Racers, Pacers, And Pacemakers

I smell popcorn!

Enjoy your popcorn. I'm out of this thread...turned way more animated than I intended. Carry on.

You guys can go on all day and night if you like trying to dress up this ugly pig with your passive aggressive baloney. Use math as an example of how much of your time people are wasting. Tell people it's in the name of safety that they stay out of your hammer lane. Call me "cute" for lecturing you.

In the end you're both hypocrites and your argument doesn't have a leg to stand on. Neither of you ever had the first word to say about any of this until you were the ones driving faster trucks. Pretending that you're advising people to stay out of your way in the name of safety isn't fooling anyone for a moment.

Both of you have admitted to doing exactly what you're now telling everyone else not to do and I've got news for you - there's nothing wrong with it. You're professionals. You can see out your windshield. It's not dangerous that you have to slow down for someone, it's annoying is what it is. Just say it like it is. Don't play the safety card. Don't pretend you're trying to help others be safer. You want everyone to stay out of your way because it's annoying if you have to slow down.

Like I said, I've been on both sides of it. I've been governed at 65 and I've been ungoverned. Yes it was annoying at times having to slow down and wait on someone who is passing someone else slowly. But I never pretended that everyone should stay out of my way in the name of safety. Be serious.

If you have to get on your brakes for a moment waiting for someone to complete a maneuver then you're simply doing the same favor that people do for you all the time. Both of you hold up others all the time. All trucks do. People are waiting on you while you're backing in off the street or in a crowded parking lot. They're moving over for you because you're slowly accelerating onto the Interstate. They're waiting while you're slowly accelerating away from a traffic light, or slowly climbing hills, or any number of circumstances where people have to get on the brakes or change lanes because your slow ass can't move any faster. But I guess all of that is ok somehow when it's you that's impeding traffic, right?

Every 4 wheeler in America could lecture you all day long about how slow and dangerous you are for impeding traffic all the time. They could tell you that you shouldn't be pulling onto the Interstate until it's clear to do so. They could tell you that you shouldn't be in front of faster vehicles at a stop light if you can't accelerate as fast as they can. They could tell you not to back into a spot until the roadway or parking lot is completely clear and no one ever has to wait on you.

And what would you tell them if they lectured you about being dangerously slow and impeding traffic? You would tell them that you can't help being slower than they are and that it's their responsibility to deal with you in a safe manner. Well I'm saying the same to you. It's your responsibility to deal with slower trucks in a safe manner. If you're annoyed then oh well. You're annoying to four wheelers all the time so get over it.

What if we put cameras on your trucks and counted how many times in a single day people had to get on the brakes, change lanes, or accelerate slowly because of you? Would you consider yourselves dangerous every time that happened? Don't you think it's reasonable for me to say that you should never make a maneuver if it causes another vehicle to slow down, change lanes, or accelerate slowly?

There's a weigh station on the Interstate near me. Every time I go by there I have to move over because trucks are slowing down in the travel lane getting ready to enter the place, and then I have to stay in the hammer lane to let trucks back on the highway at the exit. Do you think trucks should stay off the highway until they can get on the highway without impeding traffic?

So let's just wrap up this obnoxious conversation with a bit of truth. We all get annoyed at times if we have to wait on someone who is slower than we are so we should all be as courteous as possible before doing something that holds up someone else. But we're not going to dress up this pig in a pink safety dress. If you think it's dangerous that people are slowing you down then you're implicating yourselves. It sounds to me like you're not sharp enough drivers to handle faster trucks.

Brett, I don't know why we're even arguing about this. We have been saying the same stuff the whole time-- chill, don't run alongside other trucks, back off if someone's passing you slowly like that. I don't really care if I get held up for a few minutes because I have tons of time to get where I'm going, and I never said it was unsafe or anything like that. I just have a problem with people who feel they have to run against the governor every single moment of every single day. I didn't do that at Swift and I certainly don't do it now (yes, my truck is still governed).

Look man, you can have this one if you want. I honestly don't care enough about this issue to continue wasting valuable time arguing about it. I'll even forget about that cheap shot at the end of your reply since I asked for it after calling you "cute."

Brett said:

It's not dangerous that you have to slow down for someone, it's annoying is what it is. Just say it like it is.

Taken from an earlier reply, I said:

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.

There. See? We're saying the exact same thing, Brett.

Fellas, I hope that none of you carry any anger away from this thread -- you guys are terrific mentors to people like me, and I feel like I'm listening to new friends bicker. While this thread may seem obnoxious and frustrating because through some minor miscommunication, you may actually be saying the same thing, the entire discussion was helpful and illustrative for me -- sincerely, thanks.

I've actually seen similar situations regarding slow trucks passing slower trucks on ascending hills, etc. I've been driving cars for almost 40 years, and thanks to a long career in the military where most of my schools were on one coast and duty stations on the other coast, I've driven cross country 13 times. Hearing your perspectives and differing philosophies has been valuable to a newbie like me who just completed his first week of CDL school (just got my CLP on Friday, yay!)

It was also very cool to learn that the left travel lane is named after me.

Thanks again -- I enjoy the dialogue on this site.

Well if nothing else this thread did help me change my perspective for the better. Admittedly when I first started reading replys I didn't quite understand the perspective people were speaking from. Being expected to slow down my already slow truck for someone else just didn't make sense to me. However I did recognize that these are driver's with decades of experience, and I'm just a CDL student on the road for a couple weeks. Thursday was a happy day, I aced my CDL tests officially became a CDL holding Prime employee. Saturday was the first day I drove 500+ miles with my trainer asleep behind the curtain instead of sitting next to me critiquing my every move. It was an amazingly relaxing and enjoyable ride. Gave me time to think. Somewhere on I-70 crossing Indiana and Ohio as i watched truck after truck pass me, the stereotypical Prime truck running at 57mph milking my dash indicated mpgs up to 10.6, this thread came back up on my mind. As I thought it over, it occurred to me that some of my old NJ 4 wheel driving habits were spilling over into my truck driving style. I was accustomed to and ok with aggressive driving, so long as they didn't cause me to alter my driving. When someone forced their way into my lane forcing me to break, my frustration would grow. I didn't care if you passed me, but don't force your way infront of me. This I believe was why I could not relate to the perspective experienced driver's were speaking from. I realised my old frame of mind didn't transfer well into truck driving. Some mental gears needed to be shifted. All these trucks out here are people in the same line of work as me. We all have the same objective, with varying details and constraints. A little professional courtesy could go a long way. In my short time on the road I already notice how often I'll run across the same trucks hours later on the same day, or maybe the next day. That driver I slowed down to help out earlier may be in the same situation to help me out further down the road. I experienced a small example of this yesterday when unexpectedly the right lane was blocked off up ahead for construction. I put on my blinker and the truck that had been starting to overtake me in the left lane slowed down and flashed his lights to let me know it was ok to merge. I flashed my markers in appreciation and when the right lane opened back up I moved over and slowed down a bit to let him complete his pass and get back in the right lane. The other driver waved as he passed and flashed his markers a half dozen times as he was easily able to get back into the right lane. He slowed down to show me some courtesy and I in return did the same for him. Little interactions like that go a long way to making the day more enjoyable.

I see this thread had gotten pretty far off track with a fair bit of bickering, but it did help me get my brain in the correct gear.

Thank you

Hammer and PlanB, I'm glad the thread ended up teaching you something. Sorry about the bickering--didn't intend to come across as lecturing people. I really like the example you gave, PlanB, because it really illustrates exactly the kind of situation Brett was talking about. You and the other driver just showed each other a little professional courtesy and it went a long way toward making it a less stressful situation for everyone. No matter how fast your truck goes, mashing the throttle 24-7 is really counterintuitive sometimes. Thanks for sharing that.