More semis in the left lane these days?

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I drive I 90 and I 5 quite a bit in the seattle area. What I have noticed recently is semis camping in the left lane. Slows down traffic quite a bit.

I thought semis could not use the left lane . Have you noticed this in your area?
 
More everyone in the left lane these days. But semi's, yeah I notice an increase. I used to go from Indiana into Michigan a lot. Indiana had no law about left lane but Michigan had signs posted that trucks above lbs must not travel in left lane, or something to that effect. You would see them move from left over to right sometimes as they crossed into MI, if they were left lane when going in. I think MSP enforced it pretty thoroughly.
 
Unless there's a sign that specifically says "Trucks prohibited from left lane," trucks are allowed in the left lane. However, the left lane is for passing only (this applies to all vehicles, not just trucks), so they should get back into the right lane if they're not passing anyone, same as any other vehicle.
 
The worst for me is when I have to take I-65 down to Indianapolis. The trucks just love to clog up the left lane playing leap-frog and seeing how long they can stay in the left lane going 0.5MPH faster than the truck in the right lane that they're passing.
 
When I drive from Ft. Worth to Tulsa I drive in the right lane because there is hardly anyone else in the right lane.
 
Originally Posted By: opus1
The worst for me is when I have to take I-65 down to Indianapolis. The trucks just love to clog up the left lane playing leap-frog and seeing how long they can stay in the left lane going 0.5MPH faster than the truck in the right lane that they're passing.

0.5MPH?
It thought is 0.000000001MPH (aka 15-20 minutes to pass one semi)
 
Right lanes are usually bumpy and in worst shape that the left lanes because, Large overloaded trucks have damaged the right lanes. Ed
 
I saw some of that on my cross country road trip last summer but not enough to really flag it as unusual given the conditions. What I did notice as a problem is when a truck governed at 65.5 mph tried to pass a truck governed at 65.2 mph. The passing truck can't go any faster, and the truck being passed usually refuses to back off at all, thus tying up the road for miles with a turtle race.
 
Originally Posted By: VeryNoisyPoet
... What I did notice as a problem is when a truck governed at 65.5 mph tried to pass a truck governed at 65.2 mph. The passing truck can't go any faster, and the truck being passed usually refuses to back off at all, thus tying up the road for miles with a turtle race.
They used to do that racing each other up the long upgrades of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, one in the right lane at 35 mph, and the passing one at
 
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Originally Posted By: exranger06
Unless there's a sign that specifically says "Trucks prohibited from left lane," trucks are allowed in the left lane. However, the left lane is for passing only (this applies to all vehicles, not just trucks), so they should get back into the right lane if they're not passing anyone, same as any other vehicle.


When I went through Sage truck driving school back in '04, the instructors told us in class that semis are supposed to stay out of the far left lane when there are more than two lanes running in the same direction, even if there were no signs posted that prohibited trucks from using that lane. The instructors said semis should stay in the right two lanes...I see them using the far left lane all the time now, like they think that lane is there specifically for them or something...
 
Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: opus1
The worst for me is when I have to take I-65 down to Indianapolis. The trucks just love to clog up the left lane playing leap-frog and seeing how long they can stay in the left lane going 0.5MPH faster than the truck in the right lane that they're passing.

0.5MPH?
It thought is 0.000000001MPH (aka 15-20 minutes to pass one semi)


Those guys should be ticketed for impeding traffic flow...
 
Hwy 99 here in central Cal you see a lot of trucks running the left lane, coming west on I 10 saw a CHP cruiser pulling next to a lot of trucks and Rv's running the left and middle lanes and motioning them to get over on the right lane
 
It seems the left lane is the ONLY lane here in Florida!! It isn't just trucks, its every moron on the road down here! and here I didn't think any place could be worse than Maryland... wrong!
 
Central Florida roads are a free-for all in terms of lane use and speeds.
Big trucks in every lane, slow drivers in the left lane, fast drivers in the right lane, everyone tapping on brakes for no apparant reason.

I have family in a European country. There, the semis are restricted to the far right lane. While far from perfect, the traffic flow is much more structured than here.
 
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