grogiefrog

Recently I saw a delivery truck take a fast left turn. I thought to myself, "That's not safe." Up the road I come up on him and he had flipped over the truck when he tried to make a right turn. Looked like a punk kid to me.

Red8

I've seen a lot of good posts here about respecting truck drivers. I just want to thank you for my father's sake. He's an owner/operator of a trucking business. Just want to raise a few points to consider:

1. This truck is his livelyhood...so he takes better care of it than most take care of their car. Most truckers are in this position, with exception to those company drivers like JBHUNT (my father says it stands for "Just Been Hired, Unfortunately Not Trained")

2. He's constantly taking his truck through those nice little "weigh stations" and constantly getting harrassed by the DMV. When is the last time the DMV pulled you over to measure your tread wear on your tires?? ...or to inspect your car for cleanliness? (besides the annual requirements in some states?) If you have "one" non-working light (no matter the significance of it) you get a ticket...

3. I have driven with him a few times and constantly see "4-wheelers" pull out just as he's on top of them...all this while carrying 48K pounds of steel. Do people think that he can stop that truck on a dime? Most of the time when you see a trucker jackknife a truck is because he had to slam on his jake brake in order to stop from making a "4-wheeler" a bug dropping on his window. Hmmm, guess those chains and ties can easily hold 48K pounds pulling against them while the truck slams on his brakes trying to avoid that little car that pulled out in front of him...

So, to those that respect them...good for you. Those that don't appreciate what they do for us everyday, shame on you. You should take the time one day and see what it is they go through before throwing stones....oh, and yes can sympathize with the rocks/pebbles...but most of that is our faults! Don't tailgate and your chances of that happening are greatly reduced! BTW, what about those SUV/4-wheel trucks that don't have mudflaps??? Think you're safer from them or a 18-wheeler with mudflaps?