Yeah some of them can be downright scary...I had one (dump truck) pass me some years ago, I was at 75 mph and he went by me like I was stuck in reverse...I tried to pace him, briefly, but my E-150 chops the throttle at 92 mph...and he was still running away from me. That’s insane, in something that big. That thing…

I’ve opened a can of worms here and shed light on a large amount of hostility towards truck drivers that I didn’t really realize was there...or at least not so deep. I’d just like to say that among people I know who are NOT truck drivers, the ones that are perceptive, actively seeing what’s going on around them and…

I think you misunderstood something...what I said is that when you slow to gain some following distance, what happens next is CARS jump into that gap and fill it up again. See? I know reading is a bitch, but it’s a pretty simply concept. You make space so you DON’T hit them if it all goes sideways, and they can’t get…

Glad it’s so simple. You’ve opened my eyes.

That’s why you have to study the other truck as you overtake...see if he accelerates or stays flat downhill, how fast he climbs, etc. A slow truck with a heavy load will take off like a rocket downhill...a fast truck with no load will not accelerate at all downhill...just stays at the governed speed, for the most…

Yeah true...but my own experience is that in heavy traffic, every time you try to open up following distance, people just keep jumping in and filling it in...so there’s no net effect...

Whenever I get caught in bad winter conditions, I am always glad to see a fuel truck. I get in his wake, and do what he does. Why? Because those guys are at the same time some of the fastest and yet safest truck drivers out there. They won’t overdrive the conditions, but they won’t piddle around either. Gas loads…

Dude. Truck tires run 115 psi. At 30, they’d be falling off the rims. And I’m not sure where you live, but in the U.S., trucks and trucking companies pay over 90% of the maintenance and construction of Interstate highways...

LOL...this much is true...I talked to a friend who works for one of the “driver mill” trucking companies that sponsors training...he said every week they bring in 125-150 new drivers...and all but about 20-30 of them are gonna wash out before training is over...

The point is not necessarily the line of sight. There are conventional trucks that have a hoodline that slopes away and gives a better view, but the upshot is, if you’re placing yourself that close to the front of a truck in motion, there’s no possible way it can avoid a collision with you if the shit hits the fan,…

Wow you sure told me. Heh. Ya know, I’ve noticed a lot of CAR drivers do that too...and often don’t even offer the courtesy of signaling as they cut you off.

Well see, it’s because you are confusing doing what you gotta do with inconsiderate. I didn’t have to deal with this much...most of my trucks were both powerful and governed high.

That Sunchaser ragtop posted the other day was pretty...

Whoops...wasn’t trying to repeat you. Jinx :)

You can’t beat physics. High center of gravity is just that. When it goes too far out of plumb with the direction of motion, it’s gonna win...newer stuff has tricks like stability control that can squeeze individual brakes to change the weight bias, which helps some...but not when you get lifted and shoved. All bets…

I quit partly after realizing that the daily stress of keeping oblivious people from DYING under my truck was starting to eat at me. Lotta guys just take the “not my problem, ain’t gonna care” route with that, and they are the ones who do the job and like it, I guess. They are also the ones people say are “the worst”…

Actually, when I was young and started driving, my father (not a truck driver, electrical engineer) told me that the rules of the road are meaningless when they are cutting you out of what’s left of your car. PHYSICS dictates that he with the biggest wheels will win. Stay outta their way, watch what they are doing,…

Yeah unfortunately there are a lotta cowboys out there that make it look bad for all of us...just as a few astrotards on bikes make people hate motorcyclists as a whole...

Not completely...a lot of countries that don’t have large expanses of highway and have roads centuries old not made for big trucks, yes, because cabovers are more practical for tight roads and short hauls...but, ever ride in one? I have...drove them for some time. Besides being like climbing a rock wall to try to get…

Nice PIT. LOL. I’d like to ask that people take notice of one thing besides the obvious here...notice how that entire car disappears below the hoodline of the semi filming this, before it even gets hit by him? Yeah...that’s what you look like when you chop back in front of a big truck. You are either a roof, or…