How is this possible?

OTR means you run all over the country, every state. Then there is regional , meaning they run only certain parts of the country. Then there is local, who usually operate around town.

 

OTR is Over the Road, which is normally 48 lower and Canada (although I see no reason to go to Canada)

Regional is normally west coast, 11 west, south west, southeast, east coast, midwest, northeast. Running regional normally keeps a driver closer to home.

Linehaul mostly encompasses point to point, such as FedX drivers that run Los Angeles / Phoenix and back the next day.

Local which is exactly what it sounds like, maybe as far as 5 hours then back in the same day, home everyday.

No its not all OTR, although I know of several driver that are constantly.

 

i'm calling "Bill Shatner" on this one. I cannot tell you how many drivers i've 'flashed' over the last few days, and i KNOW for a fact they see it. But have too much pride or ego or both, to flash a 'thank you' back. I can't count on my hands how many drivers i see each day not use a turn signal, cut off a 4-wheeler just to get around a "slower" truck. By "slower" i mean the other truck is running a mile an hour "slower".

Not to mention the lack of road reports. I saw a stretch of about 5 miles, and about a bear a mile...and not once, did i hear a road report. I give a report, and never get a thank you. I mention some good lookin' lady with shorty shorts, and i've got 2-3 drivers asking "whats the 20 on the legs?!"

 

Well I for one don't care about your Bear reports as I drive the speed limit. I also don't care about open or closed scales because I run legal weights and legal logs. However if somebody asks for a Bear report or if the scales are open I surely answer back.

As far as acknowledging flashers, if it's at night and I get blinded by high beam flashers then I just get pissed. If on the other hand you flash off your running lights or your headlights then I acknowledge you back.

During the day I don't need your flashing, because I don't try to cut back in the lane until I am way past you. Now if you hail me on the CB, I'll respond and shoot the ##### with you anytime. It's good to talk with a professional driver now and then, instead of the morons who proclaim that they don't have any panties on.

 

I prefer boxer briefs myself. Panties are too confining.

But back to the subjects at hand.
I agree with the high beam thing. I really really hate it when someone flashes high beams at night.
I do however flash a thank you during the day for high beams. I would rather low beams, but I know that many cars have headlights that cannot be turned off these days.
Most newer trucks are the same way. Some have an interrupt switch, many do not.
Sometimes I am sure I do not notice it also. But I always try to be nice and helpful when on the road.
I have nothing else to do accept pay attention to the road and what is around me. I see no reason to be rude.
Though if I had the PA speaker under my bumper that I want to get many people would hear me.
Every time idiot needs to merge and just sits next to me I would say "HIT THE GAS STUPID", or "BACK OFF, I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO".
They need to remember that it is the job of the merging person to merge. Not the job of the person in the lane to move to accommodate them. Our job is to maintain speed and space.

 

The other .05% are the ones who are trying so hard to check out the girl in the car passing them in thier rearview mirror, that they drift over the line just as our wheels are side by side. Scary!

 

OTR= Over the road = Long distance= Not home for weeks.

 

seeing how i have a company truck that dont go faster than 62...i dont get all worried when driving in a 70 zone and i see a bear. as far as if a scale is open or closed, do you really need one 30 mi+ before you get there? Odds are if it was open it could be closed...and vice versa.

However why does it matter the time of the day if you get a flash over or not? When i flash, if at night, i flash my lights off then on. in the day, ill give my brights a quick bump...i wont hold them on for a second or two. That's just dumb. what is also dumb, is passing another truck, and not paying attention to the traffic behind you. I wont flash during the day if me and antoher truck are the only ones on the road for a half mile. But if there are a string of cars behind a passing truck, i flash to let him over and get out of the fast lane as quick as possible. But to simply ignore or have the "i dont need your help" attitdue because of the time of day, is simply ignorant.

 

first off, NEVER use your high beams, NEVER. Secind the goal of flashing someone back over is not to hurry up and get them out of the hammerlane. The purpose of flashing them back over is so the driver that just passed you gives you enough room (following distance) to keep you both safe, its not the goal, quickly clearing the passing lane. The string of cars, who cares they will wait. The attitude your picking up on is because you do not know what your doing yet. Highbeams always mean do not come over its not safe, meanings do not change just because and all the other newbie think they know when they don't.

As far as bear's I'll give them when ask, But I see no reason to run down the high babbling on the CB radio just cuz theres a cop. As far as scale's it does not matter what they are doing till your the one in front of the sign. If there 30 or 40 miles away you need to be closer anyway.

There are limits what you can get away with in every state, If your out side of them you (not me) needs to pay very special attention to your surroundings. You get the JB's and Werners, SWIFTS all screaming for bear reports, and for the most part they just don't matter. Blathering on the radio just wakes up the bears anyway.

 

I'm all caught up with the dumb-dumb classes at my terminal and among other things I learned which I didn't know before, was that the company forbids us from flashing to pass or acknowledging others' flash to pass for us. I'm sure other companies are forbidding this practice as well and the word hasn't gotten out yet and people naturally first think the worst of the new generation of driver is just lazy or doesn't care enough for the old ways.

You see it's a liability thing where a driver was in the middle lane of a 3 lane freeway, was being passed in the hammer lane by another truck, flashed that truck to get over when it was safe but just then a 4 wheeler in the slow lane merged into the middle lane and got squished. 4wheeler sued the merging truck, the merging truck company sued the flashing truck company.

My company says it's the same policy as not waving a driver to go ahead be it at an intersection or waving to allow them to pass, just don't do it because of the liability.