why do some drivers tailgate?

i was pulling a 60,000 lb milk load would have put my truck at 90K+ gross going up hills, so yeah that tends to slow you down. i had another tractor trailer tailgating me. look, you are going to be able to "push" me up the hill? so why are you on my tail like that. he was close enough where you a car would not have fit in between us. this is how bad accidents can happen. this is very basic truck school stuff. following distance is critical to safety.

everyone please maintain good following distance. im not accusing anyone here of tailgating but if you are please dont. its the simplest of things to avoid an accident.

 

drafting with a semi now that's funny LOL. fairly recently i had a more experienced driver (20+ years of driving) ride with me so i should show him the route. he said i drive really well for someone who only has about 16 months of driving. he said he noticed that i always maintained a safe following distance and how critical that is. i got compliments on safe driving practices. i have to say that felt good to hear that from a long time veteran with many years of accident free driving.

 

cars do it all of time, but that doesnt bother me as much. that little car is 50 feet behind me, if i he or she crashes in the back of me, he or she is just going to end up tangled into my ICC bumper. nothing would go onto my MRV that would hurt my employ-ability. the dummies driving the cars also have the excuse of a class D license. i always say, class D means class Dummy. no excuse for a CDL holder. if its an off-duty truck driver, well then i would hope we know not to tailgate operating ANY vehicle, CMV or personal car.

the stakes go up significantly when you are talking about 2 semis with a combined weight of over 150,000 lbs.

 

i would hope someone operating a car wouldn't try drafting a truck in an attempt to save pennies on gas (if it works at all, i doubt it)