Observations from roadside inspections

You might consider looking at the reason that trucks are traveling close.

How many times have you seen a 4 wheeler dart between the safe running trucks, only to slow down and then impede traffic.

I do not condone following close, but in that town, if there is a gap, they will take it.

Do not limit yourself to just trucks, look at the whole picture.

I know I leave plenty of room in front and guess what, a truck will even get in the safety zone.

Every driver for themselves.

 

i was going to bring this up, that and the fact that he probably pays closer attention to trucks than he does cars simply because that's what his job entails.

As far as the cell phone talking note taking truck drivers, well, we're "professionals" so we can do that without losing concentration, at least I can. =P

Thing is, law enforcement, like the law, is made / trained to be "black and white" and unfortunately this isn't a 'perfect world' and nothing out there is black and white.

I am well aware of the Smith system, my dad taught it to me long ago, he drives for a company based out of your state.. In fact, they sued your state for harassment because the scale officers had nothing better to do than measure the length of their trucks all day and gripe about how they were loaded, but that's a story for another time.

And yes, what Roadmedic describes above I like to call aggressively defensive driving. I don't expect you to understand, but I'd rather follow closely against another truck than risk a four wheeler trying to squeeze in and slow down where i can't even see him beneath my hood. Odds are that driver will say something before he slams on his brakes, and its probably going to take him just as long to stop as it will me.Worst comes to worst I'll use the shoulder... The same happens when we are stopped.. I used to stop so I could see the tires on the car in front of me, that way i wouldn't run the risk of rolling ahead and hitting them, until one day someone squeezed in there and stopped just as i was starting to roll forward, that put an end to that quickly. Oddly enough on every incident I've ever had the police took my side and deemed them all the other drivers fault, but is that going to go on this new "system" and potential disqualify me? My fault or not? The problem with that is that how can you judge based on something like this? Anybody can get an HOS violation, even the safest drivers who abide by the law 100% of the time can get in a hurry and draw a line in the wrong place, get a violation, and end up paying for it. I don't like that idea.

There was another incident where a drunk driver who was in the far left lane jerked her wheel and came all the way over in front of me who was traveling in the far right lane.. Smith system or not, it wasn't avoidable without killing myself (I was pulling a flatbed at the time, and I'm NOT slamming on the breaks with 100k LBS of lumber behind me, sorry.) And then there was the kid in Chicago who ran into the side of my truck trying to merge without a drivers side mirror, instead of slowing down he sped up, hit me right in the side.. and then said it was my fault for "not slowing down". Maybe the governments should spend some of the revenue they pull from drivers to launch a campaign and better educate people on how to drive.

I still find it incredibly hard to believe that we drivers are as bad as you describe.

Also regarding this new system you are talking about.. You just said that 4 wheelers deal with the same consequences that we do when they drive above the law, and don't follow the rules. If that was the case, why do we need an entirely new "system" to track CDL holders than what's currently being used? Surely if the current system that EVERYONE abides by is fair and works as intended we wouldn't need a new, separate one. I mean.. you get so many points, your license gets suspended... So why can't we just use that?

I'm still having an issue with the fact that the only time we're called professionals by the government is when someone wants to say, "you should have known better".
Lastly if you're doing the speed limit you are not impeding: Common misconception, there are no speed stipulations on "keep right, pass left". If someone wants to speed, it's their business. Still not saying it's an excuse to tailgate, but I'm willing to bet that's why it happens. Try driving in the right lane and i'm willing to bet your issue goes away.

http://www.slowertraffickeepright.com/

 

It is illegal in Chicago, yet I guess he misses the police officers on the phone and well as the cars.

It is annoying to see them do it and get away with it.

Why not consider the unsafe driving, reading the newspaper that 4 wheelers do.


I KNOW WHY.

His post said commerce.

COMMERCE. WE ARE REVENUE SOURCES.

 

I think the thing that gripes me the most is the disparity of enforcement related to the total death toll. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000 people die every year on the highways. A consistent number, around 70% or so, of these deaths do NOT even involve a commercial vehicle. Of the remaining part that do involve a commercial vehicle, about 3/4's are determined to NOT be the fault of the commercial vehicle. Now if I was diagnosed with a fatal medical condition, and the Dr said he was going to treat only 1/16 of what might be the cause, I'd say he is nuts, but that's how safety is being pursued on the highway system.

 

Excellent analogy!

That's because safety isn't what's really being pursued, it's our money.

Again, just my opinion from observation. I have horror stories coming out the ying yang about Illinois in particular, they have alot of 'captain america' type DOT officers. (not talking about the poster here, he is a civilian DOT official from what I gather)

 

Here's another analogy for you.
It's kind of like ticketing a guy for spitting on the sidewalk while ignoring the serial rapist!
Since they like to practice selective enforcement, maybe we should practice selective compliance!

 

This attitude seems to be the norm from anybody on your side of the fence. I don't remember ever hearing about a driver, O/O, company, or union even that's gotten "rich" off of truck driving, running illegally or otherwise. We're not greedy, the greater majority of us are barely surviving, there are certainly other changes that need to be implemented, and if the government really wanted safety and not a revenue stream they would've been changed already. You can't argue that, it's a fact. Hourly workers are required to be paid for all time worked and I'd bet my bottom dollar that if we were guaranteed pay for waiting around, fueling, etc. (even if it was minimum wage) there would be alot less of this illegal activity going on.
This also explains why several of the other commonly used violations by four wheelers are overlooked, they are usually only after the "Speeders". There is a lot more dangerous activity that goes on out there besides just speeding.

We can stop faster than you think, especially when empty. In many cases we know when you're going to have to stop before you do. I'm not excusing it, but there are two sides to every story.

I will admit that i never did an entire pre trip every day as it is taught in CDL school, but when you drive a truck every day you can usually tell when something is wrong. I did do walk-arounds whenever i'd stop, and check the obvious things, as well as the break. Never had any equipment violations.. And, even if i did, the company that i drive for would simply blame me and charge me for it, funny how they accept responsibility, isn't it?

I never attempted to make any adjustments to brakes, diddn't know enough about them to even try, i'd likely make it worse. But if there was ever a problem i went straight to a peterbilt dealer.

Nope, but stopping period has already cost us money.

Sorry, don't think i ever talked to a truck driver with "extra" money. Normally they are all behind on bills. It's not greed, it's this persuit of the american dream that you keep bringing up. Simply trying to earn a reasonable living, not get rich.

The only people "making an extra buck or two" are the ones taking it from us. We're barely making what we need to live. Yes, yes, i know "we are free to quit driving if we want to".. That's a cop out, it's nowhere near as easy as you imply, especially not in this economy. Maybe despite some of the issues we could do without, the majority of us enjoy driving and are hoping it will change; and no, i can't change it myself because i don't have 100's hanging out of my pockets, that's not as easy as you imply, either.

This is almost as bad as racial profiling, we're all unsafe because a few idiots broke the rules and now the rest of us law abiding citizens that are merely trying to make a living suffer. Go figure.

By the way, if you actually get your way and things magically change one day, everyone wakes up and decides they are going to do things 100% legal, and be safe.. Use Smith, avoid all the other idiots, and never crash or run illegal again.. You're out of a job.. I'm sure you really want that, right?

 

http://www.foxcarolina.com/news/20831753/detail.html

An example of what i was referring to in an earlier post: How do they KNOW that he fell asleep at the wheel? I'm sure that after that he was awake when they got there, Maybe he was masturbating and caused the accident, it's far fetched but they don't know for sure.. I'd much rather say that i fell asleep at the wheel than i was masturbating.

That's what i mean by statistics, you can't believe them. The only facts are what the driver tells them, surely there was no in-cab video of him dozing off.

Another thing about the HOS, just because drivers fall asleep at the wheel doesn't mean that they didn't get proper rest.. Sometimes people get tired in the middle of the day for no good reason whatsoever, driving a truck and staring at the same stuff over and over again, listening to the humm of the road.. Sometimes you can nod off.. I don't think that HOS will ever truly solve these issues, only reduce them.

I still think the HOS regs could make alot more sense than they do now, the past ones would've probably worked, the people that were falling asleep were probably just running illegal, i diddn't see that as a useful reason to change the rules yet again, the same people are going to do the same thing they were doing before the rules changed, and there will be a similar result regardless.. If people are going to run illegal they are going to do it, it doesn't make a difference if it's a 5 hour or a 10 hour required break.. If anything the way the HOS are now is even more encouragement to run illegal.

Here is one final thought before i go to bed: If it wasn't a revenue stream we wouldn't have inspection stations, we would have repair stations. You would be a mechanic that would inspect the trucks as they rolled in, and any problems would be fixed right there, on the spot before they were allowed to go. I mean, everybody else is getting a bailout because of the economy, right? So why not give one to the hard working O/O's who are struggling against freight rates who are barely making ends meet at the house and wanted to try and stretch their tires out until friday when he gets his settlement, don't truckers deserve a bailout? We keep the country running just as much if not more than the auto makers do. Hell, everybody would be safe then, there would be no financial burden to worry about and everything would be in "stellar" condition, all the time! Why fine for OOS violations? Doesn't the driver lose the "extra" money he was trying to make when he shuts down to take a 10 hour break? Why would we need extra fines on top of that? I could go on all day with this, but i'm sure you get it.

Be safe.

 

While I agree with most of what you posted, I have to say again, why are there different standards of conduct and safety based on the vehicle being driven? The answer you have given is it's because of the weight of the vehicle and the greater potential for death and destruction associated with big trucks. I suggest to you that until there are seperate roadways for cars and trucks, we are forced to share the roads. Both CDL AND NON-CDL drivers should held to the same rules and regulations, and be subject to the same penaltys and consequences. A car driver makes a mistake or falls asleep at the wheel, hitting a truck, starting a chain reaction incident that will result in a tradegy. Nothing happens in a vacum. Like you said, for every action... . Car drivers cause more accidents than truckdrivers. Why are we being singled out for special prosecution?
I agree accidents involving trucks are always worse, and we should know better. I am not trying to defend or excuse any drivers actions, but we are not the only "killers" on the road!
IMO, having Law Enforcement that ONLY targetsa truckdrivers is like having LEOs that ONLY pull over people of a specific skin color!