Streakn1
Veteran Expediter
In another thread on EO, Jamimjim states "Some of you claim to be business people, professionals, and a number of names" and then proceeds to post quotes by myself and others to make his point. Let Jamimjim be the catalyst for the following, as I originally had not planned to post this. Maybe its time some of you get a much needed wake up call.
A few days ago I'm traveling through a construction zone with an oversized permitted load. I am 11'-11" wide. I am on my specified permit route. Signs in the construction zone direct ALL TRUCKS USE LEFT LANE and SPEED LIMIT 55 MPH. I do exactly as instructed, cruise set at 55 mph traveling in the left lane through this 13-15 mile constrution zone. Although I was as tight to the wall with my load as I could get without hitting it, a car in the right lane is afraid to pass my load. We are both doing the posted speed limit.
Now, along come Mister Professional Expediter in his little expedite van ( not pick'n on you van drivers) with his purple and ...., ooops, his expedite carrier logo plastered on the side of his van haul'n butt up behind the car. Does'nt take long for him to get irritated and he whips in behind me because the car won't pass me. If he had followed me any closer, he would have been part of my load. I could see him weave from one mirror to the other several times. Guess he was trying to intimidate my 80,000 lbs rig into going faster with his little 3500 lb van! LOL I knew he was there and obviously in a hurry. NOT MY PROBLEM!!! I'm NOT required to speed up, slow down, or move to the right lane which would be breaking the law to statisfy him. Especially with a permit load where the fines are huge!
Back behind the car he gets and tries to intimidate them to no avail. Finally the car exits the interstate and away Mr Expediter goes, but not without first pulling alongside of my cab window clearly making it a point that I see him flipping me off! What a pathetic and childish act! He then speeds off weaving through traffic [thats obeying the signs] easily doing 65 mph with road construction workers in the construction zone working.
Let me say this, if you were my first encounter with an "Expediter" and I used you as a reference as to what "Expediters" are, I would probably have a VERY POOR impression of expediters as a whole. Not only did you break the law, you endangered me, my wife, my equipment, the almost million dollars in freight I was carrying, other drivers that shared the road with you, and the construction workers working a matter of feet from your vehicle as you sped past them ( with no regard for their safety). If you think that you were that much more important than the rest of us, or your load and schedule was more important than ours, you sir are grossly mistaken. I will give you credit for this: Thankyou for making the professional expediters and drivers like myself that abid by the laws look like careless outlaws in the eyes of the traveling public. Job well done!
You know who you are, my truck is very recognizable, and your unit number and carrier logo are very legible. Have I reported you to your safety department? No. Should I? What do the members of this forum think? Remember this my friend, what I do as driver out here reflects either positively or negatively on the rest of the drivers out here (including you) as your actions reflect on the rest of us! By the way, you are not the first I've seen do the same in construction zones. I distinctly remember the ER caravans on escorted government loads that we were involved in, where the lead trucks did 70 mph instead of the posted 55 mph. I refused to speed with them which broke up the caravan which resulted in complaint calls from the escorts being made to the carrier while the caravan was enroute. I SPEED [break the law] FOR NO ONE !!!
A few days ago I'm traveling through a construction zone with an oversized permitted load. I am 11'-11" wide. I am on my specified permit route. Signs in the construction zone direct ALL TRUCKS USE LEFT LANE and SPEED LIMIT 55 MPH. I do exactly as instructed, cruise set at 55 mph traveling in the left lane through this 13-15 mile constrution zone. Although I was as tight to the wall with my load as I could get without hitting it, a car in the right lane is afraid to pass my load. We are both doing the posted speed limit.
Now, along come Mister Professional Expediter in his little expedite van ( not pick'n on you van drivers) with his purple and ...., ooops, his expedite carrier logo plastered on the side of his van haul'n butt up behind the car. Does'nt take long for him to get irritated and he whips in behind me because the car won't pass me. If he had followed me any closer, he would have been part of my load. I could see him weave from one mirror to the other several times. Guess he was trying to intimidate my 80,000 lbs rig into going faster with his little 3500 lb van! LOL I knew he was there and obviously in a hurry. NOT MY PROBLEM!!! I'm NOT required to speed up, slow down, or move to the right lane which would be breaking the law to statisfy him. Especially with a permit load where the fines are huge!
Back behind the car he gets and tries to intimidate them to no avail. Finally the car exits the interstate and away Mr Expediter goes, but not without first pulling alongside of my cab window clearly making it a point that I see him flipping me off! What a pathetic and childish act! He then speeds off weaving through traffic [thats obeying the signs] easily doing 65 mph with road construction workers in the construction zone working.
Let me say this, if you were my first encounter with an "Expediter" and I used you as a reference as to what "Expediters" are, I would probably have a VERY POOR impression of expediters as a whole. Not only did you break the law, you endangered me, my wife, my equipment, the almost million dollars in freight I was carrying, other drivers that shared the road with you, and the construction workers working a matter of feet from your vehicle as you sped past them ( with no regard for their safety). If you think that you were that much more important than the rest of us, or your load and schedule was more important than ours, you sir are grossly mistaken. I will give you credit for this: Thankyou for making the professional expediters and drivers like myself that abid by the laws look like careless outlaws in the eyes of the traveling public. Job well done!
You know who you are, my truck is very recognizable, and your unit number and carrier logo are very legible. Have I reported you to your safety department? No. Should I? What do the members of this forum think? Remember this my friend, what I do as driver out here reflects either positively or negatively on the rest of the drivers out here (including you) as your actions reflect on the rest of us! By the way, you are not the first I've seen do the same in construction zones. I distinctly remember the ER caravans on escorted government loads that we were involved in, where the lead trucks did 70 mph instead of the posted 55 mph. I refused to speed with them which broke up the caravan which resulted in complaint calls from the escorts being made to the carrier while the caravan was enroute. I SPEED [break the law] FOR NO ONE !!!
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