A trucking brotherhood, you’re joking?

Broompilot

Veteran Expediter
Team Caffee, and you offered to buy me a Coke, but not loan me your ladder? Thats where the Brotherhood went, thanks I left with dirty stacks that day and its all because you were stingy....
 

TeamCaffee

Administrator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
LOL Next time by gosh we will remember out manners!! One of these days we are going to catch up with you again.
 

Tennesseahawk

Veteran Expediter
Just stop by Broom's house. He's got a very kind wife and the coolest dog. Just don't say anything about the washing machine in his front yard. ;)

Oh... forgot. Don't stare while he chews with his mouth open with no teeth! :7

"If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know." - Kansas
 

michdpm

Seasoned Expediter
This is what I have been saying for a long time!

The Brotherhood was there... Now it is gone!!!

I drove for 26 years, I am still involved in the industry
but just not driving. When I got out of the truck people
asked the same old question, "I bet you don't miss the 4
wheelers?"

I said I was used to the 4 wheelers, that it was the other
trucks that scared me!

Now I am a trainer/consultant and
see why this has happened. Trucking is 90% common sense &
10% knowledge. What you do with that 10% is what makes you
good or not. Most of the drivers out there today fall into
the barrel of "Don't know enough to get out of the rain."
 

terryandrene

Veteran Expediter
Safety & Compliance
US Coast Guard
As a professional 4 wheeler in my CB equipped cab-over Chevy, I am often amazed at the professional 18 wheeler who constantly complains of "that damned 4 wheeler" who should get out of the way.

To my way of thinking, a true professional driver can easily anticipate any movement a 4 wheeler driver is about to undertake. Their head or shoulder position or movement, their glance in the mirror, or their speed adjustment often telegraphs their next move. Even the movements of passengers can be informative. It is the responsibility of the CDL holder to be aware of their surroundings and act or react appropriately.

Constant complaining by the big-rig folks tells me that I have an amateur CDL holder in my midst and I better be cautious of them.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
My sentiments exactly. You can often tell what a car is about to do even before the driver knows he's gonna do it. In addition to looking at the driver and picking up on his clues, you can pick up on certain tendencies that 4-wheelers have based on the surrounding traffic, the traffic patterns themselves, speed, distances between vehicles, distances to upcoming exits, etc. It's a game that I'm getting pretty good at. It's to the point now where a car that shoots across three lanes of traffic to just barely make that exit no longer surprises me, 'cause more often than not I've already called it.

A big rig driver who complains that a 4-wheeler cut him off is a driver who failed to recognize that the possibility, and the probability, of being cut-off was there in the first place.

The ones that get me are the drivers who complain about a 4-wheeler cutting in front of them and then slamming on the brakes. Yeah, that's bad when it happens, but it's something they should expect if they observe and learn from the patterns. But, the problem is, the ones who complain loudest about it are likely to do the same exact thing, essentially. You've got one truck going 56 miles an hour and another right behind going 56 1/2 miles an hour. You're in the hammer lane going 65 miles an hour, about to pass both trucks. At the last possible instant, Mr. 56 1/5 slides over right in front of you, forcing you to dynamite your own brakes to keep from hitting him. He has, effectively, pulled over right in front of you and slammed on the brakes.

These are the same drivers that flash their brights to let ya know it's OK to come back over. (The law states no brights within 500 feet of oncoming traffic, and no brights within 300 feet of a passing vehicle or a vehicle you are about to pass that is going in the same direction you are. It's polite, and safe, to let someone know that it's OK to come back over, but it's kinda rude to totally trash their night vision when doing so.)

Don't get me started on the improper use of fog lamps.
 
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