I lived in Cleveland for seven years and used to drive through snow belts on I-77 and I-90. Drove through a few snow storms on the PA turnpike when going to Philly to visit my sister. The Semi drivers do not give a f#ck about road conditions. I got caught in a squall on I-90 on the way to Erie, PA and it was coming down at about 3-4 inches an hour with barely 400m of visibility. All the cars were crawling along at 25-30 mph, trying to hold on to the narrow tread lines in the snow being carved out by traffic. The Semi drivers were going 55-60 and blasting everyone with sprays of snow. I counted 5 semis that had gone off the road over the course of about 30 min in the squall and not a single semi had slowed down despite seeing the highway littered with wrecks.
If the semi drivers would cut their speed to 20-25 mph and keep a good following distance of 400m or so in these storms, there wouldn't be any big wrecks. But instead of giving up an hour or two of road time to get through a storm safely, these semi drivers just go for it because they think that if they hit someone or get hit, they will be fine riding in a giant cab (even though semi drivers get killed all the time in wrecks).
Can someone explain their thinking? Like since they drive a lot, don't they know it's dangerous as hell? And when they wreck they'll be way behind etc.... Or do they only think short term, "If I'm not there in time, I'm going to get yelled at, miss my next pick up etc."
Long haul truckers can only drive so many hours per USDOT regs regardless of whether they are driving fast or slow. Most get paid by the mile. So, if they can keep driving 50-60 mph in a snow storm, they will make twice as much money as going 25-30. If you are driving for someone else (as opposed to being an owner operator), it isn't your rig and if you get hurt in an accident, you get to go out on workers comp and maybe get disability. Long haul drivers can spend weeks on the road without breaks to go home and be with family. They spend 11 hours a day driving and just get to a point where they don't care anymore.
Can someone explain their thinking? Like since they drive a lot, don't they know it's dangerous as hell? And when they wreck they'll be way behind etc.... Or do they only think short term, "If I'm not there in time, I'm going to get yelled at, miss my next pick up etc."
I’ve spent a lot of time driving in the northeast (NY, NJ, DE, PA) and the Midwest (IL, IN, WI, MI, OH) and in my experience semi truck drivers are the first to head for rest stops and exits to pull off the highways when conditions become treacherous to drive in. Many passenger cars will continue to drive aggressively, seeing it as opportunity to pass other vehicles.
Rojo. This guy has it right.
The truckers aren't the problem its the morons who don't understand that their SUVs respond to physics the same as everyone else. SUV owners have a much higher accident rate than any other class of vehicles.
This happens every year in Pennsylvania. You would think they would learn. They dont.
At least 10 percent of drivers should not have a license.
I’ve spent a lot of time driving in the northeast (NY, NJ, DE, PA) and the Midwest (IL, IN, WI, MI, OH) and in my experience semi truck drivers are the first to head for rest stops and exits to pull off the highways when conditions become treacherous to drive in. Many passenger cars will continue to drive aggressively, seeing it as opportunity to pass other vehicles.
Rojo. This guy has it right.
The truckers aren't the problem its the morons who don't understand that their SUVs respond to physics the same as everyone else. SUV owners have a much higher accident rate than any other class of vehicles.
This happens every year in Pennsylvania. You would think they would learn. They dont.
At least 10 percent of drivers should not have a license.
FWIW.School bus drivers are the worst.
Overconfidence with SUV drivers for sure. Thinking that they can go fast bc they drive 4WD or AWD. People don’t realize that whether the car is 4wd or 2wd, the car still has 4 brakes. 4wd or AWD is mostly helpful when starting from a stop and your wheels are slipping and need traction to get going. It doesn’t help with stopping.
Can someone explain their thinking? Like since they drive a lot, don't they know it's dangerous as hell? And when they wreck they'll be way behind etc.... Or do they only think short term, "If I'm not there in time, I'm going to get yelled at, miss my next pick up etc."
Long haul truckers can only drive so many hours per USDOT regs regardless of whether they are driving fast or slow. Most get paid by the mile. So, if they can keep driving 50-60 mph in a snow storm, they will make twice as much money as going 25-30. If you are driving for someone else (as opposed to being an owner operator), it isn't your rig and if you get hurt in an accident, you get to go out on workers comp and maybe get disability. Long haul drivers can spend weeks on the road without breaks to go home and be with family. They spend 11 hours a day driving and just get to a point where they don't care anymore.
Sure, but they lose much more when things like this happen. There is low risk, and there is high risk. White out means drive slower, no questions about it. (Lived in Vermont for years, saw many drivers heading to ski stuck in the median when they slid off the road thinking they need not slow down, and those were the lucky ones).
Sure, but they lose much more when things like this happen. There is low risk, and there is high risk. White out means drive slower, no questions about it. (Lived in Vermont for years, saw many drivers heading to ski stuck in the median when they slid off the road thinking they need not slow down, and those were the lucky ones).
The problem with maniacs is they don't understand risk/reward ratios. By driving fast you gain at best minutes. The risk is a loss of decades off your lifetime. It's never worth it to drive like a maniac. The math just doesn't add up.
I’ve spent a lot of time driving in the northeast (NY, NJ, DE, PA) and the Midwest (IL, IN, WI, MI, OH) and in my experience semi truck drivers are the first to head for rest stops and exits to pull off the highways when conditions become treacherous to drive in. Many passenger cars will continue to drive aggressively, seeing it as opportunity to pass other vehicles.
Rojo. This guy has it right.
The truckers aren't the problem its the morons who don't understand that their SUVs respond to physics the same as everyone else. SUV owners have a much higher accident rate than any other class of vehicles.
This happens every year in Pennsylvania. You would think they would learn. They dont.
At least 10 percent of drivers should not have a license.
FWIW.School bus drivers are the worst.
There are plenty of ignorant, dangerous truck drivers. Do you think "truck driver" is a job that attracts the cream of the crop? Sure, many are pros, have families they want to see again, etc but some are sure as f^%$ morons with no business being behind the wheel of a 40-80,000 pound rig.
And yes there are plenty of idiot drivers with 4 wheels.
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