Drive like a Trucker

[sdennislee]

Originally Posted by bob91yj

The [Mod Edit] weaving through traffic being a hazard to all around him...well, my 3/4 ton truck makes a hell of a lane blocker when needed.

When you do this, all you are doing is making an already hazardous situation even more hazardous.

The guy weaving in and out of traffic or riding your bumper or driving erratically is a danger to all those around him. When decide to appoint your self the pace car to slow him all you have really done is to agitate him which is going to do nothing more than lead to road rage which will cause his driving to become even more risky.

Think about this behavior the next time you feel the urge to assume authority you are not entitled to. Let him pass, for safer to be able to watch him than have him behind you.

[Tananarive]

In event of a tire blowout, I want to be the only decider on when to apply the brakes.

[Ret.LEO]

I'm in the unique position of having driven trucks for twenty years. THEN at the ripe old age of 40 I graduated from the Sheriff's Academy. Deputy for 17 years before stroking out and put out to pasture early. Same week I stroked they repaired two holes in my heart.
I have probably over 3 million miles behind the wheel in one form or another.

Truckers are operating 20 ft power units hooked to a 53 ft long trailer. Combined weight up to 80,000 lbs. Yes, there are times they will speed up when they approach a uphill grade.They're just trying to build a little momentum. Coming down a grade, A lot of road tractors are like us, they don't have Jake brakes and are relying on engine rpm, gear selection and brakes.
Some safety practices learned over the years:

Pretrip your vehicle EVERY day. Check antifreeze, oil, suspension, tires as you walk around your vehicle. Make sure ALL lights are working. Drain the air tanks if you have them. Check condition of and the air pressure of your tires. Tires are the only part of the rig that touches the roadway. Check their DOT Code, seven years generally is old enough for any tire. Look under your rig (had a farmer who backed his semi over his hired hand who was adjusting the brakes, not a pretty sight) Adjust mirrors, seats.............SEAT BELT. They do save lives. I don't know how many accidents I rolled up on expecting the worse only to see the driver standing...........might have some seatbelt and airbag rash but oh well
Many operators only drive their rig a relatively few times each year. Easy to become over confident...........same way for longtime operators.
When driving keep your eyes moving: straight ahead, right mirror and roadside, left mirror and roadside, gauges, straight ahead, repeat.
When going through large cites with multiple lanes I like to run the 2nd lane to the right. The outside lane has on & off merging vehicles. PLUS being in the 2nd lane gives multiple escape possibilitys in case I have to make a evasive move.
When traveling take frequent stops: one or two hour intervals. Just getting up and walking around your rig will help keep us mentally, physically alert plus to check for any problems. We're there to relax, have fun...........feeling stressed is neither. Then it's time to get off the road for the day or to take a nice break from it.
My wife and I are looking at a new Class C in a couple of years. I have found two huge dealers who include a drivers school for new owners. My wife has never driven anything larger than a p/u. The driving school will be the right way for her to start out. I can handle a 28-32 ft Class C with no problem....BUT.... I will never turn down the opportunity to improve my knowledge and skill level. Looking forward to it.

I know I got long winded, hopefully not too preachy. But I have seen too much human carnage in traffic crashes. I have had to knock on too may doors to deliver the very worse news possible for someone.
I also understand personally the devastation losing someone in a accident. My Nephew was killed by a driver who was texting. My Nephew left behind a wife and three small children...........the youngest was 6 months old.
I lost my other Nephew (Godson) to a boat operator who had never operated a boat before. She pancaked her boat on top of John's boat. He had just became a journeyman electrician, just got engaged, just bought their 1st house. John has never been found. The Mississippi River doesn't give up her dead usually.

Please add any safety practices that you use. We can never learn too much about safety.
Have fun, drive safe and God Bless!

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by Ret.LEO

I'm in the unique position of having driven trucks for twenty years. THEN at the ripe old age of 40 I graduated from the Sheriff's Academy. Deputy for 17 years before stroking out and put out to pasture early. Same week I stroked they repaired two holes in my heart.
I have probably over 3 million miles behind the wheel in one form or another.

Truckers are operating 20 ft power units hooked to a 53 ft long trailer. Combined weight up to 80,000 lbs. Yes, there are times they will speed up when they approach a uphill grade.They're just trying to build a little momentum. Coming down a grade, A lot of road tractors are like us, they don't have Jake brakes and are relying on engine rpm, gear selection and brakes.
Some safety practices learned over the years:

Pretrip your vehicle EVERY day. Check antifreeze, oil, suspension, tires as you walk around your vehicle. Make sure ALL lights are working. Drain the air tanks if you have them. Check condition of and the air pressure of your tires. Tires are the only part of the rig that touches the roadway. Check their DOT Code, seven years generally is old enough for any tire. Look under your rig (had a farmer who backed his semi over his hired hand who was adjusting the brakes, not a pretty sight) Adjust mirrors, seats.............SEAT BELT. They do save lives. I don't know how many accidents I rolled up on expecting the worse only to see the driver standing...........might have some seatbelt and airbag rash but oh well
Many operators only drive their rig a relatively few times each year. Easy to become over confident...........same way for longtime operators.
When driving keep your eyes moving: straight ahead, right mirror and roadside, left mirror and roadside, gauges, straight ahead, repeat.
When going through large cites with multiple lanes I like to run the 2nd lane to the right. The outside lane has on & off merging vehicles. PLUS being in the 2nd lane gives multiple escape possibilitys in case I have to make a evasive move.
When traveling take frequent stops: one or two hour intervals. Just getting up and walking around your rig will help keep us mentally, physically alert plus to check for any problems. We're there to relax, have fun...........feeling stressed is neither. Then it's time to get off the road for the day or to take a nice break from it.
My wife and I are looking at a new Class C in a couple of years. I have found two huge dealers who include a drivers school for new owners. My wife has never driven anything larger than a p/u. The driving school will be the right way for her to start out. I can handle a 28-32 ft Class C with no problem....BUT.... I will never turn down the opportunity to improve my knowledge and skill level. Looking forward to it.

I know I got long winded, hopefully not too preachy. But I have seen too much human carnage in traffic crashes. I have had to knock on too may doors to deliver the very worse news possible for someone.
I also understand personally the devastation losing someone in a accident. My Nephew was killed by a driver who was texting. My Nephew left behind a wife and three small children...........the youngest was 6 months old.
I lost my other Nephew (Godson) to a boat operator who had never operated a boat before. She pancaked her boat on top of John's boat. He had just became a journeyman electrician, just got engaged, just bought their 1st house. John has never been found. The Mississippi River doesn't give up her dead usually.

Please add any safety practices that you use. We can never learn too much about safety.
Have fun, drive safe and God Bless!

Good advice.

Part of my working life I had a job managing a road network. Part of the job was fatal accident site inspections. The majority of inspections were for single vehicle accidents on straight roads where excessive speed was listed as one of the contributing factors.

Worst part was the small debris left after cleanup. Many times there were small toys.

[Ret.LEO]

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

Good advice.

Part of my working life I had a job managing a road network. Part of the job was fatal accident site inspections. The majority of inspections were for single vehicle accidents on straight roads where excessive speed was listed as one of the contributing factors.

Worst part was the small debris left after cleanup. Many times there were small toys.

That rips your heart out doesn't it? I hate it when kids die or have to suffer from the decisions that a adult made.

[biker art]

I may be wrong but I always heard that flashing your high beams was against the law. While having a truck or rv passing me I turn off my lights for a second and again for a second to signal it's ok to move over, not flashing high beams and blinding the driver. I do flash high beams at an on coming vehicle if he is far enough away so as not to blind him. Blinding another driver can get you into a head on accident. As to truckers blocking the lanes they do it on purpose sometimes. It's happened to me and some friends on motorcycles when the trucks would not pass each other. We were in Ca where it legal to split lanes and the truck drivers thought that's what we were going to do and they kept swerving back and forth to block us. We were not going to do that because of the extreme danger of getting in between them but traveling up a ten mile hill at 20 mph was a real pita. We also had a flat bed trucker chasing us up the same hill I 17 from Phoenix Az. To Prescott at 100 mph. Needless to say we didn't let him catch us. It's not a good idea to fool around with a trucker while on a motorcycle. I always tried to play it safe and stay as far away from them as possible.

[slickest1]

I don't understand why Rver's have to play trucker. Your RV is completely different in size and weight and handling. Like said before the light flashing thing was years ago and really is not required anymore. When it was done back then it was not high beams but rather a quick on and off of the light switch on low beam. The last thing a tired driver needs is a blast of high beams in their mirror and then they cant see nothing back there.
I trucked for many years and now I get in my coach and just relax and enjoy the ride and try and be courteous to all on the road.
Yes there are some bad truckers out there but there are alot of other bad drivers as well including Rv's!

[ScoobyDoo]

Originally Posted by Ret.LEO

.

Truckers are operating 20 ft power units hooked to a 53 ft long trailer. Combined weight up to 80,000 lbs.

80,000 is the legal limit in most areas, but some places it can be much higher. I once heard a Weight Watching LEO explain to a J B Hunt driver, over the CB, that any 4 of my axles would be over his 80, and I had 6 on the ground.

Some safety practices learned over the years:
Pretrip your vehicle EVERY day.

This, IMHO, is overlooked by RVers, and most motorist. And for God's sake, when you find something wrong fix it before you use it! Way to many times I read, What is wrong with my lights?, start to troubleshoot by remote control only to be told, "I'll fix it after vacation, can't waste time now!" Then there is the ones "My brakes stopped working on trip." ask them about something, "It's in storage, I'll check later." Like I told fleet operators, truck and trailers are not mules. A sick mule, put it in the pasture. It might die or it might get well. A vehicle, it might die, but will never get well.
Like a RVer, as a O/O, I new I would be driving the same unit next. And because I wanted to be sure my ride was ready to go when I wanted to, I would do my inspection when I parked. Do the same now, but because the camper sets longer, I have to check more before a trip. A few days before I plan to tow, I back the TV close enough to plug in the cord. Make sure all lights work, and the brake electric is good...

When going through large cites with multiple lanes I like to run the 2nd lane to the right. The outside lane has on & off merging vehicles. PLUS being in the 2nd lane gives multiple escape possibilitys in case I have to make a evasive move.

But don't forget the blind spot on the right is much bigger, duck left is preferred option.

When traveling take frequent stops: one or two hour intervals. Just getting up and walking around your rig will help keep us mentally, physically alert plus to check for any problems. We're there to relax, have fun

Many nowadays are putting faith in black boxes. I still prefer to, as soon as I stop, pet every tire and hub that has been spinning
When running my truck I would put a gauge on all tires once a week, club them cold every morning, and touch them every stop. I found the most low tires when this one felt warmer than the one next to it.

I know I got long winded, hopefully not too preachy.

Only things like voting must our education come in 10 second blocks. Important things like driving we should be willing to take time to learn.

[Whirrlly]

if we have to drive our Mega Cab diesel truck to trucker's standard or some other 'perfect performance' option, then heck, just shoot us now. We are pleasure drivers while roaming out and about, we are not even putting this type of pressure on us in this lifetime :P Normal good performance, sure, over that isn't happening cause we want our valued thoughts and time somewhere else in our life.

[biggcrisp]

If I was to flip some switch every time I was passed by a big truck... that dang thing would have worn out and fallen off a long time ago.

[Whirrlly]

Originally Posted by biggcrisp

If I was to flip some switch every time I was passed by a big truck... that dang thing would have worn out and fallen off a long time ago.

HA HA so true!

[Cloud Dancer]

What I glean from this thread, and other sources, partly explains something that I have suspected for a long time. I've made a study on the subject of why some drivers of large motorhomes immediately lose control just because a front steer tire suddenly FAILS (as in blowout). Here's the answer: they are so much involved in relaxing while they drive, or so distracted by the scenery, that the blowout takes them by complete surprise. They are so shocked by it that they do NOTHING for about 4 seconds. Instead of talkng so much about driving like a trucker, why not drive 100% percent of the time like your life depends on it. Just instantly/properly manhandle/MANHANDLE the steering wheel while NOT applying ANY of the brakes. YES, it's simple to say AND TO DO, so just DO IT! Face the fact, if you can not contol the temporary incapacitation,...OOPS, that's when I run out of answers.

[Skiddy]

Originally Posted by gpounder

Do you Drive like a Trucker?
Do you know how they drive?
Do you know what red line is.
Do you know what max torque RPM is?
Do you manage your RPM?
Do you manage what gear your in?
Do you notice even a small hill?
Do you manage your speed with traffic?

and all along I thought this thread was about this

[ScoobyDoo]

Originally Posted by gpounder View Post
Do you Drive like a Trucker?
Do you know how they drive?
Do you know what red line is.
Do you know what max torque RPM is?
Do you manage your RPM?
Do you manage what gear your in?
Do you notice even a small hill?
Do you manage your speed with traffic?

Originally Posted by Skiddy

and all along I thought this thread was about this

Well, some have the idea that this list was all a driver does. Others, this little is too much to do. Most RVers, and a large percentage of today's drivers have no reason to check this list.