Got My First Informal Reprimand But Not For Anything Driving Related.

Andrey I respectfully disagree two trucks running side by side is not safer than one slowing a little to let the other pass.

Andrey I respectfully disagree two trucks running side by side is not safer than one slowing a little to let the other pass.

Bobcat Bob, I fully agree about two trucks running side by side as being unsafe. I hate it myself, regardless of being in a truck, in a small car, or riding a motorcycle. I do think though that when passing is done correctly, there is no side by side running longer than for a very short time. Personally, I never try to pass unless I am sure in having at least a 5 mph advantage. I do not expect another driver to slow down, it is easier for me to calculate the whole maneuver if he keeps the same speed. Now here is a different scenario. Let's take a big three lane road with a left lane restricted for trucks. I prefer to drive in the middle lane, it allows me to let other cars and trucks merge from ramps without changing a lane. Sometimes there is a truck in the right lane going a little bit slower than me, so technically I am not passing, as I do not have to change lanes. If I keep cruising at 65, we can drive side by side for a long time, which is not good. In this case I accelerate (I have 75 on a pedal), put myself at least one truck length ahead, then go back to 65.

I always find the topics about driving with the safety features humorous, because I'm such an odd duck, that I'm coming up on a situation most of the drivers here would give their left nut to be in, and I'm debating whether to quit over it. Current truck is an auto with the full safety suite and I love the thing-in two years I've never had it act up on me a single time, but I've spent my entire career in similar trucks and it has really forced me to be a better driver. By the metrics my company tracks, I've been the safest driver at my terminal for over a year straight now, and am usually top three in the entire fleet. BUT...unfortunately, due to driver complaints, my truck is literally the last auto and the last full safety package truck the company is getting. It's my terminal's time for new trucks this year and I spent the last week doing 600 miles days with one of them last week (big 250k service on mine last week-and our shop doesn't screw around, basically got a new truck back.) Anyway, they are super nice trucks, manual, 68 on the pedal, 70 on cruise, 75 on pass smart, forward facing camera, but that's literally it for safety equipment, I mean there is not even a spot for the bendix system. We haul either 107k or 117k every load so all our trucks are specced for heavy haul, but they upped the power, better transmissions, and rear ends on these ones-they'll pass most everything even fully loaded, uphill. However, I'm such a dum-dum, that I kind of don't like them and am not comfortable driving them-I like having the safety package. Call it a crutch, call me a bad driver, but even though I've never had the braking system activate, I like knowing it's there in case I don't react quick enough. Even though I'll go weeks without the lane departure alarm going off, I like knowing it's there to remind me when I'm driving erratically. I'm such a poor driver that even though I can go 70+, I'll cruise at 63, simply because I know our second most common accident are lane change accidents, and the slow speed lets me maintain a lane. In a couple years when my truck is retired and I'm given one of these new ones (that probably 98% of the drivers here would pay money to drive), I am wondering if I want to start looking for a new driving job with trucks I'm comfortable in. Crazy, huh?

While following this thread one of the thoughts I had was you have to use discretion and judgment depending on the situation. And I had a perfect example of that this morning as I was driving south on I-35 in Texas.

I was in the right lane just minding my own business at 62 miles an hour when I realized there was a four-wheeler in the hammer lane about two car lengths behind my trailer just sitting there matching my speed. Then I heard the chatter on the CB and of course realized that everybody was blocked in. So I got on the CB told the rest of the trucks what I was doing, which was to get in the left lane so that all the trucks could pass on the right. As soon as I did I heard the response over the CB "stay right there skateboarder we're coming through." As soon as the backed up traffic cleared out the car got back in the right lane and I got back in the right lane.