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 ...
Truckers are the lifeblood of our economy. Pretty much everything we own or consume got to us by truck at some point or other.
With $4 a gallon for diesel, a long-hauler might pay $1,200 to fill up.
A hat tip and prayer for the safety and well-being of the millions of courteous professionals who ride the highways and byways
We all have a common enemy, the government employee or "public servant".
I do dispute the "greedy companies" comment, the only greedy non producers in the system is the government or government cronies, and they are Fascists not capitalists.
My husband eats breakfast at a cafe which is always loaded with truckers ... FoxNews is always on the television. Lots of political talk is sparked and, believe me, truckers are most definitively not liberals, nor do they show any fondness for democrats. It is doubtful that they vote that way.
>>**It seeems [sic] everybody's a victim slave these days.**<<
I like! Thanks!
I’ll tell you what I do. I keep a close watch in the rear view mirror. Since many company owned trucks are governed as far as top speed, I try to stay out of their way. For the other trucks that aren’t, I do the same. Drivers rarely get paid by the hour. They get paid by the mile.
If I slow a driver up I’m taking money out of their paycheck and food off their table. Getting out of their is a small consideration. By the way, I do that for all drivers that are overtaking me, no matter what the speed.
It is the "It's My Highway Too" idiot driving the speed limit in the left lane next to the person in the right lane driving the exact speed limit.
And after 5 miles of my Chevy 2500 on their ass and high beems in their mirror, they STILL claim "It's My Highway Too!"
I’ve driven those, most of the rigs I drove were cab-over tractors pulling sets of doubles. Triples were starting to be used when I retired, in early ‘86.
I drove trucks from ‘55 until ‘86 and our freight terminal was made up of all political persuasions, with the exception of no far left marxists. Most were just interested in the good money we made. ;)
I don’t care. It’s no excuse for them to endanger me and mine.
Drivers at work...looks he just passed another truck.
I was brand new on the road and out with my trainer. 3rd day out he left me on my own somewhere out west and took to his bunk. Things were just cozy for a good many miles and then mother nature called and I knew I had to stop.
Fortunately a rest area sign appeared and I yelled back at my trainer but he continued to snore. Told myself, I could do this..park the truck and use the facilities.
First 3 spaces were open and I swung in and dang if my truck and trailer did'nt take up all 3 spots...knew that would'nt do..so I tried backing up. No matter what I did..I still had 3 spaces being used by my one truck.
Totally disgusted with myself..I drove on. Figured I would stop at the next rest area. Problem was...next rest area was 64 miles away...and this is in a 65 mph truck.
Needless to say by the time I reached the next rest area...mother nature was sending me those final warning signals. Again...first 3 spots open and I do the same thing again. When I tried to back up, my bladder sent that final warning thing and I knew if I had to push the clutch in one more time, there was going to be one wet drivers seat. Figured my trainer would be more upset at the wet seat than he would at the parking thing...so off I run. Would'nt you know..it was one of those rest areas where the building is at the top of a hill...a zillion miles away.
Just when I thought I could not go one more step, I saw the bathroom door and charged in. Relief...what a wonderful feeling. As I stepped out of the stall to wash my hands...I notice a strange object...a urinal...and I think..oh no..I did'nt...and then I hear male voices coming into the room..so I duck back into the stall and stand there for several humiliating moments waiting for them to leave.
Unfortunately 2 more joined them and then they stopped there outside the door to talk about the idiot who took up the whole parking lot. Thinking it could not get any worse than this...
I'm wondering what kind of loads they're under that they can just sit and chat all day long...and then someone comes to the stall door wanting in...
With all the dignity I can muster and my head held high..I step out and calmly walk past the whole bunch. Dead silence...but I have no choice but to head to the truck...still silence..then one finally pops up..and says.."hell, she don't even know which bathroom to use"
To add salt to the wound..thinking that it could not be any worse...at least my trainer did'nt know. The next day, 2 states away and fueling...the guy in the next bay looks over and sees me..and would'nt you know..says.."hey, you're the girl in the bathroom yesterday" So much for well kept secrets...lol
And that's my trucking story. It did motivate me real quick to learn to manerver that **** truck. LOL
we get a lot of truckers where I work and they have conservatives on their radios.
But then we dont get a lot of Teamsters...
Not to worry! Soon those stinking messycans will control America’s highways and all will be well. Flying down the highways with defective equipment, unable to read signs written in English. Yeah, it’s gwin be a’right.
I am a truckers son, my father drove big rigs most of his life, he grew up in a dirt floor shack in Arkansas, he was marine Corp, he was a big big man and called “Big John”.
But I was the nerd, the geek yet antisocial, I turned out to possess phenomenal mechanical skills.
For over 4 decades I worked on trucks.
However being a mechanic led to me also having to operate certain big rigs and for the last 16 years I have been both a heavy equipment mechanic and a concrete mixer operator, and in my locality many contractors will refer to me as being of the most professional. And I have a perfect commercial drivers record.
Yet every day I see drivers in all forms of vehicles that for all intents and purposes are latent road ragers, doesn’t matter the age or sex, when they are forced to give way to a slow heavy vehicle on a long 8% grade on a two lane winding road like I have in Alaska they don’t care about safety not one bit at all.
being also a motorcyclist I see it from both extremes. Its a cold war and the common enemy comes down to the idiots that think they own the road, they can do whatever they wish, have no idea of consequences when they are distracted, and all the more lately is the outlet of economic frustration is being played out on the highways.
In summary, its Obamas fault.
That’s a big 10-4, good buddy
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
You should be careful which trucker you refer to as ‘good buddy’, no matter what the C/W songs may say.
In (older) trucker jargon, a “good buddy” is one that goes to town and gets two of something and gives his friend one of them.
Let your ‘imagination’ figure it out...
:)
How did he do that, exactly?
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