Expediter, you've gone to far!

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Streakn1

Veteran Expediter
In another thread on EO, Jamimjim states "Some of you claim to be business people, professionals, and a number of names" and then proceeds to post quotes by myself and others to make his point. Let Jamimjim be the catalyst for the following, as I originally had not planned to post this. Maybe its time some of you get a much needed wake up call.

A few days ago I'm traveling through a construction zone with an oversized permitted load. I am 11'-11" wide. I am on my specified permit route. Signs in the construction zone direct ALL TRUCKS USE LEFT LANE and SPEED LIMIT 55 MPH. I do exactly as instructed, cruise set at 55 mph traveling in the left lane through this 13-15 mile constrution zone. Although I was as tight to the wall with my load as I could get without hitting it, a car in the right lane is afraid to pass my load. We are both doing the posted speed limit.

Now, along come Mister Professional Expediter in his little expedite van ( not pick'n on you van drivers) with his purple and ...., ooops, his expedite carrier logo plastered on the side of his van haul'n butt up behind the car. Does'nt take long for him to get irritated and he whips in behind me because the car won't pass me. If he had followed me any closer, he would have been part of my load. I could see him weave from one mirror to the other several times. Guess he was trying to intimidate my 80,000 lbs rig into going faster with his little 3500 lb van! LOL I knew he was there and obviously in a hurry. NOT MY PROBLEM!!! I'm NOT required to speed up, slow down, or move to the right lane which would be breaking the law to statisfy him. Especially with a permit load where the fines are huge!

Back behind the car he gets and tries to intimidate them to no avail. Finally the car exits the interstate and away Mr Expediter goes, but not without first pulling alongside of my cab window clearly making it a point that I see him flipping me off! What a pathetic and childish act! He then speeds off weaving through traffic [thats obeying the signs] easily doing 65 mph with road construction workers in the construction zone working.

Let me say this, if you were my first encounter with an "Expediter" and I used you as a reference as to what "Expediters" are, I would probably have a VERY POOR impression of expediters as a whole. Not only did you break the law, you endangered me, my wife, my equipment, the almost million dollars in freight I was carrying, other drivers that shared the road with you, and the construction workers working a matter of feet from your vehicle as you sped past them ( with no regard for their safety). If you think that you were that much more important than the rest of us, or your load and schedule was more important than ours, you sir are grossly mistaken. I will give you credit for this: Thankyou for making the professional expediters and drivers like myself that abid by the laws look like careless outlaws in the eyes of the traveling public. Job well done!

You know who you are, my truck is very recognizable, and your unit number and carrier logo are very legible. Have I reported you to your safety department? No. Should I? What do the members of this forum think? Remember this my friend, what I do as driver out here reflects either positively or negatively on the rest of the drivers out here (including you) as your actions reflect on the rest of us! By the way, you are not the first I've seen do the same in construction zones. I distinctly remember the ER caravans on escorted government loads that we were involved in, where the lead trucks did 70 mph instead of the posted 55 mph. I refused to speed with them which broke up the caravan which resulted in complaint calls from the escorts being made to the carrier while the caravan was enroute. I SPEED [break the law] FOR NO ONE !!!
 
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Poorboy

Expert Expediter
I wouldn't even Have to ask that question, I would have Called His Safety Dept. as Soon as I Got out of the Construction Zone! That Kind of Crap Makes it Look Bad for Everyone else!
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Streak,
Yes complain. I would and have. I don't care what others think, it is my safety and those around me. If the company wants to actually do something other than pay people for passed inspections they would take things seriously.

By the way, pictures are great. When I had the DVR and cameras setup, it was great to tell the person on the other end of the phone "I got video, want a copy?" Can't wait to reinstall it!
 

Falligator

Expert Expediter
You should have called the safety department, the highway patrol and taken pictures to back it up...that is classified as road rage.
 

Streakn1

Veteran Expediter
Guess I'm to kind of a person. Since I believe this driver is a known member on this forum, I'm hoping that by reading this post he will learn from it!
 

Falligator

Expert Expediter
Guess I'm to kind of a person. Since I believe this driver is a known member on this forum, I'm hoping that by reading this post he will learn from it!
Apparently he didn't read the speed limit sign that said 55mph...**just an observation*** LOL I like the drivers who get right on your bumper when you are getting ready to pass a large truck. If they get too close, I slow down and get behind the truck I am trying to pass. This usually just makes me the recipient of a middle finger or two.
 

Brisco

Expert Expediter
To heck if he is a member here or not. Yes, Call it in, period.

I may be an *** at times, I know it, but I also know when my life and others are put at risk like this on the road, I become a bigger *** over stuff like this. I have made dozens of phone calls to Safety Departments of companies and Highway Patrol departments all over this country without any second thoughts of should I or shouldn't I.
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Streak
Look at it this way, if you got into an accident, what would that have cost you?

Now apply that to someone else, like some single mom with two kids.

Don't think you're a nice guy by not saying anything out in the open, this is the biggest issue I have with this industry, everyone seems to be silent about the who's who are ****ups or don't care. This trucking industry has a lot of problems because no one wants to confront the issues, call the company, make a big stink about it and make sure that everyone knows it.
 

geo

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
US Navy
you should call

when i was with fedexcc had a fedexcc unit tail gating me and asked him on the cb to back off he told me i should speed up, at that time had a voice control phone and called in asked them are you able to see where i am and they said yes and can you see the unit behind me and they said yes could you tell him to back off
he back off really quick and was a little mad
then he call me on cb and asked why did i do that
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
I agree with the others, you should report such reckless driving, and hope that others have also.
I think that law enforcement gets enough nuisance calls [from an irate, but unjustifiably so] driver, that the way they "pick the flyspecks from the pepper", as the Col puts it, is by the number of calls on an incident. With nearly every driver having a cellphone, a truly reckless driver will generate more than one call.
(That's why I wasn't concerned when someone called my carrier to report me for speeding, weaving, tailgating, cutting cars off, etc. None of which I was doing, but I WAS in the left lane, in Charlotte, where the signs say "No trucks left lane - 3 axles or more" I have just 2 axles, but guess Mr Concerned Citizen didn't read that part, or know how to count axles. :rolleyes:)
It's the duty of every driver to look out for every other driver, IMO, and the reckless ones should be held responsible.
 

Brisco

Expert Expediter
Name names....or unit numbers anyway.....

If you're asking for this to be done out here on the open board, of which this looks like you might be doing, this wouldn't be a good idea. Too many thin skinned whiney babies here who wear their feelings on their kneecaps who may get offended over something very simple they don't understand. Trust me, I know. :D

We'd all probably be satisfied if Streakn told us "Yes, I made the call and believe it or not, I saw the same van going down I-999 the other the day and the driver was driving courteously waving at everyone with a big smile on his face."
 

jelliott

Veteran Expediter
Motor Carrier Executive
US Army
Put yourself in the carriers shoes. Would you want to be notified if you had a driver driving that way? Without road reports the carrier may have no idea that this issue exists.
 

letzrockexpress

Veteran Expediter
If you're asking for this to be done out here on the open board, of which this looks like you might be doing, this wouldn't be a good idea. Too many thin skinned whiney babies here who wear their feelings on their kneecaps who may get offended over something very simple they don't understand. Trust me, I know. :D

DId I say "out here on the open road"? I don't think I did, and that is not what I meant...
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Name names....or unit numbers anyway.....

That's a REALLY bad idea - with zero proof, what's to stop anyone from 'reporting' anyone else?
Report it to the carrier, [with photos, if you can get them], and law enforcement if it's bad enough, and that's enough.
 
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