Real Truckers Was:[geeks] Work getting slow

[Brian Hechinger]

On Tue, Apr 16, 2002 at 04:46:42PM -0400, Mike Nicewonger wrote:
> I was not planning to engage in a battle but I have donned my armour.

FLAME ON!!!!

> >> As for overloaded, you cannot haul a load from Baltimore to New York without
> >> passing through at least 3 weight/safety inspection stations I don'know
> >> about out in the west but you are playing with fire if you operate an
> >> overloaded truck here.

there are more than that.  probably like 6-8 of them total, at least between
you and me anyway.  although at night they are all closed.

> Yepper you are going to find small companies skirting the rules. Gonna
> happen whether trucks or dentists human nature wins in the end. But wait
> till something happens and they get a safety audit. Good bye small company.

and it is more likely than not the fault of the company, not the driver.  the
driver would more than likely take the time to follow the rules, but when your
options are Do It Co Way or get a new job, sometimes you don't argue.

> use taxes, trucks do. You could say that we as car operators pay road taxes
> in every gallon of go juice we buy. Well trucks pay the same fuel taxes we
> do but at the tune of 500-600 gallons or more worth every week.

actually, don't truckers pay more taxes on fuel?

> > Just yesterday I was on a stretch of 50 MPH two lane when a truck with a
> > full load of steel bar pulled out in front of me, uphill.  20 MPH for the
> > next mile.  Now I don't know about other people, but if pulling out onto a
> > rural highway means the next guy has to brake or slow down, I wait.
> 
> Y'know Scott, I think you are right. All truckers are out to get you. I
> honestly don't know how to answer that.

i do.  and if you think about it, i'm sure you do as well mike.  i don't have
quite the driving experience you do, but pulling out in a truck SUCKS.  you
can't shoot out real quick since it takes a while to get going, and most people
will race up to you to try and not get stuck behind you, making it even harder
to pull out.

the chances are though, that the driver is wishing he could say sorry for
pulling out in front of you, since his choices are pull out in front or sit
ALL DAY waiting for a good opening.  you sometimes have to make choices as a
driver that make you look like an asshole, but that's due to the fact that
most people in cars do not even spend a split second thinking about what it
is like to be in a truck.  after i started driving trucks, i have become MUCH
nicer to truckers when i'm in my car.

> > Now on the flip side, I've had truckers pull over and let me pass.  I try
> > and wave.  I'm _always_ careful to leave room if someone is caught in a bad
> > corner, and I don't mind backing up to give a truck room to make an
> > especially tight turn.  Don't like driving in dirty air, so if I'm not
> > passing I also try and stay pretty far back off their rear bumper.
> 
> Hmm... Maybe they aren't all out to get you.

in general most truckers will be nice if they can.  they aren't assholes (well,
a LOT are, but that's another story) they are just in the position of having
to choose between being nice and losing their sanity.

i'll go out of my way to try and be nice to people in cars.  unless they are
being assholes, then they get what they deserve.

> And I hate it when people slam some other group generically for the acts of
> a bad apple or two.

amen to that brother.

-brian
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