How Do You Deal With Tailgaters?

[sandman2234]

Local work is not so much fun either if you are the low driver on the totem pole. Some days you get to fill in for someone whom has taken the day off and "their" truck looks more like a squatter lives there. That and sometimes dispatcher's/terminal managers have their favorites.

I tend to be one of the "preferred" or favorites because I know my job, do it without supervision and keep my mouth shut.
One manager was talking about drivers that were always complaining. I had just walked up, and asked if he was referring to me? He said he knew how to shut me up, just give me a run and he wouldn't hear anything from me till I had it done.
I have split my career in sections, as I will go local for a while, then OTR, then dedicated or dedicated OTR. Right now I am dedicated Southeast. Next week I will be in Janesville, WI lol!
David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

What truck do you have with all those gadgets? I don't trust automatic braking or my vehicle correcting what lane I am in. The first time one of these gadgets caused me to have an accident I would cause the company so many problems they would be better off to pay me to shut up.

The 2022 truck was bad enough about trying to take away my years of experience by deciding when it would allow me to drive the truck. Now a 2026 has all the things Shawn mentioned plus a few more like lane assist where it fights the steering wheel when you try to steer away from the center of the lane. Took me 10,000 miles to even get used to that one! It still doesn't understand when I have to steer to the outside of a curve to keep the trailer from running over the stroller that Mom pushed to the edge of the curb so she could push the crosswalk button.
Let some idiot pull out in front of me, and if I let off the throttle, the idiot behind the curtain slams on the brakes. All the flat spotting can't be good for tire life or my nerves!
David from jax

 

[Shawn T. W.]

What truck do you have with all those gadgets? I don't trust automatic braking or my vehicle correcting what lane I am in. The first time one of these gadgets caused me to have an accident I would cause the company so many problems they would be better off to pay me to shut up.

I have a 2026 Kenworth T680 ...

A couple of weeks ago I got pulled into the scale in Mississippi, they pulled me around back for an inspection ... The officer was guiding me into the inspection bay, over the pit, at about 12' - 15' away from him my truck LOCKED up the brakes! I was only going about 2 mph, I held up my hands and yell out my window "Sorry, my stupid truck won't let me run over you!" He chuckled and said "New truck, huh?"

My truck does have "lane assistance" but only an audible tone through the radio speakers, depends on which side the stupid truck thinks I'm crossing without my turn signal on ... Only correct about half the time ... ! At roughly 20K miles that stopped working, I've written it up 3 times, it's still a warning on my dash, I just said "don't bother me," and covered it up with electrical tape!

What is annoying is having the cruise control on*, and a car in front of you exits, once they are completely out of my lane, but still slowing down, my truck will cut the fuel and SLAM on the brakes!

It also about 10% of the time do similar if another truck passes me, We are both completely in our respective lanes, but once the back of the passing truck is about 10' - 15' passed my bumper, it will alert and want to put my brakes on!

It also is an annoying nanny if it thinks you are going too fast around a corner, it cuts the fuel and puts on the brakes ... Not a good thing if it's slippery out ... Just let me drive the stinking thing, I've been driving trucks for 33 years!

29 months until I hang up my keys and retire ...

*My stupid truck is governed at 68 mph, but can only do that on the pedal for less than a minute, then it cuts back to 65 mph, in order to consistently get the full 68 mph, I'm forced to use the rotten adaptive cruise control ... This was a huge change, and I nearly quit when they took my 2022 away with a manual transmission and no nanny stuff!

 

[sandman2234]

I have a 2026 Kenworth T680 ...

A couple of weeks ago I got pulled into the scale in Mississippi, they pulled me around back for an inspection ... The officer was guiding me into the inspection bay, over the pit, at about 12' - 15' away from him my truck LOCKED up the brakes! I was only going about 2 mph, I held up my hands and yell out my window "Sorry, my stupid truck won't let me run over you!" He chuckled and said "New truck, huh?"

My truck does have "lane assistance" but only an audible tone through the radio speakers, depends on which side the stupid truck thinks I'm crossing without my turn signal on ... Only correct about half the time ... ! At roughly 20K miles that stopped working, I've written it up 3 times, it's still a warning on my dash, I just said "don't bother me," and covered it up with electrical tape!

What is annoying is having the cruise control on*, and a car in front of you exits, once they are completely out of my lane, but still slowing down, my truck will cut the fuel and SLAM on the brakes!

It also about 10% of the time do similar if another truck passes me, We are both completely in our respective lanes, but once the back of the passing truck is about 10' - 15' passed my bumper, it will alert and want to put my brakes on!

It also is an annoying nanny if it thinks you are going too fast around a corner, it cuts the fuel and puts on the brakes ... Not a good thing if it's slippery out ... Just let me drive the stinking thing, I've been driving trucks for 33 years!

29 months until I hang up my keys and retire ...

*My stupid truck is governed at 68 mph, but can only do that on the pedal for less than a minute, then it cuts back to 65 mph, in order to consistently get the full 68 mph, I'm forced to use the rotten adaptive cruise control ... This was a huge change, and I nearly quit when they took my 2022 away with a manual transmission and no nanny stuff!

My last long term truck was transferred from a 70mph division and the guy who turned it down wasn't a computer genius. He cut back the throttle but didn't touch the cruise. I never said a word, although I did get a text from my manager one time "quit exceeding 70mph". 530k miles later it blew the tranny and it cost more to fix it than the truck would have been worth when it came out of the shop. I miss that truck even though it was an automatic.
The thing I hate about the adaptive cruise is when you are closing in on another vehicle, it never warns you, just slows down to match that vehicle's speed. Just a beep or some sort of warning before it slows the truck down would be nice. Tailgating on cruise is impossible to do, unless you completely ignore and fight to override the trucks warning systems.
I could retire now, but my younger Bride isn't able to yet, so I just keep going to work. My company knows I can retire at any point, and have done several things to encourage me to stay. Banking a little extra can't hurt the way the economy is going.
David from jax

 

[Oaktree]

Get behind me you will be slowing your squirrelly butt down, and when you pass me in a no passing zone or unsafely on a road with no lane markings, my dash cam will have your plate number and I will call it in and provide the video and sign the complaint. Have done so twice and will do it again if need be.

I really, really miss the days when you weren't on camera every minute of your life with someone just waiting to tattle on you if you do something "wrong".

 

[sandman2234]

I really, really miss the days when you weren't on camera every minute of your life with someone just waiting to tattle on you if you do something "wrong".

One of the problems is what we considered "wrong" has now gotten really bad, to a point where people are doing what I call "stupid" things. I slowed for a red light a couple days ago, and the guy behind me jumped into the turn lane and passed me. RED with cars pulling out from the 2 side road, one like to have gotten T-boned if he hadn't been paying attention. That is the kind of stuff we are dealing with these days. In a lot of cities, traffic signs and signals appear to be a suggestion, not a requirement.
David from jax

 

[Jstpssng]

Too often people who "drive the speed limit" only do so on occasions when somebody cam pass them. It isn't uncommon for them to speed up on a straight stretch, but slow when they see an oncoming car so that you can't get by. In true "crack the whip" fashion, the poor SOB 4 cars back finds his speed fluctuating 15-20 mph for every 5 that the guy in front slows. That's why I try to maintain a steady speed and pay attention to what's behind me. If I'm looking for a driveway or just feel like gawking around I will pull over to let people behind me by.
A former coworker used to step on the gas to get up to the speed limit, take his foot off and coast for a while, then bring it up to speed again. Riding with him was the only time I thought I might get car sick...
I can imagine how much the people behind us felt.

With the proliferation of radar signs telling your speed, and checking it against my GPS I've noticed that the speedometer in my company Tundra is about 21/2 mph slow. When I thought I was doing the speed limit... I wasn't.

 

[MossRoad]

Too often people who "drive the speed limit" only do so on occasions when somebody cam pass them. It isn't uncommon for them to speed up on a straight stretch, but slow when they see an oncoming car so that you can't get by. In true "crack the whip" fashion, the poor SOB 4 cars back finds his speed fluctuating 15-20 mph for every 5 that the guy in front slows. That's why I try to maintain a steady speed and pay attention to what's behind me. If I'm looking for a driveway or just feel like gawking around I will pull over to let people behind me by.
A former coworker used to step on the gas to get up to the speed limit, take his foot off and coast for a while, then bring it up to speed again. Riding with him was the only time I thought I might get car sick...
I can imagine how much the people behind us felt.

With the proliferation of radar signs telling your speed, and checking it against my GPS I've noticed that the speedometer in my company Tundra is about 21/2 mph slow. When I thought I was doing the speed limit... I wasn't.

A friend of mine's mom used to drive us around when we were in grade school... she did the gas, coast, gas, coast more than anyone I ever met. It was kinda comical because every time she'd step on the gas we'd all over-dramatically slam our heads back and when she let off we'd all smash our heads into the back of the front seat.

However, she was very nice and I miss her.

 

[not2old]

A friend of mine's mom used to drive us around when we were in grade school... she did the gas, coast, gas, coast more than anyone I ever met. It was kinda comical because every time she'd step on the gas we'd all over-dramatically slam our heads back and when she let off we'd all smash our heads into the back of the front seat.

However, she was very nice and I miss her.

I have a friend that's worse. It's the gas and then the brake, the gas and then the brake, over and over. He had at least three accidents in a period of a few years. I couldn't talk to him about it because he made it well know that he was annoyed at the stereotype of the new immigrants that were poor drivers and he had come here at least twenty years prior. This was over forty years ago and I remember telling my wife (now ex) that she and the kids shouldn't ride with him.

 

[MossRoad]

I have a friend that's worse. It's the gas and then the brake, the gas and then the brake, over and over. He had at least three accidents in a period of a few years. I couldn't talk to him about it because he made it well know that he was annoyed at the stereotype of the new immigrants that were poor drivers and he had come here at least twenty years prior. This was over forty years ago and I remember telling my wife (now ex) that she and the kids shouldn't ride with him.

Both of my kids started like that first day driving... I put the kabash on that pretty quick.

Kinda funny that I'm guessing most of us did some pretty jerky driving first time on anything, but now it's all just natural.

My friends last name was Mul***** so we called her "Ma Mul*****". She was divorced and raising 3 daughters and a son. Did a pretty good job of it, too.

She drove a mid 70s Malibu wagon, dark green with wood grain sides. Always really nice to the neighborhood kids. She was a nurse, as I recall. I'd love to have that car today.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

My best friend stole a pack of Kool Menthols from his mom. We snuck out into the woods where my dad had a large rack for trash cans with fencing to keep the raccoons out, and proceeded to smoke as many as we could, as fast as we could, because, well, we thought that's what you were supposed to do.

About half way through the 3rd one each, we both turned googleee-eyed and started throwing up.

And that was the last time either of us smoked cigarettes.... I think we were maybe 12-13 years old.

Ninth grade my buddies and I were dipping Redman. The ninth-grade basketball team, practiced after the 7th and 8th grade teams. So, we went out behind the gym to dip the Red Man. Our Coach caught us. Made the four of us, split up a 3/4 full pouch, and put it in our mouths, and run 20-wind sprints. As soon as we got on the baseline to start, he shouted, "If you spit on my floor it doesn't count." We all puked for days. But none of us ever touched any form of tobacco again. Today he would be arrested for child abuse.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

I have a friend that's worse. It's the gas and then the brake, the gas and then the brake, over and over. He had at least three accidents in a period of a few years. I couldn't talk to him about it because he made it well know that he was annoyed at the stereotype of the new immigrants that were poor drivers and he had come here at least twenty years prior. This was over forty years ago and I remember telling my wife (now ex) that she and the kids shouldn't ride with him.

I worked with a guy, who the eight guys in our work group told me was a terrible driver. We needed to go look at a project, so I rode with him. WE got back to the office, and the other guys asked me what I thought of driving with him. I responded that it was a little scary at first, until I figured out that the throttle and brake are binary devices, and not mutually exclusive. Got a good laugh. He was pissed at me for weeks.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

At night, the red rear fog light, (aka fuse retina device) is pretty dissuasive. To quote the younger brother, "You hit that switch, and it is like the sun comes up."

 

[mark in portugal]

I used to have a custom built camper van in India; oncoming truck would drop his high beams. Flashed once, flashed twice.
Then I switched on all my 600 halogen watts of forward lights.
He still didn't put his beams down; it was probably broken. Anyway, it didn't matter because I could see just fine.
Three guys in the cab of that truck shielding their eyes...
I'd added a second alternator.

 

[Hay Dude]

Ninth grade my buddies and I were dipping Redman. The ninth-grade basketball team, practiced after the 7th and 8th grade teams. So, we went out behind the gym to dip the Red Man. Our Coach caught us. Made the four of us, split up a 3/4 full pouch, and put it in our mouths, and run 20-wind sprints. As soon as we got on the baseline to start, he shouted, "If you spit on my floor it doesn't count." We all puked for days. But none of us ever touched any form of tobacco again. Today he would be arrested for child abuse.

Yeah if I did that in my high school coaching days, I’d a been locked up.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Tailgater? I had just the opposite today. I came home from running errands and got a few vehicles behind a turtle. Only the turtle was one of those butt-heads that sped up in the passing zones. I did not have far to my turn off so I kept my cool as he got behind a tree trimming truck who had pulled out from a side road.

I thought about my 97' turned up Ram/Cummins 5spd/4:10 rear. I could literally smoke turtles/hares out. I had po'd people doing that who then sped up and got on my tail. That's when I put even more unburnt fuel out.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I should add that i am not a rolling coal fan: I usually kept the smoke down. When I first got the truck, someone had put a ridiculous plate in it. I "toned" it down a lot.