I recently made a very long drive on I-80 east of the Mississippi. It’s been a few years since I made a drive like that but I have made many long drives on the interstate highways.
I-80 has so many trucks that it resembles a railroad more than a highway. On this trip it seemed to me that the truck drivers have calmed down and are driving in a safe and sane manner that I never noticed before. There was no tailgating. They traveled at a safe speed that was with the flow of traffic. Rarely did they pass. There was no horn blowing. Merging was no problem. If you passed them they didn’t speed up to annoy you. When there was a bottleneck due to construction they maneuvered in such a way as to maintain order. They didn’t drive as though they owned the road.
Maybe it was just my perception but it just seemed different than what I was used to experiencing in the past. Many drivers used to act like “cowboys” with no restraints. Maybe there’s been an enforcement crackdown and fines are so onerous that they’ve gotten religion. Whatever?
Anyway, it was noticed and appreciated. Congrats to the guys (and girls) doing the heavy hauling!
I’ve noticed this too. I mentioned it to my husband’s son, who’s been driving for the last ten years or so. He thinks it might be because of the economy. It’s getting easier to replace unsafe drivers, and trucking companies can be more picky.
I was given to understand that these days there are no rewards, and some penalties, if you come in very early, as the trucking company will presume you have been breaking the law. Also they have cracked down on required sleep breaks and hours on the road. The current rule is 11 hours, but a proposal to limit driving time to 8 hours is out there: http://www.joc.com/government-regulation/dot-sends-trucker-hours-service-white-house
I think it may be a combination of what’s been mentioned above, the economy has helped filter the less desirable employess out. Regulations have been strengthened, or at least enforced more stringently because of NAFTA and the perceived influx of Mexican rigs (at least in the south) and technological improvements like GPS and “black box” type recording devices enable companies to closely monitor the speed and progress of drivers on their routes.
With those factors combined, I’d agree that the big rigs appear to be driving in a more predictable, safer manner.
More trucks have GPS tracking. There is a tracking room at Qualcomm where you can see a map of the US, and where every single truck with a Qualcomm unit is.
ANECDOTAL OBSERVATION: The types of drivers are changing. There is a truckstop near some property of mine. Once upon a time they made good business selling diesel, steak dinners, rooms, and looking the other way when the hookers worked the drivers. Now, more husband and wife teams sleeping in the extended cab trucks who are Asian or Hispanic. They stop for diesel, sleep in the cab, they MIGHT buy some food ingredients - but they don’t buy the fancy dinner. The hookers are seeing a drop in trade as well.
Another anecdotal observation - At Spiceland, Indiana, I-70 exit 123, there’s an Indian restaurant at a truck stop. I guess there’s enough of an Asian trucking subculture to support it. It was a nice find for my wife and I traveling east this summer.
The GPS factor is something I knew about but really didn’t consider when I posted the OP.
I have a friend that owns a construction supply company. It delivers in four states. He installed GPS tracking in all of his delivery trucks. Of course it keeps track of the drivers and they see it as “Big Daddy” keeping an eye on them. He told me that, although it does help them track the drivers, he did it for tax reasons. Each state demands that he report how much of his business is done in their state and the GPS tracking will just spit out a report instead of having to dissect every purchase order and delivery.
Not soon enough. I can recall doing a lot of driving between Austin and Houston back in the 60s and 70s. I started using 290 which at that time was little more than a 2 lane country road, because driving on I-10 meant you took your life in your hands being around the truckers. It hasn’t gotten all that much better, but any improvement is better than none.
I’ve noticed this too. My modus (when I’m driving the camper) is to sneak up behind a rig doing the speed I like and drafting them for a few hundred miles. Most are going between 55-60 and the rest are going 70+ (a lot of them dead-head). Its getting hard to find a good driver that can hold a steady speed. Many are going “too slow” (under 60). And across Nevada, they fluctuate speed too much. Waaaay slow up and then waaaay too fast on the down. Nevada is full of this nonsense across I-80. Difficult to find help.
I scored last week returning from vacation. Found an EXCELLANT trucker, kept a steady 63 (up and down hill), always signaled (I stick so close behind, I never see whats ahead) and followed him for about 260 miles. Stayed about 3 feet off his bumper from outside Wells till he pulled off. During that time, I saw an increase in MPG of about 1.3. Big for my truck. From 7’s to nearly 9!
My theory is that speeding tickets are now seen as revenue-enhancement opportunities. On I-80 last month, I saw four Iowa SP pulling people over with one on the overpass scouting.
In Indiana, 10-15 mph over the speed limit at East Gate on the toll road is a $130 “contribution” to Steuben county. There were two ISP’s pulling people over. I got pinched. My defense was that I was riding my BIL’s Harley. Who has time to look at the speedometer when riding a bike?
My daughter’s ticket on the other side of Indiana said that speeding from 1-29 mph over the limit is a $150 fine. She inherited the speeding gene.
Here in CO, right near I-25, two CSP’s and a county sheriff had five people pulled over for illegally exiting the freeway (I fucking-A LAUGHED).
I have never seen so many police on the road outside of Ohio (in Ohio it is legal for the OSP to drag speeders out of their cars and shoot them (ok, I may be exaggerating, maybe)).
I’ve put many, many miles on my vehicles since the early 80s on I-95 from Maryland to Florida. The last few times, I found myself passing truckers. I am not a speeder - I set my cruise control no more than 5 over the limit, and my little Scion does not like going over 70.
Considering some of the idiots I’ve encountered over the years, it’s nice to not spend the miles terrified that some big rig is going to drive up my tailpipe or run me on to the shoulder. I still hate to drive, but I don’t hate it as much…
