By Heidi O.
Lately I have seen many cases of one governed truck trying to pass another governed truck at the same speed only to have to sit and watch them for a few trying to decide who will win this race. This, I told by my husband, is called a “turtle race.” Although the name is cute, it is very annoying to come across not only this anomaly but also to come across what is called a “dragon fly.” These trucks “drag” up a hill at a very slow speed, and then they “fly” down the hill at a very fast speed.
We have come across several of both of these instances in our trek from Virginia to California. We literally passed one truck over 12 times to have him then speed on past us while going downhill. The problem, however, is that a lot of these trucks then “cut” right back into the right lane with either no space or no blinker and it’s just plain rude.
So, the best thing to do is to be the nice driver in any of these situations and first, try not to get involved in a “turtle race.” If you are able to pass the other truck or you know the other truck will slow a little to let you back over, be courteous and try to keep the flow of traffic going.
As for being a “dragonfly,” use your blinkers and try to keep the flow of traffic moving as best as you can. All drivers do understand that the weight of some is heavier than others and are usually very good about letting one another pass. Most of the time these two anomalies are very common in the trucking world, but be courteous about how you approach either situation. There really needs to be a common ground for drivers to follow and the new drivers on the road need to learn to be safe as well as to be respectful.