Get Away From Me!!!!

What most often frustrates me is one particular stretch of road around here. I pull onto the (2 lane) highway with a full load, people pass me as I accelerate, no big deal. When I get to around 55-60mph, often somebody comes up behind me and passes me blindly in a curve (my truck is blocking their view of the road through the curve. I've seen more than a few close calls because of that, but as soon as they're around me, they slow down to around 65. I'm governed at 70, and generally have no problem with them driving 65.

The problem arises at this particular stretch, because I reach my cruising speed at the top of a little valley. Just a little one, but enough that I run my truck as fast as I can down the one side in hopes that I can keep my speed up the other side because once I'm out of the valley, it's still a shallow climb for a mile or so. It's nice to be able to carry some speed into it. It's a small enough valley that if I can hit 72mph or so on the downhill, I can usually still be pulling 62-63 coming up out of it, and for the most part I don't hold traffic up too badly. But too many people can't wait to get by me, and immediately after passing, they resume their 65 mph, and I get stuck behind them on the downhill, and as a result, have no speed to carry into the uphill, and I end up holding traffic up at 55mph.

It's really no problem that they pass me, but it would be great if people could understand that with a heavy truck, we are trying our best to maintain speed we don't interfere with traffic too badly. If they could just understand that, they would speed up a little for us on the downhills, and on the uphill we'd all be happy because the truck gets to keep it's speed up, and the car isn't stuck in behind. I think too often they don't even see us in their mirrors and are completely oblivious to us behind them.

 

That's exactly it!!!!!!

 

What do you call a swift passing a scneider? A road block!

 

###### 2xr, you're just plain wrong! Actually, you're as wrong as that Gierzyck (sp) photo you got as your avatar.

However, I love to do the same thing, nothing wrong with a littel bear bait, right?

 

wrong, it's courteous and professional to back off a bit and let him pass already. Not only is it annoying to the other traffic when two trucks are dilly-dallying around,,,,,,,it's outright dangerous to run side-by-side like that. You are putting yourself in a very dangerous situation if something should happen. If you back down a couple miles and hour and hold it there , you will also get a bit better fuel mileage while you're at it.

 

maybe he was just flirting with you. haha

i hate when that happens. it really gives the general public a bad view of drivers. i hang out in the right lane but i do have the speed to pass pretty much everybody out there except the o/o.

 

I try and stay somewhere in mid pack. I do believe that it is the passers responsibilioty to see that his maneuver is holding up traffic and back off.