A friend of mine was pulling a Michigan gravel train up a hill in very slippery winter conditions. He said he felt what he thought was his tires slip a bit, checked his mirrors, saw nothing, continued on with his haul. They called him and asked if he realized he totaled a car. The car rear ended him totaling itself, when his tires "slipped". Was right behind him when he checked his mirrors, so he didn't see the car...

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

Whenever I'm driving up Parley's Pass in Utah on I-80, I'm always tuned into what the trucks are doing. I anticipate what I think the trucker may want to do. If I see one truck closing in on another that is going slower than him, I assume he will not want to lose momentum, and I move over early. It's a courtesy thing, and it goes both ways.

Thank you for your courtesy.

It has been a long time since I have been behind the wheel professionally. I can remember once coming back into Los Angeles on the back side of the Grape Vine on I5. It was about 3:30 AM and on the hill there were trucks out all four lanes passing.

It is a reckless driving ticket if Mr. CHP catches you out in those other lanes except the two far right lanes.

I never did it.

3/4 mile at 50,000 lbs on Cajon, he was probably running 45mph. That means he didn't check his mirrors for at least 50 seconds. That certainly doesn't sound like negligence, especially considering how many other things a driver needs to pay attention to on while on a long pull like Cajon. Slower trucks up ahead, engine rpm, boost manifold pressure, engine coolant temp, oil temps, rear-end temps, turbo manifold temps. There's a lot of stuff to do while on a hard pull other than just check mirrors.

I'll bet he was checking gauges trying to figure out why he was pulling so hard, lol.