Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Old school truck drivers here?

After 15 years of limited interstate travel I am now doing quite a bit. During that time it seems to me that I’ve seen a substantial change in the way truck traffic moves on the interstate. Maybe someone can help me understand the modern mentality.

It seems to me that truckers seldom help each other in and out of lanes. I see a lot of drivers hanging out in the left lane long after the right lane opening has occurred. I see trucks with absolutely no potential to pass a slightly slower truck on a grade pull left and pace with the “slower truck” only to pull back in behind it or take the next three miles to pass it.
What gives?

Most recent stupidity was a young guy with Texas plates in a F350 Diesel pulling a goose neck with four 3ft plastic pipes. The joker hit the left lane with cruise set on 70. Over hill and over dale for the next ten miles he sat in the left lane. Rigs were jake braking at the bottom of hills because Jr wanted to stay in the left lane.

Do I just need to accept that we are in the age of narcissism? Are people this much more stupid, uncaring, distracted, disengaged? I miss old school truckers.

Yes.
Yes.

That and self righteous hybrid drivers and road construction.

They just don’t GAF. I think there are a lot of immigrants driving these days too.

On a side note, I have been working in and around the Badlands of ND. Most of those guys have some serious driving skills. Those roads going done in there are steep grades, twisting, slimy, blind corners, [bleep]. When it’s wet, they chain up. Balls of steel. The winch truck drivers are a special breed.

Interstate I travel 8 miles to work has 3 lanes. Constantly see people in the far left passing lane that stay there when it is by law designated as a passing lane only. Used to think it was Nascar fans. Now I believe it's just stupidity.
Wait, ain't those two things the same ?

Don't see many old School trucks these days. Shame too, used to be so many when I was young.
Schools have changed so much.

I've heard more than one youngster state "as long as I'm doing the speed limit, it doesn't matter what lane I'm in".

Really hate the jerks that are going 1MPH faster than me creep by instead of speeding up to pass.

The OP mention of the truckers is an everyday thing.

Going to work traffic starts here at 5AM. They're speeding to get to work when they're passed by a pickup ,pulling a trailer with 2-3 four wheelers, headed to the deer camp.

Heard that 'school' burned down.

Until they have a State Trooper follow them for three miles in the left lane then pull them over. Police are getting more aggressive with that violation on the PA. Turnpike.

People are just nuts these days.

I had the displeasure of driving 3-hours to Dallas yesterday to pick up a couple of new chairs (just so beautiful!) for the wife. I was pulling my utility trailor and confirmed before and after that the lights work, blinkers work, etc. With my rather light load, I was stlll able to accelerate well and drive speed limit plus 5 to 10 mph over the 70 mph and 75 mph speed limits to keep from getting run over from behind. But that's never enough for the dozens of dumb asses flying past me in heavy heavy traffic just to get 50 feet ahead, swerving in and out of lanes like they are all NASCAR drivers. I hope they got where they were going without killing anybody and enjoyed the extra 2 minutes they gained. Plus, I think I'm the only driver for 10 miles in any driection that used his blinkers.

Fortunately, the crazed dumb ass drivers are vastly the minority, but they are extremely dangerous. In my judgement, the truckers are the best of the drivers. A few need to wooped on the head for driving slow in the left lane. But most are "old school" types.

out here we have one interstate north to south.. I 5...

from the south out of California, we have them being driven by Mexicans and every other illegal alien types known to man..
who most don't speak English, much less even understand it.. and really don't give a damn...they know with liberals in Ca, they are special and laws don't apply to them...

from the north, we have out of Canada, plenty of Truckers who are from India and Pakistan, and a bunch of other Schitthole places in that area of the world....they are better at speaking and understanding English, but they really don't give a damn about much either... because they are also a privileged class to all the liberals....

Then as far as 4 wheelers.... in Washington, Oregon and CA, we have another class of liberal leftist that are just as stupid behind the wheel, as they are at anything else.....and yeah.. its all about them....

so what could possibly go wrong?

actually I beleive there is a God.. because its a big wonder that a lot more of them aren't killed on the highway, or have bigger wrecks....I can tell ya if there is a pileup on I 5.. it will usually involve Calif plates... and then give it a hour, there will be 5 or 6 more in the next hundred miles from all the rubber neckers.. and people doing 80 to 90 mph about 10 ft or less off of each others bumpers... and when one person hits the brakes.. there are 10 or more cars that are going to go smashbamboom real quick...
and it will again involve CA plates......

but I don't want to leave out Washington plates getting their credit... or someone out of Potlandia...

and then remember, out this way, all the states are sanctuary states... so D/L and car insurance is optional for all Mexicans and other illegal aliens....who usually just don't bother getting either for that very reason....

same with the Indians and Pakis out of BC....

40+ years ago, I drove a semi for a living. Liked the work, but the pay wasn't great. Back then there wasn't nearly as much traffic. Heck, I remember driving I-20 in the early morning and sometimes I go for 20 miles or more and not see another vehicle of any kind. Not just in my lane, not meet one either! It's not that way now.

Truckers helping each other was common. I remember the spring on the accelerator peddle broke one time. Foot peddle fell to the floor and wouldn't come up. Stuck my toe under it, pulled it up, and got to the side of the interstate. In just a minute, two 18 wheelers pulled over to see what was wrong. One of them had a tool box and we found a spring that would get me going again. In 15 min. or so, I was back on the road. Don't see that happening today.

It was bad enough in the seventies.

The new generation is under the all seeing eye of GPS and company dispatchers. As long as the truck is rolling at the prescribed rate, all is good. They're not bad people, but the etiquette and chivalry are going extinct.

My hat is off to all over the road truckers. Tough gig to be sure.

Trucks are different, drivers are different, roads are different, and there is much, much, more traffic than there was forty years ago. Trucks have enough power to haul heavy loads fast. Roads have been straightened out and grades which used to be a real chore are deceptively easy in appearance. The Lewiston, Idaho grade is a classic example. The old grade was twisty enough that driver just about couldn't get going too fast. The new grade lulls driver into a false sense of security and many are travelling too fast at the bottom. Some old grades remain and when some of the younger drivers get on them, they fail to show the grade the preoper respect at the top and end up in trouble; sometimes with fatal results.
Drivers today are limited to driving time and it is often difficult, if not impossible, for them to get the job done in the time they are allowed to drive and the electronic logbooks make it impossible to cheat. Sometimes, bad choices are made in an attempt to satisfy employers or customers while also satisfying the DOT. GD

Two things.

The electronic monitoring is for company profit. Dont mess that up changing lanes or helping another driver.

Also.....even with global warming....the sun does not get hot enough to hatch good truck drivers anymore.




Plus...to keep your 70 inch tv affordable......they hired Haji and Mohammed because they will work for less than Bill and Burt.

Electronic logbooks, never heard of such, but I guess that's just a sign of the times. I use to always keep 2 logbooks and so did just about everyone else.

I’m enjoying the comments. I definitely don’t want to be a JA and not consider things from the perspective of the drivers. However, with the big rigs and and four wheelers there is a serious issue with modern drivers and driving. I’d like to see left lane enforcement stepped up.

Left lane drivers in Northern Kentucky disproportionately represent the state of OHIO. The big rig left laners are usually on I-71 after the 75/71 split headed to and coming from Louisville.

That likely represents the thinking but reality demonstrates that proper lane changing speeds up traffic flow. I’m not a rocket surgeon but I cyphered that out (fingers and toe).

If a driver thinks a truck needs only one shifter sticking up out of the floor, he's not "old school". The 1960 B-73 Mack I learned to drive big rigs on had a tiny engine, but it also had two transmissions- - - - -5 speed main box and a 3 speed Brownie. 15 forward gears, three reverse! Try shifting with both hands while hauling a 45-foot trailer and a gross weight of 80,000 pounds sometime!
Jerry