Originally Posted By: gman2304
'I like trucks just fine, and they're usually the most courteous drivers I encounter. UNTIL one that wants to do 67 mph decides to pass one doing 65 mph on the 80-mph limit interstate (or 85 mph limit tollway!) and jams up both lanes for a half mile behind. That's just rude, and for some reason the slower truck always refuses to slow slightly and let the other guy get by faster. They just form a rolling roadblock for the couple of miles it takes to complete the pass at a 2-3 mph speed difference. I've seen passes like that completed with a speed differential well below walking speed at times, too.'
^ The bean counters and safety departments are usually the cause of this. Our trucks are governed to 1,550 rpm's 'though the factory redline is 2,200 rpm's' and 65 mph. If you exceed the rpm's or speed that is programmed into the computer, you get a voice activated warning that you have exceeded the set speed and/or rpm. If you get too many in a set time, you get called into the office for a 'consultation.' If the truck is idled for more than 4 minutes it will audibly give you an 'idle warning'. I have gotten 'idle warnings' while sitting at a stoplight. Our trucks also have an 'early warning system' that beeps if it senses you are too close to the vehicle in front of you. I've had it beep and apply the brakes when vehicles were 1/4 mile ahead of me. It's another world we have to operate under nowadays, and driver frustration has never been higher. If a truck is struggling to get around me and is backing up traffic, I lift off the throttle and let him pass. I have been in that situation at times, and it's usually the young guys who won't give you a break. I only work 1 day a week now and only go to other company warehouses. I don't go to our stores any more and usually never more than 100 miles away if I do work. I had a woman trying to merge onto the highway yesterday, when I had 3 vehicles in the lane beside me and I had a choice of running over the cars in the lane to my left or slow down to allow her onto the highway. I slowed but she slowed as well so she ran out of on ramp and by the time she slowed enough to allow me to get by, we both were crawling along on a 6 lane highway with a posted speed of 70 mph. I'm sure she thought it was up to me to be courteous and move over for her, but what she couldn't see was that I had 3 cars on my left side, and I was pulling one of the newer trailers with the aero skirt under it so she couldn't have seen the predicament I was in. When she finally did pass me she was on the phone and was probably calling the safety dept number that's on the back door of our trailers, telling them what an idiot they have driving for them. I wish some here could ride with me just one day, and see some of the idiots I/we have to deal with every time we get into a truck.
Oh, I feel for you. I drive a lot, I sometimes tow a trailer that slows my acceleration and braking down, and I've seen all the same things. Even in an un-loaded muscle car with a TON of surplus power, braking, and handling like the SRT, other drivers can put me into difficult situations, and do so regularly. Usually because they make poor choices or aren't paying attention, just like your lady on the on-ramp (excessively timid drivers are, IMO, one of the most dangerous things to encounter right after distracted drivers, and she probably combined both!) Drivers who pass then immediately brake for a right turn. Drivers who run down a merge lane at top speed but don't even start looking and aligning with gaps in traffic until the last second. People that actively try to block anyone from merging in front of them (heaven forbid!). People who try to turn left across three lanes of packed city traffic instead of going to a light and making a U-turn (can't tell you how many bad accidents happen right outside my office window because 2 lanes stop to let a car turn and the third lane driver has clear road and never slows down).
But I do sometimes see the same bad decisions going on behind the wheel of commercial trucks and busses, also. My gripe isn't with drivers, its with BAD drivers whatever they are driving.
