UNDERSTANDING TRUCKS
Drive Safely with Big Trucks By Howard J. Elmer
its business. An elephant, which can be frightening because of its size, certainly doesn’t come across that way because of its movements. It walks slowly, steadily with a measured easy gait. In fact, in all the National Geographic film footage I’ve seen, most of an elephant’s movements are almost predictable. A tractor trailer behaves much the same way. That driver is trained to make planned, slow movements. He will always try to keep a steady speed and stay in the same lane—he will accelerate steadily and brake gently. That much weight demands it and his life depends on it. If you make a habit of watching trucks while you are on the highway, you’ll begin to notice before long that you can almost predict a truck’s movements. Consider these two scenarios that often frighten and anger RVers. You ‘re on a multi-lane highway approaching a cloverleaf intersection—a truck forward and to your right, signals left and pulls into your lane causing you to slow as you approach it. Why did he do that? You fume.
During RVing season many RVers will find themselves in heavy truck traffic on our highways—a situation they find frightening. When asked what it is about large trucks they dislike, the most common answer is “they just scare me.” If you’d prefer to be comfortable around trucks, rather than nervous, then take this cure. A dose of information with a chaser of common sense. First, consider that as RVers we share a similar set of road manners with trucks. We both have a large vehicle with considerable weight that we have to move as smoothly, efficiently, and safely as possible. Now consider that a large tractor trailer can weigh (loaded) upwards of 100,000 pounds. But, rather than taking this as a frightening figure, let’s change this fact to an image. Think of a calm elephant, slowly lumbering about
UNDERSTANDING TRUCKS
COAST TO COAST FALL MAGAZINE 2017
31
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter