jayelee

I got to tell you as the wife of thirty years of a truckdriver I have heard it all I have often laughed at my husband when he would complain about 4 wheelers I get claustrophobia so I dont go with him often The last time I went we were in NY city slowing down to come up to a stop sign and a woman comes from behind us pulls in front of us ans stops at the stop sign needless to say accident happened fortunately for us cop sitting in parking lot across street saw everything He thinks woman did it on purpose to collect insurance money Gave her ticket First accident for husband and his truck ever. He was devastated Me I was angry.

maryb119

Excellent advise!!! My son is a truck driver and has said the same things you did. What a great reminder.

Charlee

and of course no "4-wheeler" would DREAM of cutting off a big truck just so they don't have to be behind them on the road...nor would they expect the big truck to be able to stop on a dime or turn a corner the same way they do in their compact car...and heaven forbid that same 4-wheeler yield the right of way to a big truck, they'd rather be ballsy and pit that 3000 lb car against that 80,000 lb truck.

When William and I were driving team, I saw an article about accident statistics. At that time (about 2001) less than ONE percent of all motor vehicle accidents involved big trucks. Of that one percent, LESS than ONE percent was deemed to be the big truck's fault.

I read a letter to an editor once that suggested that big trucks be kept off of the interstates during the hours of 7am to 10pm! I had to laugh at that one... the Interstate Hiway system was a product of the Eisenhour administration and was built for the purpose of interstate COMMERCE...for the big trucks to transport goods...

If you have it, a truck and trucker brought it... do I get a bit defensive of truckers? You betcha. Not all of them are good guys or good drivers....but our country wouldn't run without them!

bearisgray

We are agreed. There are some jerks in big rigs. (By the way, they anger the other drivers, too) There are some jerks on four wheels.

The point of this post is to remind people of some of the physical characteristics of handling a big, articulated (bends at the kingpin - that's a peg that drops into the fifth wheel - which is that horseshoe shaped thing on the back of a tractor that's bobtailing - it doesn't have a trailer hooked on to it) rig.

They are big. They need more room to make turns. They can't accelerate or slow down as quickly as smaller, lighter vehicles.

I had not realized, until I rode with DH, how many of these things I should have known BEFORE I had been with him in the truck.

brushandthimble

My son drove a truck not a semi and from him I learned that if I can't see his mirror he can't see me. I had a semi pull in front of me (almost next to me), I wanted to beleve he didn't know I was there.
Thank you for the gentle reminder, to keep all of us safe:)

b.zang

We have a big forestry industry around here and share the road with a lot of logging trucks. Now THERE'S a truck driver I sure admire. They say the job is 99% boring and 1% sheer panic, but there is nothing that could entice me to sit in front a few thousands pounds of logs all pointing at me, twisting and turning my way down a narrow, often icy track gaining speed the whole way. NOPE.

bgullett

My very best friend is a truck driver and I have ridden with him on several occasions. I heard his stories, I actually saw them. While there are some truck drivers out there trying to be "superdriver", the majority aren't. A little bit of common sense from a smaller vehicle would be greatly appreciated by this men/women. They have a job to do and most smaller vehicles are in a hurry to get somewhere. We all have family and loved ones, a little bit of courtesy towards those big rig drivers would surely be appreciated. I want my friend home safely each time he goes out and I am sure everyone else wants their loved one homes too without incident. Unfortunately the big rig driver will survive versus the small vehicle driver.

Born2Sew

I think all of these "rules" should be taught in Driver's Ed for all students. It should be mandatory for them to learn these facts. I never knew about all those facts until my hubby was a trucker. Yes indeedy, there are professionals and there are those that shouldn't be behind any kind of wheel that moves.

One time he had been delivering to a store when this woman came up to him, obviously drinking since she just left the bar that was practically beside his delivery point. She accused him of backing into her car. He told her that yes indeed he'd be glad for her to call the cops. There was no damage to his truck anywhere, and she had obviously been drinking, did she still want to call them????????? Didn't think so....

twistedsheets

Well I myself will end this with. Almost everything in your house food, furniture, toilet paper, baby diapers in one form or another, was transported by a truck. Some one will say railway! It got to the railroad by truck and from the railway by truck. Some of us remember the strike way back, and remember when the stores were empty of such things as those diapers and t.p.The drivers family stocked up ahead of time, I know I did!! But the roads are their for anyone. Equally we should share them, and be curteous to others and understand we need to know ourselves, accidents are usually caused by someone . And we need to make sure that someone is not OURSELF!! I prefer to die surrounded by my family, natural causes, not someone scraping my ashes from the site of an accident!!

Born2Sew

Not being from Arkansas, I hope I get the facts right. Arkansas was one of the states he drove to regularly. He frequently went up by Boston Mtn and the 9 mile hill I think is what it's called. If not, someone will correct me and set me straight. I know it's the one with the sign at the bottom with the warning about how many folks have been killed on it.

Anyway, I had a dream one night that his truck went off the side of that mountain. Since many of my dreams are spot on, I was worried sick until he called. I told him I was sweating bullets waiting to hear from him and explained my dream. He told me about meeting someone driving a Jaguar passing everything on the road. They were headed straight for him and there was no place for him to go to get out of the way, but off the side of the mountain. Needless to say, he decided he wasn't going to go out that way. Nice people the Jaguar was passing made sure he was able to get back into the right lane.

It always scared me on those little narrow roads in Arkansas. When you cross a bridge and look out the window and all you can see is water and no side of the bridge, I about had a heart attack. I couldn't be a trucker at all, have the utmost respect for them...

God bless everyone of them!