h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello,Im Richtarzan,and I'm a truck driver in the U.S.A..It seems to me that truckers get the short end of the stick over hear.I would like to hear from you folks,Ive found some really interesting things out on this site,I know you wont let me down on this one.Till next time travel safe and dont use the transporter room,its temporarily out of service.

Frankly, as a cyclist, I find them bloody ignorant! They pull out, not realising the difference between pushbike and truck air brakes. They're so far up in the air they don't even bother looking for anything smaller than another truck.
I think more freight should go by rail!

Hi Richtarzen.

As a truck driver in Great Britain i can confirm that things are pretty much the same here. (See the comments of the two wheeled suicide merchant just for a start)

We are seen as a hinderance to everbody, always in the way, too fast, too slow, clogging up the roads and intimidating the public by the sheer size of our vehicles. Pay is appallingly low in general haulage(It's no joke that cleaners recieve a better hourly rate), and earnings are now being affected by an E.U ruling on the amount of hours we can work.

People forget that the truck that's costing them an extra 5 seconds on their journey to work is the same one delivering the goods to keep their place of work going, or the food their family eats.

The cry is always (as from the failed unicyclist) get it on the rail. Try picking up your weekly shop in central London at a supermarket that's situated at a railhead. Use vans to deliver it then........what 30 vans per truckload?, that'll free the roads up nicely won't it?.Using that theory only the oxygen theiving cyclists would be able to get anywhere (but then they'd be on the pavement anyway)

*finds a comfy seat and waits...........

Just a note from a trucker fan (and former DOT comliance specialist).....

The US would absolutely stop without professional drivers. Commercial vehicles are still responsible for deliverying 85% of life's neccessities. For anyone who hasn't ever tried to drive a 53 foot trailer with a 12 - 20 foot tractor pulling have no idea how difficult it is to make the maneuvers as safely and efficiently as 99.999% of pro drivers can (there's always that .0001% that can't be helped - still better than the population at large).

Truckers get an undeserved bad reputation from idiot civilian drivers who completely overestimate their (civilian drivers') driving skills. Only 5% of civilian deaths in a truck/car accident are actually the truck drivers fault - 95% are the idiots in the cars who look down on professional drivers.

As to being too far in the air,if you have ever taken the time to look at a semi-truck,the height of the normal truck in the U.S.A. is 13ft,6inches.This allows for the suspension ,and the cab motor combination.as the others that replied to this can clearly see,without our small inconvenience to you,you would have a real problem.the goods that you so easily come by now might cost you more time to retrieve than the time that we might cause you in your ride.rail is a fine mode af transport,but open your eyes,the goods need to get from the rail somehow.If you like riding your cycle,you might not have the energy to do so if you had to get all of your own goods to your place without the ignorant trucks.HAVE A GOOD DAY!HARPONOTMARX.WAKE UP!OPEN YOUR EYES TO THE REALITY!

Harpo is alive to reality, and isn't a suicide merchant. My experience of all road users [and I stress it's my experience] is that truck drivers more than anyone else apart from taxi drivers are the worst at ignoring other road users.

*Joins Teucther on the comfy seat*

The scariest moment I ever had while driving was caused by a truck driver. I was on a really tight bend - it loops off and under the A435 near Redditch. I had only recently passed my driving test and I was in a base model Nissan Micra (1986 'C' reg, 1000cc - no performance and not very good road-holding). The car and I weren't capable of taking that bend at more than 30mph, yet a truck sat so close to my tail that I couldn't even see the number plate. I pushed the speed up to 35mph, but wasn't confident that I was in control at that speed. When I reached the straight stretch of road, I floored the accelerator, just to get away from that truck. If I *had* lost control of the car, we wouldn't be having this conversation. The truck would have driven into me, if not over me. I've seen comments from truck drivers along the lines of, "It's OK for us to drive too close. We can see over the top of you, so we know if there's going to be a problem." Yeah, right!

I don't know about truck drivers being treated as lower class, other than the fact that the pay is cr@p. I *do* know that trucks are universally disliked, not because they clog the roads, but because the drivers don't always seem to know what the they're doing. Driving too close is just one offense. There's also pulling out without looking, forcing their way into gaps that are too small, taking ages to overtake when going uphill... Please, don't get me started on this.

*Joins Teuchter and Mr. D on the comfy seat, having said her piece.*

As just a cyclist, I avoid lorrys, not 'cause I think they drive poorly, but simply as I find all those large, open tyres quite scarery!
In general, I try to signal as much as I can just to let other road users know what I am doing.
I don't cycle on busy major roads if possible, and never around roundabouts. I once went on a roundabout and a car pulled out infront of me, hitting my bike. Another time, a car pulled out infront of me at a junction, wrecking my pushbike!
A few days ago I was going round a blind corner and a pushbike came infront of me on the wrong side of the road....a car would surely have hit him!
.....think the country would grind to a halt without lorries, just got back from Sainsburys which would have been a bit empty without them!
.....there is a layby near me with a mobile cafe for lorry and car drivers, all the bushes stink of urine as no toilet and the cafe looks a health risk, LOL.

yes. sorry.

I've only driven a lorry once (7.5t) and found it to be quite an intimidating experience. Handling wasn't a problem, but acceleration was. As there is no way to accelerate out of trouble, you have to be even more road-aware than usual. I have nothing but respect for truck drivers skills. Watching them manouvering an 18 wheel rig can be amazing.

However, I do feel there is some argument for moving long haul goods by rail. Inverness has grown a lot in the last few years and the amount of trucks on the (totally inadequate) A9 was growing exponentially. When one of the supermarkets started taking delivery by rail, it was noticeable the effect this had on the road. This is a 100 mile road, running alongside the railway with no petrol stations or service stations on it.

I also feel that some of the larger trucks are inherently unstable. They have made them so tall on the same axle width as before, that it really isn't a surprise that almost every day we hear of them toppling over at roundabouts. If we can't increase the width of these trucks, we should limit their height.

"rant" over

One of my ambitions is to learn how to drive one of those huge Eff-off lorries - and then go and find every boy-racer or white van man who's ever driven 4 inches from my rear bumper, despite the fact that I was doing slightly over the legal speed limit........and return the compliment

Yes, and with good reason: truck drivers, when another truck is going 2 miles per hour faster than you and starts to overtake you SLOW THE F*CK DOWN A LITTLE BIT so the rest of us aren't stuck behind two trucks creeping aong at 55mph and 56mph respectively for the next 10miles.

Jesus! it isn't hard just take the pressure off your right foot(thats the one NEAREST the door that you climb into your cab through - OK?).

Having known someone who drove trucks years ago this actually happened and the traffic kept flowing but now no-one seems to give a damn even towards their fellow truck drivers.

The question was set by an American driver Alfster, so the pedal will actually be on the left, but don't worry, not all of your arguement was inaccurate.

Yes, when being overtaken by another truck the majority of truck drivers will ease off to allow the faster moving one to pass. Unfortunately, due to some bright spark deciding to limit all trucks to 56mph, if a gradient is encountered during the manouvre, then weight comes into the equation. As good a driver as i rate myself, i don't claim to be telepathic,and can't gauge whether the vehicle i'm overtaking is heavier than me or not, and i can get caught. Even the person being overtaken can't keep slowing to let the other vehicle past, inertia is quite a force to get rid of.

No, sitting behind every truck we come up behind isn't an option. We are paid to get from A to B as efficiently as possible, and i've yet to meet an employer who will take "Well i just joined the queue" as a legitimate excuse for being late.

Cheerful Dragon raises a good point about being followed too close by trucks, and i've quite a bit of sympathy for this one.

Because we can see over the top of vehicles in front there is a temptation to ignore the one immediately in front, and plan your move way ahead. Any truck driver who deliberately sits on the bumper of the car in front and 'push' it along a bit, is obviously a fool of course.

In mitigation, you are looking at the truck through a magnifying rear view mirror which will make it appear closer. Our number plates have to be the same distance off the road as a cars, it's a legal requirement, and when was the last time you could read the number plate of the CAR following you?

A lot of the problem is how intimidating the truck is to other road users, and as you pointed out , you were a novice driver which would have compounded the experience.I always find it interesting that women admit to being scared and intimidated by the size of the vehicle, whereas men tend to take an agressive stance. Bravado to cover the fact THEY too have felt a little intimidated i wonder?

Well, yes, of course, Airscotia. I was referring to UK truck drivers as that is the subject title. As far as I am concerned US truck drivers can drive on the wrong side of the road for all I care..oh, they do don't they!



*wonders how to take that sentence ' my arguments'*..hmmmmmm?

My scariest moment on the road was caused by lorries. In the States funnily enough.

Driving south through Georgia about 2 am in heavy rain. In the middle lane of three.

(In the States, there's no "fast" lane and "slow" lane, you just drive in whichever lane you please)

Anyway, visibility was awful, I was doing about 60mph when two of those HUGE American rigs started to overtake me, one on either side. Whilst they were alongside me, I could see absolutely nothing because of the spray thrown up by the trucks. They seemed to take an hour to overtake me and, for the first time in 20 years of driving, I was genuinely scared. When they finally passed, I had to pull over and stop in a motel.

Didn't spoil the driving holiday though. 4320 miles in 3 weeks. Wonderful country, scary trucks !!

Oh, and stopping distances has made me remember something I learnt on a defensive driving course. Trucks take a hell of a lot longer to stop (in an emergency stop) than a car. So, if the lorry in front of you slams its brakes on and you have a lorry behind you do not do a perfect minimum distance emergency stop as the truck behind you will be mounting you like a dog on heat. Somehow do a 'not so emergency stop' and gauge the stoping distance of the truck in front of you and stop when he does.

That's one of them thar double edged compliments i reckon.