Well...the trucker(s) know me.

[spacer]

Originally Posted by Ladogaboy

Are semis in CO allowed to do 65 mph in a 65 mph zone? I know that here, anything hauling a trailer is SUPPOSED to be doing 55 mph (even if the posted speed is 70 mph).

Yep, so long as there isn't a separate posted speed limit. However, given that a large majority of car/truck rear end accidents involve a car running into the back of a truck, I think it's a bad idea to have two large groups of traffic driving at such disparate speeds. Not only that... a ten mph speed cut represents a huge pay cut.
Would you take around a 15% pay cut because someone (usually entirely unschooled in trucking in the first place) decided it would be safer...whatever your field?

[Ladogaboy]

Interesting. 2.5 hours = 15% pay cut? (calculating a 1,000-mile trip @ 65 mph versus 55 mph)

[brucepick]

My response to these situations is a question:
"Is that person going to buy my gas so I can go faster to please them?"
Yeah, right.

That said, I do make an effort to not obstruct people, or not too much anyway. Mostly I drive on interstates with enough lanes so that I can be passed, and many of the local and city roads I use also have multiple lanes. Pass me if you want to; fine by me.

Sometimes another driver will stay behind me and not pass; so I figure that was their decision. Sometimes a driver will pull out from behind me, put the pedal to the metal and get away from me as fast as they can. Ho hum. Can't please everyone.

The guy who tailgates and then stomps on the gas is being almost legal - tailgating isn't legal so far as I know. If I'm driving a few miles under the limit and some think I should be over it, well, "and your point is????" would be an appropriate response. Getting out of your way is NOT my job. Staying out of accidents is.

As for tailgating, the worst offenders in my state are often the police. They seem to think nothing of following less than a car length behind the car in front, at highway speeds, in the left lane. Of course it usually only takes a few seconds for the lead car to get out of their way. But what kind of example are they setting?? I can see police officers speeding with lights on to catch up to an offender or to get to an accident scene. But tailgating?? My guess is they've each tried safer and more civil approaches to the problem but were not rewarded by getting what they wanted.

[spacer]

Originally Posted by Ladogaboy

Interesting. 2.5 hours = 15% pay cut? (calculating a 1,000-mile trip @ 65 mph versus 55 mph)

Bone up on DOT regs. We're talking a difference of a 650 mile workday as opposed to maybe 500 or so, traffic permitting.
...and we're usually paid by the mile. The percentage was merely a ballpark guess, but when you count time wasted looking for parking at the end of a legal shift, the reduced flexibility in planning a route... thus more often having less choice in what time to traverse busy metropolitan areas and their traffic... now I don't expect the average 4 wheeler to "get it", but I'll at least try.

Yeah, one could always cheat on the logbooks, but not all of us do that.

[slowmover]

Hey, spacer, there's a whole bunch of 'em think nothing of tailgatin' a big truck around here. Truck drivers ain't really human beings with legitimate concerns about vehicle spacing. Besides, it's helping that big truck get better mileage (which is my favorite).

I'll stay out of the way as would anyone while in my personal vehicle. And help get commercial traffic around me since I know they're paying attention. Hard to figure that with 80+% of four wheelers so I might not. No reason for the risk until it's safe for me to pull over out of the way.

.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally Posted by spacer

Bone up on DOT regs. We're talking a difference of a 650 mile workday as opposed to maybe 500 or so, traffic permitting.
...and we're usually paid by the mile. The percentage was merely a ballpark guess, but when you count time wasted looking for parking at the end of a legal shift, the reduced flexibility in planning a route... thus more often having less choice in what time to traverse busy metropolitan areas and their traffic... now I don't expect the average 4 wheeler to "get it", but I'll at least try.

Yeah, one could always cheat on the logbooks, but not all of us do that.

I'm not criticizing, just asking.

But in terms of cheating on the books... It sounds like you are making a personal choice as to which law/regulation you are going to break (logbook versus posted speed) but are assuming that one of them must be broken. Translating that elsewhere in the world, that is like me (I work in a highly regulated profession) saying that if I take a particular shortcut, which is illegal, I can increase my pay by 15%. That's a very tempting option for the self-employed... I'm just not sure that it is the right one.

[99metro]

I am DEFINITELY not a leading expert of truck drivers. However, most every male in my family drives an OTR truck. I could just never quite bring myself into that career. Working with gas turbines just seemed to fit better. I hear the stories, share experiences, 4 wheelers vs trucks, crazy driving. I spent years on the interstates driving along with the trucks, CB blaring away the whole time. I always had a CB in every vehicle since my 1968 Chevy Nova back in 1979. You learn a lot just listening. Sometimes you just gotta turn the thing off when someone starts making irritating noise.

Point is...when I'm putt-puttin' along hypermiling my Chevy Metro, the truckers don't know any of this. I'm just another 4 wheeler (stereotyped of course) that needs running over. If they knew, I'm sure they would just pass, I'd flash when it's safe, they'd flash thank you, and be on our merry way SHARING THE ROAD and being courteous to one another. My opinion is that generally the local truckers are by far the worst at anything, and the professional drivers are truly the best. Night and day. I am aware of what they don't know, so I just try to be safe around them and try to stay out of their way. The way I see it, they are working on the clock and doing a job.

[slowmover]

The problem of trucking is the nature of the work rules & compensation. The driver is the one squeezed from every direction. Nearly all the risk (not just safety) devolves onto him.

The nature of the comment above about 650 versus 500 miles is that unthinking people make the job worse. Like, rolling past the stop line when coming to a larger road. One may be behind the "curb line" but one is now well within the intersection by being ahead of the stop sign. It's not legal, everyone does it (blah, blah) but the truck driver must react to it, every time, without fail. That cuts the time/distance equation if nothing else. The driver might not slow down, but he sure can't grab the next gear on the acceleration stair either. Chips away at the days time/distance, it does, with this one example of a great many.

That one can't be bothered to think of their actions having an effect on others is what was being referenced.

Being paid by the mile to do this work is at the heart of the problem.

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[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by Ladogaboy

I'm not criticizing, just asking.

But in terms of cheating on the books... It sounds like you are making a personal choice as to which law/regulation you are going to break (logbook versus posted speed) but are assuming that one of them must be broken.

I love that one. I see it with the guys who get pissed at me for not doing 90. They want to do 90, but that double yellow is apparently 3 feet high- their car can't cross it because that would be illegal!

[johnunit]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

I love that one. I see it with the guys who get pissed at me for not doing 90. They want to do 90, but that double yellow is apparently 3 feet high- their car can't cross it because that would be illegal!

Assuming the people designating where it's a double yellow have done their job, 90mph is a lot safer than passing in a double yellow area. Especially with the faster closing speeds and slower acceleration associated with those speeds.