Ok let me set this one up for you. On Christmas Eve several years ago I was working for Fedex Ground out of Columbus, OH. Me and my partner were coming back from St. Paul after being delayed 2 days due to lack of freight. We had just crossed over the Ohio line on I-70 headed East Bound. There was a rain/snow mix coming down and the tempter was dropping and the road was starting to freeze in spots.

With that said I was traveling along at between 50/55 because it was starting to get slick and I had a set of light doubles on. One was half full the other one empty. When out of the blue an MCT truck comes up beside me doing 65/70 tailgating a 4 wheeler with 4 people in it. I politely got on the CB and asked the driver why he wanted to kill those people that hadn’t done anything to him. Trying to kind of wake him up to the fact that he was riding way to close to the car for good conditions let alone bad. I was promptly told to go **** myself and then got the ("I'll drive my truck you drive you’rs"). I understand that we all have bad days. I also understand that it was Christmas Eve and he may have been trying to get home for the holidays. How much time do you think this driver really saved be trying to push this 4 wheeler down the road? How much time would he have lost if he had killed someone? The way I have it figured about 8 to 10 for every count knowing the Buckeye. As far as I know he didn’t kill anyone "THAT NIGHT" but I though id throw this out there just as something to think about with the holiday season appon us again. Your family would rather have you home a little late, but alive and free. Than dead or doing time in a super max prison for homicide. Its stunts like this that gives us all a bad name.

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Armodin Storm Crow

The Storm is coming are you ready ?

This is so true! I don't know why some drivers feel the need to tail gate. I can see why some people in 4-wheelers do it, becuase it's just to easy to get a license these days. That doesn't justify it by any means, but the reality is that alot of people on the road should be strictly passengers. Truck Drivers on the other hand are held to higher standards. There is absloutely nothing professional about riding someone's butt down the highway. To many things can happen.

When I was in training to drive a truck I had a mentor that was tail gate king! Not only did he do it, but he expected the same from me. I heard him say many times that "those damn 4-wheelers were taking his money by driving to slow." We were in a small town in Iowa one night where the speed limit was posted at 35mph. He was still driving the previous highway speed. There was a stop sign in the town where he pulled up behind another car. I bet a small child could not have walked through the space between our truck and the car! He was blinding the peple with his bright lights and then layed on the air horn and started yelling. Luckily for those people they turned off in the town and got the heck out of his way.

It's pretty sad that someone can be so selfish and dangerous on our highways. Guess the guy never bothered to think about what would happen if he would run over someone. The last I knew, you don't go to prison and make a trucker's living. Maybe the scariest thing of all is that this guy thought he was above an accident.

On a much more positive note...I turned out to be a very safe and curtiousy driver and this guy is no longer a trainer. I just pray that he never hurts someone.

tailgaters probably get a kick out of riding up behind a small car and scaring the **** out of them, not that I would know anything about that

I just drove through the storm in the Midwest this week. It was not just the four wheelers that were causing problems...so were some 18 wheelers. I was blinded by supertruckers passing me in blowing blizzard conditions with sleet and rain coming down. I was doing 45 because of the dangerous conditions. FedEx, UPS, and lighted up supertruckers were passing at 65 or faster(and some company truckers)! I could not see through the snow and water they threw up so I know a small four wheeler could not. I88 was a 4.5 hour trip from Iowa to where I could finally find an unblocked ramp to get off...18 wheelers, cars, trucks, SUV's off the road everywhere....and all during the 4 hours on I88 a trucker from Iowa was complaining because a 4 wheeler in front of him was in his way on the one lane open road. Conditions were no plowing, blowing, white out conditions....demanding caustious driving....
what load is so important that lives must be put in danger? If you die or kill someone....somebody else will deliver your load...your company or freight broker will not miss you for longer than it takes to get someone else to haul your load.
Be safe and courteous out there!
Deb

That's usually the response I get, but I keep reminding them because tailgating to me is the worst. I figure they won't stop doing it while in your view because they need to prove how macho they are, but maybe when they get up the road it will sink in and they will back off a bit. Sometimes you get the old standby "mind your own business", then I just explain to them that it is my business when people drive unsafely on my highway! They usually then want to start some sort of physical altercation by pulling over on the shoulder which I can never understand because they are obviously in a big hurry so how do they have time to pull over on the shoulder to get into a physical altercation?

Gotta love the CB Rambos and there drive by butt whoppings LOL.

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Armodin Storm Crow

The Storm is coming are you ready ?

Sounds like a situation I had going through Medford Or. this summer. I saw him in and out of the slow lane passing a lot of folks and he passed me right on the back bumper of a 4 wheeler...I told him don't be a jerk and his reply was the same as you got. I gotta tell you, we are all lumped into the same gaggle, Truckers too fast and too big and too many. The more we can do to improve the image the better off we will all be.

Skinner

It is basically IGNORANCE!! The problem is truckers don't have any such respect like they use to in the old days for one another. They should have more commercials informing the public into differant situations that we trucks and four wheelers face. It seems they force you into education in high school then forget about you after that. As we know driving out here you are always learning! There are way to many needless deaths out here and any big truck driving in a reckless manner cost us all time and money due to increased inspections and fines.
As for you drive your truck and I'll drive mine. The ignorant one will always loose in the long run.
Be safe and god bless!

Food For Thought

ERIE, Pa. — About 50 vehicles including an ambulance piled up in a massive chain-reaction crash in a snowstorm on [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. on Thursday, killing one motorist and shutting down the highway for nearly 15 hours, officials said.

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

Take a look at the 1st Photo. It looks to me like the first 4 or 5 trucks belong to the same company. Were they packed up because they were running together? Did they slow down enough for the conditions? What was their following distance? All good questions that I'm sure these drivers will have to answer. The other one I would ask is what were you doing on the road in those kind of conditions in the first place? Just throwing that out there for everyone to chew on.

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Armodin Storm Crow

The Storm is coming are you ready ?

Alright here's a question. with cars it is a car length for every 10 mph so is it a truck length for every 10 mph. I would think so bcuz they take a lot longer to stop. That said why is it every time I get on the interstate, somewhere along my 20 minute drive, and look up and see a semi that appears to b in my backseat. ###, I mean u cannot honestly fit my car in those spaces most the time. I'm getting a little bit sick of it, bcuz we all know that driving is one of the most stressful things, and if I had to slow down for any reason, the truck would definitely hit me, so I hav to worry about my life every time a truck gets right on my bumper. R u all really so sadistic that u hav to inflict fear into a person's mind. I mean really, that serves u a purpose, obviously, so I guess the next time it happens to me, I'll just tell myself. Well, my pain and fear will help this driver deliver his load that much better. Here's my service to u America!