Makin' it Home...

‘Tis the Season for the crops to be coming in from the fields and being shipped out to the worldwide market! Along with this, comes an increase in truck traffic. While we always have a great deal of big rig traffic, this time of year it is especially heavy. And we all need to know how to share the road.

I have held Class “A” permits myself, and this has given me insight into the challenges these men and women face every day. More importantly, I am a trucker’s wife, and that has helped me to be aware of what kind of people truck drivers really are. They are men and women, just like you and me. Truck drivers have families they want to get home to, families that need them, and want them to make it home again safely. I know, because I fear for my husband’s safety on the roads. So, what makes them different from us? Simply put, they drive a larger vehicle.

Many people seem to think of truckers as uneducated. I assure you, they are not. I personally have known truck drivers who were business owners, doctors and lawyers before they came into this field. All the same, they have to pass a far more extensive test to get their license than that of the general motoring public. Moreover, their license is reviewed frequently, and those who are deemed “unsafe”, do lose their license. Truck drivers accrue points faster than the rest of us. For example, while we don’t get any points against our records for an out-of-state “fix-it” ticket, they DO!! In addition, we may get 1 point against our record for a violation, they get 1 ½ points for the same violation.

Many times these drivers are the first on the scene of an accident, and they come prepared. Law requires them to have a first aid kit, and a fire extinguisher. They are taught to safely and properly secure an accident scene, as well as how to handle Hazardous Materials. They know when to remove people from around a Hazardous Materials spill, and how far they need to move them. Do you?

There was once a time when one of these drivers saved my aunt’s life. She was coming down I-5, traveling to the right of the outside lane. She was almost asleep at the wheel, dozing at 60 mph! A young truck driver noticed this, and placed his rig between her and the danger on her right hand side. He was traveling off the road, and blowing his air-horns, risking his own life! She pulled the car back on the road, and allowed him to go in front of her. When she pulled over, so did he. She told him to go on, and she stayed there, alongside the road, and got some sleep. Granted, she should not have been driving while so sleepy, but that day her Guardian Angel drove 18 wheels!

One of the biggest challenges a truck driver faces is people in normal cars (a.k.a. four wheelers), drivers who are not aware of just how to share the road with that truck! It is not uncommon for that truck to weigh up to 80,000 lbs when it’s loaded! At 55 mph, in order for them to stop, it takes more than 4 times the stopping distance that our car takes. For those who pass and then cut right in front of these rigs, it is extremely difficult for them to stop in time to avoid hitting you! While many times the truck driver will be blamed by the other driver, in reality, it is the other driver’s fault that this type of accident occurred.

A car riding closely behind a rig does not allow the car’s driver to see around it. Still, many people will drive so close to the back of a truck that they are an accident waiting to happen. If the truck driver has to stop suddenly, for example, because of the car that just cut him off, the car behind him is going to hit the back of that truck. It is going to do damage, and most likely, someone will get hurt.

Another cause of major problems for these truck drivers is people passing them on the right. I cannot count the number of times I have seen a truck sitting at a corner, stuck, because someone was “just trying to save a few minutes”, and was not really thinking. When you have that much trailer hanging out there, you HAVE to make WIDE turns. People think that this is the perfect opportunity to squeeze through that little opening. While they will sometimes get through there unharmed, many times they do not. It may save you just a few moments to squeeze through that hole, but it may be a danger to your own life! Don’t risk it!

Finally, I don’t know one truck driver that is not concerned about cars riding in their blind spots. I’m sure you have all seen the mud-flaps and signs on the trucks reminding you of their blind spots and urging you to stay out of them. My husband is often telling me that he wishes everyone realized that if you cannot see the driver, he cannot see you. When a car driver is riding alongside a rig in the driver’s blind spot, that driver cannot see you if he needs to change lanes to avoid a vehicle on the shoulder, or a large piece of debris in the road. While what you may see is a driver moving over into your lane carelessly, it is not carelessness on his part. He simply cannot see you!

I have been in the truck many times with my husband as well as with other drivers and I have seen some of these “near misses”. I don’t know how these Gentlemen avoided hitting someone or something. Not only is that driver worried about himself, and getting his load to where it needs to be, he is worried about the cars on the road and their safety as well.

It is my opinion that these are some of the safest drivers out there.

Yes, these rigs are slow, and yes, they do take a lot of the road, but they are necessary to our way of life. Without them, how would any of the products of the World get to market? How would anything we buy at the local department or grocery store get there? Remember, “If you’ve got it, a trucker brought it”!

Most importantly, I ask you all to remember that these are men and women, who like my husband, want to come home to their families. Help make it possible for them to do so.

To treat these rigs with courtesy and respect could save YOUR life!

©2005 Yvonne Hensley
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