major pileup I44 rolla, mo.

I agree with the whole keeping a cb in your truck and that more people need to have them in your truck. Can't tell you how many times I've seen an issue with someone's rig. You try and call them on the cb to tell them to pull the #### over and they don't have a CB. Although in a way. I see why they don't have one. All it is on there most the time is people making farting noises. Or people arguing like little kids. Or someone playing their music on it. It's no wonder why some people don't bother with CBs.

 

I don't run a radio a lot of the time due to the garbage but when the weather is bad or borderline bad I will have it on because when it's bad, generally idiot drivers who foul the airwaves are too busy trying to figure out how they can park to be talking their crap.

The qualcomm systems that are running in about 65% of trucks (Omnitracs) could be leveraged to look for slow and stopped traffic, much like Goggle monitors cellular phones and GPS data to identify traffic flow patterns, and update traffic on their maps. Then a special multi-beep alert and screen could be sent to affected trucks [that are moving along the road in question] on the qualcomm system to be alert for slow or stopped traffic. This would be a qualcomm system thing and not a carrier subscription thing, i.e no action is required by the carrier. Obviously those who are not on qualcomm would still be in the same clueless state but those who received an "alert" could pass this info on over the CB.

Just thinking out loud.

 

Very plausible if he was in TX or some other places with 70 mph 2-lane. I get held up by slow trucks, especially Prime, on 2-lane highways regularly. Not much can be done about it except wait to pass. The slow trucks certainly don't care that they are holding others up. Like many "drivers" these days, how they negatively impact others matters not to them.

 

or kans , nebr , so.dak , no.dak , mont , colo.

 

I don't see how you can make this stick, Joetro. I see all kinds of trucks in all kinds of problem situations. It's easy to pick on the megas, and they do have more beginning drivers, (we were all beginners at one point, remember?) but it's not enough of the picture. Those dangerous packs that form in any conditions are a real problem, especially in sketchy or bad weather. Drivers who push too hard for that one extra load on their settlement or their monthly total? Unless you're on some remote open road by yourself, pushing hard is often risky, very risky. What's more dangerous - a beginning driver working for a mega in a speed governed truck, or an experienced driver pushing too hard in bad conditions or traffic, uncaring who's there, and at risk because of that "real trucker?" I was driving in the slow lane, 55mph, in medium-heavy fog (less than 1/4 mile lights visible) at 3:00am above Bakersfield on the 5, and a real trucker blew by me so fast I was amazed, probably 80mph. I hate those people. I drive my 08 FTLR, try to be professional and responsible, and they make me look bad. I got to Albuquerque Saturday morning last, pretty snotty ice and snow, a couple drivers passed us slow lane, cautious people going 50, must have been running 70mph on that road. I am sorry to admit that when I came across 3 of them rolled over in bad shape in the median, I felt a moment of pleasure. (No fatalities: not even I feel anything but sorry about pain and suffering) I am with Hvacker, drive for fuel economy, safety, and stay by myself observing and focusing as much as I can. And I don't see that it's good thinking to simply place all blame on megas. There's enough already.

 

The first attempted mandate was tossed out by the courts after only looking at 1 (of many) legal arguments against them. That was for "bad actors" with a history of HOS violations. Any new attempted mandates will also be met with legal challenges, and they too will fall for the same reason the first mandate was tossed...because with more and more "features" being added, it only exacerbates the reason for tossing the mandate. In other words, the mandate isn't going to be anything to worry about anytime soon.

Funny thing (if you bother to read the regulations), the same regulation which authorizes carriers to use e-logs also contains language to revoke a carrier's or a driver's authority to run e-logs in certain situations...thereby requiring them to run paper logs again.

 

I'm running in a 62 mph truck and I care when I'm holding another driver up on a 2-lane. I'll get on the CB and see if they have their ears on and try to spot a good, safe place for a pass, slow when they initiate it, and signal them back over and give them a hail and hearty and Godspeed.

The problem with a lot of those 2-lanes is they don't have nearly enough passing lanes or long enough pullouts. When they do have pullouts they are short, hard to see in the dark, and usually don't have signage in advance to let you know they are coming. If long pullouts are available I take advantage of them to let faster trucks or cars on through.

 

This. I run my radio at low volume 90% of the time but when the weather gets bad the Rambos are in the truckstops and the radio becomes extremely valuable as the guys who are running will have it on.

 

Usually I'd say just go slow and be vigilant of the surrounding conditions.
Works great for me on these near-isolated, US and state highways here in eastern NM and west TX with the milk loads.

But if I find myself on a freeway where people are going to start "huddling for warmth", I'm getting off and staying off until the garbage has passed.
Not to mention getting caught in that white-wall effect thrown up by a speeding truck makes things even more uncomfortable.

Sort of like being in the ocean and getting blasted by some meat-head on a power-boat.

 

Man, 11 pages already. Isn't there a "new" pileup we can talk about?