Posted on 08/07/2011 11:53:31 AM PDT by Daffynition
Let me tell you a little about the truck driver you just flipped off because he was passing another truck, and you had to cancel the cruise control and slow down until he completed the pass and moved back over.
His truck is governed to 68 miles an hour, because the company he leases it from believes it keeps him and the public and the equipment safer.
The truck he passed was probably running under 65 mph to conserve fuel. You see, the best these trucks do for fuel economy is about 8 miles per gallon. With fuel at almost $4 per gallon -- well, you do the math. And, yes, that driver pays for his own fuel.
He needs to be 1,014 miles from where he loaded in two days. And he can't fudge his federally mandated driver log, because he no longer does it on paper; he is logged electronically.
He can drive 11 hours in a 14-hour period; then he must take a 10-hour break. And considering that the shipper where he loaded held him up for five hours because it is understaffed, he now needs to run without stopping for lunch and dinner breaks.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Funny, but I’ve never felt the need to flip off a big rig driver.
From decades of driving over the interstate system, I’ve grown to appreciate truckers. Over 99% of my interactions with them have been professional and good. The one percent of goofballs...well, every profession has them.
After reading that article, I see how we take them for granted much of the time. This is one four-wheeler who would like to thank them.
However, there is the occasional trucker who doesn't move over to the right lane after passing but stays in the left lane forcing everyone to slam on their brakes. Had this happen last week three times. We ended up doing 45mph in the left lane... on a 75mph highway... and for several minutes. Traffic piled up for a half a mile behind him.
We were climbing a hill. And yes, there was an opportunity for the trucker to get over. Apparently, he didn't want to lose his momentum.
The left lane is for passing.
The few truck drivers I've met throughout my life (a very good friend's husband is one) are salt-of-the-earth staunch conservatives.
A lot of truck drivers spend a lot of their time listening to (and calling into) talk radio. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard truckers call into Glenn, Rush, Savage, etc.
What are the incentives that got us to this point? Were drivers in the 60’s less honorable? Were companies forced to these measures by unionized drivers? Or were companies greedy from the get go? Chicken and egg... which came first? I’ll lay this one at the feet of unions... but maybe someone knows more.
I do not doubt that it’s difficult to be a long haul trucker. We should all note that 90% of that difficulty is provided by GOVERNMENT. They are the enemy, not the other cars and trucks on the road.
“With fuel at almost $4 per gallon”
And everything in the US moving by truck- this is the source of a lot of economic woes right there. Lower fuel prices would go a long way towards repairing a lot of economic damage.
I unload trucks for a living,get ‘em back on the road as soon as possible.
Truck porn!
Great post. Thanks.
To truckers, thanks for what you do. Good sharing the road with you, and keep safe.
I only flip them off when they come over in your lane and almost crush my car.
Good Thread ,thanks for posting this.
That’s no excuse for the truckers who routinely get up on my bumper in the right lane when I’m doing 5 mph over the speed limit.
I agree 100%. Where would we be without them?
I always prefer late night driving with the truckers rather than the Obamaidiots in the daylight!
Having said that, there are completely incompetent truck drivers, just as there are all kinds of non-trucker drivers that shouldn't be allowed on the road. They stay in the left hand lane at 68 mph, talking on the telephone and ... just the other day ... we saw a nice trucker using his computer right after he had run us totally off into the emergency lane of the interstate (DH and I had a bet of whether or not he was on the phone).
Why do they come into your lane without proper warning or room to do so??? Because they can.
Like so many of the working poor, they could do better on welfare. Hell, why fight it? Just knuckle under, give up your soul and independence, stick out your hand and give your jailer your vote. It won’t hurt a bit. Trade freedom for a lifetime of servitude. Great deal.
All those rich folks can pay and pay. You deserve to get an equal share of the pie, a piece of the good life.
For your prize the jailer will give you food stamps, section 8 housing, all the free medical care you care to wait for, “job” training, a little spending money, child care so your children can learn to love the servitude you have brought them into and so on.
You’re making $30k a year now, paying taxes, no benefits, the kids have little or nothing. Come on man, what are you stupid? Swallow your pride, your dignity, your independence, your FREEDOM. Sign up with the MAN, it won’t hurt a bit. All your sap buddies can pay you now!
Sounds like slavery doesn’t it? Sounds like a deal with the Devil doesn’t it?
That is because it is. It is a ponzi scheme, a lie and cheating.
Huh? I personally know two long-haul truck drivers who are FAR more conservative than anyone you could put up against them. They talk-the-talk and walk-the-walk.... and would rip you a new one if you said that to their face. ;)
Long, long, ago truck drivers were Democrat voting Teamsters.
These days the Teamsters are a trivial % of the total.
Like most unionized businesses, unionized truck firms tended to fail after deregulation, which stunningly was passed during the Carter era.
Maybe you need a brain with a comment like that! Shows you aren’t conservative NOT to know most truckers are!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.