In case you didnt notice that big edit trailer hes hauling isnt invisible so chances are you were too close too be seen.

 

The reason that most big trucks today flash the lights instead of shutting them off is that most trucks built lately do not have the facility to shut off only the headlights. The one switch controlls all the lights and there is a seperate switch to blink the markers. Most also use the emergency flashers instead of the markers for the same reason. First thing I do with a new truck is rewire it for two toggle switches, one to turn on the headlights and one to turn on the markers. Done properly this does not alter the wiring harness or the relay engineering, the wires just plug into the harness plugs.

 

[QUOTE=

There is no excuse for the cut over & hit the turn signal at same time as I run another vehicle into the median behavior i have seen some not so great truck (& RV) drivers display. Unlike most drivers out there, you give me the warning, I will get out of your way as quickly as I can.
BTW. I have been run off the road by a trucker who thought his turn signal magically cleared the road . . . 70 mph through the median is not fun. He's lucky I didn't own a cell phone then.[/QUOTE]


I saw a semi run a car off the side of the Coronado bridge in San Diego, it pushed it all the way over. Yeah, the guy in the car died. You could look on the sidewall and see that the car was slammed against the wall, and dragged/pushed for quite a distance before it was forced up and over. I also don't agree with big rigs doing 80mph in high wind situations where they are weaving back and forth because they can't go in a straight line, ie on th 15 north from san diego heading towards vegas, my buddy was forced into the k-rails that way, totalling his tundra. I totally agree that rigs have a right to be on the road too, I have no problem with them, I have a problem with rude drivers and I guess the subject was big rigs, so since they're in the spotlight I may as well complain about them!

 

I'm sure those specific incidents were truckers faults, but like Haulin in Dixie stated. Not all truckers are rude, most of them aren't actually. However, as with any field of work, a few slip through.

 

here's what nobody has really laid out:

--a truck doing 63
--a truck able to do ~68

-it will take along TIME to pass the slower truck,
-he will need a LONG downhill run (he won't hold his ~5mph advantage uphill)
-he may have a dozen places he can pass, and he probably rides this road, and KNOWS this is the safest spot for him to pass the JBHUNT trucks (governed slowest on road from what i remember on the CB)

so in reality, he is making a SAFE pass of another truck, in a place where he can due to speed, visibility (range ahead to get clear & pull back over) and safety.

the problem is not many 4 wheel drivers see a Semi on another Semi's butt and say to their wife and kids "Now watch this, we pop this next hill, that Semi in back is gonna pull left, and use the downhill to pass that JBHUNT truck, and get that (produce/X-boxes/Smarty) to the market on time."

"let's ease off the skinny pedal and let him make his move"

it's simple to work around trucks.

this is what happened to the one dude: the Semi knows he can only pass in a dozen areas, but YOU want to pass in this nice flat wide area also. so that makes it seem worse to you, that the Semi's use the "best" spots to pass each other.

and remember, everyone is a rookie sometime: truckers, RV's, 5'vers, not to mention U-hauls & rental trucks.

give EVERYONE some room and the benefit of a doubt, and not the one finger salute.

 

Just for the record, one thing I cannot stand is a rude, idoit driver, driving a big rig. They are a danger to the road and anyone on it, not just cars. The more they come down on trucks, they force the experienced drivers to retire or find other work and more idoits are out there.

If I was young I would not think of driving for a career, but as it is, in a few years i will be piloting a walker in shuffle shoes. Wonder if that requires a cdl???

 

On my way back to the office today I was beside a trucker in heavy traffic (snowing lightly ) and hear this loud "crunch". So I'm looking around "like what the heck was that" and the trucker stops jumps out and slams his door and walks around the front of his rig looking . Seem's like a new Canadian in a SUV had just turned his signal on and changed lanes into the truck (he was wedged under the rear tires of the rig).

Here in the last few years there has been numerous rigs (usually dump trucks) flipping over on on ramps and sharp curves because of accessive speed. I have seen alot of rigs driven like sports cars around here!

 

Exactly....with over 4 million accident miles under my belt, I said to heck with the DOT, quit/retired and moved north. Now I still get bribed now an then to run a load, but I'm not cheap, and it better have maid service at the other end.

 

four million accident miles? wow. that had to be hard to do. just kidding, i know what you meant. i am a young truck driver, but i doubt it will be a life long career, but who knows? if a better job comes along, i will take it

 

Never added the miles, I'm 65, drove first in the late teens, illegally. One 238 Cornbinder I racked 1.3 million miles on. Most of the time was 48 states, many different kinds of freight, van, reefer, LNG tankers, but mostly flatbed. Got off the road for good for a few years, than my son decided to haul cars hotshot.... yeah he went on and I am still hauling cars, but with the condo now. Just ordered the latest toy, an 80 liter freezer for the frozen dinners. Now to get some new deep cycle batteries to carry all this junk that I cart around. Right now sitting in front of a Waffle House wasting some time till the morning to load.

 

How are the waffles?

 

True maybe you do no but anyone that works in a public place has to deal with the public. I hate the public.