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A Response to Mr. Jack Barurh’s Article on ‘Road & Track’

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A Response to Mr. Jack Barurh’s article on Road & Track
By: Heidi O.

Despite your agony of having to slow down on your “race” to get wherever it is you need to get too in such a hurry, I am going to be a voice for the American trucker and ask you if you have truly LOST your mind?? What part of trucks going 50mph in a 70mph zone would even be safe, whether in the right lane or any lane?? What would make you think ALL trucks are governed at the speed of 65? I can tell you they are NOT!

I am sorry that you have to slow down to get where you are heading because YOUR improper planning didn’t allow for such things as slow traffic or even two trucks rolling along uphill together. I’m sorry to inform you that American highways were built for truck traffic. I’m sorry to have to inform you that these truck drivers or the company’s they work for PAY for these American highways through the highway use tax they pay. Therefore, my friend, these trucks and their drivers have every right to be on the roadways and do the speed limit if they are able to.  These drivers drive anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 miles a MONTH, so they definitely top your 40,000 to 60,000 a year and have every right to be out on America’s highways and byways!

To educate you just a little bit, some trucks may be governed at the same speed; however one truck may be at the legal maximum weight of 80,000 pounds where the truck behind him may be pulling only 40,000 pounds or even less and may be able to pull up a hill faster than his counterpart. When they go downhill, the heavier you are, the faster you drift on down the hill so the two trucks again meet and one has to pass the other or slow way down where the next upcoming hill would be hard to pull. Going downhill gives the truck a slight jump start to pulling that next uphill battle.

Truckers aren’t passing each other to make yours or anyone else’s life miserable…they are trying to make sure your food, paper goods, computers, or whatever other luxuries you all purchase make it to their destination so none of you have to wait.

These same truckers are also trying to keep the roadways safe. These truckers sometimes even risk their own lives to save one of a person driving a car who pulled over in front of them too close without a blinker. Or making sure they don’t hit those same 4 wheelers who, when there is a lane closure, they wait until the very last minute and think they can just edge on in in front of a big truck. They also make sure when they are driving that they don’t bump into that unsafe “Sunday” driver who is doing 55 mph in a 4 wheeler instead of driving the actual speed limit. Lastly, what about those 4 wheeler drivers that are seen by truck drivers daily texting and swerving or putting their makeup on or heck even reading the newspaper…what part of safe is that?

As for your comment of “sleep deprivation” and “drug use” by truckers…you are sadly mistaken! Legally, a driver in the U.S. is allowed a 14 hour work day consisting of 11 hours of time to drive which in which in the first 8 of those hours they MUST take a half hour break. They must then rest for 10 full hours before they can drive again. I have yet to come across any who have a “drug use” problem…last I check Stacker II or Monster energy drink were not illegal and the drivers I run into daily get their sleep.

So, before you decide what the legislative government should do for trucks, maybe you should educate yourself better from their perspective instead of trying to make the roadways much more dangerous with your “Trucks in the Right Lane.”  In my eye, being a passenger in a tractor-trailer for the last two years, I say… Trucks on the Right: IT’S NOT A LAW WE CAN LIVE WITH!!!

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