So, I just retired and escaped California!! I had to drive to move my guns and our cars and our dogs. We decided on the southern route.

We drove I 40 mostly from San Fran bay area to Tennessee. Easy 8 hour drives with the Wife following in her car and MANY stops. Got to TN in 4 days and a bit.

The drive was fine except for 2 things. Big rig drivers who pass other trucks at a 1 mph difference for 10 min. And EVERY DRIVER IN ARKANSAS. I think autos were a recent introduction in that state. Kinda like giving land speeders to Tusken Raiders. At least the State was beautiful!

So we are officially Tennessee folks now!

Looking forward to living in a FREE COUNTRY!

Congratulations!

I can't say as I have ever driven in Arkansas but I'll remember you words if I ever do!

Enjoy TN it is a beautiful state.

I make the trip from OKC to Guntersville Alabama one a year with a stop in Memphis to pick up a Canuck. Usually 11.5 hours on I40. Thank God there is not an audio recorder in my Ram on that drive. The truck traffic is insane. I know they are hauling goods, but they are some of biggest dick head drivers I've ever seen.

Nice. You passed right by me east of Albuquerque. I grew up in TN; I think you’ll like it. Where in TN?

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2 things. Big rig drivers who pass other trucks at a 1 mph difference for 10 min...

I have noticed this as well.
Sometimes they are not even attempting to pass. They just drive parallel, at the same rate of speed and can back up a highway for miles.
Do they have a reason for this? Someone pissed them off? Do they just think it's funny?

Congratulations on the move to free America!

My daughter and new son-in-law just moved from Monterrey, CA to Arlington, TN about a month ago. We just got back from spending the Memorial Day weekend with them in Tennessee. Beautiful state.

We are in Germantown outside of Memphis and headed to clarksville.

Germantown is a nice area. We went to the Memphis Redbirds game Saturday night and then hung out on Beal Street for a while.

When my son was driving big rigs, I found there’s a whole lot more going on than you might imagine. The larger carriers monitor everything. Speed, fuel consumption, and time. They have calculated the speed for optimal fuel consumption based on the truck and the current load. If the driver doesn’t want to be driving for free, they have to pretty much stick to the parameters. Speeding up multiple times during a haul, will end up eating into what they get paid. While you and I have a mortgage to pay every month, a lot of these guys have a truck payment coming out of every paycheck.

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The larger carriers monitor everything. Speed, fuel consumption, and time. They have calculated the speed for optimal fuel consumption...

I don't know what that has to do with this...
Do they monitor whether they are driving in the left lane, parallel to a truck in the right lane?
Let's say they want to save fuel and do 60 mph.
The rest of the traffic (cars) want to go about 75 mph. Should they force every other car to slow down to 60 mph? Or should both big rigs be in the right lane and let traffic go around them?
I think it creates a dangerous situation because everyone is trying to pass those two trucks and they won't allow it for some reason.

Around here its the independent truckers that clog the fast lane. They try to pass right before they start going uphill and leave a trail of cars behind them. Not hard to figure out that your fully loaded semi is not only going to stop accelerating going uphill, but will actually decelerate.

I thought the southern route was I-8 to I-10 to I-20, San Diego, El Paso, Dallas onward.

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Originally posted by chellim1:

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The larger carriers monitor everything. Speed, fuel consumption, and time. They have calculated the speed for optimal fuel consumption...

I don't know what that has to do with this...
Do they monitor whether they are driving in the left lane, parallel to a truck in the right lane?
Let's say they want to save fuel and do 60 mph.
The rest of the traffic (cars) want to go about 75 mph. Should they force every other car to slow down to 60 mph? Or should both big rigs be in the right lane and let traffic go around them?
I think it creates a dangerous situation because everyone is trying to pass those two trucks and they won't allow it for some reason.

There are certainly instances where asshole truck drivers will play the "see how long we can run a rolling roadblock" game, but in 99% of cases such as you describe, I think the issue is the loss of economy that comes from even slight speed variances.

When a loaded tractor trailer has to drop 1-2 miles an hour to accommodate a slower moving vehicle in front of it, getting back up to speed takes a lot more fuel than it does for a passenger car. Same thing would apply to speeding up to pass. It eats a LOT of fuel.

Now think about driving in the far right lane - having to adjust speed to accommodate merging traffic at every onramp. Same thing.

I could be wrong, but I believe cruise control is the name of the game in the vast majority of these cases. Doesn't make it less frustrating, but "he's deliberately being an asshole" isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

-Rob

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There are certainly instances where asshole truck drivers will play the "see how long we can run a rolling roadblock" game, but in 99% of cases such as you describe, I think the issue is the loss of economy that comes from even slight speed variances.

You are probably right about that.
But... it only takes one or two instances when they are surely doing it on purpose... that you really begin to wonder "Why?"

Alot of the trip was desolate. We didnt care for Arizona (i love the south part but not the I 40 area), Northern New Mexico is beautiful..especially at the divide. Texas panhandle is monotonous wit hot, sandy wind gusts the whole trip. Oklahoma was nice and green...needs hills. Arkansas is beautiful....if you dont have to drive with the affore mentiined Tusken Raiders. Memphis is a shithole with, perhaps the most confusing freeway system in ever (and I come from the CA bay area). Germantown is real nice...beautiful homes, nice people. We are now off to Clarksville where we bought a house. I live 2 minutes from a gun store

I just got back to OKC from California. I brought a family car back instead of flying.

To me I-40 is boring for the most part so I took the southern route, I-10.

Palm Springs I-10 to Arizona line is pretty desolate and boring. Love I-10 through Arizona, going to be my Snowbird place in a few years. Texas Canyon, which is actually in SE Arizona I-10 is fantastic, google it and watch YouTube for it. New Mexico is nice to Las Cruces. Get off I-10 at Las Cruces and take US 70 through White Sands, Alamogordo, Ruidoso and Roswell, beautiful wonderful scenery. From Roswell to Amarillo to the Oklahoma state line is so so scenery. I-40 in Oklahoma greens up and is prettier.

Having traveled I-40 westward from Oklahoma for many years I've decided to take the southern route I described.

Yes, the big trucks are a pain in the neck when they are side by side and can't pass the other.

Oh BTW has anyone stopped at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch in AZ?

And congratulations to OP for escaping whackyland!

It's a beautiful country. However, Driving the Big I, you miss things.
Possum Grape, Arkansas

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Originally posted by Jaycat:
We are in Germantown outside of Memphis and headed to clarksville.

Be sure you don't miss the last train!


I drove out to CA from KY in my 86 Supra, took 40 the whole way to AZ, cut the back way to Vegas to say with an Uncle then up through CA to the bay area. Going though AZ it was 100 degrees then after the slow ascent into Flagstaff it was snowing LOL

Coming back we left the bay area on 80, headed to Reno, Salt Lake, Cheyenne, dropped to Denver and across through St Louis..

I remember Wyoming was like being on the moon..

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Originally posted by ChuckWall:
It's a beautiful country. However, Driving the Big I, you miss things.

Totally agree. My early retirement road trips in my S2000 were always off the beaten path 2 laner roads. Really enjoyed chatting up locals in small towns and enjoying their Ma & Pa eateries. Never bothered with motel/hotel reservations. Just took my time taking in all the sights and stopping when I felt like it.

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Memphis is a shithole with, perhaps the most confusing freeway system in ever (and I come from the CA bay area).

That's the truth. I have made several trips out here (also from California) before settling down. I made sure my bladder was empty and my gas tank full before passing through Memphis, as well as West Memphis, AR, so I wouldn't have to stop. The reason for Memphis' freeway confusion is that it was never finished. I have found one freeway system that is worse than Memphis - Asheville, NC.

Interesting comments about the big trucks. I often travel between the middle of Colorado and Denver on a route that includes two major passes (i.e., steep, long, long hills). I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered the sort of two-lane blocking behavior described. Perhaps it has to do with the enforcement, but unless a truck is running empty and can quickly pass another truck, they usually stay to the right and crawl on up.