 20 years of taking orders, I decided to do something for myself. Also, as a minister's kid, I've been moving about since an early age. Travel is in my blood, so this line of work was a perfect fit. Finally, it seems that many vets are attracted to trucking. The lifestyle is not totally unlike a deployment, the mission easily defined, and we are left to our own devices to get the work done. And yes, part of it was the challenge. That's why I climbed the church steeple years ago. There is a high price for the experience,...but nothing of value comes cheap.
Since I'm hearing lyrics in my head today, here is an appropriate sample from Ted Nugent:
The simple life, I will not have,
It doesn't satisfy me.
I don't believe in the status quo,
It kind of leaves me weak.
The mountain high is what I climb,
I swim the river deep.
So if you crave the time of your life,
Try to keep up with me.
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
Casey Taylor: You're a born storyteller, Dave.
I feel bad that you had to drive through all of our climate change, though. It's been a rough week up here. · Jan 15 at 6:45pm
Casey, there is still several inches of global warming on the ground too. Tragic I tell ya,...just tragic.
May '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
My oldest sister lives up on that mountain. I was once in fog so thick there I had to stick my head out the window and follow along the lines in the road.
Nov '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
I have been driving that road for years, taking children to Vanderbilt and myself to the Clinic there, and now going to visit grandchildren. It always is a grand feeling to top the mountain and start down, on either side, and I can appreciate, without fully understanding, the unease you felt driving down the first time in your truck. I always become extra alert when making the same descent just in my car.
But, particularly in the fall of the year, I don't know a more beautiful view than that on the Chattanooga side.
May '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
Thanks.
I was never a doer, and so I have great admiration for people who grab life by the horns. I always took more after Bilbo... lazily watching the clouds go by until God puts the adventure in front of me. Some live by action, and some live by reaction. Action's better, I think.
Sounds like driving through tropical rain ("raining buckets"). Sad to say, pulling over never enters my mind. It puts me on high alert, though. I'm always half-expecting a surprise threat from any direction.
May '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
"Sad to say, pulling over never enters my mind. It puts me on high alert, though."
I had a half mile to go or so. I did it at walking speed. Very weird.
Jun '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
Since you're quoting song lyrics, I should tell you I stopped reading your excellent post to listen to"
Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen -- a great Canadian song writer and poet.
Jun '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
Oh! and the singer K. D. Lang, who else?
Nov '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
When you get to the top of the mountain and before you start down the other side is it feasible to just put the truck in the gear you want to ride down and leave it there? Seems like that’s what I would do if I could. The thought of suddenly being in neutral on a steep incline is dreadful. I imagine that while cresting the top still going at a fairly slow speed it would be easy to select any gear you want, but I don’t know for sure.
I like the automatic transmissions that newer cars have where you can flip it to manual shift and just pull the stick to shift up or down one gear at a time. I can go down a pretty steep hill, such as Teton Pass in Wyoming or Loveland Pass in Colorado without touching the brake, just shifting to speed up or slow down using the engine as a brake. Is there a big rig that can do that?
Dec '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
"Is there a big rig that can do that?"
I'll be interested in Dave's answer but I expect the problem isn't the tractor, it's the 80,000 pounds on the trailer that are chasing the tractor. Eventually, I assume the engine RPMs would climb to a dangerous level and you just have to grab the next gear up, allowing your speed to increase.
My fiancee will probably want me to take her to an art festival in Chatanooga this Spring and that will mean pulling a heavy (for me) trailer, full of her stuff. She will sit gleefully, riding shotgun and enjoying the view, while I will be saying, "...damn-damn-damn...". If we make it to the bottom in one piece, I'll have to stop and have her help me pry my fingers from the wheel, so I can change my pants.
I'm a flat-lander and have no use for going down anything over a 1% grade. I've done it many times and I am very certain of this. Oh well, the things we do for love.
Nov '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
Years ago, while I was handling a case for Daimler Benz N. A., I was driving with a Mercedes engineer sent over from Germany to assist me with the technical aspects. I asked him one day, as we were riding somewhere in my car, about gearing down to reduce speed. He shrugged and said that it was just a matter of which I wanted to wear out first, the brake pads or the transmission . I gathered that he felt like I was making the wrong choice when geared down.
I reckon that Mr. Carter's situation is that his brakes would not restrain the load all the way down the mountain and that he had to have the assistance of engine drag.
Dec '10
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
No, brakes are not an option on a long grade, at all. I am curious if engines can slow you down, but I know brakes won't, for long.
When I was young I was foolish enough to cross the Continental Divide in very bad weather. This was Idaho or Montana. I was driving an old Duster with a 3 speed, but I had chains on, so my max speed was 30 mph. There was roughly a foot of snow and ruts down close to the pavement; you didn't need or want to steer, you just road in the icy ruts. Going up, 30 mph or less, kept me with the trucks. Coming down, they were not happy with me. I couldn't speed up and they couldn't slow down. In order to get around me, the had to climb all 18 wheels out of the ruts, try to get lined up in those in the left lane, then get back to the right. If they hadn't had their hands firmly on their wheels, I'm sure they could have spared me a finger.
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
TeeJaw, occassionally I might be able to do that, but not very often. The gear ratio on a big truck is designed to provide maximum RPMs on the low end of the speedometer in order to provide maximum torque to get 40 tons moving in the first place. The result is that on a mountain like Monteage, I might very well reach the top at a blazing 15 to 20 mph, which would put me in 6th or 7th gear. I can't very well travel for the next mile on flat land across the top of the thing at that speed, so I resume normal speed until I start down the other side. Now, at that weight, I might slow down to 30 or 35 to begin my descent, but that would be 8th gear most likley.
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
CJ, I recommend the Pilot Travel Center, at exit #169 once you reach the bottom of Monteagle. Good coffee, pleasant staff, and um,...clean restrooms.
As Leslie Nielson said, "I just want you to know we're all counting on you. Good luck."
Re: Memories on Monteagle Mountain
CJRun: No, brakes are not an option on a long grade, at all. I am curious if engines can slow you down, but I know brakes won't, for long.
· Jan 16 at 11:41am
I should have been more specific. When I refer to the "engine brake," I mean more than just the effect you would get from downshifting your car or pickup. Big rigs also have an "exhaust brake," also called a "jake brake." If you've ever been next to a big truck and heard this vicious roar come from the engine or the exhaust stack when he slowed down, he was engaging that brake. In some way, it reminds me of the reverse thruster effect a jet uses after touching the runway to slow down. It only takes the flip of a switch to engage, but the result is real braking action. Of course, the heavier the weight, the less braking it does. But it does help.