Racers, Pacers, And Pacemakers

Maybe it's just my inexperience showing. But if we are both climbing the same hill at damn near the same speed, why is it ok for them to expect me to dump speed and fall in behind them, but inconsiderate of me to expect them to do the same.

My thought is I won't attempt to overtake if I can't overtake the vehicle at it's present speed. If I can't overtake them, it's on me to back off and fall in behind. I shouldn't expect them to alter their travel speed because of my impatience.

But again I am new, and open to constructive criticism.

I'm just saying things aren't always going to go as you expect. There will be times you think you're going to get by someone only to find that you're a little slower on the hills and you're stuck out there during the climb. You know you're faster in the long run or you wouldn't have gotten alongside the other truck in the first place. So he might as well back out of it two miles per hour so you can slide in there in front of him and let everyone behind you go by.

I'm not saying you should drop your speed 20 mph. I'm saying don't drag race anyone side by side from the right hand lane. If they made it up next to then ultimately they're faster so just let them go.

If I can't overtake them, it's on me to back off and fall in behind

Don't forget, it's the person in the hammer lane that's going to have a long line of vehicles behind them. If they back out of it they're making things even worse on the people they're holding up.

In the end it's a judgement call every time. I'm just saying to consider the entire situation each time and remember that no matter how well you think you're going to calculate things, sometimes it's not going to go as you expect and you're going to be the one out in the hammer lane looking like an idiot holding up the show. We're only talking a difference of two or three miles per hour to let someone by. In the grand scheme of things that will make no difference whatsoever. Be the bigger man, the better professional.

Sorry I never responded to the extra comments on here. I really only came up with names to be funny, not ostracize other people. To paraphrase something I said in a different thread recently, you just can't win in a truck. 99% of the time, you're gonna p*ss somebody off, no matter what you do. The best thing you can do is to be chill and try to be courteous to your fellow drivers, but also don't worry so much about what other drivers think. Think for yourself and do what makes sense, not just for you but for everybody. Learn how to manage your space.

You can be the dumbest driver in the world, but if you keep a proper following distance, don't cut people off and don't run alongside other trucks, no one will know!

Just checking in and saw the replies. I really wasn't trying to be an ass, but was just offering how my perspective has changed from when I had a slower truck.

The only reason for the calculator was that often we don't realize just how long we are hanging out there in the hammer lane while we're trying to pass someone. Sometimes we are unaware of just how long we're hanging put in the left lane trying to pass someone when maybe the better option is to back off the cruise by one mph. I know I've been guilty of not really being considerate of others who are able to drive faster when trying to pass.

My only point was that it's no crime for other drivers to want to drive the speed limit. I'm not angry or upset. Occasionally I'll mutter a couple of choice words and call someone an idiot while I'm driving, but I get paid by the hour now so I'm not stressed out by delays.

I remember one time when I got stuck behind two trucks that were traveling side by side for 30 miles on I-40 in Arizona. There was a very long line of traffic behind them. The guy in the right lane should have slowed down, but the guy in the left lane should have probably given up after a while. I definitely thought they were both wrong. I would have pulled off for a break but didn't have the time right then for whatever reason.

Pianoman, this is why we all notice drivers like this and give them names. I think it becomes some kind of personal contest of wills too often, and giving it a name puts it back into its right perspective.

 Bud A. calculates:

Ah, ... it's how fast you are traveling relative to the other truck. Let's say he's driving 64 mph. That's 93.87 feet per second. So your relative speed is 1.47 feet per second. That means ... math ... math ... math ... math  ... math ... math  ... math ... math ... had to slow down 15 mph so you could go 1 mph faster.

Using math is objective, meaning nobody can argue the facts, like 2 * 3 = 6,  24/7 the world around.

But,

So, four and a half minutes of your slow ass hanging out in the left lane going 10 or 15 miles per hour slower than the speed limit ...

is subjective, meaning that's how you feel (given away by using "slow ass".)

Most drivers stay in the subjective zone, which only has to do with you. A "Full speed" trucker will feel anyone goingc slower, even by 1/2 MPH, is "slow ass", while said "slow ass" driver in the left lane is doing the best they can to get around the even slower ass truck. It still remains subjective.

And to be honest, we are discussing mere minutes in a given day of trucking. I'm stuck with 62 MPH at Swift. And like you, I don't care to be behind anyone going slower. I will continue to make the move as needed to pass them. Yes, I try to make sure no one's coming up when I move to the left lane, but I'm never going to really stress out.

As for Speed Racer trucker, of they can just chill for the extra 30 seconds it's costing them (Go back and look at your math, it's in there), the road is theirs to devour.

Seriously, all Bud and I are saying is it's just plain annoying (and creates all kinds of backlog behind you to impede traffic by hanging out in the left lane. That's all. It doesn't matter if you're in a vehicle that goes 45, 65, or 100--if it takes you 5 minutes to pass the vehicle next to you, you probably shouldn't be trying to pass them. And to address a comment made earlier in this thread by someone else, driving the speed limit does not make anyone a super trucker.

Seriously, all Bud and I are saying is it's just plain annoying (and creates all kinds of backlog behind you) to impede traffic by hanging out in the left lane.

Then why did you used to do it when you were driving 62 mph?

You guys didn't care about any of this when you were driving slower trucks, but now that you're in faster trucks you care a lot. When you guys were running 62 mph you weren't here lecturing people about holding up traffic, were you? Now, here you are telling everyone how rude it is to do what you used to do to people every day.

You don't want to back off the gas and neither does anyone else. You don't want to be delayed and neither does anyone else. But it's totally hypocritical that you guys are here lecturing people about this. Seriously, shame on you guys.

I'll say again to everyone - if someone is passing you and they're only going a little faster than you, back out of it and let them go. If they weren't faster than you then they wouldn't have caught you in the first place. No one should be drag racing anyone from the right hand lane.

Seriously, shame on you guys.

Aw that's cute Brett, lecturing us like little kids.

For what it's worth, this is what I originally said about this after Unholychaos brought it up:

If you pass someone who's going 62, you're doing your job and people behind you can deal with it. If you pass that same person, then they pass you, then you pass them, etc, all in just a few miles and you're holding up traffic in the process, I'd call you a racer. If you're really that close in speed, does it really help you to keep switching positions? No. It just causes traffic issues for a mile behind you. Wait til you get out of all the hills, then pass him and be done with it.

I never once brought up how fast my truck goes. I didn't really think it was relevant to the thread, which was supposed to be about relative speeds, not specific speeds. When I originally talked about pacers, I was talking mainly about people in cars who drive up next to me in the left lane and then just sit there. If I back off, and let them pass, they get in front of me and go slower than me. Then when I try to pass them again, they speed up. I don't care how fast or slow your truck goes--that's just plain annoying.

Of course I had to go agree 100% with Bud who said this:

If the speed limit is 70 or 75 or 80, and your truck is governed at 62 or 63 or 65, you probably shouldn't be in the left lane to pass someone going one mile per hour slower than you unless there's no one coming up behind you for a mile or more.

I agree with Bud, but I should have known it would ruffle people's feathers for me to say so on here. You're right, Brett, I used to pass people 1 mph slower than me. But now if I'm gonna do it I make sure I'm not impeding traffic, and alot of times I don't even do it because I realize how futile it is typically. Besides, if there's that much traffic to where you're causing a backup behind you in the process, chances are you're gonna come to a slowdown at some point and you'll end up right back where you started either behind the original truck or just in front of it. So no, it's not hypocritical for me to say any of what I said, and I would hardly call it lecturing. For all I know, the people on this site use their good sense when passing people and don't hold up the left lane for 5 minutes just to get off the road 10 miles ahead. That kind of stuff doesn't help anyone.

You guys didn't care about any of this when you were driving slower trucks, but now that you're in faster trucks you care a lot. When you guys were running 62 mph you weren't here lecturing people about holding up traffic, were you? Now, here you are telling everyone how rude it is to do what you used to do to people every day.

You don't want to back off the gas and neither does anyone else. You don't want to be delayed and neither does anyone else. But it's totally hypocritical that you guys are here lecturing people about this. Seriously, shame on you guys.

First, I did care about it when I was in a governed truck. I learned fairly early on not to attempt to pass unless there was no one in sight behind me, and/or the vehicle I was passing was at least 5 mph slower than me. And I didn't do it. I never talked about it here, I guess, but I certainly cared about it before I got an ungoverned truck.

And as I said above, more than 90% of the time I drive my ungoverned truck on two-lane roads where the speed limit is 60 or 65, so I end up following slower vehicles for some portion of my day every day I work. Because safety.

Apparently my tone was too far off, because I appear to you to be a hypocrite here to lecture everyone. I thought I made it clear in my previous posts that I have done this myself, that I no longer do it, and explained why, but maybe I failed in those attempts. If so, I regret not expressing myself so that what I was trying to say was more understandable.

But I am not ashamed to point out that impeding traffic is dangerous, and that when you decide to execute a pass you also have the responsibility as a professional driver not to create a dangerous difference in speed between yourself and surrounding traffic. Passing when you are 10 or 15 mph slower than other traffic is dangerous. Be careful if you're going to do it. That's my lecture, such as it is.

But,

So, four and a half minutes of your slow ass hanging out in the left lane going 10 or 15 miles per hour slower than the speed limit ...

is subjective, meaning that's how you feel (given away by using "slow ass".)

Most drivers stay in the subjective zone, which only has to do with you. A "Full speed" trucker will feel anyone goingc slower, even by 1/2 MPH, is "slow ass", while said "slow ass" driver in the left lane is doing the best they can to get around the even slower ass truck. It still remains subjective.

And to be honest, we are discussing mere minutes in a given day of trucking. I'm stuck with 62 MPH at Swift. And like you, I don't care to be behind anyone going slower. I will continue to make the move as needed to pass them. Yes, I try to make sure no one's coming up when I move to the left lane, but I'm never going to really stress out.

While "slow ass" may not have been the best choice of words, "impeding traffic" is not subjective. It is defined in the laws of several states. (I won't bother to quote them here, since that may be too pedantic for some of you, but you can google it yourself if you don't believe it's a Thing.)

My concern is not so much about saving time. Yes, I brought that up since I believe that is what is going through the minds of people who regularly impede traffic. "I have a right to get past this truck in front of me that is traveling 1 mph slower than I am able to in my governed truck, therefore I am going to do so, even if I impede traffic." The bigger concern is safety.

The reason there are laws against impeding traffic is that it creates dangerous speed differentials between vehicles. Traveling 15 mph slower than the flow of traffic that is traveling at a legal speed limit is dangerous. Yes, drivers should be alert and courteous and should not tailgate. But also yes, drivers should not put themselves in front of traffic that is traveling far faster than their vehicle can travel unless it is safe.

Taking a passive aggressive attitude that everyone else should be on the lookout for your 62 mph truck while you're passing a 61 mph truck on an 75 mph highway is not courteous and not helpful to new drivers who will likely be driving a governed truck. So to be fair, as you are not really stressing out about it, then I guess you shouldn't really stress out about some "Bulldozer" trying to "intimidate" you into moving back over to the right when you're traveling 13 mph below the speed limit, since both of you are driving unsafely and are the sort of drivers the rest of us need to stay a reasonable distance from.

I smell popcorn!