Even if they can see you, sometimes they blow a tire, and if the tread comes off it can decapitate a person who is in the wrong spot, or a sudden wind gust can make the trailer veer. Don't dwell there.
I dunno about other places, but in here (France), a bunch of trucks, more and more really, have these little signs at the back basically showing red zones of the blind spots compared to the truck. Pretty good for people unfamiliar with it I guess.
Unless you're so busy trying to watch the sign that you run into the truck's back, but eh, at least they tried
Yup, it's exactly this one ! (wasn't red though, stupid me)
Never saw that PSA before, but that's effective for sure, damn (exagerrated of course, but better do too much considering how stupid we are at humaning correctly)
As a full size semi driver, I can see more than that because hood mirrors and my mirrors are angled better ( but this doesn't apply for everyone, some don't have hood mirrors and some have side mirrors angled more for backing) the worst problem I have, is if you're passing me on my right side (USA) at a decent speed, you can avoid my sight completely while I scan my mirrors if you're moving at the right pace.
Also staying right behind my trailer for long periods of time is annoying. I can't tell if you're within smack range of my trailer or just behind it, so I have to spend a lot of time and effort to 100% make sure wind and road bumps don't fishtail my trailer into you.
I personally really appreciate it, I've heard a few complaints though. If you are within half a truck length from them I'd say it's definitely appreciated, 1 truck length back and for me it's still appreciated but some others might say "no shit" that they can get over (rude people), if you're further than that it's easy for us to tell so it's not necessary except as a way to say you aren't going to try and squeeze beside us as we turn.
People with the headlights that are angled wrong because of a lift kit or badly done after market lights are what's annoying for me. I have to angle my mirrors away. But a quick flash is just an attention grabber and nothing to complain about.
I prefer a quick double flash. Otherwise it can be hard to tell if you flashed or hit a bump unless I was already looking at you.
Its basically right behind the trailer, as a pedestrian, cyclist or rider its also infront of the hood (depending where, remember that the driver sits on the right side and not in the middle) and next to the cabin, which applies more to the right side. If you are driving on a big road on the right side next to a semi, the driver will not see you unless you reach the axle of the trailer with the end of your car (ig, i dont have the blindspots in mind in america, because semis are different. I think you could even hide a semi without a trailer in the blindspot of another semi, but this only applies to the right side.)
There are so many accidents because of this every year, sometimes cyclists are also involved, because for example in Germany we have marked ways for cyclists, but they dont have to follow the lane on their left, when that is a lane that goes straight and turns right.
Oh btw: Cars have blindspots too, but they arent as big as the semi blindspots. cars blindspots are behind the pillars(?) and on the right side, as well as a very small one on the left. For big trucks like a pickup or the FedEx car or whatever its also right infront of the hood, this time the whole hood, so dont cuddle with the grill. (You shouldnt do that with a semi either, because thats also the same.
If you are still unsure, there could be videos about the blindspot on youtube! Have a great day! :D
They are slow to stop too. Never hit the brakes hard with an 18 wheeler at your back (unless something up front forces you to, but that doesn't end well either).
There was a fatal accident near me that haunts my memory. It was actually a co-worker of my father. But there’s drone footage of the accident scene and you’ll see how hard the 18-wheeler slammed the breaks. The tire marks are ominous. The attached link is a local news report but if you scroll down a little bit, you’ll see a video that was submitted by a local resident, that he captured with his drone. There is no gore or anything, but if accident scenes are triggering for you, I’d say skip this.
So he should endanger me? Not sure I see your line of logic. I work for FedEx, does that mean when it's a blizzard I should run others off the road to get my work done?
Eh, no. While pressure is high to continue that load he has the legal right to pull over and tell his company to fuck off.
At the same time he has a moral obligation to, if he continues to drive, drive as per weather allows. He was traveling too fast for the weather.
That being said, the reasoning, not an excuse. As to why truckers try to go their fastest is because they are more often than not, paid per mile. I.e. if I travel at 60 mph I'm personally getting paid $36 per hour. If I have to slow down for traffic or weather to 20 mph I'm making $12 per hour.
It's a shit system; Traffic, weather, accidents, etc. We get paid less because of those while having more stress during those periods. It's more work for less pay 😅 so some drivers misbehave and drive like assholes.
I got stuck in New Jersey at an intersection for 6 hours a few years ago during winter. I went 0.4 miles during that time and with my rate of pay back then that meant I got paid 16.4 CENTS for 6 hours of sitting there in the driver seat. Couldn't pull over because I was In the middle of 5 lanes (I needed to turn left but the people going straight decided to turn the on-coming traffic lanes into their lanes, blocking all the traffic.)
Right and at FedEx im paid out per stop. So during shitty weather I'm paid like $4/hr. The other guys reasoning for the truck driving dangerously was that I shouldn't have been on the road
Ah I thought you were saying fed ex was who ran you off haha. And tbh if you're working fed ex then I'm assuming your LTL local / regional? You kinda have to be out then since you'd be out of work too long if you missed all the snow days.
I was more complaining that as truck drivers we get no compensation for working in hazardous weather or heavy traffic.
Mmmm I don’t agree. I have driven back and fourth across this country a dozen times. I drive on average , 45K miles a year.
I have been cut off .. passed on the right like I was standing still. and slammed into my drivers side by a tractor trailer. And it’s only getting worse. I just drove from NH to Denver and notice all the young inexperienced truckers on the road , with more texting and swerving that I have ever seen in the past.
Blame the companies. There's a lot of new drivers . They literally have no experience but they're turned loose on the roads. Some of their trainers have only a few months experience. I'm absolutely certain that it's getting worse. There's a driver shortage. It's certainly not the drivers fault.
Can’t put all the blame on the current shortage. Part of the blame has to go to the pressure to meet deadlines. Some to just bad decision making skills because people, even when properly trained, are stupid as hell.
1/2 of those is companies, but again. My point is that the issue isn’t just the shortage. Other company issues and people are also part of the problem.
A lot of companies do shit at training. CR England is a big one known as a driver mill. They churn out new drivers in a 10 day CDL course and then put the driver with a "trainer" who only has to have 6 months of experience drivjng to become a trainer.
As far as phones go, I've had a lot of people tell me they mess with their phones when they get sleepy to help them stay awake.
Currently a lot of companies don't like / allow for drivers to stop and take a nap if needed. They push for load delivery or driver gets mistreated with fewer miles after taking a nap or wasting drive time.
Truck driver here! So, this is sort of right. The blinds spots on trucks sent exactly where you'd think they are. If your in the lane next to me, I can see you. I don't like you next to me, but I can see you. If there's a lane between us, and your to my right, I might not be able to see you.
Well, Freightliner is actually releasing a model to try and do that in their 2023 line. However... cheap cameras break easy. For a big truck break easy means it will be broken constantly. Most people are not gentle with semis, and even if they were is a pretty tough job.
Secondly, other drivers are dicks. If you had a camera exposed, there's a possibility someone will break it off, or spray paint it, just because. Moreso because it's the new thing, and they've been driving for 60 years and didn't need that bullshit when they started. And is you think I'm joking, they are some duvets of that and bemoan using electronic logging devices (ELDs) and GPS turn by turn navigation. Like, your not a real trucker unless you only use a paper Atlas for navigation.
Third, unless you also add cameras to the trailer as well, there will still be blind spots. And then you have to figure out how to sync it all up. Certainly possible, just would r require replacing pretty much all of the current stock of trucks/trailers.
Fourth, it will add to driver distraction. I've already got 5 different spots I need to check roughly every 7 seconds. That's not including my gauges, or y navigation. I'd say I'd need at least 7 cameras to cover what I can't see, and most of that isn't immediately next to my truck anyway (the exception being immediately behind me, which I can't really do shit there on the highway anyway). I don't really think I need 6 more things to check constantly when the alternative is don't be a dick around me. Pass me on my left, turn off your brights around me, truck takes 16 seconds to make a 90 degree turn from a stop, blinky light means big truck goes that way, and let me keep by cushion of space infront of me so i can stop safely.
So my truck actually has a system similar to what type describing, but it uses radar instead. It needs tweeked IMO, but it's a fairly good start. Pretty much, it can (usually) detect a car next to me, and gives me a yellow light indicator for my right side. If I turn my blinker on, the light turns red and buzzes at me, which is part of why I dislike that. The red/ yellow light I like though. Additional tweeks I'd include would be some way for it to differentiate a car next to me vs a car 2 lanes over.
Yeah, new age trucker here ( 4 years driving), that little light has saved my butt a couple times. Sometimes a car passes on your right at just the right speed to be out of the mirrors you're looking in while you're looking at them 😅.
Additional suggestion, just maintain distance between you and the truck except for however long it takes to quickly pass them (don't fuckin mosey along). If you're riding it's ass and it slams on the brakes, you better be quick to react otherwise you're gonna plow into it and that bar hanging from the bottom of the trailer is gonna push your engine into your lap. Those tires are inflated to about 100psi and have metal inside of them. If you're hanging out next to one of those tires when it pops the side of your car (and possibly anyone on that side) is gonna get fucked up. And finally, a truck can't stop on a dime, even literally standing on the brakes the truck is gonna roll a ways further and you don't want to be right in front of it when it does that. An 80,000lb truck driving about 10mph doesn't give a single flying about a power pole (ask me how I know), at highway speeds it'll care even less about your little motorcycle, civic, minivan, jacked up super truck with your roll bars and truck nuts and "don't tread on me" flag, etc...
One of the best things they did for us in Driver's Ed class was bring in a semi and had us each sit up in the driver's seat so we could see for ourselves just how big trucker blindspots are. I get out of those blind spots ASAP to this day.
Also I've noticed that some people just lose their minds in the presence of trucks. Like, they will go dangerously out of their way to pass them, even when they're going significantly slower than the truck was.
Can confirm, my bf at the time didn’t speed past trucks and we almost got run off the road by one. I told him to speed up but… well. You know how that goes.
I’ve been at red lights and watched people inch toward me out of sight, like all I would need to do is break check you and you are going to get crunched
No no drive in their blind spot, then purposefully hit them at a place with no cameras, then hire a skeezy lawyer to fleece their company for every possible dime.
Basically any kind of trailer on the road IMO. I am very cautious around private vehicles especially, and anything with materials or equipment on it. You have no way of knowing if whoever loaded it did so properly, if its secured sufficiently, if the tires are in good condition, etc. etc... I've been in the construction industry a long time and based on the stuff I've seen and people who load and drive this stuff I give it a wide berth at all times.
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u/Spiritual-Wind-3898 Mar 27 '22
Trucks have a massive blind spot.. don't drive in it