18 wheeler truck drivers

What’s up with these drivers today. In Houston it’s normal to see them driving 80 in the fast lane , aggressive lane changes. Few days ago I was on I40 between Albuquerque and Amarillo and there was about 10 to 12 , 18 wheelers wrecked on the side of the road. Many wrecks involved 2 or 3 at a time. One of the wrecks had the interstate blocked for a couple hours. All due to ice on the roads. Despite all this those truckers continue to drive 80, even over bridges.
I despise 18 wheeler truck drivers

It wasn’t like this 15 years ago. They drove in the far right lanes at a safe speed. Never, never involved in wrecks back then

Low rent truck driver schools and driver shortage puts some morons on the road. Plenty of good professional drivers out there getting a bad name from these mouth breathing morons.

Many of them are not US Citizens, thanks to NAFTA they can come and drive into the USA and use their Mexico Driver License which they more than likely paid under the table to get.

Texas gives full recipority for commercial Driver Licenses from Mexico and Canada

Many of them don't even speak English and they can not read the warning signs up when inclement weather hits up here. They also do not use CB radios anymore and don't get warnings from other drivers when incidents happen on their route.
I-80 in winter is a death trap up here due to trucks.

my dad owns a warehouse, he says its scary what is out on the road by looking at the trucks/drivers that come in and out of his place.

spent a few days at the rest area on top of elk mt. used to pull empty triples to reno and get tire loads back to denver. 80 sucked in winter, got caught on elk at the rest area for a blizzard and was stuck there 3 days with empties. not a fun time.

the newbie driver stuff has been goin on a long time, I had to quit driving in dec of 07 and was a finisher, did it for cfi and then interstate till I got hurt.
full on scary would describe some of the idiots I had to take out, failed a few.

Yep, between NAFTA and inexperienced drivers, it is dangerous. Two major trucking companies lobbied to the Gov't to let them have permit drivers run solo before they actually got their license. They claimed their GPS and telematics system was good enough for them to do so. One of those Permit drives was driving in the rain about this time last year and ran off the road due to unsafe speed, and took out 800+ feet of my fence. He barely spoke english, and never could understand where he went wrong. Getting compensated for the damages was an event to say the least.

Lol, that is your perception not reality. You admit you hate truck drivers, so if what you see fits your narrative, you will remember it and will reinforce you perception. A driver driving the speed limit, in the granny lane, and doing everything right will not the the same attention. Trust me the amount of good drivers out there out numbers the bad ones you just never notice them.

Trucking today is way safer then they have ever been. With trucks being governed, GPS history, hours of service, drug test, dot med cards, it goes on. Trucking is heavily regulated now. The roads back in the 70-80 was probably the most unsafe out there from what I've heard.

Your living with your head in the sand . Go drive a major truck route across multiple states then come back and tell me how safe it is

While your at it bring your wife and kids along for the ride

Doesn’t even sound like you were alive in the 70s and 80s to know

You asked the question, I simply answered it.

Do you drive trucks for a living?

No you didn't.... Just laid out, a line of crap...……
And yes, I used to drive a truck...…...

No I share the same road with them. Making multiple trips cross country every year. Isn’t that enough?

Didn’t have these issues 15 years ago

I've been driving for the last 16 years, and 1.5 million miles. So just consider what I've said a little insight. I can't help you with your opinions, seems like they are strong.

As long as I can remember big rigs have been the bane of most drivers. Don’t know if they are worse now, but they catch a lot of blame.

I absolutely hate when you have two or three lined up and one will pull out to pass the one in front and it takes them 12 miles to get around the one they were following.

Yep, most dont understand supply chain. If the dont want us on the road they should stop buying stuff at the stores.......

That is because a lot of truck are governed at or around 65mph. So when they try and pass each other it take a long time. Especially if the A hole that's getting passed doesn't want to be passed. I always drop my speed and let the other truck pass, and get in front of me. No reason to leave him hanging out there, slowing down traffic.

I agree with most of what has been said, BUT you are leaving out on one equation , dumb arse 4 wheel drivers

Spend a week driving the highways in Ector, Ward Reeves and Midland county. Or just drive from Balmorhea to Carlsbad NM and back. These are American trucks, driven by American drivers. Or the employers are hiring illegals, and we know they don't do that. So what is the problem.

Don't get me started on four-wheelers! LOL how much time do we have?

18 wheeler should...

1. keep to the right or center lane; left lane travel should be ILLEGAL unless traffic scenario dictates left lane travel.
2. never exceed 65 mph; to be regulated and enforced by trans authority, violations and fines could/should be back dated
3. have truck & equipment inspected more frequently, too much junk on the roads

I live off Eldorado and North Dallas Tollway, the police will pull them over about 1 miles east of the tollway off Eldorado in a baseball park, they will have dozens of them pulled over in the parking lot and writing them tickets right and left.

I have seen this on a pretty regular basis

They are not necessarily writing them tickets. Probably just doing DOT inspections which could end with tickets or not.

The OTR drivers are usually pretty good. Now, the sand haulers in the Permian are a different set. I'm guessing they get paid by the load and not the mile and I am pretty darn sure they aren't keeping logs because they are constantly on the roads at way over the speed limits. And yes, many of them cannot speak a lick of English.

The oilfield is importing sand from Mexico??? Or is the oilfield is hiring illegals???

You go thru a DOT inspection... your getting a ticket.... could be a warning but a citation none the less.

Any experience with truck driving?

Not true, they hand out gold stars for perfect inspections.

The trucks are already inspected pre and post trip, thoroughly. That’s what’s required, anyway. Would you like an inspection mid trip? How about more laws for those that don’t follow existing laws?

There are good & bad in every profession, trade & walk of life.

Your broad brush can be used on any profession, trade, labor, race or religion.

The 'bad ones' are the ones you hear about, they stick out in the crowd & get more attention overall and tarnish the reputations of the good ones.

Yes, there are good ones in every single example of whatever, the majority are.

Your negative perception of a whole, based on a tiny subset you actually see or know, isn't accurate.

As accurate as saying;
All hunters are trashy people, throwing it all along the roadways, letting blow out of their pickups, they all dump their camp trash & carcasses on the side of county roads.
They all shoot baby deer, don't tag deer they don't feel like tagging, camp meat, cut backstraps out & throw the rest in the brush.
They all drive like maniacs going to & from, cut people off, pass in dangerous places, none of them know how to properly secure their load in bed or on trailer,
They all play with firearms while drinking alcohol, they all drink & drive.

100% agree. I travel HWY 80 everyday around 10-1030pm. Multiple times a week either I am getting pushed to the shoulder or another car is by a trucker, usually UPS or FEDEX, they seem to be the worst. And yes, the 65 mph trucker being passed by the 65.5 mph trucker is bullchit

I'm sure what's "required" and what's "done" are completely two different things. Paperwork is pencil whipped all the time in every profession.

You didn’t read what I posted. 10 to 12 wrecks. Up to 20, 18 wheelers involved in all these wrecks. Another words not one passenger car was involved. What does that tell you. Then what I said was after all those wrecks every one of the 18 wheelers still on the road continued to drive 80 mph that was driving near me.

This is hardly an isolated incident

Now what I do agree is the trucking industry is changing for the worst like many other professions.

real simple way to stop all of it, put 4 wheelers under the same laws and regs.

let the fun begin!

Isn't it great living in the good USA?

One of our biggest problems? Give me a break.

I'm around truck drivers daily and it's important to point out that there's two different species. You have your over the road long haul and then you have your others and they're different as night and day. Your local drivers probably account for most of the accidents, here in the Basin that number has to be closer to 75 %.

Of course. Just like everything else, it comes down to accountability.

If it was that big of an accident I'm pretty sure there's an article somewhere can you please post it. I would like to read it.

What driving experience do you have?

I'll tell you why most of this, if not all of this isn't a good idea when I have time.

They took our jerbs

Hard to say if it is getting worse. Definitely more traffic, 18 and 4 wheels.
I drive 60,000 mile a year on highways and Interstates in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. I could write a list of four wheeler accidents that I see, everyday. 18 wheeler accidents no so much.
It just seems not to be a good method to judge all 18 wheelers by one trip from Albuquerque to Amarillo.

Throw in ice and high winds if this the same ones I'm thinking about, when that last front blew in. That's a windy stretch of road.

Have had my CDl for 21 years, have worked for a major food service company for 16 years. There are definitely some bad truck drivers out there, there are also LOTS of bad 4 wheel drivers out there. Every single night someone is cutting me, pulling between my truck and a driveway while I'm pulling into a store, going around my trailer while I'm backing. We are controlled by DOT HOS and have a schedule to keep. IMO it seems the same people who are griping about truck drivers, seem like the same people that have a fit when we are not there on time because of bad weather, accidents, traffic etc. Point is no one on the road respects anyone anymore. That guy trying to pass the other truck at 65.5 might be doing it for a reason,it's not a conspiracy we are not out to ruin your day

None.

No need, I'm good. Pretty much have my opinion made up due to what I see on the road every day all across this country.

There is a 10% factor in every profession, occupation etc., that is flaky. That goes for truck drivers, 4 wheel drivers, bicycle riders even pedestrians, that have no business on the roads and streets without more training.

Instant friends, I feel your pain brother. You sound like one of our drivers.

Meth, illegal aliens. Go to midland/Odessa area. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m a pipelner. I’ve driven all across America. You’d better be watching everyone out there. My wife was rear-ended by an illegal 33 months ago in San Antonio. She just underwent neck fusion surgery Thursday. I’m $200,000. In the hole . Lost house, everything. Be Careful!

Sygma?

Large Marge

Both, I see sand trucks from Mexico running down 90 W of Del Rio and many of the drivers up around Pecos, Monahans, Ft. Stockton, have practically zero English speaking ability.