A note to 4 wheelers

I would like to add to this section but this is about oversize loads.
My job as an escort driver is to make sure you 4-wheelers make it home safely and do not become a compressed beer can.
You guys need to understand that we escort many different things that require the us to assist the truck driver in safely moving his load. Sometimes this load is overweight which sometimes weighs double what a normal truck driver has. My max to this date is close to 40 tons. This load may also be over 60 feet long, or stick out quite a bit on eaither side of the trailer, or even be very tall.
First I want to say a lot of you seem to hate us. You give me the finger, cuss at me, and treat me like crap when all I am trying to do is keep you safe. My first request is to treat us a little better and be patient.

I block the road sometimes for many reasons. Sometimes the truck needs the whole road to take a sharp turn and I am stopping you so he doesn't turn you into a beer can.

I block righthand turning lanes so you do not become a beercan when he swings wide to take that corner.

I take lanes on the interstate for said driver because 40 tons is hard to slow down and if he needs that lane Im gonna do what I can to get it for him so you or the 4wheeler merging on the interstate doesn't become a beercan because WHEN HE HAS A WIDE LOAD HE CAN NOT SEE YOU! I am his eyes.

A lot of the rules from page one ring true for oversize loads too with even more caution needed. Remember, that could be a 40 ton rig on the back of that truck and when you pull out in front of him to save time you can become a beercan faster as if it takes a normal driver a football field to stop it may take that oversize 2 football fields to do the same.

In my case 99% of the loads I escort carry equipment needed to drill that gas well that you may possibly use to heat your house, cook, along with many other things.

If I wave my flag out the window when I pass you I'm warning you that this driver's load may take part of your lane, GET OVER.

If I hold my stop sign out the window it's probally because that driver needs the whole road to take the turn. STOP

If you can safely do so please do not get between us and our truck, As was stated on page one as well, that is that driver's stopping room, not a place for you to fill. We need to stay with our trucks as we are his eyes, if we get seperated they have to slow down or stop for the back escort to catch up. This will end up delaying your trip and others even longer.

Also, A note to truck drivers and other CB radio users if we happen to be on your CB channel please do not talk over us when we are trying to tell our driver that you or another truck is trying to pass us so your truck, trailer, and load do not get damaged. Most of you aren't like this but there are some out there that do. If you want to converse and we are on your channel eaither ask up to move up or down a channel or move yourself.

If any of you truck drivers who haul oversize loads or escort drivers have anything to add to this or see something that needs corrected feel free to add to this list.

 

One question.....

What's using clutch got to do with anything ???

I promiSe not to make fun of your answer.

 

I didn't know the front escort vehicle also worked as stopping distance room. I just thought the guy in front was the overhead clearance guy.

There was one time when I was passing an oversize and just as my bad luck would have it, I was blocking traffic behind me and had to move in between the front escort and the oversize to let traffic go around me.

Passing on the interstate isn't so bad. It's when you come upon them on a 2-lane road where it can get interesting.

 

Just a question for OD escorts/drivers: We live near a plant that receives the occasional over-sized load. Access is mostly on small (narrow) two-lane roads, and some portions of the road have very little, if any, shoulder.

A few weeks ago I encountered a series of trucks hauling the big stuff. The load required all the on-coming lane and over half of mine... and I was lucky enough to pull into someone's driveway to allow the trucks to pass. Vehicles behind me had to scamper as well.

Personally, I do what I need to do to make room for these guys. They're doing a critical job. But what I'm wondering is... wouldn't it be better to contact the local police department and ask that sections of the road be closed for a few minutes to allow your passage? With the constant start-and-stop to allow traffic to clear the road enroute, an otherwise non-stop 10-15 minutes trip (from highway to destination) probably takes three times as long. And local drivers on these type roads will usually know an alternate route if they don't have the extra couple of minutes to spare.

 

Most generally the front escort should be far enough ahead on the road to warn you guys that the oversize is coming. He should also be closing down the road in these narrow places and stopping you before you guys get to that narrow spot so that you may both pass safely. The best way to know where the load is would be to invest in a cheap cd radio and listen to the chatter on channel 19. On narrow roads that recieve a lot of oversized loads they should announce their presence or you can also ask them where they are. It can give you a few more seconds to prepare for them. The local police usually doesn't get involved unless we are going through a big city with an unusually wide load. I know we try our best to get you guys going as fast as we can but these guys usually can't move fast due to the weight of the load. Another thing I can add on the front escort is that he can be doing 2 or 3 different jobs at once depending on the state. Some require a front escort along with a pole driver(Has a pole for measuring height) and in some states he can also perform the job of a front escort. If you need to let a bunch of traffic around you can get between them to let traffic pass but I wouldn't stay there for too long if you can help it.

 

This is some great information. I agree that education is the key to stop alot of these things. On the other hand some people will never change and I see it all the time. The fact that our younger generation is fueled by greed. They are handed everything by there parents that feel they 'deserve it since I never had' and some people don't understand what it feels to means to work hard and even then go without. I feel really sad when I see kids now a days that instead of going out and seeing the world and learning about it they would rather play their video games and text on their cell phone and if their battery dies it's the end of the world and causes them to go into a panic attack. Plus, I remember when the graduated driving classes started for 4 wheelers to get there liceances. After almost 11 years in MI that it's been in effect, I see only that it's a way to buy your licence not actually teach the kid how to drive. It's a great concept but it 's not enforced enough. I vagely remember a section on semis that's how bad it is. They give you this book tell you to read it, quiz you on it right after then put you in a car. even then you get instuctors that don't understand the laws and will teach the kid wrong. I remember one instuctor that kept telling our class that a yeild was not a stop sign and you diden't have to stop diden't matter if someone was coming or not, he insisted you diden't have to stop! Yeah this is what these kids are being taugh now a days!

Most people if you took a poll out of the general public do not know how to drive a manual transmission. They don't teach that to kids anymore. In these classes they don't teach you how to drive in different conditions either. The only driving you do is on a sunny day in the summer and if it's raining to bad they cancel your driivng for that day. when it comes to the next segment it's only class work. there is no real teaching the kids to drive. they just take the parents money and in return hands a licnance to the kid.

People have become so caught up in their own little words that they forget that their 4 wheeler is a machine and has to be controled by the driver and their are things bigger than your car that could 'crush you like a beer can'.

Yes I hope that education would stop some of these things, and we need to start not only with the 'season' drivers but the kids that are being 'taught' how to drive. perhaps this is a bigger problem than just semis vs 4 wheelers, but we have to start somewhere. Good luck. Keep on getting the word around. It will eventually sink in!

 

I have 15 years before my daughter is old enough to obtain her permit & license following, I hope that I can get her in a vehicle on some of our family ranches and teach her some valuable lessons my dad taught me when I was about 12 years old. There are plenty of things I'd like to teach her, like how to drive a manual, how to drive with trucks around, and handle passengers or other idiots on the road....

I just pray she listens and consideres it valuable!!

 

I have 4 work lights on the back of my feed wagon. If anyone ran up behind me with brights on, I just flipped them on and they were usually quick to dim theirs!

 

you hit the nail on the head. I'm 24 years old and that is all I had to do to get my license. The reason I wanted to learn a manual which I learned how to do when I was 15 was because my mother owned a sporty looking subaru impreza and I wanted to drive it, only it was a manual. On my 16th birthday she gave it to me as a present for getting my license. Ever since the I've driven a manual and do not wish to drive an automatic. I still to this day have a manual. I have upgraded a little thought. I have a 1992 mazda miata. I remember my dad taking me to an open parking lot in the winter in his RWD and telling me to punch it.once I started sliding me told me how to correct it and made me practice. I am a good driver thanks to what he taught me and I'll never forget it. As far as semis are concerned I was just raised and tought that they have just as much right to the road as me. I've also got to ride along with my uncle before I was even old enough to drive who paid me to go and help him chain down his loads.that is where I learned what common mistakes fours make and how hard it can make it for the trucker. I still flash my light for truckers so the know their trailer cleared my car. Driving an escort vehicle has def opened my eyes to a lot as well.