Little friendly advice for the lead foot drivers.

Openly admit to a lead foot, but construction zones, residential, or cops/disabled vehicles on the shoulder with visible activity, I'll back out of it, and usually well under the advised limit.

 

Replace the steering wheel airbag with a big rusty spike if you want drivers to slow down.

 

Doesn't sound like much of a truck driver....

 

Having driven slow company trucks as well as fast uncut trucks, I've seen both sides of this equation: the drivers of slow trucks don't wanna slow down because they're already lagging, while the drivers of fast trucks can afford to back out of it until things open up again. I reckon there's a time and a place for everything, and when I was driving OTR, I liked to do most of my speeding out West, in the middle of nowhere where there was less traffic and fewer bears. But I learned early on to slow down and obey the posted limit in towns & construction zones... particularly in road work where fines are often double. Another observation here: by planning your trip well and knocking out multiple tasks with each stop, you'll keep that left door shut more often and make better time overall, reducing the need to mash on it and speed to catch up with your delivery schedule. A piss jug also helps, but don't use it in the work zone, lol. Just my $.02 on this subject...

 

I know there's a story behind this, but I'm not going to ask for specifics.

 

Yes.
How often do I come up on a slower truck and try to pass them, and then they match my speed or go faster.
I fall back behind them and they are going slower once again.

Other trucks will come up behind me and tailgate me for miles, when they could easily pass me.
It isn't until I slow way down trying to force them to pass me that they go around me, and then they are going 70+ as long as I see them.
I have a 65 truck.
So why stay on my bumper for so long if you want to drive faster?
???

The mentality of some drivers simply confounds me.

 

If I go through a 5 mile construction zone.... I usually have 6 miles of traffic backed up behind me. Doing the speed limit anywhere is so strange for people, they have no idea what's going on

 

I'll admit that although I slow down for construction, I still keep chugging along. If I come up behind someone going the speed limit, I don't tailgate him, I just settle into his speed at a safe distance.

 

No story, just common sense... there's a time and a place for everything, and when a driver is in road work, staying focused is the best course of action.

Now, I could relate a humorous story about the time I hit a massive bump on I-30 in Arkansas back in the day, causing a full piss jug to launch off the deck and arc into the air like a Polaris missile, landing in the far corner of the shotgun foot well, the top popping off and the contents going "GLUG, GLUG, GLUG" all over the cab floor. An unholy mess...

And the reason why I developed my patented securement system for both piss jug & drinking water jug, using bungee cords tied off to armrests or seat belt brackets... depending upon the make of truck.

Going back to what I said earlier, there's a time and a place for everything, and the ONLY time a driver should even THINK about using a piss jug is on a clear straightaway with no other traffic around. One should also use that jug BEFORE entering a city, as one never knows just how messed up traffic might get in short order.

Same principle applies to other tasks performed behind the wheel: wait till you're on a straight stretch of road with no other traffic around BEFORE you consult your atlas, dig around for the beef jerky, bite into a sandwich, etc. The 'Cross Bronx Expressway' is NOT the place for such activity...