This is becoming a necessity as there are some Interstates so populated by maniacal truck drivers I won't even use them
I-81 through Pennsylvania is the worst highway for trucks that I know of. From Scranton to the Mason/Dixon line (or Waffle House/Dunkin Donuts line for you modern people), it is white-knuckle all the way.
We went thru Chicago, up thru Michigan and back down thru Wisconsin last week. I literally found myself holding my breath while next to some of these trucks. Some stray over the line, almost hitting vehicles. Others change lanes without signals. It is frightening.
The railroad tracks run parallel to I-94 through southern Michigan, a freeway where 1 in 5 vehicles are trucks. There are times of day where I feel like I'm playing a dangerous game of horizontal Tetris because of the semis.
There have been numerous attempts to create a railroad depot near Detroit that would alleviate a LOT of the congestion and help with our rotten economy, but it's being stopped by NIMBY mindsets...and that doesn't include environmental worryworts.
If you live in the Milwaukee area stay away from I-45 from about Good Hope to the Stadium. Nothing but truck drivers going well over the speed limit.
95% of fatalities involving trucks is the CAR's fault. Sitting up in a cab, watching the four wheeler scurry around you, and I cannot tell you how comical is is to watch, like little spoiled rotten brats getting in line for candy. That is EXACTLY what it looks like from above!!
I cannot tell you how many times cars have been behind me, cannot wait 3 seconds for their turn off to come, so they race around me, cut in front of me and then hit their brakes to make the exit. This happens 100,017 times a day out on the big road.... and we are maniacs!! LOL... gimmie a break!!
Cars on the road resent truckers, because we need to gain speed to make it up the next hill, they stay out in the hammer lane(That trucker is not going to pass me!!) talking on the cell phone, oblivious to the elements of physics.
Without trucks, you would parish....
Frieght needs to return to rail, with only the local delivery being done by truck.... Of course that would require actual investment in rail.. which has about as much priority in DC as curing poverty.
What will DC do? They'll make a 16 lane highway that divides the country in half so crap from mexico in trucks can reach canada without needing an american to even touch it.
Don't hold your breath on this problem being addressed in your lifetimes folks.
I agree.
I drive a lot for my employer (about 150 miles per day) and I see lots of crazy truckers.
Minnesota law says trucks must maintain a 500 foot cushion between themselves and the vehicle in front (which is really impossible in metro traffic because someone will move in and fill a gap that big in no time), but they tailgate all the time.