Hey! I'm workin' here!

The BBQ Pit
21

Yes, it’s true. But that’s not even half of the problem.

First, let me point out that just because I can’t see you doesn’t mean that I don’t know you are there. Unless I was day dreaming, I saw you change lanes or come up behind me. And I can probably see the shadow of your vehicle on the ground.

If you are close enough that you can only see one of my mirrors, and assuming that you’re paying attention, you’ll probably notice that I’m waging my trailer from side to side. It’s subtle, but I need to get a better idea of just how far behind me you really are. Difficult to judge with only one mirror.

If you are so close to my trailer that you can’t see both of my mirrors, you are way close. You may not feel like you’re actually tailgating me, but take a quick look around. Notice that you can not see what’s going on even 100 feet up in the lane next to you. You are effectively driving blind. Might as well nail a 4’ x 8’ sheet of plywood to the front of your car. (That might actually make more sense - the plywood can’t kill you cause you’d probably not even start the car.) In an emergency, by the time you see and react to my brake lights, the nose of your car will be under my trailer.

Not only that, you’re making me work harder too. Knowing that you can’t see much of anything ahead, I have to plan on not only what I’m going to do in an emergency, but how I’m going to get out of your way so that you don’t die under my rig. Radical manuvers aren’t an option in these rigs, so I must now increase my following distance to give me more room to manuver. This opens up more space for some jerk to jump into because there is an open space. It creates a snowballing effect that becomes increasingly harder to deal with, and can escalate very rapidly.

Another thing that needs to be mentioned here, though it may seem like a contradiction at first: Even though it takes a lot of time and space to get 80,000 lbs. stopped, if you are following too close and an emergency arises, you’re gonna be very surprised to find out just how goddamn fast we can stop these rigs. Actually, it happens so frequently that wreck investigators even came a term for this event.

Underride. In the morgue, the injury is usually described as “underride decapitation”. Doesn’t that bring a pretty picture to mind …

Think about that the next time you see me waging my trailer at you.

::waves at Dolores Reborn::

Just don’t even get me started about inattentive drivers (and especially about inattentive commercial drivers) … I’m trying hard to clean up my truck driver language … :wink:

22

Oh yes, it is. It’s very true. Keep in mind we can’t just look over our shoulder out the side window. If you want to know what a blind spot is, try to find someone that will let you sit in the driver’s seat of a rig.

I know it can look like a driver is trying to be flashy with a dozen mirrors mounted to the rig, but that’s truly the only rear view they have. If it ain’t in the mirror, it ain’t seen.

23

This is gonna take a minute …

Okay, during daylight hours, if ya wanna flash your lights, go ahead. We do appreciate it, even though some Drivers may not acknowledge you. Some of our rigs are wired weird and it can be a real challenge to figure out a friendly signal. During the day, for instance, I can only use my hazard lights to thank you. However, this seems to confuse and/or startle some people so I rarely do it except with other Drivers.

At night, on the otherhand, if “flashed lights at semis” means flashing your high-beams or using your FTP switch (same thing) then no. You may dim your lights (momentarily turn off the head lights) but please do not use the high-beams. I’m looking into that mirror and your brights will momentarily blind me - I’m not going to thank you for that. (I blister Drivers on the CB for doing that!)

And yeah, I used to get a kick out of passing school buses and cars with kids doing the air horn signal and hitting the air horn - but I don’t do it any more. I startled a rookie bus driver 6 years ago and she damn near lost control and killed all those kids. I wish I could explain that to all the disappointed kids I’ve seen since then … funny you should bring it up at this time though …

Just this week a Driver hit her air horn for a kid while passing through a tunnel near here. Unexpectedly loud in that tunnel – it startled the kids mom. Six people went to the hospital. Load was a total loss. Traffic shut down for 1 1/2 hours while they cleaned up the mess. Never. even. made. it. into. the. news.

Sad.

::smiles at duffer::

Thanx for your support.
Professional Driver?

24

Hey, buuuu-dy. You in the Semi. You know, I do have a top fuel dragster under the ‘minivan-thing’. That’s how I went from 60 to 110.

Oh. You want to know why? I heard you say to the other guy, “Hey, let’s block that minivan-thing in.” I don’t want to know why. I’m just glad my friend was screwing with his portable CB at the time. You know, this thing is pretty endumacational.

Now, I know that you’re a big truck, but this isn’t a small minivan-thing. And I have to say, on a light-traffic road, I don’t appreciate it when you try to merge into me. It kind of pisses me off. Why do semis do that so much?

25

Hehe, not to have you take this personally, but I sort of figured you truckers had this attitude.

I can understand a lot, but one thing just pisses me off to no end…

When you pass ANOTHER truck, it helps to actually go faster than the other truck…

You know, to pass. If the truck was going so much slower than you that you had to pass, why the hell do you slow down when passing. Other than to piss off the rest of the world stuck behind you for the next 5 miles? (general you of course)

26

Do’h

27

What can I say. Some people, even truck drivers, are jerks.

I’m not sure what your question is with regard to merging, so I’m going to hit this from two angles and try to cover the base that way.

If you are, in fact, asking about merging - that is, a big truck coming up an on-ramp and attempting to merge with faster traffic - we always try to do so safely and courteously. You don’t always let us do that, though. Proper highway etiquite dictates that you try to move over or adjust your speed to allow traffic to merge. All too frequently though, you stubbornly sit it that lane, match our speed and refuse to let us in. Our default survival mode at that time is “our 80,000 pound truck trumps your 2000 pound beemer - move it or lose it.”

We’re working hard, doin’ the best we can to get our rigs up to speed. But some bone-head highway engineer decided to design freeways above ground level, instead of below ground level. This means that we’re pulling uphill, fighting the weight of the rig and gravity to boot, so getting up to 45 is tough, 55 is damn near impossible, and 65 is out of the question on 85% of the ramps. We try to move over to let you in when ever it is safe to do so, you could at least try to return the courtesy.

If, on the other hand, your are talking about lane changes, see post #16, where I’ve already addressed that issue. Thank You.

28

The ‘get in your way’ comment was a joke. Or is this a woosh? I’ll take the woosh and raise you one …

I was going to make a smart-assed remark about re-reading post #16, where I’ve already addressed this issue, then I noticed the "… why the hell do you slow down when passing … " comment and saw an opportunity there.

Sometimes, especially on a steep grade, it is possible that a driver can miscalculate their ability to overtake a slower moving truck. Or maybe even miss a gear while downshifting. Properly, the Driver should fall back and pull back to the right. If he or she doesn’t, they’re probably an inexperienced rookie (see my OP), or an incondisiderate asshole.

There is one other possibility. Review in your mind for a moment what your driving has been like in the last 15 miles or so. Were you recently playing “Don’t Let The Semi Pass”? We know how to play the payback game (although I won’t do it if an innocent party might also suffer). And we’re better at it than you are. For those of you who are so inclined, the blade cuts both ways …

29

Ever launch a “trucker bomb”?

30

No.

Never even made one. Find the whole concept disgusting.

And those that do should not only lose their license, but their freedom, too. IMNSHO

31

The western 10 states. I’m sure since you’re location says Nevada that you’ve seen plenty of those red and black Montana Express trucks. Hubby’s been with them for about 11 years.
I go out with him about 3 weeks a year. Do alright until we hit California, then I hit the sleeper or stick in ear plugs (blocks out the yelling and swearing) and put a magazine in front of my face.

32

Ah, good to hear!

Have you ever had to haul double? Those double tractor trailers scare the shit out of me-how can they be controlled?

33

What’s that?

34

Basically, truckers are sometimes so overworked they can’t even stop at a rest stop to pee. So some pee in bottles. Okay, fine.

But some are lazy asshats, so rather than waiting until they reach a dumpster, or something, they just toss the bottles out of the truck. Hence the term, “trucker bombs.”

35

Montana Express. Home of some real pros. Have hubby shout for ‘Lucy’ next time he’s out around the 261 (give or take a hunred miles) and sees a really filthy singled-out tanker. (I spend great deal of my time off-road up on the mines …)

[way back machine mode]
Back when I used to pull for e. a. miller (Blue Ribbon Beef), had a dispatcher who loved to send me to LA. My dock time was 9:30 AM on Monday morning. Hit Orange at 1:30 AM and put fuel on. Industrial City just 2 Hours away, IIRC. Except that this is LA. Land of the 8 hour commute. Finally got to the dock at 1:45 PM. Had to wait for 9 hours to unload because I’d missed my dock appointment. :mad:

I threatened to quit and do grievious bodily harm to my dispatcher if he ever sent me into the LA Basin on a Monday morning again.

Following week: Industrial City.

I did quit, but, judgement being an even greater part of valor, I passed on the grievious bodily harm bit.
[/wbmm]

36

Yeah. When I get doubled up it’s called a supertanker. 9150 gallons liquid load sloshin’ down the highway is really fun. :rolleyes:

Actually, the doubles aren’t what should scare the shit out you. Watch out for the triples. One half inch movement in the steering wheel = 2 feet of swing in the #3 trailer. One and a quarter inches of movement can flip that #3 trailer. If you’re coming up on a set of triples, watch that third trailer. It will tell you a lot about the skill of the Driver. If it’s a wobblin’ , stay clear, or complete your pass quickly. (Those things scare the shit out of me!)

Doubles are actually pretty easy to control. Frequently to hardest part for me is to remember that the rig is 38 feet longer, especially once I’ve off-loaded and I’m on the empty leg going home. Can’t hardly even feel the thing back there.

37

Actually, you’re really close on this one …

Truth be known, none of us are that overworked. The laws are just way to strict to allow that. Even those that cheat still have the time to take a pee break.

The word you’re really looking for here is ‘lazy’.

These truckers are just simply too lazy to stop. So, they pee in a bottle. And toss it out the window or leave it where ever they finally do make a stop. Which proves the ‘lazy’ point. I think it really reflects poorly on our profession. I’m trying to clean up my language so I won’t tell you what I think about the individuals in question. Besides, there are ladies present.

Frankly, I just can’t see where trying to pee in a bottle while driving an 80.000 lb. truck down the highway is a real safe plan. Hence my earlier comment.

38

Yup. Well, I was. 7 years driving reefer and flatbed. 600k miles accident free. Not so much as an overweight or log violation. I love to drive, I love to see new places. For all the hassles of grocery warehouses, it was overall worth every mile. I saw just about every part of this country and it was well worth it in the end. Alas, I got married and didn’t want to live on the road any longer.

God forbid I ever find myself single again, I’ll be right back up there in the good seat. A professional will always love his job, even if he isn’t actively doing it.

Keep the wheels pointed in the right direction and be safe on your neverending trip home.

39

So, you drivers, are you fans of Kathy Mattea singing “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses”? Gotta admit, that one’s good for putting a lump in my throat

40

Great thread, Lucy. (Ever hear “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Truck Drivin’ Song?)

My trucker story (for all those who like to tailgate trucks) - I went to school with a former trucker, and he told me about the VW that rearended his truck at a light and got stuck there. He took off from the light dragging her and her car behind him - took him a couple of blocks to figure out what that faint honking was. Nobody was hurt, but the driver of the VW was apparently a little shaken. :smiley:

I think triple trailers are illegal in Canada - I have a vague recollection of hearing that.

So, how do I go about getting an airhorn for my Corolla? People cut me off about as often as they do you, I suspect, Lucy, but the big difference is that I would lose pretty much every round. I want a horn that really gets peoples’ attention when they cut me off, not the little wussy beep that I have now.