# In which I Pit the American Trucker... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538 "2003-11-21T17:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/21 "2003-11-21T20:29:41Z")
Damn Hampsters **AdmiralQ** I was going to point out that not all truckers are redneck fools like you see in seventies movies, but I’m tired so I’ll just fuck off! And let you all have your little pissy fit while ignoring any facts. Again if you hate truckers then stop buying things. Like food, clothing, cars, and homes. Of course if nobody buys anything then you’ll be bitching about unemployment. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/22 "2003-11-21T21:04:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stick monkey \* > \*\*And why is it necessary to run up right on the ass of everyone that isn’t going 95 freaking miles per hour? (this is probably only 10% of truckers out there, if that, but they’re pretty big and mighty noticible in your rear view mirror, and much more dangerous than the same idiot in a two seat civic) \*\* This is what really scares the puddin’ out of me. I drive the speed limit or slightly above, so I pretty much stay in the right lane. I can’t count how many times some bozo in a big rig rode right up on my bumper before changing lanes. No, it’s not all of them and it’s not all the time, but it’s frequent enough that it colors my perception of truckers. Some years ago, I was in a no-passing area with a moron riding so close behind me that all I could see in my rearview mirror was grille. I was in a little pickup. When this jerk finally got around me, then took his exit, I timed how long it took me to get to the same exit. Fifteen seconds. He risked my life for 15 seconds!!! What an ass! ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@AdmiralQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralQ)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/23 "2003-11-21T21:40:19Z")
Tinkertoy, all I’m asking is for trucks that are going UNDER the speed limit to please stay in the right lane. What is so freaking hard about that? I believe I was even taught that in driver’s ed. Truckers seem to want to be called “Professional Drivers”, so why can’t they perform their job like professionals, instead of the “I’ve got a 20 ton rig here, so I can do whatever the hell I want, and screw the rest of you”? ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/24 "2003-11-21T21:55:47Z")
Truck drivers work twenty-four hour days. They eat, sleep and spend hours waiting to unload in their trucks. However they only get payed when the truck is moving. They have to meet deadlines, if they don’t many of the companies they deliver to charge them fines. Fines that come directly from the truckers pocket. Miss too many deadlines and start looking for a new job. The time saved by passing other trucks pays the rent. If the trucking industry stopped paying drivers by the mile and started paying by the hour , then you wouldn’t have so many passing each other to add a few minutes to their time. ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@AdmiralQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralQ)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/25 "2003-11-21T22:03:14Z")
Tinkertoy, could you send some of those fast-driving truckers over here? I would throw up my hands and shout hallelujah if I saw them going over the speed limit! ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/26 "2003-11-21T22:31:47Z")
You misunderstand. I did not say going over the speed limit. For my husband’s company and many others the trucks are set so that they can’t go over the speed limit. Thats why it takes them so long to pass. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/27 "2003-11-21T23:29:41Z")
**Tinkertoy** and **CrankyAsAnOldMan** , thanks for fighting the good fight. > [@](#): > > The majority of truck drivers are good competent drivers. Better than most auto drivers because they have a lot more practice dodging the assholes. Most truck drivers just want to do their job and get home alive. Exactly. My Dad has been a truck driver for ~30 years and has had several people hit him (they were the ones at fault). Incidentally, some of you need to check your ignorance at the door: > [@](#): > > My wife hates truckers because they litter like bastards! Every damn mile of paved road in this great country of ours is festooned with bottles of thier piss! > > Disgusting animals! > [@](#): > > Oh, and gatopescado…you and your missus should start saving them bottles of truckerpiss. You could probably distill enough speed from 'em to make a small fortune. > [@](#): > > What the hell are they doing, having a conversation between trucks about where the best hookers are, or how many cars they’ve run off the road this week? > [@](#): > > …redneck idiot! But I guess the signs don’t help the illiterate ones… ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/28 "2003-11-21T23:57:58Z")
Jeff Olson, you’re correct, out of Illinois I am but a citizen. – You said you were in an “official” car. What kind of “official” car would that be? If it was equipped with emergency lights and sirens, was it a police car? I’m guessing you didn’t have the powers of a police officer (otherwise, you would have pulled him over), but why were you in a vehicle that was like a police car and you were acting like a police officer (turning on the lights and sirens) if you weren’t a police officer?\*\* see Jeff Olsen’s Post \*\* – You said you were doing “a scant 65 MPH in the left lane.” Why were you not travelling in the right lane, so the truck could simply pass you on the left? And if he did come up behind with the intent to go faster, when you as you were in the left lane, why did you not slip into the right lane so he could? \*\* see Jeff Olsen’s Post \*\* – And when all the trucks gathered to snipe at you, why did you just not pull off the highway? Get off at the next exit, or something, go have a coffee, let them get thirty miles down the road before you get back on? \*\* Well, just like the truckers, I had places to go and things to do, I was just trying to do them safely.\*\* Tinkertoy…I understand your objections to some of the statements made here, and realize certianly that not _all_ truckers are bad truckers, but really, if the job is so horribly difficult that the people doing it cannot do it safely AND profitably, then why do it at all? We’ve all had our bad days, and as you’ve pointed out truckers have it rough sometimes, but it is their choice after all, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![fushj00mang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@fushj00mang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fushj00mang)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/29 "2003-11-21T23:59:41Z")
buttonjockey308: Good going and congrats on your safe trip. One question though, why didn’t you get on the horn with the guys from the Illinois and Ohio HP’s? I mean, I’m not razzing you on this (because I’ve hit the blues on fuckups who were making our roadways unsafe) but at the same time, I’ve always thought it best to get a black and white in among the travlers. Anyway, good shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/30 "2003-11-22T01:36:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by buttonjockey308 \* > \*\*Tinkertoy…I understand your objections to some of the statements made here, and realize certianly that not _all_ truckers are bad truckers, but really, if the job is so horribly difficult that the people doing it cannot do it safely AND profitably, then why do it at all? We’ve all had our bad days, and as you’ve pointed out truckers have it rough sometimes, but it is their choice after all, isn’t it? \*\* Because it beats the hell out of being a telemarketer or flipping hamburgers. Because they have families to support. Because they enjoy the job and think it’s worth putting up with the assholes. Because somebody **has** to do it or the country would come to a standstill. In my husband’s case he would love to quit and spend more of the time I have left with me. But my insurance is through his company and we cannot afford to lose it. I’ve spend about sixty weeks total in a truck and I count the asshole driver ratio about 10 to 1 in favor of the truckers. At least here in the west. Another reason truckers are usually safer drivers is because tickets cost them around ten times as much as they cost you. Three tickets and their livelihoods is gone. No more job. No more paychecks ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/31 "2003-11-22T03:13:39Z")
That 94 Imapla SS is a great car. To bad they quit building them. Even though the new Impala SS (w/front wheel drive) will supposedly generate 270 hp - it just ain’t like the RWD B-bodies. ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/32 "2003-11-22T05:55:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tinkertoy \* > \*\*If your sitting there in your chair typing on your computer wearing clothes eating a snack in your home or office, thank a trucker. Because unless you have e train depot in your back yard it was all delivered by a trucker. Everything you do everyday from waking up to an alarm clock to the condom you use at night is thanks to a trucker, and it was done nights, weekends and holidays. While they would have rather been at home with their families. But they have bills to pay just like you. > > If you want less trucks on the road then buy less stuff. \*\* Tinkertoy, I take issue with the way you spoke to some of the men on the board. You should thank your lucky stars that decent men in this world are so generous and so willing to have sex with women. Because without that, there would be no children. And the next time a trucker climbs so close to my bumper that he leaves an imprint of his license plate, just be glad there are children in this world, or there wouldn’t be a load of Tickle Me Elmo dolls for that trucker to be hauling to the Toys R Us at 85 mph. And another thing. I am sick and tired of people condemning “rubberneckers” around accidents, or spokesmen for the insurance industry. Say what you want about rubberneckers. But if it wasn’t for rubber, your trucks wouldn’t have any tires to roll on. And without spokesmen, no spokes. Just try driving your truck then. And if you are reading this on a computer now, you should thank television. Because if there wasn’t so much crap on it, you’d be watching TV now. I say it’s time to show a little gratitude. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/33 "2003-11-22T06:12:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by county \* > **That 94 Imapla SS is a great car. To bad they quit building them.** Ph33r my 96 model’s floor shifter and tachometer. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/34 "2003-11-22T06:22:54Z")
I don’t think it’s fair to give all truckers a bad rap. I have never had a problem with truckers on the interstate. I’ve found that 90% of the time they will move into the left lane if I’m coming off an on-ramp, giving me space to merge safely into traffic, while most 4-wheeler drivers seem to take my presence on the highway as a personal insult and drive right in my blind spot so that I cannot merge until after I’ve driven down the breakdown lane for several yards. I try to do truckers the same favors. If I see a convoy, I do not break in between them. I make sure I stay out of the trucks’ blind spots. My father is a trucker. He has been my entire life. My father does not do drugs. He is perfectly able to read. He is quite intelligent despite a lack of college education and a tendency to enjoy really, really goofy jokes. He is not a redneck asshole. He has never, EVER gotten into an accident in his truck; he has a lifetime safety award from his employer, as do four others in his fleet. And I take offense to all of you fuckheads saying that all truckers - or even a majority of them - are unsafe, drug-addled, mentally retarded jackasses. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/35 "2003-11-22T06:33:05Z")
This four-wheeler’s solution to rude truckers … if one of 'em wants to cut in front of you, and there’s enough room, flash your lights during the day, and dim them at night. When they move in front of you, back off to a point here you can see their rear view mirros That identifies you as one of them, or at least someone who is close to the industry. ---
**Author:** ![Geshtal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Geshtal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geshtal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/36 "2003-11-22T07:01:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AdmiralQ \* > **Then when I finally have had enough and blast past you in the emergency lane and pull in front of you and slam on my brakes, you wonder why???** However upset you may be, that is extremely dangerous and irresponsible. Please don’t do it again. Ever. Someone mentioned truckers should have a grasp of elementary physics. How’s this physics problem: 10+ ton semi traveling at ~65mph must now slow/stop in less than 500 feet of road. Answer - even standing on his brakes, the truck will plow through your four wheeler like it was made of tin foil. And even though you cut him off, the trucker will still be at legal fault, to say nothing of the psychological damage. Please, just keep in mind semis climb hills slowly, require quadruple (or more) your stopping distance, and often pass each other by 5mph or less because their engines are governed. A little consideration for safety sake would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/37 "2003-11-22T15:59:12Z")
First of all, thanks to **buttonjockey308** and **Jeff Olsen** for the answers to my questions. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Geshtal \* > …even standing on his brakes, the truck will plow through your four wheeler like it was made of tin foil. Y’know, **Geshtal** , when I learned to drive big rig, the phrase the instructor used was “The car will end up being a bug splat on your windshield,” but the idea was the same. The car and its occupants will always end up getting the worst of it, because the laws of physics don’t change–a heavy truck will always require more stopping distance than a much lighter car. Best not to pull silly stunts (such as the brake slam mentioned) around trucks, for your own sake, for the trucker’s sake, and the sake of the other road users, who all have places to go and things to get to and don’t want to be delayed by an accident. **Elmwood** has the right idea. I’ve used the technique he mentioned to travel thousands of miles safely, in a car, among the big rigs, across the US and Canada. The code is the same in both places, and it works. Really, what it means is that you’re supplying the trucker with another pair of eyes, and he or she will certainly appreciate the help. Amazing how big a truck’s blind spots are; it’s not always easy to know when you can change lanes safely, and this is especially true at night or in heavy rain or snow. It’s quite true what Elmwood said, though–if the car driver can’t see the truck’s mirrors, then the trucker cannot see the car. Good advice to remember. I did learn to drive a big rig safely, but I never actually did as much driving as I would have liked–the guy I drove with preferred to do most of the driving himself (grumble grumble), and I eventually ended up going on to other kinds of work. I spent enough time in them though, _not_ doing drugs (unless the caffeine in Tim Horton’s coffee counts), _not_ pissing in bottles, and _not_ littering the landscape. Neither did my buddy, and neither did any of the other operators we knew. As I said previously, it sounds as if **buttonjockey308** encountered some of the worst examples of truckers, but I don’t for a moment believe that they are the norm. They would seem to be the exception, and my advice would be to just get away from them somehow–pull over or exit somewhere, and let them get down the road, where they can cause an accident someplace else and with somebody else. Yes, you have places to go and people to see, but given the circumstances described, I think it’s better to show up at your conference late than to show up in the morgue early. 'Nuff said for now. Safe driving, all! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/38 "2003-11-22T19:01:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tinkertoy \* > \*\*You misunderstand. I did not say going over the speed limit. For my husband’s company and many others the trucks are set so that they can’t go over the speed limit. Thats why it takes them so long to pass. \*\* If I might ask, why do this? To me, it’s the same idea of setting a limiter in a personal car to 65 or 75. Not a good idea, because there are some times you need to be able to go faster than the speed limit, and passing can be one of those times. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/39 "2003-11-22T20:17:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by asterion \* > \*\*If I might ask, why do this? To me, it’s the same idea of setting a limiter in a personal car to 65 or 75. Not a good idea, because there are some times you need to be able to go faster than the speed limit, and passing can be one of those times. \*\* It’s cost effective. The biggest expense a trucking company has is fuel. Slower trucks burn less fuel. Insurance rates are often lower for companies that govern their trucks, if they have a wreck lawsuit settlements are higher if the truck was speeding. Also some drivers would speed against company wishes. If they’re ticketed three times for speeding they lose their CLD (license) and the company has to go to the expense of hiring and training a new driver. New trucks have a computer that the company sets for speed control. When the truck is brought in for servicing the computer lets the tech know if the driver has tried to tamper with it, at my husbands company the driver will be fired immediately. You will find that most asshole drivers are either independent owners, or have gone from one job to the next at least twice a year. Companies have to protect themselves from the liability a bad driver can cause. If you do run into an asshole that has one of those 1-800 numbers on their truck call the company. If you have a cell phone call the police. Other truckers do. ---
**Author:** ![Herge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Herge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herge)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538/40 "2003-11-22T21:53:56Z")
Good rant. More questions, coming from a UK perspective. If you are a police officer in an unmarked police car, do you not have power outside of your jurisdiction? For example, if you were behind a guy swigging whiskey from a bottle and swerving all over the road, you would have no power to pull him over? Despite being a police officer, you would have to stop and call the cops as a citizen would? In the UK, we have different police forces in different counties (counties are roughly equivelant of states in the US). A police officer can pull over a car in a different county if he has good reason. If you were in the overtaking lane, and a truck was bearing down on you in a threatening manner, why didn’t you slow up and slip into the traffic in the right hand lane? Why not pull of the road and just stop the car for 15 minutes or so, just to get out of the situation? Surely you planned for contingencies, so that you could take a 15 minute break? (I know, don’t call me shirley) 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-pit-the-american-trucker/214538.md?page=3)