Old timer advice

To you new drivers and some of you others who think you can drive a truck, your job goes beyond just being a robot behind the wheel, there are other people on the road and you need to be aware of them and not jam them up, it is dangerous.

This morning I drove my kid to school - college where she is teaching - I take us-23 to I 94 with one stop in Ann Arbor then heading to Detroit, I headed back through m-14 back to us-23 after dropping her off.

On the trip out there, I was near a truck with a driver who wasn't watching what was going on around him or who was around him for that matter. As he is approaching an on ramp, there is a car that appeared on a long on ramp and this idiot (I use that term loosely) realized that there was a car on the on ramp and going to merge onto the freeway, he panicked, slammed on his brakes and without thinking swerved into the next lane while cars were going 80 plus mph passing him. He caused an accident which I was almost part of. He just kept going like there was nothing wrong. The cops know the truck number and who his company is so they may have already stopped him. The real problem is that the car on the on ramp would have come in behind him without him needing to adjust his speed.

Then later on the way home, my wife forgot something so I had to make a stop at my wife's work, I was on us-23 getting on I-94 with a prime truck on 94, I get behind the guy so not to cut him off, he is doing 40, so I am thinking he is accerating off the on ramp but he has no four ways on, he isn't really accelerating as he should so I had to wait for traffic to clear, the car in front of me goes then I do and as I am passing this idiot, he is doing 45, he has his cabin lights on and is reading some crap on his steering wheel. And NOT PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS GOING ON BEHIND HIM OR AROUND HIM.

I know he didn't speed up because I counted the time it took him to get to the next exit and he was doing less than 50 by the time he hit the exit. I was at the light and could see him pass.

This second driver if he worked for me would be fired, no four ways, a hazard to others by sitting at 40 mph and reading while the truck is moving.

Just be aware of what's going on around you at all times, watch those cars on the on ramps. They are to merge with you, not you with them. so if you have no cars speeding in the next lane and you can safely get over, do so but don't cut people off, you will cause an accident.

Get your crap together before you start rolling, write directions down, read them a few times before you move and then stick them somewhere where you can glance at them. Be aware that doing 40 is dangerous when there are unprofessional drivers doing 80 .... sometimes up to 90 on these freeways nowadays.