Comments on: Study: Unfit Truckers A Deadly Road Hazard

Despite Years Of Government Warnings, Sick Big Rig Drivers Still Threaten Highway Travelers

[ihave4rugratshelp]

redwing,
of course if camels are used then someone would be complaining about the camel spit and other such camel things

[ihave4rugratshelp]

daysrnumbrd,
you''re a better person than i am--i don''t think i could drive in san fran or cal for that matter--it''s just too weird out there.

[ihave4rugratshelp]

redwing,
we can dare suggest because non-commercial drivers think they can suggest how a professionally-trained commercial driver should drive--if someone is going to tell me how to operate something that weighs 40 tons and has at a minimum 10 separate gears, two different braking systems (abs and air), and is usually 53 feet long--i would hope that they would have actual knowledge and experience--otherwise, to put it nicely--they not what they speak and therefore they shouldn''t.

[daysrnumbrd]

What some 4 wheelers do out there makes my hair stand up, and I promise you this. I have no intention of swerving to miss you, kill someone else, while you go on your merry way. So far I have been able to slow or stop and avoid you. I prey I can continue to do so. Please give the big rigs some courtesy and respect. Your life and those in you car depends on it.

Posted by thgdriver at 08:08 PM : Jul 21, 2008
............

I wish more truckers felt the same way!

But there''s that basic instinct to try to save the lives of others, even if they don''t deserve to be saved, which causes the average trucker to attempt evasive maneuvers to avoid an impact. But then that causes jack-knife rigs, roll-overs, and a whole host of problems that actually ends up hurting more people than if the trucker just used the car... being driven by the ****** in front... as a buffer/barricade.

Where I live and drive, (the San Francisco Bay Area), I see the worst (4-wheel) drivers in the world. Oh how I long to see the bumper being shoved up the A$$ of a dipshitt 4-wheel driver who cut off a semi!

[redwngs73]

I have a suggestion on how to get the freight from the railyard to the customer. Perhaps we should import camels and load them up. Talk about cheap shipping costs, you don''t even need to provide water!

[redwngs73]

emokev, thanks for the props, but if we were to require all drivers, commercial and non, to adhere to the same set of guidelines, then poor John Q. and Jane Q. Public wouldn''t be able to drive their gas-guzzling SUVs, darting in and out of traffic with their cell phones plastered to their ears, not signalling lane changes, and endagering everyone else on their way to the country club. How DARE we suggest such a thing???

[ihave4rugratshelp]

redwing,
thank you--i can''t take complete credit--i''m married to a driver--apparently the railroad crowd thinks the freight magically will go off the train to its destination--they forget about the truck!! but, then again, i don''t think most of them have any idea what a driver goes through to get a load from point a to point b--if they did, they may see why rail is not the more economic solution.

[ihave4rugratshelp]

redwing,
there is the not in my backyard mentality when it comes to a truck driver finding a safe, legal place to take his dot-mandated break--in other words, we demand that truckers be safe, but we won''t try to make any accomidations to allow them to get the rest they need to be safe--wouldn''t it be interesting if 4-wheelers had to abide by the same regulations in regards to the operation of their vehicles as truck drivers do--there would be less traffic on the road i''m sure.

[redwngs73]

emokev, BRAVO! I could not have said it better myself. You make an excellent point, but I would be remiss in not adding this point. If we went to an all rail system, how would the freight get from the rail yard to the customers?

[redwngs73]

There are currently 3 million plus truck drivers on the road. At any given time, there are over 40,000 truckers who have no place to park in order to safely comply with the federally-mandated rest requirements. There are simply not enough legal truck parking spaces. In most states it is against the law to park on the shoulder of an off-ramp of an interstate to rest. Also in most states there are time limits for parking in rest areas. In order to fulfill the already strict rest requirements for truckers, these drivers are forced to park in unsafe or illegal areas. This does not solve the problem. Tighter restrictions on medical issues will not completely solve the problem, either. The majority of health issues can be reduced by getting proper rest. Until more legal truck parking spaces are created to handle the increasing number of drivers on the road, this situation can only worsen. With so many restrictions on getting rest safely, how can we possibly be expected to operate at 100% all the time?