The Source for Trucking News, Opinions and Trucking Jobs | Driving A Bomb

Some people complain that trucks are a hazard on the highway. True, sometimes I feel like I’m behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound bomb. If that’s the case, why don’t other drivers treat it like that.
You don’t see someone wielding a pocket knife trying to stop a bank robber armed with an AK-47! People would say he was crazy. But cut in front of an 80,000 lb truck with a 1500 lb car and instead of the smaller “weapon” being called crazy, it’s the truck’s fault.

I don’t care if someone tailgates me. For one; I can’t even see them if they are that close. Two; that’s a quarter inch steel bar. I might feel something if a car hits it. If I stopped that fast I’d feel the trailer try and jerk the fifth wheel off more than I would feel someone slam in to the back of the trailer. What makes me nervous is when someone is in the lane to my left, and hanging right at the back of the trailer. There is no depth perception when looking in to a mirror. I can’t tell if they are 6 inches or 6 feet away from the trailers edge. If I had to change lanes quickly I couldn’t be sure if I would hit or miss a car driving behind me on the side like that. The car probably knows they are back away from the trailer, but I can’t tell that. Some people will just stay there forever. Several times I’ve just slowed down and made them go around.

I don’t like someone driving there for several reasons. It makes me unsure if I change lanes in an emergency if I will hit them or not. If I need to change lanes that quick and I have to think about some other car back there, I’d probably just have to go straight or find another way out. Another big reason is that in high winds or a real bumpy road and there is not much weight in the trailer, it has a tendency to weave back and forth. A strong enough gust of wind and I’m in the other lane. And they’re in the ditch.

There are times in traffic when going through town or something where things like where the other car is driving is out of my control. I realize that. I’m talking about on the open interstate, no other cars or trucks around, why would someone want to be that close to a truck when they don’t have to be. Even if I had signs that said, “Bomb on board!”, “Explosives”, “Flammable”, “Poison Gas” or something just as bad, it probably wouldn’t even make a difference. I have had “Flammable” on board with the signs outside. People don’t care. Maybe it’s not that they don’t care. Everyone thinks that nothing will happen to them. Accidents happen to someone else. “I know that’s a big truck that could smash me in to nothing, but the driver won’t lose control. That cheap retreaded piece of trash they call a tire isn’t going to blow out and the retread wouldn’t dare smash through my windshield and kill me and my family. And I’m sure the driver has had plenty of rest and is fully alert and hasn’t been driving for three days straight. It just wouldn’t happen to me.” That’s just like saying, “The bank robber won’t shoot me even if I went up and pushed him. Things like that just don’t happen.” Everyone says that until they do happen, then it’s too late.

Trucks and cars don’t mix. Even if I’m in the wrong, I’ll probably survive. Why die just to prove a point? Would you’re wife and family rather you be right or alive? When ever possible, just stay away. If you’re passing. Pass and get on with it. Don’t take forever to go around. Most of the time I drive like I’m driving a bomb. I wish others would drive around me like I was a big bomb instead of just another car.