Trans Am Still

Agreed, Evomalo. There was an accident on I 44 the other night, 80% of folks were doing the right thing and staying in the granny lane, but then you had the 20%.....all cars and one big truck trying to pretend he was a Mini Cooper and squeeze into line. I didn't let him in .....if he wanted in after I had sat there 20 minutes he was going to have to buy me a new Jag to do it. The big truck behind me didn't let him in either, so he ended up having to fall way back. A little bit of patience would have served him far better. The truck behind me was a good driver, stayed in line, turned on his flashers, didn't get in any big hurry. A true gentleman of the highway.

Also agreed, scott. I appreciate the notice and heads up so that I can pass the information along

I sometimes wonder though, if the underlying message is that big trucks are the cause of all of the highway problems. This is a big trucking community and yet I hear more and more people buying into "the truck is always to blame" theory. Every time there is something on the news you will hear the negative comments. Sometimes I think the LEO's use the notices by playing on the negativity towards truckers .....to make themselves look better. My feeling is that the only group of drivers that should be targeted are bad ones, period.

Just do your job every day and target the drivers that are endangering everyone. We have all seen good and bad drivers in all classifications.

 

It's the training. A lot of new drivers not being trained right. Being shown a lot of bad habits and then adding their own on top. The younger generation coming into this industry is raised being very selfish. Not all but a lot. This industry has changed a lot since I've been OTR and not for the better. I guess it's just a reflection of this country

 

In Sturbridge, Ma. today. A very tight schedule was made even tighter when another driver at my pick was dropping a trailer but decided not to set his tractor brake so when he finally got his 5th wheel pin released his truck hit my trailer. I recognized it to late so he hit me in the middle of the back of my trailer no damage to my trailer but his truck not so good. I tried to get out of the way but it took a second to realize what was happening before I could react. I almost got lucky but cost me 2.5 hours.

 

Dropped my out of the house load at McDonalds in Harriman NY. 30000 lbs of napkins. Pickup my next load at a coffee house in Edison NJ in the morning headed for Concord NC. Spent the day at the Grover Cleveland service plaza on the JOISEY TOINPIKE watching football.

 

Delivering now in Chelsea, Ma. thinking of the movie "The Town" some small streets here

 

Reminds me of delivering blankets in Ware MA a few weeks back. Yeah, sharp turns and tight corners were the order of the day. Slammed those tandems to the front!! Still took a curb but the signs and phone poles stayed upright!!

 

In Milton, Pa. tonight. Got a load of chocolate and they gave me some for me. Shouldn't eat it but dam is it good. Hopefully get nice weather the rest of this trip.

I'm getting a new dispatcher soon mine is going to recruiting. Just broke her in but I get a guy dispatcher so I can be a lot more blunt.

 

An article online today -

A police chief from Illinois recently participated in one of the most brazen anti-trucker campaigns that we’ve ever seen.

The video is part of a campaign called Safe Roads Illinois. With a slogan of “Let’s take back our roads!”, the group, comprised of residents of Will County, hopes to reduce commercial semi truck traffic with a series of videos describing the dangers that truck drivers pose to the community
.
In a recent video, Police Chief Frey Hayes discusses the rise of truck traffic in town and says that a significant amount of truck drivers simply don’t care about the rules. He says they’ll try to “get from point A to B” by any means necessary, even if it means endangering others. “The don’t care how they do it,” he adds.

The video’s description states the following:

Overwhelming truck traffic resulting from the unplanned, overdevelopment of intermodal facilities and warehouses in Will County is overrunning our community, creating dangerous conditions and taking lives.

While we support jobs and commerce, we are paying the ultimate price when truckers: Run red lights and cut off drivers, Speed, tailgate and slam on the brakes, Crash through railroad crossing safety gates, Ignore signs and drive in our neighborhoods, Disregard weight limits and vehicle safety regulations, Disobey law enforcement.

As a concerned resident of Will County, I ask you to: Make truckers pay for blatant disregard of the law, Hold developers accountable for their actions and impacts, Coordinate enforcement of truck traffic, Toughen commercial driver licensing, regulations and penalties.

Perhaps Mr. Hayes is not aware of the studies that have shown that cars are at fault in a majority of truck-car crashes. Or maybe the town just doesn’t like having their shelves stocked with goods.

Either way, the group has made their position clear.

How would you respond to Police Chief Hayes and the Will County anti-truck campaign?

 

It would be awesome if all of us refused to bring anything to that town. Bet that idiot would be begging for us to come back

 

I can understand where they're coming from. They buy a house in a nice quiet area. Now ten years later they have trucks going by all day and night with the jakes on. They want the jobs just not ion their back yard.

Just like here in Hampton Roads. People are always complaining about the jet noise. The city allowed development in areas the Navy didn't want so naturally the complaints go up. Then you have the people that been here long before Oceana took off that has to deal with it. I remember being on watch and getting a call. Some lady told me her baby couldn't sleep. She asked me if we could stop flying so her baby could go to sleep. Anytime the Navy starts talking about moving this or that out of the area there always a big uproar.