Driving tractor 20 miles on road

Glowplug · Oct 22, 2007

Finally, back to the topic at hand! I was beginning to smell "thread lock" brewing!

gemini5362 · Oct 22, 2007

D7E said:
Exactly...You see something bigger than your car in your mirror and you assume that it is intimidating you or out of control ,Why..It is big..It makes a lot of noise ...Get over it,He knows you are there ?
You obviuously don't know trucking ..Probably the worst paying job available...As i said these drivers are but a few (like car drivers )Taking drugs is bu(($#it, is that worth your licence ..This aint "convoy" and our wives ,kids,family travel in "cars" so rareley do this deliberateley ? There are just as many *****#@le car drivers so this is a pointless discussion .. ...Motoring is dangerous ,How many reps,doctors,Couriers fall asleep at the wheel after working 36 hours ...We all feel sorry for them ....Occupational hazard ?

Maybe it is different in canada I have known several truck drivers and it is a very good paying job. It pays a lot better than most factory jobs, or service industry job etc. When I see something bigger than a car in my rear view mirror it is intimidating especially when you are stopped and realize it is going to hit you. Thank god this happened years ago when you could have your children in your lap and my son was in his mothers lap not in the back seat in a car seat. The impact was so severe that my car buckled in the middle. It looked like it had been hit on both ends instead of just the back. I have been run off of the road several times by trucks in the mountains trying to pass where there were curves coming up. The truck gets beside you and then another vehicle comes around the curve so the truck moves back into your lane and guess what you have to do. Hit the ditch. I could not begin to count the number of times I have been on interstate and passed a truck behind a car doing 70 miles an hour. My front bumper would be even with the cars rear bumper. I would look over and the trucks front bumper would be even with the rear door of my car. That is less than one car length at 70 miles an hour. What is the purpose of doing that. If an emergency happens and the car has to slam on its brakes there is not a prayer in the world of that truck not slamming into the car in front of it. My brother in law was so high one time from drugs to stay awake he was carrying some machine parts and had a wreck. He kept telling the cops he was carrying coffins with dead bodies in them. (By the way he never lost his license and still drives a truck)
I feel sorry for the semi drivers that fall asleep especially the one that fell asleep coming down a mountain that I was going up one time in california. Thank god I was driving my motorcycle and when I met him in the middle of the road I was able to hug the edge of the highway and not have to run off that several hundred feet drop into the canyon. A semi that was going way too fast for an exit hit a school bus in the neighboring town. He was going too fast for the exit and his brakes had not been maintained in so long that they were totally unsafe. I am sure the families of the children that were killed would love to read your words about how intimidating a truck is just because it is bigger than a car. How many examples do you want me to give.
I routinely get the name off of a truck and call the company that it works for to turn them in for unsafe driving. I dont know if it helps or not but at least I am making an effort.

Farmwithjunk · Oct 22, 2007

DuaneW said:
As you approach you left, look behind you, if no one is passing AND there is no oncoming traffic, drift left of center, not giving anyone room to pass, signal your intentions, slow down and make the turn. You do NOT WAIT UNTILL the VERY LAST SECOND to look and turn. Just like cars, drive ahead of where you are.

DuaneW.

VERY good advice. Let those on the road with you know SOMETHING is about to happen long ahead of the actual event. Put them on alert. A tractor is moving at 1/5th the speed of some traffic. Reaction times/distances vary considerably.

gemini5362 · Oct 22, 2007

Living in a rural community I see tractors on the road quite often. Most of them are not going far so they just drive with their flashers on and if they get a long line of cars behind them they pull off the road at the first safe place to do so. I do agree with the poster that advocated having a car behind the tractor a little ways with flashers on. It does make it a bit easier on the tractor driver to know he does not have to worry quite as much about what is exactly behind him and he can concentrate on driving the tractor.
The posts about enjoying the scenery is interesting. Years ago when I started riding motorcycles I read the book " Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" The author had this comment about riding motorcycles. When you are in an automobile you have a heater and an airconditioner so the climate around you is controlled if it is raining you dont feel it. You are looking at the world through a piece of glass. In a lot of ways riding in an automobile is like watching tv. On a motorcycle if it is raining you are getting wet. If it is cold you are cold, hot you are hot etc. You experience a lot more of the world around you because you are more of a part of it. Driving a tractor also gives that same experience.

patrick_g · Oct 22, 2007

Duane, There seems to be confusion regarding turn signals. My tractor has turn signals BUT... lots of the rural folks hereabouts use the turn signals like they are used in Mexico to signal someone you think it is safe for them to pass you NOT to indicate you are turning left. The two uses are NOT compatible and DO cause problems.

Another problem area is if you give most drivers half a chance to pass a considerably slower vehicle they will take that chance even if it is not safe and they can't see a safe distance ahead. So at least when approaching your turn, drive right next to the left margin of your lane. If there is no oncoming traffic I go a bit over the center to make it obvious that passing me on my left side IS NOT invited.

Of course if there is no other traffic just do something safe, but it seems like an otherwise empty road gets busy when I want to make a left turn.

Not everyone has turn signals on their tractor but I recommend adding them on. If there is concern with DESTROYING the as sold look of an antique or collectible, you can go with a removable set with magnets and take them off when going to a tractor beauty pagent.

It is better to be just a tiny bit aggressive in "owning your lane" than to be too passive and thereby encourage people to pass illegally/dangerously. Driving the last 100-200 feet on the centerline or slightly over IS PROBABLY NOT strictly legal but will increase the safety of both the tractor operator and the cars you dissuade from trying to pass just as you crank the steering wheel.

I have been passed illegally on both the right and the left when making left turns. Given a choice I would rather encourage the impatient bozo to pass on the right so I give more space there. If in the event the car and tractor touch and bend some sheet metal, a car passing on the right with 2 wheels on the shoulder is clearly in the wrong. A car passing you on the left and bumping you can claim you turned in front of them with no signal and how do you prove them wrong?

Think self defense, drive defensively, keep your thinking wayh out in front of the tractor so yo know what you are going to do way before you do it. Shouldn't be a challenge since yo aren't driving all that fast.

Driving a tractor is a new perspective for lots of folks new to the rural scene and it is easy to gawk at the sights and forget you are operating a motor vehicle. Similarly there is an ever increasing supply of folks new to the rural area driving cars and haven't a clue about how to act when confronted with a SMV signaling a turn.

Lets all try to be safe out there among the speedy cars piloted by people on cell phones, doing makeup, reading the paper, and eating a bowl of cereal. (I have seen all of this.)

Pat

D7E · Oct 24, 2007

gemini5362 said:
Maybe it is different in canada I have known several truck drivers and it is a very good paying job. It pays a lot better than most factory jobs, or service industry job etc. When I see something bigger than a car in my rear view mirror it is intimidating especially when you are stopped and realize it is going to hit you. Thank god this happened years ago when you could have your children in your lap and my son was in his mothers lap not in the back seat in a car seat. The impact was so severe that my car buckled in the middle. It looked like it had been hit on both ends instead of just the back. I have been run off of the road several times by trucks in the mountains trying to pass where there were curves coming up. The truck gets beside you and then another vehicle comes around the curve so the truck moves back into your lane and guess what you have to do. Hit the ditch. I could not begin to count the number of times I have been on interstate and passed a truck behind a car doing 70 miles an hour. My front bumper would be even with the cars rear bumper. I would look over and the trucks front bumper would be even with the rear door of my car. That is less than one car length at 70 miles an hour. What is the purpose of doing that. If an emergency happens and the car has to slam on its brakes there is not a prayer in the world of that truck not slamming into the car in front of it. My brother in law was so high one time from drugs to stay awake he was carrying some machine parts and had a wreck. He kept telling the cops he was carrying coffins with dead bodies in them. (By the way he never lost his license and still drives a truck)
I feel sorry for the semi drivers that fall asleep especially the one that fell asleep coming down a mountain that I was going up one time in california. Thank god I was driving my motorcycle and when I met him in the middle of the road I was able to hug the edge of the highway and not have to run off that several hundred feet drop into the canyon. A semi that was going way too fast for an exit hit a school bus in the neighboring town. He was going too fast for the exit and his brakes had not been maintained in so long that they were totally unsafe. I am sure the families of the children that were killed would love to read your words about how intimidating a truck is just because it is bigger than a car. How many examples do you want me to give.
I routinely get the name off of a truck and call the company that it works for to turn them in for unsafe driving. I dont know if it helps or not but at least I am making an effort.

Individul cases...Take a look at how many traffic accidents happen every day truck or car or whatever ,My point is bad drivers and poor maintenance exist in all vehicles ,Look at city taxi cabs (many should not be on the road),I know many tractors that should not leave the field but sometimes is not the drivers fault ,I've worked for many outfits as a relief driver and i get into the cab in the middle of the night and know nothing of the particular vehicle and set off on a 3 day run ..If you complain ..you lose your job ?..I'm sure my old buddy would have a reply for you but thanks to a woman (with a car full of kids) talking on her cell phone ,Jumped a stop sign and he tried his best and ended things in a concrete pillar on the highway....Nobody in the car was hurt ,I went to his funeral..He was 36 with 4 kids ?

D7E · Oct 24, 2007

JerryG said:
There is no call for that. Just because someone is trying to explain why something is happening, not necessarily upholding it, just telling you the reason. It's just like a lot of people will make statements like, "trucks have air brakes, they can stop on a dime" without any idea what they are talking about. Most of the time, the trucker is just trying to maintain speed and isn't trying to get under anyone skin. AND no I have never driven a manure truck but I did drive a truck for a large company when I was much younger for a few years. There will always be a few hotdogs truck drivers just like there are many hotdogs driving cars.
Two wrongs don't make a right.

...AMEN... Take a class 1 ?..see how "easy" it is and then "drive" it not "sit in it" Most truckers are drivers ?

gemini5362 · Oct 24, 2007

D7E said:
Individul cases...Take a look at how many traffic accidents happen every day truck or car or whatever ,My point is bad drivers and poor maintenance exist in all vehicles ,Look at city taxi cabs (many should not be on the road),I know many tractors that should not leave the field but sometimes is not the drivers fault ,I've worked for many outfits as a relief driver and i get into the cab in the middle of the night and know nothing of the particular vehicle and set off on a 3 day run ..If you complain ..you lose your job ?..I'm sure my old buddy would have a reply for you but thanks to a woman (with a car full of kids) talking on her cell phone ,Jumped a stop sign and he tried his best and ended things in a concrete pillar on the highway....Nobody in the car was hurt ,I went to his funeral..He was 36 with 4 kids ?

I am sorry for your loss. I have a lot of admiration for anyone that loses his or her own life while trying to avoid a carload of children.

My points are pretty simple

1. I totally agree that bad drivers and bad maintenance are around. If it happens in a vehicle that weighs less than 2000 pounds like my geo tracker it is a lot less of a problem usually than if it is with something the size of a semi trailer truck.

2. Having my geo tracker less than ten feet behind your rear bumper at 70 miles an hour is a lot less intimidating than having a semi trailer sitting less than 10 feet behind your rear bumper at 70 miles an hour. A lot of semi drivers know this and use that intimidating factor to force cars to get out of their way.

3. A large part of the companies that employee semi trailer drivers in the United States pay them by the miles that they drive. If you can average 60 miles an hour instead of 50 miles an hour that is 10 miles an hour more that you get paid.

I also drive a motorcycle. How many times do you think motorcycles have cars jump a stop sign in front of them, or pull out in front of them , or make a left turn into them in comparison to the number that do that in a semi trailer truck.

patrick_g · Oct 24, 2007

We can all cite horror stories and/or cases of heroism and so forth in support of or attacking one side or the other but I have seen no justification for a semi to intentionally tailgate for the purpose of intimidating the car ahead.

Is is not smart, safe, legal, or defensible. The rate of pay of a trucker be it good bad or indifferent is not a valid justification for intimidating tailgating.

We could make a list of infinite length about how it would be nice if... It would be nice if all cars always got out of the way of trucks, it would be nice if trucks had special lanes where the trucks had an unlimited speed limit, it would be nice if LOTS OF THINGS but the reality is we share the roads and many of the laws and intentionally violating the law to try to bully others through an unsafe and illegal action is pretty hard to justify. It is a rude, crude, illegal, and unsafe practice.

Pat

D7E · Oct 25, 2007

patrick_g said:
We can all cite horror stories and/or cases of heroism and so forth in support of or attacking one side or the other but I have seen no justification for a semi to intentionally tailgate for the purpose of intimidating the car ahead.

Is is not smart, safe, legal, or defensible. The rate of pay of a trucker be it good bad or indifferent is not a valid justification for intimidating tailgating.

We could make a list of infinite length about how it would be nice if... It would be nice if all cars always got out of the way of trucks, it would be nice if trucks had special lanes where the trucks had an unlimited speed limit, it would be nice if LOTS OF THINGS but the reality is we share the roads and many of the laws and intentionally violating the law to try to bully others through an unsafe and illegal action is pretty hard to justify. It is a rude, crude, illegal, and unsafe practice.

Pat

So it's clear that bad drivers exist in all walks of life ,Yet the emphasis is on all truckers being mindless morons ,There may be a few ,Don't tar them all with the same brush ?