A public service announcement from the truckers of America

[jmowreader]

This is a truck. If you are in front of one of them, and you can't see over the top of it in your rear-view mirror, YOU ARE TOO DAMN CLOSE! Especially if you just passed the guy.

If you slam on your brakes when you're two or three seconds in front of one of these, even if the guy's wide awake you're still going to get squished. The American Trucking Association says a safe lead distance from a truck is one second per 10 feet of truck length--read 7 seconds--at any speed at or below 40mph, and 8 seconds above 40mph. If you're closer, ESPECIALLY if you put yourself there, you are in danger of dying.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Michael Jackson mayhem.

[kestrel91316]

1. I wish more truckers knew this.

[vadawg]

3. roflmao, to true

[MajorChode]

32. They pay rock haulers by the load, not by the hour

I know a few people who have been hit by them. They run stoplights and stopsigns, speed to excess, and tailgate so close they can smell your aftershave. Occasionally you see one driving responsibly, but for the most part they are the absolute worst truck drivers on the road, and are literally an accident waiting to happen. I honestly don't even know how the companies manage to get insurance.

[lefthandedlefty]

42. I have driven truck 33 years and have never hit anyone

[MajorChode]

44. 33 years ago, truck drivers were a lot more professional

[lefthandedlefty]

45. I still drive a truck for a living

[MajorChode]

47. and as far as I know, I've never seen you drive one

[lefthandedlefty]

2. How about the 4 wheelers that cut you off at highway speeds

then make a right turn as soon as they get in front of you.Keeps your blood flowing I guess.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. And remember

if a trucker can't see you in their mirrors, they might not realize you are passing. Keep safe distances, use signals, and call the number on the back of the truck if a driver is doing the RIGHT thing. A trucker friend of mine told me that her company kept track of praises and gave good drivers a bonus at the end of the year. Plus it makes the operator's day to hear of a driver doing the right thing!

[Hoopla Phil]

5. Truckers of America. STAY OFF MY ASS!!!!!

[Stuckinthebush]

6. Wait...what?

If I look into my mirror and a truck is on my ass then damn it, I'm too close to it!

Something seems screwy here. Shouldn't the truck get off my ass instead of me having to speed up?

[jmowreader]

19. It all depends on why he's there

I was running I-70 through Ohio. (Ohio has a split speed limit on their interstates: 65 for cars, 55 for trucks.) Some genius in a Smart car passed me, got two seconds ahead of me, then dropped his speed to 52. I'm pretty sure he couldn't see both of my headlights in his rear view mirror. The only thing I could possibly do to get rid of this guy in a reasonable period of time was to drop my speed to 40. It probably takes half a gallon of fuel to shake someone that way, and I don't like throwing ANY fuel away.

[Stuckinthebush]

41. OK, that makes sense

If I speed up to get in front of a truck and then slow down again, I'd agree that is pretty foolish.

But, many times I have trucks (and other cars) speed up and hang on my bumper when I'm going at or above the speed limit. At that point it is their responsibility to slow down or go around me if possible.

[jmowreader]

55. Truckers who tailgate really piss me the fuck off

Of course, truckers--especially Republican ones--can do that just standing there.

I was talking to an independent who drives an International ProStar. (This is one of the most popular tractors on the road right now because it's reasonably priced at between $110,000 and $130,000 depending on options, and it's a very good truck.) He told me about the hour he spent disabling the daytime running lights on this truck because he wasn't a slave to things like that. (The same guy told me Ronald Reagan was our best president.) He went into this huge procedure that required cutting, soldering, a LOT of things, then asked "what do you think of that?" I told him what I thought of that: "I think there's a switch on the dashboard that does the same thing." Which there is.

[Bill McBlueState]

57. they've eliminated the split speed limits in Ohio

effective today.

There can still be 60/55 splits, like in the Cleveland area, but there are no longer 65/55 splits.

As a non-trucker, I figure it's a good thing to have everyone moving at the same speed.

[hfojvt]

7. but we cannot stay in the left lane

because the guy behind us in the minivan has an absolute right to drive 15-20 mph over the speed limit without any obstructions.

[rvablue]

8. Agreed. Now, here's mine: A PSA from car drivers to the truckers of America:

Please follow the speed limit.

It takes a longer distance for you to break.

Hence, when you come barreling up behind me at 80+ mph on the Interstate, it really scares me.

Thank you.

[mwooldri]

9. Agreed... plus when it says "no trucks left X lane(s)" ...

... it means no trucks left X lane(s). Obviously if there's an emergency then it's right and proper to go into those left lanes, but all too often I see trucks using those lanes to pass other trucks who are doing 65 already and that trucker wants to do 75... also the speeders generally don't have any identifying marks on their rear - maybe on the side that a passenger could capture and call about...

[jmowreader]

20. Those guys scare us too

I can't go any faster than 62.

And the worst part of the whole thing: most of the guys who run 15 over the speed limit are hauling hazmat. Yeah, I REALLY love a guy with 5000 gallons of gasoline rubbing the paint off my back bumper.

[A HERETIC I AM]

26. How long have you been driving big trucks?

You drive OTR? 48 states or regional?

most of the guys who run 15 over the speed limit are hauling hazmat.

Bollocks.

BTW, sorry your company stuck you with a slow-ass truck.

[wroberts189]

29. Dude.. I get passed at 70 by propane tankers daily. nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. And that proves what, exactly?

jmowreader said "most of the guys who run 15 over the speed limit are hauling hazmat".

I say bollocks. It is a generalization and it isn't true. Your experience with propane trucks is not proof either. You are probably passed by UPS trucks too, but you don't mention that.

I drove over the road for a little over 20 years and I was passed by cattle haulers more than almost anything else. Is it fair to say that "most of the guys who run 15 over the speed limit are hauling cattle"? Of course not.

[wroberts189]

33. It proves your "bollocks" is not true for us all.

"most of the guys" ..perhaps a bit of hyperbole to you or me but it may be true for them. Most of us can see the labeling on the truck. If jmowreader knows what hazmat is he can probably read or see the markings on the trucks.


This is a big country and I am talking eastern corridors.

If you are a trucker you know damn well you push the limit out there whenever if feels safe.

I would.


I see them out there especially late at night. That's why they have those emergency truck stop roads coming down off hills in MA.

[jmowreader]

36. OTR, and just a few months

But I watch out for these things, and everyone that roars past my ass at extralegal speed seems to have at least one placard on.

Oh man, you'll love this: I was coming down I-85 from Charlotte to Spartanburg doing 60mph, and an independent rolled past me like I was standing still. He HAD to have been doing at least 80. He had a Flammable Solid placard, a Dangerous When Wet placard, a Poison placard and a Corrosive placard. I want to know what was actually in that truck--it doesn't seem like you could legally put that many different hazards in the same trailer.

[hootinholler]

38. Magnesium

Should get the first 2 of them, don't know about corrosive and poison.

-Hoot

[A HERETIC I AM]

40. I haven't hauled a whole lot of hazmat in my career, but I would think there are numerous materials

that would require all 4 of those placards.

Does magnesium give off a corrosive, poisonous gas when burned?

[jmowreader]

49. Not to my knowledge

Magnesium powder requires two placards: Spontaneously Combustible (hazard class 4.2) and Dangerous When Wet (hazard class 4.3). It doesn't need a Flammable Solid (hazard class 4.1) placard.

The only possible thing I can think of on this load is there was more than one kind of chemical on that trailer.

[Hoopla Phil]

25. Like I said up thread. Truckers of America: STAY OFF MY ASS!!!

[PVnRT]

37. +1 (n/t)

[Recursion]

10. Oh, and bicyclists...

...stoplights apply to you, too.

[Berry Cool]

16. Some of us know that.

We also kinda like staying alive and not getting mowed into at intersections.

Oh, but one word of advice to motorists: We're not hogging your left lane or the turn lane just to annoy you. We're planning on making a left turn. Honest. Sorry if we slow you down a little coming off the light.

[wroberts189]

21. High speed rail = less big rigs = safer roads - nt

[wroberts189]

22. woops ..meant to reply to main thread sorry nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

27. You haven't spent much time around railroads or the freight business, have you?

High Speed Rail does NOT = less big rigs.

Sorry.

[wroberts189]

28. It does if you have the railway infrastructure there.

Most freight is still moved by trains btw.


Its much more efficient.

[A HERETIC I AM]

30. "Most freight is still moved by trains btw. Its much more efficient"

No kidding.

If you removed Coal and crushed stone from the tonnage, however, you would find it is much closer to parity if not that trucks move more. Those two things, BTW (coal and similar materials) are what the railroads are most efficient at moving. An entire coal train can be loaded, moved and unloaded by less than 6 workers, as modern coal train operations are almost completely automated. As far as hauling semi trailers is concerned, Piggyback operations are most efficient when you are moving a large quantity of trailers or containers, a long way to the same place. Virtually all of the semi-trailers that can be economically moved by rail are already being moved by rail.

Heavy trains are not suitable for high speed rail corridors like the French TGV or the line the Acela uses in the Northeast because of their weight. Even on the most heavily traveled and well maintained rail corridors in this country, a truck driver can beat a train across country, driving completely legally, by several days. If you don't believe me, rail freight delivery times are available on every railroad company's website.


http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/pdf/entire.pdf

Tonnage tables start on page 94.

BTW, in case you aren't aware, there is no single railroad company that one can use to ship anything coast to coast. Not one single railroad offers service from LA to New York or Atlanta to San Francisco for example. There are however, dozens of trucking companies that do offer such services.

Until such time as there is a rail siding behind every store and business in this country, you are never going to seriously reduce the number of trucks needed to conduct interstate freight operations and high speed rail is not the answer to freight movement. You can not climb a mountain range with a 10,000 ton train at 150 mph and you aren't going to tunnel all the way under the Sierra's, the Rockies or the Appalachians.

[wroberts189]

35. Then we agree! More railroads and high speed trains !

And we will still keep a few trucks for the tricky parts.

[lefthandedlefty]

43. Ever seen a derailed train?

Trains can`t make door to door deliverys either so like it or not trucks are here to stay.If you people that have never driven a truck just go ride in one for a day or two you might just change your mind after you pee your pants a time or two.

[wroberts189]

53. So truckers should wear diapers then?

My whole point is that if we had more railways there would be less congestion on the highways and they would be more safe for all ..of course we will always need trucks.

Once this country was full of rail but GM bought them up and killed them.

[Lance_Boyle]

60. They're truckers, not astronauts. n/t

[TrogL]

11. Most people slam on their brakes for a reason

(granted I used to have a bumper sticker that said "I brake for hallucinations")

Truckers need to learn to STOP FUCKING TAILGATING. It's not going to make me drive any faster. I'm trying to keep my distance from the guy in front of me or there's something else in front of me (eg. fog) that makes me want to go slower than the 10 kmh over the speed limit I'm already doing.

[Warpy]

12. West of the Mississippi, I usually saw stupid drivers

trying to cut trucks off. East of the Mississippi, the truckers seemed to take asshole pills and join them in idiocy.

I imagine it looks that way east of the Mississippi because the roads are so much more congested.

[Canuckistanian]

13. I NEVER drive in front of a truck

If he wants to go faster than me, I'll let him by.

And I rarely want to go faster than most trucks.

[wroberts189]

23. I stay clear of them as well. Good advice. nt

[petronius]

14. Hmm. You've been a Texan for about 15 minutes, and you're already rattling your spurs...

:P

Seriously, that's a good reminder. I think a lot of drivers are unclear about what is safe or not to do around a truck (which is not to say that there are no unsafe truck drivers, of course)...

[MichiganVote]

15. ...A PSA to truckers. Quit overloading your rigs. We know you all do it, esp. the pop/beer trucks.

[Nailzberg]

17. You must not mean me. I'm the white whoooosh you just saw outside your window.

On your left, of course.

[Kansas Wyatt]

18. I avoid trucks, but in the KC Metro area...

People are drawn to them like magnets and want to keep pace right along with them. Plenty of open road in front, but they have to crowd around the truck and back up traffic.

Oh the irony... People keeping "safe" by not going over the speed limit to get away from the semi, yet they feel very comfortable crowding around a semi and needlessly causing congested traffic. Those same "safe" people are just begging for a pile-up with a semi.

[stevedeshazer]

24. Thanks. I drive a truck. You wouldn't believe what we have to put up with.

Just stay out of my blind spots and we'll get along fine.

[omega minimo]

34. Beautiful truck!! Always respect the space and make sure they can see you in back too!!

If you can see the truck driver in their side mirror, you're good.

[MadHound]

39. And yet truckers regularly crawl up my ass on the highways and byways around here

Not to mention the fact that they like to speed, run red lights, weave in the lane (and outside of it), crowd you off the road, travel at sixty in the left lane, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

I used to have a lot of respect for truckers, but over the past twenty-thirty years it seems as though more and more truckers have become pill popping, undertrained, assholes who think that having the big rig means they can do whatever the hell they want. I've been damn near killed I don't know how many times by truckers.

I give them all the room in the world, it's a shame that they feel that they don't need it. Instead all they're interested is making time, and they'll do anything in the world in order to make time, and if you're a car in their way, oh well.

[Matariki]

46. how is the person IN FRONT responsible for being 'TOO DAMN CLOSE'???

The American Trucking Association says a safe lead distance from a truck is one second per 10 feet of truck length--read 7 seconds--at any speed at or below 40mph, and 8 seconds above 40mph.

The person FOLLOWING a vehicle needs that information.

[wroberts189]

54. Exactly... there is this thing called brakes they can use to keep distance. nt

[NutmegYankee]

48. How is the victim of tailgating responsible?

A public service announcement from the Compact Car Drivers of America


STOP TAILGATING!

[marketcrazy1]

51. after driving over the road

in an expediter ( large box truck with a small sleeper cab ) I gained a great deal of respect for truckers, in my experience most over the road drivers are very safe and capable. there are some bad apples on the road but the majority know their business and are excellent drivers. in my cross country travels i have been placed in danger by more car drivers than truckers by a LARGE majority! cutting me off, tailgating, passing on the right IN THE MEDIAN!! or slipping in front of me between my truck and the car or truck i am following and slowing down! I mean WTF!!.... nope i have no problem with trucks on the highway, i will follow or cruise along side in a narrow work zone ( in traffic ) if i need to or even drive in the "rocking chair" ( between two rigs ) even in heavy rain ( if i need too ) i trust them to do there job and as long as i drive responsibly there wont be a problem. i know what it takes to drive a big truck so i know what i need to do to make a big rig drivers job easier, if the slow lane is ending i ease up to let the guy change lanes, flash my lights when he changes lanes in front of me to let him know he`s clear or run interference for a driver having a hard time making a lane change because the fucking cars wont let him in!. driving over the road is hard work so try not to make it harder by being inconsiderate.

[NutmegYankee]

56. WTF? Inconsiderate?

I'm driving along in the right lane at regular speed and this trucker comes right on top of me doing 10 mph over and follows my rear by only 10 feet and I'm the inconsiderate one?

[armyowalgreens]

50. I've ran into more douchebag truck drivers in AZ...

They cut you off on the highway going 50 in a 75. They ride your ass if they are in a hurry. They bully you around if they want to get over.

[Coventina]

58. Don't get me started. I've been routinely run off the road by

semis in AZ.

:mad:

[blueamy66]

59. Having just taken a road trip from PHX to Vegas....

:thumbsup:

There are alot of inconsiderate a-hole truckers in AZ.

[myrna minx]

52. I've always had a great respect for truckers and give them plenty of room.

I have been helped out of a couple of roadside jams by some very helpful, thoughtful truckers in my time. :hi: