# Fuck You, Truck Drivers on the 5 Freeway! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 30, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884 "2004-04-30T18:26:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/1 "2004-04-30T18:26:04Z")
Ok, not _all_ truck drives. Just the three assnuggets who jackknifed their rigs across the 5, blocking all the lanes in early morning Los Angeles traffic, then jumped out of their trucks and hightailed it in escape vehicles. Dude. What the fuck? The 5 was literally a parking lot for at least an hour this morning. I wasn’t driving the 5, thank god, I was on the 210. But on my way back home around 10 o’clock (the jack knifing incident happend around 7:30 or 8) I passed the junction for the 5 and the 118 and Northbound and Southbound lanes were not moving at all. In fact, the cars were stretched out for miles down the 118. They’re probably still there. Meanwhile, on the 101, several truckers pulled abreast of each other and started driving very, very slowly, blocking everybody on the 101. You know, all those crazy people who are just trying to get to work? They weren’t going anywhere either. Apparently, they were protesting the high price of fuel. And yeah, it’s awfully high. But come on…how many people in the L.A. area are going to think “Wow! Those motherfuckers are right! I’m glad I was stuck in traffic for endless hours this morning with no possible escape! WOO!!!” I’m sure the people who was forced to burn all that gas while they were _crawling_ along or stopped completely are thrilled about the protest and want to join as well…well, officially at any rate. And all the people who missed hours of work this morning and thus didn’t get paid well, fuck 'em. They’ll have to get their money to pay the sky-high fuel prices somewhere else, I guess. I can’t find a link right now, I heard all of this on the radio this morning, and reports were kind of confused and spotty. Especially since I was out of the car for an hour. So I’m pitting those stupid pieces of shit on behalf of everybody who is _still_ hanging out on the 118, trying to merge on to the biggest parking lot in southern california. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/2 "2004-04-30T18:36:19Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Apparently, they were protesting the high price of fuel. Real nice. I cannot understand people who think that you win allies by pissing potential allies off–it seems like they’ve read some BizarroGandhi, that they’ve drastically misunderstood the idea of civil disobedience. On the other hand, such annoying protests are usually done by individuals who block traffic with their bodies. And bodies don’t have license plates, right? I smell a class-action lawsuit coming down the road; these yahoos could just see their semis repossessed, couldn’t they? Gas prices, while high, are still too low. We oughtta pay for the military out of gas taxes, if you ask me; it’d be a fair tax on the user. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/3 "2004-04-30T19:11:29Z")
Well, I got this far– > [@](#): > > _jackknifed their rigs across the 5, blocking all the lanes in early morning Los Angeles traffic, then jumped out of their trucks and hightailed it in escape vehicles_ …and I automatically shouted, “Dude! Bruce Willis!” It’s not? Feh. [California Truckers Use Rigs To Block Freeways In Protest Of Diesel Prices](http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=61609) > [@](#): > > LOS ANGELES (AP) \_ Truckers parked their rigs on a busy freeway Friday, snarling rush-hour traffic for miles in a wildcat protest over high diesel prices. > > At about 7:30 a.m., about five tractor-trailers stopped in the northbound lanes of the Golden State Freeway in Commerce, 17 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, according to the California Highway Patrol. > > `They just sort of slowed traffic down, parked their trucks, and got out,'' CHP Officer Ricardo Quintero said. `They just took off in a car.’’ > > Authorities drove some rigs away and two trucks hauled others out of traffic. Less than an hour later, the lanes were clear, Quintero said. > > Several truckers were arrested, he added. Thank you, God. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/4 "2004-04-30T19:14:09Z")
That’s about the stupidest form of protest ever. Talk about not gaining sympathy for your cause. ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/5 "2004-04-30T19:22:31Z")
It is all about point of view. See [my thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253866). So the protest had it’s positive. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/6 "2004-04-30T19:32:55Z")
Revoke each sonuvabitch’s license that abandoned his vehicle on a public thoroughfare for a year. They’ll think twice before pulling that crap again. What a stupid, ill conceived stunt. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/7 "2004-04-30T19:43:45Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > Well, I got this far–…and I automatically shouted, “Dude! Bruce Willis!” Or Michael Douglas… D\_FENS! ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/8 "2004-04-30T19:50:24Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Revoke each sonuvabitch’s license that abandoned his vehicle on a public thoroughfare for a year. You’re a kinder person than me. I say they should have their CDLs revoked _permanently_. Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/9 "2004-04-30T19:57:38Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > I automatically shouted, “Dude! Bruce Willis!” I immediately thought “terrorism.” Seriously, if I were on that freeway and I saw a couple of semis block the lanes ahead and their drivers jump out and flee, I would instantly assume they’re trapping the traffic in a kill zone with a half-dozen white vans distributed through the parking lot for maximum damage. I would be out of my vehicle and sprinting for safety within seconds. Overreaction? Possibly. But I’d rather be alive and foolish than reasonable and dead. Stupid, stupid idea for a protest. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/10 "2004-04-30T20:29:36Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I immediately thought “terrorism.” Seriously, if I were on that freeway and I saw a couple of semis block the lanes ahead and their drivers jump out and flee, I would instantly assume they’re trapping the traffic in a kill zone with a half-dozen white vans distributed through the parking lot for maximum damage. I would be out of my vehicle and sprinting for safety within seconds. > > Overreaction? Possibly. But I’d rather be alive and foolish than reasonable and dead. > > Stupid, stupid idea for a protest. Yeah, you’re not the only one. Several people on the radio called with the same reaction. I see the link says the lanes were clear by about 9, but when I drove by the freeway, all the way up in fucking Glendora, about 20 miles northwest of Pasadena, the lanes were still basically at a standstill. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/11 "2004-04-30T20:42:55Z")
1. How did they jacknife them intentionally? Isn’t that bad for the truck? 2. How come all the articles about this say “ **about** 5 trucks blocked traffic”? How shoddy reporting is that? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/12 "2004-04-30T20:54:09Z")
God damn. This reminds me of some of the protesters we had in San Francisco when the war started. “Hey, let’s block all the on-ramps to the Bay Bridge and not let people go home after a long day’s work! That’ll convince them that the US military shouldn’t be going to war in Iraq!” Fucking idiots. Double-fuck these truckers for not even _being_ there when their shit hit the fan. Way to stand up for your principles. This sounds more like a shitty senior high-school prank. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/13 "2004-04-30T20:55:46Z")
> [@](#): > > You’re a kinder person than me. I say they should have their CDLs revoked permanently. > > Idiots. To hell with that I say dig as deep as you can to find somebody who died cause their doctor was stuck in the traffic, and charge them all with manslaughter. A couple years in prison sounds about right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/14 "2004-04-30T20:59:42Z")
…and what’s worse is, the people they’re pissing off the most are people who (gasp) _also buy gas_! They’re on your side, dipshits! God damn, some people are stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/15 "2004-04-30T21:15:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*1) How did they jacknife them intentionally? Isn’t that bad for the truck? > \*\* As the Missus who has ridden shotgun for many years while the Mister drove a Bigass Chevy Van towing a trailer, and who has a dad who also towed a family vacation trailer for many years, I’m here to tell you that it’s frighteningly easy to jacknife a rig. All you do is slam on the brakes. Voila! One skid, followed by one jacknife. Physics, it’s something to do with physics. So this is why the Mister has special auxiliary trailer brakes installed under the dash of the Bigass Chevy Van, and why, when we stop, he reaches down with his right hand and applies _those_ brakes really, really gently, as well as the van’s brakes. I would presume that professional truckdrivers with anti-lock braking systems and whatnot, would also know exactly how to produce a skid and a jacknife, because it would involve simply doing exactly what you were told _not_ to do in Truck Driving School. See page 9 here. [http://www.careerpubinc.com/samples/tractor.pdf](http://www.careerpubinc.com/samples/tractor.pdf) As for its being bad for the rig–only if the trailer runs up or twists around and slams into the back of the tow vehicle, or otherwise damages the hitch. But if you did it at slow enough speeds, so you got the “physics” effect of jacknifing the rig into the position you wanted, while not allowing the trailer to hit the tow vehicle, then I wouldn’t suppose it would hurt the rig. Because after all, these truckers wouldn’t want to hurt their rigs–they’re not _stupid_. …wait a minute… ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/16 "2004-04-30T21:16:03Z")
You guys don’t want to pay more for stuff. The stores at which you shop don’t want to pay more for shipping. The shippers from which the stores buy don’t want to charge more for freight. Trucking companies that run owner-operators don’t want to lose business so they’re not asking for rate increases, either. Independent owner-operators can’t ask for higher rates until the trucking companies start demanding them. Owner-operators are getting screwed because, while the cost of moving your stuff is going up, the cost of running a truck is rising. And they’re getting really pissed off. And a lot of truckers aren’t all that bright, hence an unfortunate protest that will do more to annoy the general public than anything else. The protest won’t win any friends, but maybe it’ll make the trucking industry sit up and take notice. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/17 "2004-04-30T21:20:51Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > I would presume that professional truckdrivers with anti-lock braking systems and whatnot, would also know exactly how to produce a skid and a jacknife, because it would involve simply doing exactly what you were told _not_ to do in Truck Driving School. Some truck drivers aren’t all that bright, but that would be a stupid thing to do. I’d guess that any time the media sees a truck sideways across a road they’ll call it “jack knifed” as opposed to, say, “parked sideways across the freeway”. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/18 "2004-04-30T22:03:46Z")
Threats of these protests have been flying over the CBs for the last couple of weeks, many drivers are just threatening not to deliver to California. My husband is headed to L.A. tomorrow and already cussing today’s idiots. The company my husband works for won’t be doing any protesting. It’s a small (135 trucks) company and it’s costing them an extra 6000.00 a week for fuel to run about a third of their trucks in California. If it gets too bad the owner says he would rather close the company down than sell to one of the large companies that are taking advantage of the economy to buy up small competitors. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/19 "2004-04-30T22:15:23Z")
> [@chique](#): > > Owner-operators are getting screwed because, while the cost of moving your stuff is going up, the cost of running a truck is rising. Awwww, yeah. That made sense. :rolleyes: Try this: > [@](#): > > Owner-operators are getting screwed because, while the cost of moving your stuff is going up, the amount of money they’re receiving to move your stuff is remaining static. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884/20 "2004-05-01T00:18:02Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Gas prices, while high, are still too low. > Daniel Yeah, I don’t get what the beef is. Look how much everything else has gone up in the last dozen years or so. Get a load of what the REST of the world pays for gas then put things in perspective. We’re lucky it’s as cheap as it is! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-truck-drivers-on-the-5-freeway/242884.md?page=2)