This site is dedicated to the millions of men and women who get into those magnificent machines called eighteen wheelers(some have more then 18 wheels), and brave all elements of weather in addition to putting up with crap from the general public, the wonderful bureaucrats and cops who seem to know absolutely nothing in the operation of these machines, much less interuptation of laws governing them, but, continue to collect revenue,(citations, violations, etc.) because well, just because they can get away with it.
To pick up loads from point A and transport it to point B. Once that load is picked up at point A it must be at point B at a certain time and date. In other words these truckers have a schedule they must follow. Trucks haul everything you can image. There are not many products of any kind that are not delivered by truck.
What we have found out is, that the general public when they get behind the wheel are only interested in getting from point A to point B, and GOD help anyone that may get in their way. "Trucks do not need to be on the roads during peak traffic hours," "Damn trucks are always holding up traffic," "We don't need trucks we have the railroad," and I could go on and on. The truth is yes we need the truckers rolling because if they did not then all the commodities and products (and that is everything you can think of) would be sitting in a warehouse somewhere and you would be standing in long lines at these warehouses in order to buy what you would normally buy in the stores. If they do not roll, it would not take long before the shelves in the stores would begin to thin out. While the railroad does haul the items that the big trucks do, they still must offload these railroad cars and load them on trucks before they reach their final destination. As a matter of fact I have never seen a box car being backed up to a loading dock.
The general public does not have the knowledge of what it takes to navigate these eighteen wheelers. The fact that depending on how much weight these trucks are hauling is a major factor in how long it will take to stop, and even if the trailers were empty it would still take a football feild to stop one of these trucks. The professional trucker averages about 120,000 miles plus per year (thats more miles in one year then the general public drives in ten years) . They drive in every type of weather condition and know how to handle their rigs. The main objective is to pick the proper lane to drive in and to keep there eyes moving around them and far ahead in order to spot trouble and still have plenty of time to react. There are many blind spots while driving these rigs and the worst one is to the immediate right of them. THEY CAN'T SEE YOU. Understand that some trucks will run at 60 MPH, some 65 MPH, some 70MPH and so on depending on what the manufacturer has set the engines or the company that owns them want them set. So, when you see one truck trying to pass another and it takes some time realize that these drivers are not messing with you in that the truck they are driving just won't run any faster then they are going. They will eventually pass then you could go by. Many times when this happens, when the four wheeler passes the big truck the driver of the four wheeler will render a half peace sign or pull right in front of the truck and worst yet hit their brakes. Do you realize how much damage this could cause? The truckers first reaction would be to hit his/her brakes and the possibility of the trailer jack-knifing and hitting whatever is to the right or left of the trailer is very good... while the driver whom hit their brakes just drives off into the sunset. Hence this and many other scenarios is where the trucker will be left holding the bag and attributes to many facts that most truck crashes are caused by four wheelers. Here are more items pertaining to the general public on trucks.
Item 1
An automobile following a truck too close for the purpose of saving gas. The driver of the automobile cannot see a thing except the rear of the trailer. What if something up ahead causes the trucker to have to stop, swerve, etc.?
Item 2
An automobile coming off the feeder road onto the freeway. It seems truckers say, the general public seems to have reason to believe that the freeway yields to the ramp. People when you are entering onto the freeway either gas on it and go out or wait until it is safe to do so. Many people just keep coming and then when they are just about on the freeway you can see them look in their rear view mirrors, and then its too late. Most of the time the trucker has nowhere to go because there might be traffic in the lane next to the truck and the only alternative is either hit the brakes or hit the automobile trying to enter the freeway. Once again the trailer can jack-knife.
Item 3
Automobiles that think it is neccesary to hang out with the big trucks whether its running along side the right of the truck or the left of the truck in the case of a three lane freeway. The trucker is going to drive in which ever lane he/she deems to be the safest. He knows whats up ahead and if you are on either side you don't, besides the fact that in each of those 18 wheels on that truck there is an average of 95 pounds of air. If one blows you could be in for some major troubles. Besides that most truck tires except for the steering tires are recaps and when they come off they can go any which way. The best thing is to stay away from the trucks and leave them alone.
Item 4
Those people that pass a big truck and them slow down in front of them, then the truck passes the automobile and the automobile passes the truck and on and on, the question is what in the world are you doing? This scenario just does not make any sense unless the automobile just wants to mess with the truck.
Item 5
When passing a big truck it seems many people think they need to have their bright lights on. When you pass a truck those big mirrors reflect those bright lights and can blind the driver. The trucker be it known is very well aware that you are going to pass, so just go ahead and pass the truck.
Item 6
Most people must have their signal lights in the back seat or in the trunk. It would seem like just a simple thing like signal lights which are supposed to be just left of the steering wheel would be used. Its a form of communication, so use them.
Item 7
The idea of an automobile passing a big truck then slowing down in front of the truck to exit is absurd. This is most inconsiderate of the automobile driver. Once again this can cause a major crash. People use your head.
What the truckers are stating about some of their own in respect to new drivers is recently there have been many people who have attended what is known as truck driving schools. Although there have been many of these drivers whom have graduated from these schools with high marks, the best training is riding with an experienced driver and learn the rules of the road. As stated there are certain rules of the road the experienced drivers follow like after passing another truck waiting until the truck passed either flashes his lights or turns them off before moving back over. This is only common courtesy because it tells the driver passing that he/she has passed safely and has left enough space between the two trucks where the driver being passed feels comfortable with that distance. This is especially true in rain as the spray from the road could hamper the driver being passed. Another scenario is not using signal lights. Communication is very important and this is one way to do that. Following vehicles to close. The general public has a habit of doing this and we sure do not need professional drivers practicing this dangerous habit.
We could go on and on in respect to listing more of the above items. The fact is that truckers have a job to do and that is to make sure that the goods and services are there in the stores for you. They only get paid when those big wheels are rolling. Most of them have appointment times when they reach destination and so to speak they have a schedule they must follow. If they do not make their appointment time they will have to go to the bottom of the list and many times there can be as many as fifty trucks waiting to be unloaded. They don't get paid for waiting and therefore by having to wait they stand a chance of losing their next load. For the most part these men and women are great people just doing a job that is most important. People don't realize this. Truckers have always been known to help other people along side the highways and you folks know that. However these days with crime up many truckers are afraid to do this. There are some real horror stories out there about this preceeding subject. These truckers have families to. They stay out on the road, are away from home and their families. They are charged inflated rates at truck stops for food and services only because they have the facilities for these truckers to park their trucks and because of that they have no choice but to patronize these truck stops. Realize this, these trucks take a long time to reach the speed limit so when they have to slow down it just slows down traffic behind them since it will take a while to get back up to speed. Stay away from them, they are professionals and they know what they are doing but they need room to maneuver so they can navigate in the safest possible way. If you want to hear something sad just get yourself access to a CB radio and go to channel 19 around Christmas time. Then listen to the stories of how some truckers are not going to make it home at Christmas. Truckers you got my salute, take care and be safe: Counselor 52
A good web site for truckers to keep up with is TRUCK NET. Just click on truck net and go there.
Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Some of you have read them many have not. Do yourself a favor and go over these regulations because they could save you fines. Many of the law enforcement officials (I hate that word because they were originally suppose to be peace officers) do not know the law as it is suppose to be. Section 392.20 and 392.21 deal with parking on the roadway. Section 397.7 deal with hauling hazardness materials and parking on the roadway. Section 395.13(b)(3) deals with log books. If you are six days current they must allow you time to update the seventh day. No fine imposed. As far as the scales are concerned, you cannot be stopped on the roadway if the line into the scales are out on the road. That goes for any of the several states. I don't care what they say.
