Why do people speed up when you try to pass them?

I'm a linehaul driver that pulls wiggle wagons governed at 70mph. I'm not really sure why but Billy Bob Big Riggers take it as a personal attack when I'm passing them. I'll roll up on them running 63/65mph and as soon as they realize who's passing them they mash the gas. They won't allow me to pass and after the traffic behind has started to get frustrated I slow back down and get behind the sloped forehead unibrow that's playing games. Of course the guy slows back down inviting me to try again which will only produce the same result.

 

Chinatown mentioned wind resistance when pulling out, just like drafting.
Horsepower has a lot to do with it also.
You can’t always blame the person you are trying to pass.

 

Back before cruise control became ubiquitous, you might've been able to claim that the suction from your large vehicle passing a much smaller vehicle would cause an inattentive driver to speed up and leave them hanging in your blind-spot. Also, I remember some jack-wagon back in the 70's (when the price of gasoline doubled from $0.35/gal to $0.70/gal) suggesting that cars should try 'slip-streaming' behind van trailers as a way to reduce fuel consumption.....

 

Back around the mid-80's, I was a rookie driving for J.B. Hunt. For about 2 months, I had a 9670 that didn't have a working speed governor. Now, I only had 300hp and a Fuller 7-sp, but you should've seen the way those guys in their Large Cars reacted when I passed them empty doing 75mph.....

 

YOU NOT GONNA GET AHEAD OF ME BY GOD!!
That's why lol. When I was driving trucks and someone was gonna pass , I'd just back off the cruze a couple mph and let em get on by. Did it make me late to anything ever? No it did not.

 

Yes you can when they're clearly speeding up. Now with most trucks having CMS and you see what their actual speed is when you're approaching them. I'm assuming the OP isn't talking about a quarter of a mile faster but the guys who will find an extra 10mph and speed up when their getting passed.

 

I've often wondered if they get some kind of sexual satisfaction out of speeding up. Maybe it's a fetish of some sort.

 

TikTok - Make Your Day

That explains it.

 

Yep, I like that feature. I drive 55 mph 97% or more of the time. Sometimes I will turn that on and am amazed how fast trucks drive in Ca. The CHP has lost complete respect of truckers as far as speed limits are concerned. 64 mph is the average speed. You get on I5 in the nighttime and most guys running 67-70 mph. I10, I15, I40, it's unbelievable how fast they go. OVER 70 mph is not uncommon. They even run the 4-wheelers out of the hammer lane on those stretches.