Seems truckers are rude almost 100% of the time

[C&SL]

Originally Posted by slickest1

I have read through all this and as someone who has been on the road for years this is my point of view. Seasoned truckers out there doing the job shake their head at newbee drivers that try too hard flashing lights and horn honking and the look at me syndrome. Nothing more annoying than driving along tired and someone flashing their high beams in your mirrors, not once but several times because they think your stupid and didn't see it the first time. Like said before on a multi lane hwy you don't need to do that.

Then people buy an RV and start playing trucker. On multi lane roads truckers do their own thing and don't worry about the RVs. On two lane roads RV's can really ruin your day.
The road is a truckers work place, Think about it and realize that if people came into your workplace and thought they knew all the ins and outs of your job how you would feel. Flame suit on zipper up.

Did NOT know the trucker owned the road, just because it is PART of their work place!!

[BCooke]

Originally Posted by Craig_R

completely!

The analogy I used to draw for people who didn't really get it was always, "How would you feel if I walked into your office while you were trying to work and constantly rearranged the top of your desk".

Someone also mentioned that they felt that "more than half" of the truckers he's observed were distracted and all over the road. My only response to that would be to advise that person not to exaggerate. Whenever someone exaggerates they rapidly lose all credibility.

Unless he is an owner operator I do not believe he/she has any more claim to the road than I do, or if his fuel comes out of his/her pay. I look at it like his commute is a lot worse than mine on a regular basis. My opinion the 'more that half' would be like the 'it was going 50,000 mph', unless they are driving the Cross Bronx then 1/2 have reason and 1/4 are driving in the left lane where they are prohibited.

..........just like many other things when the people that give a bad name increase it looks like everyone goes 'down'.

In EMS i have seen enough of both (professional drivers and very un professional drivers of varying wheel count) . Despite the habits of the non driver traffic, that does not excuse many of the moves/stunts I have seen/responded to over the years. (Driver falling asleep and striking another vehicle, not taking heart medication for 2 weeks and going to the hospital for cardiac symptoms, driving under the influence. I will leave it to you to figure out who did what, hint it is not necessarily either group alone.)
While the regulations have gotten very unfriendly it seems like there are many drivers that spend a good amount of time trying to get around or flat out ignoring the rules/motor vehicle code. Yes there are many things they get blamed for that is out of their control.
A example of something it their control would be tailgating me down hill where I very well might be going over the limit when I just spent 2 miles while he tried passing another truck at 20 mph below the speed limit.
After this past week look out for those motorcycles......... not to being funny but is it funny as while they are ones on the smallest vehicles that many believe they have the greatest ownership of the road. I have come close to collecting a couple just by staying in my lane and maintaining my speed.

Of course this is all my opinion/conjecture from my experience, YMMV.

[so47]

They are working, not playing. Most have a timetable/miles traveled per day target to hit. Most ( not all, but most IMO) drivers of all vehicles, trucks, buses, SUV and autos know how to turn the wheel, push on the gas and brakes and not at all how to DRIVE. Just in the last 17 years of my work life I drove over 200 miles a day, six days a week. That's diddly-squat to the average long-haul driver. But even so, every day I was cut off, tailgated to the extreme, almost sideswiped or otherwise put in jeopardy by the driving clueless. During my short tenure as a LEO, I could have spent all my time writing citations with no effort at all. Adding the stress of rolling that 60k+ rig down the road with the swarming of looney tune drivers all around you with no regard for your limitations on maneuvering! let alone stopping and I for one totally get truckers having an attitude for anybody and any vehicle that gets in the way. I'm more surprised by how many of them remain professional with that kind of stress. My 2cents.

[slickest1]

To clarify, no I don't think truckers own the road any more so than any other vehicle. When I am a trucker I try to be courteous to all around me and ignore the bone heads. It is called defensive driving and so far I have clocked many accident free miles.

When I am an RV'er I get to a different mode and try and enjoy the trip. I let the trucks do their thing and try to stay out of their way so to speak. Relax chill out and enjoy the ride.

There are bone heads driving all forms of vehicles no matter how many wheels they have.

[EricGT]

Originally Posted by ronspradley

Curious EricGT, what did you realize what road etiquette is all about? When you were driving in middle lane and semi's pass you on the right, going up an incline? And blowing their horn while passing you? I really would like you to tell me what you learned.

ronspradley

Being a typical car driver I was not thinking about being in the far right lane.
It was only until I got passed in the right lane that I realized I was in the wrong lane. I was probably holding other traffic up but did not notice until the fly by.
It was my first trip in a motorhome. What I learned should be quite obvious from my previous post. I now know better and will never make this mistake again.

[ruffian]

Originally Posted by lyledavid

Red Wing Nut. A Bull Hauler is a truck that hauls live animals, Cattle trailers and the drivers are referred to as "Bull Haulers".
lyledavid

I had that all screwed up. I thought "bull hauler" was a bus full of Politicians.

As for truckers; We just hit the 10,000 mile mark with this MH. We always fuel in the truck lane and generally drive in the right most lane.

I haven't run into any truckers who were intentionally rude yet. Mostly they seem, to me, to be busy folks trying to earn a living. They get out of my way when they finish fueling and I get out of their's. Also most of them have been good about making room for my slow accelerating MH when I merge with freeway traffic.

[ronspradley]

EricGT, your post might have been clear to others, but not to me. That was why I asked. I did not mean the question to be in any way mean or snarky. I apologize if it was taken that way.

I have never been a professional truck driver, but I have dispatched for years and hired and trained and fired Class A CDL truck drivers. I do use that experience to influence the way I drive, around semi's, cars, motorcycles. I sincerely try my best to not interfere with another vehicle's progress down the road. I want the same from my fellow drivers out there. I try especially hard to stay out of the way of commercial trucks, because they are working and I am not working. I drive the right lane almost all of the time because I believe that gives me the most options for avoiding a wreck than the middle or hammer lane. I will put up with the clueless that enter the freeway and think that I am the one that needs to make room for them. I have no problem easing up a little to make sure traffic in front of me has room to maneuver safely. I am never in a hurry. Now I am retired and my time on the road, whether on an RV trip in the MH or on the road in my daily driver, is not making or losing me money. And others on vacation that still work may have a deadline and feel the need to keep the speed up. But that is not me.

I have gone on too long. Sorry about that. This is just my personal opinion. YMMV.

ronspradley

[JFXG]

Interesting thread. We've been fulltiming for a bit over a year, and I spent ten years before that as a professional driver of several different types of vehicles- though never a large truck- and I can say I've never had a problem with truckers. Heck, I crossed the country a half dozen times by motorcycle back in the '70s without a hint of a problem, in the days when it seemed that everyone on a motorcycle would tell you some harrowing tale of being attacked by a crazed trucker. I think there are just a lot of folks who love to tell "a&*$ole trucker" stories.

I've noticed that there seems to be a more consistent response to light signals on the major highways outside of the northeast, but then, almost everything gets ratcheted up a little tighter in the northeast. And I say that as a native.

Several folks here have commented on truckers "acting like they own the road". While of course they don't actually own the road, it might be worth noting that the Interstate Highway System was designed, bought, and paid for to facilitate the interstate movement of goods and passengers, both commercial and military. We all use it, of course, because it is a public road system. Transport modes and technologies have changed over the decades, but the Interstates did not come into being just so we all could have an easier Sunday drive to visit Aunt Millie.

[EricGT]

Originally Posted by ronspradley

EricGT, your post might have been clear to others, but not to me. That was why I asked. I did not mean the question to be in any way mean or snarky. I apologize if it was taken that way.

I have never been a professional truck driver, but I have dispatched for years and hired and trained and fired Class A CDL truck drivers. I do use that experience to influence the way I drive, around semi's, cars, motorcycles. I sincerely try my best to not interfere with another vehicle's progress down the road. I want the same from my fellow drivers out there. I try especially hard to stay out of the way of commercial trucks, because they are working and I am not working. I drive the right lane almost all of the time because I believe that gives me the most options for avoiding a wreck than the middle or hammer lane. I will put up with the clueless that enter the freeway and think that I am the one that needs to make room for them. I have no problem easing up a little to make sure traffic in front of me has room to maneuver safely. I am never in a hurry. Now I am retired and my time on the road, whether on an RV trip in the MH or on the road in my daily driver, is not making or losing me money. And others on vacation that still work may have a deadline and feel the need to keep the speed up. But that is not me.

I have gone on too long. Sorry about that. This is just my personal opinion. YMMV.

ronspradley

I gotcha Ron.

[NITEHAWK]

When we are on the road with our coach, or car, I always try to let the trucker go first. He, or she, is working and has time constraints whereas we are retired and can afford to let them go first. Never a problem and we almost always get a thank-you flash of the lights, or a horn honk. Their job is hard enough, with all the idiots that must have gotten their driver's license out of a cereal box and suffered from malnutrition that destroyed most of their brain cells causing all kinds of issues.
I watched a car cut in front of a semi so close that the semi brake lights came on. The trucker commented on his CB that he would probably get stopped by the state patrol for following too close. I told him I was going to stay right behind him for a few miles in case he needed a witness as to what happened. The trucker bought us lunch at the next rest stop!

[Medico]

I will not be flashing my lights, either headlights or taillights, to any trucker ever again! I do not wish to be accused of trying to be courteous to any truck drivers ever again. And god forbid should I cause a "professional" driver any anxiety because of liability issues. As far as I'm concerned this thread should be closed. It's just too bad that those "professional" drivers out there take offense at my observation. This will be my last post in this thread. You can all continue to argue about my initial observation all you want.

[slickest1]

You did start out saying Truckers are rude almost 100% of the time. I thought you got some good answers and different opinions. Your way or the Hiway, just enjoy the ride.

[ahicks]

Originally Posted by Medico

I will not be flashing my lights, either headlights or taillights, to any trucker ever again! I do not wish to be accused of trying to be courteous to any truck drivers ever again. And god forbid should I cause a "professional" driver any anxiety because of liability issues. As far as I'm concerned this thread should be closed. It's just too bad that those "professional" drivers out there take offense at my observation. This will be my last post in this thread. You can all continue to argue about my initial observation all you want.

Not sure what you expected when you categorized so many people as rude for what seems to be (IMHO) such an inconsequential event?

Taking offense to some of these responses pretty much the same thing? You're expressing an opinion, right? And you're offended because everyone doesn't agree?

To me, the many differing opinions make for good discussions here. With an open mind, many lessons to be learned? This place would be REALLY boring if we all agreed on everything, no?

[georgetown350]

Flashing your lights for a trucker to change lanes is nice gesture and is appreciated by most truckers. As a trucker when I pass a car and have traffic behind me and you flash your lights as I clear your front bumper, that indicates you are allowing me to come over a little sooner then I would normally and that is very appreciated. Don't stop your courtesy behavior because of a few anal responses to a thread.