Driver Lifestyles

Beware of These Bad Road Habits!

The working owner operator who racks up many thousands of road miles every year has the opportunity to witness some of the worst drivers on the road. 

These drivers pilot anything from 4-wheelers to big trucks, but  unsafe tractor-trailer drivers are typically the group that garners the most attention.  Perhaps that's because there are so many big trucks on the road or maybe it's because we expect safe and professional driving habits from the big truck driver.

In the interest of fairness, it should be noted that tractor-trailer drivers have fewer wrecks than four-wheel drivers, but fatal injuries and catastrophic property damage are more likely when big trucks wreck.  About 5,000 people die each year in wrecks involving the big rigs, although that number was lower and rose about 10 percent between 1992 and 2002.

We contacted some expediters to get their impressions of their general freight driving counterparts and to ask, "What are some of the bad driving habits exhibited by the truck drivers you see?" 

Speeding
One of the worst truckers’ habits is driving too fast.  Excessive speed is the primary cause of rollovers, which account for more than half of all big truck accidents.  Many drivers fail to observe speed limits, even in turns and curves.

Tom and Tina Evans
Straight truck owner-operators
Tom says, "I see the big trucks speeding more than I see expediters doing it.  Most of the expediters run the limit or a couple of mph under because they're more conscious of fuel mileage." 

"Expediters don't seem to have the big truck "mentality" -  You know, speed down the highway, stop at the truck stop and shoot the bull for half an hour.  We (expediters) are slower, but steady and we tend to run our trucks like a business.  That means being aware of our fuel costs that increase when you speed."

Todd and Colleen (Coco) Marmino
Straight truck owner-operators
Coco tells us, "If you're going to go five miles an hour over the speed limit, you might gain 5-7 minutes every hour.  That's not worth anyone's life."

Carroll and Dora Bean
Straight truck owner-operators
"I see more cars than trucks speeding, but there are plenty of truck drivers speeding, too," Carroll opines.  "I think it's the mentality that you have to be running as fast as you can to make a living.  Actually, with today's fuel prices, the way you make money is don't haul cheap freight and conserve fuel."

He adds, "We don't see expediters running that fast but we see it in the general freight haulers.  The ones we notice that seem to speed, pass on the right and drive unsafely are the trash haulers, container haulers and livestock trucks."   

Tailgating
To give them the benefit of the doubt, tailgating is not always the truck driver's fault.  Many times it is the four-wheelers fault for coming back right on the truck's front bumper after passing.  But, anyone who has had a big truck running six feet off his rear bumper can tell you how unsafe it is, regardless of speed.

Larry Day
Straight truck owner-operator
Larry comments, "I think tailgating is one of the worst of the bad habits.  The only time I tailgate is in a slow moving traffic jam, to keep other drivers from cutting in."
 
"Tailgating is one of the big sins out here,"says Carroll Bean.  "I think it's basically impatience; people think that they make traffic go faster if they ride closer to the vehicle in front."

Coco Marmino: "I think the place I see the most tailgating is I40 through Tennessee.  You'll see groups of trucks (especially at night) running along without a car length between them!"

Tom Evans:  "I think that the four-wheelers force the truck driver to tailgate, especially when there are lane restrictions that make the driver follow the four-wheeler."
 
Distracted driving
Phoning while driving comes under the general heading of another bad habit truckers have: driving while distracted, which one study claims causes 80 percent of all accidents.

Chief among the distractions is talking on the cell phone.

Coco Marmino:  "I think distracted driving should be illegal nationwide.  I see both truck drivers and four-wheelers who are guilty of this.  I do see more truck drivers using headsets, but whether it's any safer, I don't know."

Tom Evans says, "I utilize a headset and truthfully, I see a lot of truck drivers using hands-free as well.  Now, the four-wheelers are a different story.  I see maybe 75% of the car drivers using a regular phone.  I'm probably as bad as anyone else about talking on the phone and being distracted - hands-free technology or not - but it's going to happen."

Carroll Bean:  "Dora and I see this occasionally:  A big truck driver will be trying to back into a space in a truck stop or at a dock while engaged in a conversation on a handheld cell phone!  Other expediters tell us that they've seen the same thing."

Bad habits in the truck stop
There are a variety of behavioral issues in the truck stop:  Driving the wrong way through fuel islands, jake brakes, littering, etc.

"In the parking lot, you'll find drivers taking up two spaces," Larry Day tells us.  "Then you've got trucks speeding through the lot as well as drivers leaving litter and urine jugs laying around."

Larry touches on a subject that is often noted: "Something that really irritates me is drivers who don't wash their hands before leaving the rest room and then they head straight for the buffet."

"It doesn't matter whether it's 2:00 am or in the middle of the afternoon, there's always some clown in a big truck who has to run through the parking lot with his jake brake on just to be cool," says Tom Evans.

"And, you've always got the truck driver who thinks that because he bought fuel he has the right to park at the fuel island.  Then they go in, order dinner, spend 30 minutes shopping and come out and move their truck."

"To them, it's not a huge deal, but to an expediter hung up behind that truck, it's a big issue; we're just burning time that we don't have."

Coco Marmino:  "We've got the new breed of driver and he's like a renegade.  He  just opens the door and throws out the trash.  Everybody's got room in their truck for a trash can so there's no excuse for that.  It's just laziness."

Carroll Bean:  "We've seen the general freight haulers just open their door and throw a bag of garbage out on the truck stop lot. 

Because of those actions by a few, the truck stops are getting filthier.  I can't understand why anyone would want to trash the environment they're parked in."

Lack of respect
Says Tom Evans, "There's not a lot of respect between the big truck drivers and the "little" (straight truck) truck drivers.  They think of us as wannabe truck drivers and if you're backing into a spot in the truck lot, somebody will get on the radio and say, 'hey, six-wheeler, why you takin' up a big truck spot?'  That's one of the reasons why we park in the front of the truck stop whenever possible."

Larry Day tells us, "When someone cuts me off, I'll get on the CB and let them know just what they did.  More often than not, they'll respond with an invitation to fight."

"There is racism on the CB," says Coco Marmino.  "Todd and I have listened to arguments between drivers that have lasted for miles.  Many times it will start when traffic is backed up and that's when the drivers will get on the subject of politics or race. The name-calling is outrageous."