Originally Posted by SRT SIX
Ole Doc,
As part of my work team, I have a companion driver that hauls my equipment around the states. Working with him has given me a whole new perspective on the industry as a whole. I have nothing but respect for those do this for a living. In fact my guy owns his own tractor and probably keeps it cleaner than I keep my Crossfire.
I have been driving for a couple years now myself and I have to say I have not seen this behavior executed this often. When the speed limit is 70 and the trucks are doing 50 with the trailing one doing 51, it is hard to see that the one following is actually going faster than the one in front (I am not exaggerating much on the speeds).
On this trip through AZ and NM this happened multiple times. I was approaching the trucks at the speed limit only to have the rear truck suddenly turn into my lane while simultaneously turning on his turn signal forcing me to brake very hard. Had he signaled his intention ahead of time, I would have lifted off the throttle to let him pass. In each case where there was a clearly marked trailer always signaled their intention. Only the "plain wrapper" trucks seemed to just pull out..
In my experience this has happened only a few times over many years. On this trip it was fairly consistent in its occurence. Interestingly we drove across the TX panhandle and across Oklahoma to OKC and did not experience this at all. In fact all the drivers seemed to stay at least 1 to 2 MPH below the speed limit all signaled their intention in advance..
I have to believe that what we experienced the first two days was not the norm. It was just surprising.
One more day and we are there!
Like I said, it wasn't personal, and if you are encountering that, then I don't blame you....I would be the first on the radio asking what their problem was...you just stay safe and I will finally see you in person tomorrow...