Driving Around Big Rigs

[EvolutionCalling]

Next time you are driving and a truck driver does something "wrong" to you, please stop and think: did he do something wrong, or did I?

We are the professionals.  We do this for a living.  We are not out there trying to run you over, cut you off, or otherwise hinder your driving experience.

I am a little tired of trying not to kill people who do stupid crap around my truck.  If I kill somebody, guess who gets the blame.  Yup, me.  Whether or not I was really at fault is irrelevant.  I am the truck driver, I killed somebody, it's my fault.

Acceleration and deceleration ramps are for just that.  Don't get on the interstate doing 35mph.  Additionally, don't wait until you are at the end of the ramp to look over your shoulder and see whats there.  I drive a bright red truck, you can't miss it.  Why do people act shocked to see it there like it's been hiding just waiting for them to try and get on the highway?  We can't always move over to let you merge.  It's a lot easier for you to either speed up and get in front of us (without cutting us off), or suck it up and slow down to get behind us for a couple seconds.

As I write this, my truck weighs 79,820lbs.  Most trucks, when loaded, will weigh something similar.  We CAN'T stop on a dime.  Driving at highway speeds, at that weight, it would take me over 300 feet to stop.  So please don't get in front of a truck and slam on your brakes.  You won't win the resulting confrontation.

Ever watch us make a turn?  It's a pretty safe bet that we are going to have to use more than one lane in whatever direction we are turning.  So, if you come around a blind curve on your motorcycle and see a truck making a turn off an exit ramp onto the road you are on, slow down and let him turn.  Don't try and shoot around the truck on the right side and then get pissed when you almost get hit.  Once we are in a turn, our vision is pretty limited, not to mention we are trying to pay attention to where we are going.

Please, pay attention around trucks.  Don't tail gate us, cut us off, or cruise along side of us.  If something goes wrong, you will be DEAD.

[susangail]

I'm so sorry people are idiots. I never looked at it this way. Thanks for the new perspective.

[Evolved]

Thanks for the great advice, EvolutionCalling.  It's always helpful to get this kind of information from people who are actually in the trenches doing the job.  I felt so sorry for the truck driver that lost his life in Florida a few weeks ago when he had to swerve in order to avoid a pickup in front of him and he went off an overpass.  This was the accident that shut down I-75 and 301.

[EvolutionCalling]

There are 14 commercial truck related fatalities every day in the US.  That's 5110 people dead each year, and it could all be prevented by people paying attention.  There is a documentary out called 'Big Rig' and I highly recommend it.  It give people an idea of what we go through every day.  Thanks for your understanding and support!

[afreethinker30]

A good friend of mine use to drive one.He told me so much dumb stuff people have done while driving around him.He also told me about the of the stuff other people do while diving too