Truckers...why?

I have changed lanes to pass and misjudged the speed of the vehicle I moved over in front of; also went to change gears and missed the shift (which slowed me down) :I've misjudged the speed of the vehicle I'm passing; The guy I'm passing finishes his phone call,takes the last bite of his sandwich,sets his coffee cup down,puts his cigarette in the other hand, and then realizes he's slowed down,so he speeds up. I try to stay out of the way as much as possible tho.

 

Watch the complaints in Ontario when the speed limiter law goes into effect .

 

Where there lightening bolts on the sides of the trucks?

 

Wow this thread was brought back from the dead... Over a year old....

Anyways the simple reason is....

They don't do it just to cars they do it to other trucks as well.... Happens t me all the time.. If you coming up on a pack of trucks that you have been watching for 10 minutes all in a line and nobody passing anybody, soon as you get up to them you have a 90% chance one of the last two gus will jump out in front of you at the last sec.. They just do that for some unknown reason..

The other reason is trucks are governed and they can't go any faster... So they stay out in the left lane 4-5-10 miles trying to pass.

Why they slowed? Well perhaps they had somebody pull out in front of them...
Very hard for a car two see this if there is two trucks in front of them..

Another reason would be what you may not consider a hill(you may consider it flat) A truck pulling 80,000LBS sure will fill any slight upgrade.. On top of that, they have most of these trucks cut back on power to save fuel they will drop 10 Mph in a heart beat to pull a bump....


There you go... all for a year old post

 

I don't think I saw anybody suggest a shoulder hazard. A vehicle, maybe a police car with the lights flashing, sitting on the shoulder. Or, maybe even rolling slowly on the shoulder.
Seen it many times, 4 wheelers are flying up the left lane, and trucks and other traffic in the right lane starts meging left, and the speeders have to slow down. Usually, they don't see what is going on, they just know they are now being impeded. And start giving hand gestures, and flashing their lights.
I would like to believe that anybody who starts shooting other motorists because they can't get around traffic, will be convicted, and receive a just sentence. Including capital punishment.

 

I don't know if the original poster of this question is still reading,but I drive that road quite a bit. It is NOT perfectly level.There are long low grades to pull,sure it feels like flat land in a car.There is a grade north of Mendota that slows my 67 mph Mack down to about 53 mph.
What happens is you pull out to pass another truck,just about that time both the rigs encounter a upgrade,and both slow down due to gravity.
The truck attempting to pass is now stuck in the left lane,due to 4 wheelers on his tail,in both lanes. If the 4-wheelers would back off a couple hundred feet,the truck in the left lane would usually back off a little and get back in the right lane,and try to pass again after clearing the grade.[but I've never seen a car back off like that,and there always seems to be one that has to be directly alongside the truck,making it even worse]

 

You are the reason the anti-gunners have the ammunition against us that they do. You are their argument for fighting against concealed carry. You're not helping, nor are you painting a very intelligent picture of yourself. What are you gonna do? Shoot the driver? What do you think the effect will be once the car is piloted by a carcass moving at a high speed? You now just potentially killed other innocent people. Nice work, Rambo.

 

I can just imagine, it's bad enough now, everyone drives like an idiot on that 401, the cars all drive like there is no speed limit.

I have had a motorist call my company and complain because I held them up for a couple minutes while I passed a big line of slow moving traffic on the 401. People don't seem to realize that the trucks have a right to pass as well.

 

I was wanting to say the same thing. Plus unless the guy is breaking into your house, or attempting to shoot or stab you, shooting them will only get you thrown in Jail fast.

just last weekend 2 teens were jailed for playing with a Paint gun in town. Shooting at parked cars.

 

I'm sorry others had deviated away from your original posting. To answer your query, you must first put yourself in the shoes of one of these OTR truckers. You get up at 6 AM (or earlier) out of your sleeper berth, you drive to the shipper or receiver to load or unload, they take 4 hours (or more) to load-unload you, which you don't get paid for. OTR truckers are only paid when the wheels are turning. Some are paid a flat-rate "dock delay" pay, but most are not. You put in 12 to 16 hours of labor effort in your work per day, and you consume plenty of coffee or stimulants (Red Bull) in your system to stay awake. This combination of long hours, lack of sleep, and too much caffeine and herbal stimulants in your system can often lead to a short temper.

These drivers saw you come up on their mirrors, and decided to pull a mean, vicious game on you. They came on over the CB radio to coordinate their malicious intent on you, then got tired after 5 minutes. They were probably hoping you would drive down the emergency shoulder lane to try and pass, and the truck nearest you intended to push you off the pavement. I've seen drivers pull this stunt, and when I came over the CB radio to admonish them for their conduct, every one came back on me, telling me its none of my f#&* business what others do to entertain themselves.

I'm sorry you had experienced this. In the future, note the tractor unit number of the truck, the trailer unit number on the trailer, and company name on the truck, the time of day, which highway, the mile marker, then call the company to lodge a formal complaint. You can also email the Federal Highway Safety Administration to voice your concern for the need to crack down on unsafe OTR truckers.

I would speculate the drivers who pulled this vicious stunt on you were O/Os (owner operators). When ever I've witnessed unprofessional conduct by truckers, I follow them to see who they pull for, and I always find out they're O/Os, who are given more latitude when a background check reveals a questionable character. A person with a criminal history may not get job as a trucker, unless at least 3 to 5 years had passed since their last felony conviction. But an O/O would receive less scrutiny because he provides the insurance coverage (for loss or damaged freight) out of his pocket.