couple pet peeves I see drivers do

One thing I just saw two jerks do over in Indiana the other day. Fairly sure it was a trainer and a rookie. They parked at the fuel island, put the hoses in the tanks, grabbed their duffel bags, and headed into the Pilot to take a shower. Thats a dirty trick in my book. Granted, the truck stop was full, but it still doesn't excuse that sort of behavior. In that situation, you don't get a shower. Besides, I know for a fact there were still some "make a spots" left that would have worked for the length of time it takes to take a shower. Grr!

 

Worst thing about that is that the student will now think that is acceptable behavior.

 

Well harvey when you have drones teaching new guys, what does that turn the new guy into? You know six months driving makes you a "Training engineer"...

 

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out what is and what isn't proper etiquette.

My first trainer did some of those things and I didn't follow in his footsteps; I knew better.

You can't blame the trainer for everything. Some people are just born as idiots.

 

That's a new one. Never heard of someone doing that. Good way to have someone siphon your fuel since it wouldn't look out of place to see someone standing at the fuel tanks of a "fueling" truck.

 

My trainer in the 1980's taught me the courtesy to clear a passing driver and I've been thanks many times since, especially in inclement weather.

Just want to apologize to you and all the other drivers I've flashed my high beams to when they safely clear me to move back into the lane.
The 2005 International I drive does not offer a way to "flick" my headlights off to you. It's unfortunate that International did not offer a way to disable this "daylight" feature

I suppose I could hit my parking brakes, it's the only way my headlights would go off, kinda hard on the tires and drivetrain though.

 

I agree with you're point, but not you're example. I am reading between the lines here, but I am assuming you were in the car parking bobtail. I also believe it to be against most truck stop rules to even be in that area with a CMV. So why do you feel you had liberty to not only be in that area but to also block the parking access routes for a none emergency reason even for 30 seconds? Then have the gall to get upset when asked to move. This is not about patience, it's about avoiding situations where you put your rig into places it does not belong when there is no emergency. I still get pissed at what I call 4AM idiots (drivers that land in truckstops during the night and block access) I also get annoyed when drivers stop right in the middle of rest area parking lanes. The liberties that some truckers take in truck stops as well as rest areas effect other people and does make the ones they effect have short fuses. Being a professional you should know better, this is in my opinion what separates a professional from a steering wheel holder.

 

Well, unlike what most will tell you on here, flashing every driver over that passes you is completely unnecessary. Yeah, I know, its "common courtesy" but I don't need to be told when its safe to come back over. I know how long my vehicle is and how much space I need to clear you. But, if you still choose to do it, then that's on you and its really no sweat but if you have the inability to interrupt your headlights because of no way to disable your DRL's, I would figure out another method because most prefer not to be flashed over by the brights. I, myself aren't bothered by it because I know how to avoid being blinded, but that's not the point. Flashing your brights at night should only be used to tell oncoming traffic to turn their #### highbeams off.

 

International should have wired the US market DRL relay with the running light feed and park brake feed as the disable instead of the high beam feed/park brake feed as is currently wired. I believe its wired this way to also comply with Canadian DRL regulations. You could simply rewire the high beam feed from the DRL relay to the running lamp circuit, that way the DRL would be off whenever the running lamps are on.

 

I have a problem with both my retina's, bright flashes like this actually creates pain in my eyes that radiates deeper into the area just behind my eyes. I have been told because the eye can't feel pain my problem most likely is nerve related. Driving at night usually results in me having a bad headache within 4 to 5 hours. I passed a Prime driver on I-44 sometime ago around midnight. This driver flashed me with his brights and I was looking directly into the beams through my right side west coast mirror. My head started to hurt so bad I had to hit an exit and just get into the sleeper. I for one know these guys mean well, but honestly if you have DRL's I rather you just keep driving and let me decide when it's safe to move back into the right lane.