Drivers Who Speed Up When You Pass

As well as those trucks getting on the highway so you move over to let them on then they get up beside you and pace you before you can get back over. Dude, I just moved over to help YOU out and this is how you thank me?

Yes this happens a lot... I just shake my head. And what about those that pass you, cut in front of you too early and then get off at the next exit? I wonder what the hell are you thinking about?

I never flash my high beams to signal another driver. At most I'll turn my low beams off and on as a signal.

*Annoying is driving a 75mph truck behind a 65mph truck passing a 64.5mph truck.

Annoying to you perhaps, but the 65mph truck has just as much of a right to pass as anyone else. The 75mph truck isn't entitled to any special treatment. If you let that kind of stuff get to you, you're in the wrong business.

Personally, I agree that it is annoying when a driver is trying to pass at a half mile over. Chances are you are going to be impeding traffic with multiple cars tailgating you, being in a lane you're not supposed to be in. And chances are they are going to gun it back to 65 anyways the second you try to pass. Not worth it in my opinion.

I'm not talking about holding up lines of traffic. I agree that in a high-traffic situation it's best just to stay in the slow lane. Far safer to just stay out of the way until traffic clears.

But even if there is a mile of open road behind me, when I pull out to pass someone, some 75mph Super Trucker will storm up behind me whining that I don't belong in that lane. I dont care. No I'm not going to pull out in front of someone that's obviously faster than I am, but if I see a shot I'm going to take it.

It's the world we live in with governed trucks, and it's not going to change. There will always be slow trucks, as there will always be faster trucks. One will always want to pass the other.

Who gets to decide when one should pass or not?

The faster truck wants the slow truck to just slow down more instead of passing. The slow truck wants the fast truck to just slow down and wait for the pass to happen. Who's right?

In the big picture, having to slow temporarily won't negatively affect either truck in any measurable way.

As mentioned earlier, if the truck being passed would simply lift off the throttle for just a couple seconds, allowing the pass to happen, things would go smoothly for everybody. As one of the slowest trucks on the road, that's what I always do. Bump off the cruise for about 10 seconds, and everybody is happily on their way. But unfortunately many drivers don't do that.

My point was that getting annoyed is not going to help. It's not going to change anything. We will still get where we need to be.

In the long run it's still best for faster trucks to pass slower ones, even if it takes them a minute to do so. Otherwise there would be lines of trucks a mile long and that ain't good for anybody. I just wish every company gave their drivers an option to bump up the speed a bit a few times a day.

This is an issue I think about often, as it's an issue that happens all day everyday out there on the roads.

Ideally we'd all be considerate of one another, but idealism is not realism. There are so many elements at play here. What's the truck governed at? How heavy are you in relation to who you are passing. What's the terrain? How much traffic is there? What time of day is it?

If I'm governed at 65 mph and I'm passing a truck governed at 62 that's lighter than I am, as soon as any type of grade comes along I might drop back a bit. It might take longer to pass. I don't know how heavy another truck is, what their horsepower is, what they are governed at, or if they are governed at all. They may be driving a bit slow because they are busy texting (see it all of the time).

Basically it's a dynamic situation. If I've got 1 mph on another truck, and I'm running cruise, and there is no traffic in sight I'm going to pass. A few minutes later and I've got maybe 50 feet left to safely get back over and now there's super trucker on my butt cause he's not governed, or maybe there's a few four wheelers lined up. Am I wrong for passing? Ideally the other trucker would slow up a bit and let me pass. However, if I'm heavier, we hit a grade, I've passed and gotten over, and now he's on the brakes. Or visa versa. Again, consideration goes a long way.

My experience has been that the overwhelming majority of drivers don't slow to let another truck pass. They just keep keepin' on with the cruise on. I guess in the end, if you are in the slow lane running cruise, it's not your job to accommodate the driver that's heavier than you are with 1 mph on you. Wait till terrain permits and pass when traffic conditions are correct. Also, slow up a bit maybe...let drivers pass.

I don't know...this is a tough one. We all want to get as many miles as we can. In the end 5 mph doesn't make that much of a difference when you are paid by the mile. Lately I've been considering just setting the cruise at say 63 mph in high traffic conditions. If you are the slowest on the road, and you are in the slow lane...it's not as much of a problem. Hard to do when you can go faster though.

However, letting drivers pass is the safe and professional move. It's also not going to cost you much by way of money. Best thing you can do is get up as early as possible. Start your day at 0200 hrs and you'll have less traffic and therefore less hassle and nonsense to deal with. That's what I do. I just start as early ass possible to enjoy the low traffic times of day, and also to ensure 14 hours later I won't have a problem parking. You can't always do that, but when you can you should. It makes the job much easier when there is less traffic.

*Annoying is driving a 75mph truck behind a 65mph truck passing a 64.5mph truck.

Annoying to you perhaps, but the 65mph truck has just as much of a right to pass as anyone else. The 75mph truck isn't entitled to any special treatment. If you let that kind of stuff get to you, you're in the wrong business.

Apologies you misread my "Annoyance" Think more of a sigh of resignation...

When they're done I'll be back on my merry way without a second thought.

Truly annoyed is reserved for governed trucks blitzing through construction zones. (Think I-39 in Wisc). Or any other reduced speed zone where they think they're getting somewhere faster. Hey it's their ticket and points so more power to them. 9 times out of ten I'll run them down a few miles later anyways.

BTW been awhile since I've been here. Not trying to come across as "SuperTrucker". I learned plenty of patience when I started and found it much more relaxing to chill at 63/64 in the average not that big a difference on the miles you could pull in a day. Faster trucks really only matter in the midwest/west (CA,OR,WA,MT excluded). Then putting down an extra hundred miles in the day means another 1.5 hours saved.

In the long run it's still best for faster trucks to pass slower ones, even if it takes them a minute to do so. Otherwise there would be lines of trucks a mile long and that ain't good for anybody. I just wish every company gave their drivers an option to bump up the speed a bit a few times a day.

I dont know about other companies or brands but Swifts new Freightliners are 65 on cruise but you get 30 minutes per 24 hour period at 67.

I have had driving jobs for 25 years but only recently started driving a truck that's governed at 65. It seems like every night I come up on another truck going 62-ish and when I start to pass them they bump it up a notch and block me from getting back over. When I finally do crawl past them and get back over they slow down again.

The last thing I want to do when someone is slowly passing me is speed up, prolong the process, and aggravate the other driver. I just bump the cruise off for a second and dim my lights when it's safe for them to get back over.

What is the mentality behind this?

Has it always been like this?

Seems to be SOP out here anymore. Same issues, but I am not governed. Really ****es me off. And I am like you, if a guy wants around me, I slow down to let him pass. It is easy for me as I do not use the cruise to save on fuel. Few will give you the lights nowadays either, really annoying at night or in bad weather. No etiquette out here anymore. And don't get me started on the fact that few if any drivers use a CB radio. Going to be some real carnage out here this winter.

There's carnage every winter since....about 1975.

What's next, Michael? Against the ELD, the 70 hour clock, and the 10 hour break?