It's a Team's Life
Road Protocol
I had fun with the blog on truck stop etiquette and I decided to take it a step further to highway protocols. Ideas on traversing the highways in a safe and courteous manner each day as we pull away from the truck stop or where we have stopped for a break.
An important thing to remember is how slowly a truck gains momentum from a standstill. Even when empty we gain speed slowly for two reasons; the truck is slow and we save fuel by not holding the throttle to the floor. When merging into traffic I take this into consideration before I pull forward. Once I am moving and have reached highway speeds the truck blends in well with all the other vehicles.
When traffic is merging onto the interstate when possible I will move over to another lane and when not I watch the oncoming vehicle all the while trying to figure out their merge style. Some drivers are experts at merging and will gauge the traffic and adjust their speed to fit in, while others appear to be in their own world and we end up adjusting for them. Either way the goal is to prevent a fender bender.
We are usually at a slower speed then other traffic and tend to stay in the right lane most of the time. Many cities have enacted a ban on trucks in the left lane, which usually leaves the center lane for trucks to pass slower moving vehicles. Over and over I have seen this cause a bottleneck as one governed truck tries to pass another governed truck.
One thing I really like about driving a truck is the ability to thank people when they do something courteous. I will either quickly flip my headlights off to tell another truck it is safe to pull back in or I will turn on the four-way flashers after I pass a truck and pull back in. This is something trucks have done for a very long time and most automobile drivers as well as other CMV drivers understand this language.
When any kind of vehicle is broke down beside the road, when an emergency vehicle is on the shoulder of the road, or someone is walking or riding a bike on the edge of the road we move over into the other lane to pass. We will slow down if we have to wait for another vehicle to move over and give plenty of room. When someone is working on a disable vehicle they are concentrating on their job and not thinking about the traffic that is bussing by them and could step out into the road way.
When I am in a construction zone I am at the correct speed when entering the area are even slightly less depending on the type of construction and if workers are present and not behind barricades. Tight roadways through construction used to make me nervous due to the width of the truck, but as time has went on and maneuvering through tight areas I am confident knowing our size.
My biggest pet peeve is construction zones and one lane is closed. The cars and sometimes trucks that zoom to the front or wait till the last minute to merge and cut me off are rude and discourteous. This is where I have the hardest times staying calm and realizing this is just part of our day, ignore the bad behavior and go on.
What other ideas do you have where we can make our highways
safer and not cause road rage?
Bob & Linda Caffee
Leased to: FedEx Custom Critical 

TeamCaffee

Saint Louis MO
Expediters 7 years been out here on the road 12 years
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle; 

Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;

Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;

Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.