Third lane violations

Preface to post: When I refer to the third lane in this post or anywhere else on this thread, I am referring to the left-most lane on a highway with three lanes.

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I started trucking in 2012. I have seven years of trucking experience. I recently started driving for a new trucking company, and my new trucking company had me go out with a trainer for a few days. I went to a Safety Meeting at my new company, and the speaker talked about tickets for third lane violations that some drivers in our company have received. But I didn't think anything of it. Then I was driving with my trainer on I-75 in Georgia, and the part of I-75 I was driving in had three lanes. I was in the middle lane, and there were snails in both the middle lane and the right lane. So I got into the left most lane to pass the two snails, and my trainer asked me "What are you doing in the third lane?" My trainer told me that it is illegal for semi-trucks to drive in the left-most lane on a three lane highway.

The last time I read the CDL manual was when I got my CDL permit in 2012. I have always known that on some highways with three lanes, there are signs that say that semi-trucks are not allowed to drive in the left lane. So I have always known that it is illegal to drive a semi-truck in the third lane when there are signs explicitly forbidding semi-trucks to be in the third lane. However, I had never heard that it is automatically illegal to drive in the left lane on a highway with three lanes before. Is the third lane rule a new law?

Does the third lane law only exist in the state of Georgia, or is it automatically illegal to drive a semi-truck in the third lane in all states in the United States of America?

 

Are you kidding? My driving is definitely my trainer's business.