Truckers generally have a far better record of miles driven vs accidents and miles to fatal accident than the general motoring public has.
Anyone with any sense, particularly if they have ever actually driven a truck in traffic knows to give a wide margin to trucks in traffic since they can’t see as well if you are too close and can’t stop or steer as fast as you can.
In reality, the roads / interstates were built for trucks, not for passenger cars. Moving product around the States was the goal.
There’s an idea! Ban cars from the roads in order to protect the public safety! If no one is there, no one will get hurt!
I’m rather surprised that NONE of the cars he hit saw him coming and made moves to get out of the way. The first few, yes — happened too quickly — but those further down the line? Do these people never look in the rearview mirror?
You are partly correct. Interstates were built for rapid deployment of U.S. forces. I thought “wheelers” was a new urban dictionary word for blacks when I read the title.
Morongobill
July 30, 2018 9:18 am
Wouldn’t be much left inside the first car he hit.
That accident happened in Gurnee, IL. The cars were slowed down for a toll plaza. Amazingly nobody died which is a testament to vehicle safety. Would love to hear Eric Peters comments on that. Your stripped down budget ride with no supplemental restraints and impact protection wouldn’t fare too well in that situation, which mind you was unavoidable for the people that got hit.
Now overall I’d rather drive alongside anyone with a CDL as they have much better drivers training. My biggest concern with 18 wheelers is when they can’t see me and the age of the drivers. Truck driving is an old man’s job as the youth seem to think getting college degrees to work at Starbucks is a better option.
Eric Peters would argue government mandated shit is twice the price for half the value. in other words if you want the safety, someone will be more than happy to sell it to you. hard concept to understand i know.
btw, if you think cdl holders are better drivers i encourage you to drive highway 85 in northern colorado. so many sand, gravel, and oilfield trucks driven by 3rd world shitskins going 90 in a 65 it’ll make you realize how useless a wall is when half the brown countries are already here.
Driving that road to Denver International Airport isn’t worth it. I’ll pay the $11 bucks or so and take the toll road E470.
Dutchman
July 30, 2018 10:24 am
It’s my belief that truckers used to be professional drivers. But now they take any Pakistani, Somali that will work for peanuts.
The truckers on I-694 / I-494 / I-35 around Minneapolis, are mostly rude bastards. They drive the center lane, cause they don’t want to be inconvenienced with cars merging. Then there’s the thing of not merging, but rather driving into the on-ramp, and literally squeezing you off the road.
Used to be that many drivers were illiterate. The Feds CDL testing required reading skills which many drivers didn’t have. US has experienced a driver shortage ever since testing started. About the same time automatic transmissions became popular because the newly recruited literate drivers couldn’t master shifting a tractor’s gears.
The Feeble Grubbymitt is working quadruple overtime to make shippers’ profit margins slim to nonexistent, in order to placate the big boys like SWIFT and Walmart. However, I have heard that Trump has been working to stem the tide of new regulations; dunno about existing ones. I’m not really holding my breath, but if he does axe some of the worst regs then shippers may be in a better position to pay more.
My spouse has done corporate recruiting for truck drivers at her employer. They are salaried employees with full benefits driving company metal. Wages are good. Nothing crazy but an experience driver can make $60-70k + benefits. High end topped out around $80k. I think owner-operators can do better but that world is kinda gone from what I hear. Her company stopped that when drivers got in accidents and they had lapsed on their insurance. Guess who pays then?
I’m not kidding about youth not getting into the profession. Sure, immigrants are filling the gap which has me concerned given how well that worked for Mpls Police. But there are lots of kids who have no business being in college piling on debt for degrees that’ll never earn them truck driving wages (if they even graduate). Same goes for building trades. Those jobs ain’t cool and college should be free.
Dammit WIP! LLOPH needs more slave workers! You can’t pay truck drivers a wage over market. I mean anyone can drive right….
Yancey Ward
July 30, 2018 11:51 am
I have a macabre interest in car crash videos- I have seen literally 1000s of such crashes now, and in the vast majority (at least 95%) of accidents between passenger vehicles and semis, it is the passenger vehicle driver who is at fault. The accident above is an outlier in my educated opinion.
As for the accident here- the very first thing I do when I have to come to a stop on the interstate is to check the traffic behind me to make sure they are stopping (I can almost always ensure this by making sure my stop is gradual and controlled), and I always try to ensure I have an escape path if they don’t. It has saved me from being rear-ended at least twice in my life of driving.
As for the comments about Eric Peters above- he fully recognizes the value of the safety mandates, he just thinks it shouldn’t be mandatory, and I agree with him.
MadMike
July 30, 2018 1:57 pm
Has anyone noticed this was a “day cab” with no sleeper?
These are usually used for local or at most short regional deliveries.
The longer distance hauling companies that use them have fixed routes and regular stops WITH MOTEL ROOMS. This driver had more going on than too many miles.
overthecliff
July 30, 2018 3:48 pm
Biggest Truck has the right of way. Stay away from those big guys on the highway if you can. Physics are not on your side.
Truckers generally have a far better record of miles driven vs accidents and miles to fatal accident than the general motoring public has.
Anyone with any sense, particularly if they have ever actually driven a truck in traffic knows to give a wide margin to trucks in traffic since they can’t see as well if you are too close and can’t stop or steer as fast as you can.
blah, blab blah, blubbity blah…
That doesn’t excuse this anon.
Yeah, I thought laws were for public safety. If these rigs can do such damage, why are they on the roads? That is a somewhat sarcastic question but…
In reality, the roads / interstates were built for trucks, not for passenger cars. Moving product around the States was the goal.
There’s an idea! Ban cars from the roads in order to protect the public safety! If no one is there, no one will get hurt!
I’m rather surprised that NONE of the cars he hit saw him coming and made moves to get out of the way. The first few, yes — happened too quickly — but those further down the line? Do these people never look in the rearview mirror?
You are partly correct. Interstates were built for rapid deployment of U.S. forces. I thought “wheelers” was a new urban dictionary word for blacks when I read the title.
Wouldn’t be much left inside the first car he hit.
Too bad Eric Peters wasn’t there, in a 1961 Corvair, without seat belts.
Too bad you weren’t there, stripped naked and attached to the pavement with railroad spikes nailed through all four limbs.
Too bad Dutchman wasn’t there stripped nekkid atop a Japanese sex doll taking one for the team.
From your lips to Administrators ears.
That accident happened in Gurnee, IL. The cars were slowed down for a toll plaza. Amazingly nobody died which is a testament to vehicle safety. Would love to hear Eric Peters comments on that. Your stripped down budget ride with no supplemental restraints and impact protection wouldn’t fare too well in that situation, which mind you was unavoidable for the people that got hit.
Now overall I’d rather drive alongside anyone with a CDL as they have much better drivers training. My biggest concern with 18 wheelers is when they can’t see me and the age of the drivers. Truck driving is an old man’s job as the youth seem to think getting college degrees to work at Starbucks is a better option.
Eric Peters would argue government mandated shit is twice the price for half the value. in other words if you want the safety, someone will be more than happy to sell it to you. hard concept to understand i know.
btw, if you think cdl holders are better drivers i encourage you to drive highway 85 in northern colorado. so many sand, gravel, and oilfield trucks driven by 3rd world shitskins going 90 in a 65 it’ll make you realize how useless a wall is when half the brown countries are already here.
Driving that road to Denver International Airport isn’t worth it. I’ll pay the $11 bucks or so and take the toll road E470.
It’s my belief that truckers used to be professional drivers. But now they take any Pakistani, Somali that will work for peanuts.
The truckers on I-694 / I-494 / I-35 around Minneapolis, are mostly rude bastards. They drive the center lane, cause they don’t want to be inconvenienced with cars merging. Then there’s the thing of not merging, but rather driving into the on-ramp, and literally squeezing you off the road.
Used to be that many drivers were illiterate. The Feds CDL testing required reading skills which many drivers didn’t have. US has experienced a driver shortage ever since testing started. About the same time automatic transmissions became popular because the newly recruited literate drivers couldn’t master shifting a tractor’s gears.
Why not pay more? What is so fucking difficult to understand. If you want a good employee, pay a good fucking wage. It’s not rocket science.
The Feeble Grubbymitt is working quadruple overtime to make shippers’ profit margins slim to nonexistent, in order to placate the big boys like SWIFT and Walmart. However, I have heard that Trump has been working to stem the tide of new regulations; dunno about existing ones. I’m not really holding my breath, but if he does axe some of the worst regs then shippers may be in a better position to pay more.
My spouse has done corporate recruiting for truck drivers at her employer. They are salaried employees with full benefits driving company metal. Wages are good. Nothing crazy but an experience driver can make $60-70k + benefits. High end topped out around $80k. I think owner-operators can do better but that world is kinda gone from what I hear. Her company stopped that when drivers got in accidents and they had lapsed on their insurance. Guess who pays then?
I’m not kidding about youth not getting into the profession. Sure, immigrants are filling the gap which has me concerned given how well that worked for Mpls Police. But there are lots of kids who have no business being in college piling on debt for degrees that’ll never earn them truck driving wages (if they even graduate). Same goes for building trades. Those jobs ain’t cool and college should be free.
Dammit WIP! LLOPH needs more slave workers! You can’t pay truck drivers a wage over market. I mean anyone can drive right….
I have a macabre interest in car crash videos- I have seen literally 1000s of such crashes now, and in the vast majority (at least 95%) of accidents between passenger vehicles and semis, it is the passenger vehicle driver who is at fault. The accident above is an outlier in my educated opinion.
As for the accident here- the very first thing I do when I have to come to a stop on the interstate is to check the traffic behind me to make sure they are stopping (I can almost always ensure this by making sure my stop is gradual and controlled), and I always try to ensure I have an escape path if they don’t. It has saved me from being rear-ended at least twice in my life of driving.
As for the comments about Eric Peters above- he fully recognizes the value of the safety mandates, he just thinks it shouldn’t be mandatory, and I agree with him.
Has anyone noticed this was a “day cab” with no sleeper?
These are usually used for local or at most short regional deliveries.
The longer distance hauling companies that use them have fixed routes and regular stops WITH MOTEL ROOMS. This driver had more going on than too many miles.
Biggest Truck has the right of way. Stay away from those big guys on the highway if you can. Physics are not on your side.