Posted by trucker 40 on July 24, 2010 at 18:32:00 from (69.148.163.42):
In Reply to: Some drivers... posted by 135 Fan on July 23, 2010 at 16:49:15:
I read this before I went and drove a dump truck this morning.On my first load I was following another truck who knew the way.We always do that.They have different jobs,the boss tells one driver and there were 5 of us following.I was the second truck.Suddenly out of a side street, a woman driving a Ford Ranger cut right in front of me.Of course she had to drive right in front of me all the way across town,maybe 4 miles.She was doing an irritating 25 mph and the speed limit was 30.There is no room to pass,I have 60,000 pounds anyway and it would take a mile probably,not possible in town.Well by the time we got across town,the lead truck was about out of sight,the young guy wasnt looking back I guess,but I closed the gap to where just before the turn I caught him. I got to thinking,I read somewhere that some kinds of tires,with the same numbers on the side of the tire can be an inch or 2 shorter,especially if you buy them at Wal Mart or some cheap place.I dont know how they getb away with doing stuff like that,but they do.I had a car to get inspected a while back,and if the inspector looks,if the tires have different numbers it wont pass.I had a 215 75 14 and a 205 75 14 on the other side,but they were the same height.I ended up buying 2 tires to get 2 with the same numbers,the same height. Driving a big truck I constantly saw this.Car in the hammer lane going 5 mph slower than the rest of the traffic,probably with the cruise set.If you have put smaller tires on,and talking Kilometers,which is roughly half the speed as MPH you could easily be reading 10 kilometers fast.Plus unless you were driving a tractor/trailer or something that slows down slow,or if there was heavy traffic,you have no excuse for being in the hammer,passing,show off,lane a mile before a turn.Driving a tractor/trailer I see that all the time,especially a woman,driving 5 miles,in the hammer lane,and then slow to nearly a stop,to take a turn I can take at 110 mph in a REGULAR CAR.100 kilometers is only around 60 mph,I dont know or care what the speed limit is in Canada anyway.Its 70 mph in most places here unless you are in a city,and some states are 75 maybe even 80 on turnpikes.Driving a big,slow,truck,I have had lots of people give me gestures,some times funny,usually mean,but I seem to notice it was around cities usually.After driving through Chicago all morning I would be in a bad mood too.Maybe not mad enough to flip somebody off,but mad enough to make up a couple of cuss words to call them.
As others already told you,your best response to the finger is to not see it.I know it makes you mad.Ive been so mad before I had to pull over and do my log book and let an idiot go on down the road.
You dont ever want to cause a wreck.You were saying you thought you would slam on your brakes and brake check him.That is a real bad attitude to have on the highway,and it can get you or somebody else,killed.A woman did that a while back,slammed on her brakes in the hammer lane and caused a pileup in Virginia I think it was.Amazingly she wasnt hit,and left the scene,with people killed,big trucks overturned in the median.Witnesses got her license plate number and the cops got her.Prison time for her.20 years if I remember correctly.It was in a magazine called Truckers News a few years ago.
Hey just because somebody flipped you off,you dont brake check him!If the Highway Patrol sees you doing that and you probably will get a ticket at least,and maybe loose your license,and if you cause a wreck,your life is going to change,probably are going to jail.
You dont say what you were driving,but some cars, GM I think,came out of the factory with the speedometer set 5 MPH fast.Because they couldnt get good enough gas mileage to pass some rule the government set up,so they speeded up the speedometer to help gas mileage.It sure is irritating trying to make time and some guy is driving his Blazer down the Interstate,right next to a Yellow Freight with a governor set at 60,and the speed limit 70, and a mile of traffic piled up behind the dummy who doesnt know his vehicle is running slower than the speedometer says.Plus if you get in the passing lane ,you pass.They will write a ticket for obstructing traffic if there is a mile of cars behind you and the speed limit is 70 and everybody except you, are going 75.You go with the flow,as best you can.You dont block the passing lane,but people do it way too much nowdays.If the guy was in the right lane,and you couldnt get over,as long as nobody was behind you,then it would have been time to slow down and get behind the guy in a hurry.Usually they just want you to get out of the way so they can go.Exchanging fingers is a dumb thing to do.Even looking over there is asking for trouble.
One day my wife and I saw on the other side of the Interstate in Iowa,2 guys fighting in the median!Having a CB,Ive seen truck drivers get into an argument,pull over and get into a fight.Usually what happens is the big mouthed guy will try and back down when hes not on the radio.
Unless you were totally right,and knew it,you might have been going 10 or 15 kilometers slower than him,and when you speeded up,maybe by then he didnt care what you did,he was mad and you were making it worse by driving irratically.Thats irritating to cars behind you because they cant tell what you are doing,or going to do next.
You drive in the driving lane,like you are supposed to,if you need to pass you get in the passing lane and pass,if you need to turn,you figure a safe distance from your turn,ease over,slow when you need to, with your turn signal on,and you will have few people flipping you off.If thats not good enough for them,your best bet is to hope they go on down the road.Lots of people have guns and road rage is not a good idea to promote,either side of it.You might be bringing nothing to a gun or knife fight,that you got into over somebody flipping you off.Ridiculous!
That you even thought of Brake Checking him shows that you are not much better than he is,maybe worse.An old truck driving trick is to turn on your head lights and maybe the tailgater will think you are braking.Ive even had the brake lights wired to a toggle switch where I could switch it on any time.I really liked switching on my brake lights when somebody was following too close at night,and then speed up as much as I can.A lot of times they are drafting,which is dangerous. You need a toggle switch that lights up when its on,so you arent driving down the road for hours with your brake lights on.Flip it on,speed up,flip it off after a little while so it looks as if you are braking.
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