Damn trucks rant

[Royal Tiger]

Originally Posted by JerTM

"no way to avoid it" is just a cop-out for " I was way too close to the car ahead of me."

It was a rope like band of metal wrapped in rubber. I saw cars hitting it, but it stretched across the lane to the point that I could drive over it, go right into another tractor trailer, go left into another vehicle, or hit the brakes and get plowed into by the car behind me. It wasn't a small chunk that popped up from the car I was "tailgating". I went as far to the left as I could, which is why it damaged the passenger side corner, and whipped up against the door as I drove over it. I don't tailgate, as it annoys me when people do it to me, to the point when driving in the long long of people in love with the left lane doing 5mph more then traffic in the right lane that don't move over, I'll get passed on the right and cars dive in front of me. Especially in New York. Good assumption though.


I should hear from both the body shop and my insurance on Monday.

[Reaper85]

Hopefully it's not as bad as you thought. The main thing is your OK. This is why we pay insurance. This is that "incase shut happens" time.

[MrChrisLS3]

Originally Posted by SteelCamaro

The problem lies with these companies that buy and sell trailers wholesale, and don't ever check them. Drivers who could have a perfect condition tractor can get stuck with a bad trailer on certain runs because that's what the customer provides them. It is the driver's responsibility to do good pre and post trip inspections, but the companies that own the trailers have been known to laugh in their face if they tell them a tire needs replaced. Not saying there aren't bad truck drivers out there who cut corners, but they should be given the benefit of the doubt a bit more than people normally give them. I agree though, retreads shouldn't be legal...they only cause more problems than do good.

True, you would think that given the danger, they wouldn't be legal. I'm sure that tire manufacturers have been pushing for just such legislation for decades, this would be a huge boom to their business.

The thing is, however, if you consider the sheer number of tractor trailers on the road, a simple piece of legislation requiring full replacement would have deep economical impact. Not only on shipping cost, but the cost of goods passed on to consumers, and not to mention the availability of materials for tire making. The cost of a set of tires could increase dramatically. There's just so many trucks on the road, and you'd be hard pressed to find one truck/trailer combo that didn't require at least two new tires at any given time. About the only reasonable solution is tougher regulation on re-caps, but even that comes with it's own set of issues. Oh well, "every problem has a solution, and every solution has a problem".

Good luck with the repair, and I fully understand the situation you're in driving in traffic. Down here in Houston, driving in rush hour is like driving a loose car at Bristol. (NASCAR fans know what means) lol.

[SSallday]

Originally Posted by Royal Tiger

Driving on the interstate today and get forced into running over a huge chunk of tire from a truck. No way to avoid it and had a car a foot off my rear bumper. Broke the air dam, bumper cover, splitter, and marked up the passenger door and ground effect under the door. It's at the body shop waiting for the bad news.


Had I been on the bike I could have been killed. Why are re-caps even legal?

Sorry to hear about that. I'm actually about 30 mins from you so I can say that PA roads will destroy your car in 3 years or less lol. Every time I go out on rt 80 or 33 it's always something new. I don't think a time goes by where I don't hit a big hole in the road.

[redcoats1976]

i was driving a kenworth with trailer on a crowded 6 lane highway once and "found" a big mattess in the middle of my lane,managed to miss it and not hit anyone but it sure increased my pucker factor.have worked in a warehouse the last 25 years.i dont miss truck driving or the folks that think they should cut in front of you just before the light turns yellow.

[christianchevell]

Good Luck, stuff happens. Hate tailgaters need reverse missiles like James Bond.

[Hetfield03]

I hate them road gators too. As a truck driver though, lemme explain why they happen so often.
Trailer inspection. Ha. Well thats not exactly true but well... If they aint flat, then its hook n book. That trailer could have been setting for weeks, or used by two or three drivers in one day, and you'll never know.
Speaking of venting, I was an hour and a half later tonight because of dispatch closing an empty trailer that was supposed to be loaded. And when youre not watching for human error, then youre doing a quick (1 minute) trailer inspection. You look at the flaps, you look at the plate, you look at all the lights, signals make sure they work, no air leaks, look for a flat or warp, sometimes literally kick or hit the tires with a mallet and you are GONE. I drive at night, very short distances. You see popped tires more during the day when trucks are on hot surfaces and don't take breaks. You're supposed to stop to let them cool, but you arent stopping five times a day to do that. You have one break before 8 hours is up and no more driving than 11 hours total. And for the truck drivers who are over the road (Im not) the more they stop, the less money they make.
I would like to add that my company takes tire maintenance very seriously compared to other companies, and I work for a big company. They have a third party company come in daily and check every tire for pressure and condition. But not every company have these resources. Also, tractors are not always responsibility of the company. In many cases, theyre contracted out, so its up to the contractor to decide whether they're using $600 Goodyears or $250 Dayton tires. Btw, recaps are illegal on the front two tires in case anyone wanted to know.
For anyone that complains, well I complain too. I dodge them in my Camaro, but hey its a tough job and more over, whenever I see someone doing something I think is questionable on the job, I try to put myself in their shoes before I complain too much, specifically because I drive a truck and used to complain so much about them until I became one. Btw, no you don't always feel a blowout. Its 28'-56' away from you. Depends on the load and lots more variables. And last time I checked, I dont know too many people who will run out into traffic to pick up a 50-100 pound piece of rubber that belongs to their company. So thats why they stay on the roads.
They honestly dont pop that often, its just that 95% OF EVERYTHING IS MOVED IN TRUCKS so there's just a lot of them.

[Hetfield03]

Originally Posted by MrChrisLS3

True, you would think that given the danger, they wouldn't be legal. I'm sure that tire manufacturers have been pushing for just such legislation for decades, this would be a huge boom to their business.

The thing is, however, if you consider the sheer number of tractor trailers on the road, a simple piece of legislation requiring full replacement would have deep economical impact. Not only on shipping cost, but the cost of goods passed on to consumers, and not to mention the availability of materials for tire making. The cost of a set of tires could increase dramatically. There's just so many trucks on the road, and you'd be hard pressed to find one truck/trailer combo that didn't require at least two new tires at any given time. About the only reasonable solution is tougher regulation on re-caps, but even that comes with it's own set of issues. Oh well, "every problem has a solution, and every solution has a problem".

Recaps go from like $250-$600. Per tire. Not even sure what a brand new tire goes for. But youre right, it simply couldnt work. It would put everyone out of business.

Off subject but 600 Freightliner workers were laid off because no one is buying new trucks. Everyone wants the used trucks before DEF was introduced. DEF has to be bought at the same time diesel is bought to help break down emissions. Only problem is it costs more money, more costly to fix these trucks. And you can have diesel in the tank but you can't drive if you forgot your DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID. Well-meaning but not practical idea that doesnt work in the real world is my point.

[rickyrocket]

Our politicians have just about regulated this country out of business,I saw an ad on a back cover of a magazine from 1979 for a ford fiesta that advertised 55 mpg from a 4 banger w/5 speed ,emission's killed gas milage,politicians are in big oil,and our wallets,the muffler on a tractor now runs about 7 k,yet the trucks still only avg.6-7 mpg

[Normagene]

Originally Posted by Tenring

Agreed - never ceases to amaze me how much of that hazardest trash is all over the roads.



I hope things work out for the best getting your Camaro repaired.

They just did a segment on the news about all the Deaths caused by debris/loads/parts falling off. 1000s of deaths every year.

One lady, and somehow the passenger just happened to be taking a video, a tire came flying and went right thru her windshield. They luckily survived.

Plus numerous clips of pickups with loads flying out, everything from a couch to a fridge. WTF......

[redcoats1976]

our company does a lot of in state hauling and is heavily invested in CNG tractors.fuel for them is supposed to be cheap and clean,but you best be full when you leave the yard.

[Royal Tiger]

Hetfield, thank you for the post. It just sucks I'm out $500 (deductible- I'm sure this will be thousands to repair) and possibly going to see my insurance rise for absolutely doing nothing wrong.

[68rssscamaro]

Dam gators! Lol! Sorry about your car OP! You will get her back to normal. I witnessed a NYS trooper who pulled over to run out and get the leftovers off the highway a week ago. I have to say he had a set of balls, just started walking in front of traffic waving everyone to the left lane!!

[Reaper85]

Originally Posted by Hetfield03

Recaps go from like $250-$600. Per tire. Not even sure what a brand new tire goes for. But youre right, it simply couldnt work. It would put everyone out of business.

Off subject but 600 Freightliner workers were laid off because no one is buying new trucks. Everyone wants the used trucks before DEF was introduced. DEF has to be bought at the same time diesel is bought to help break down emissions. Only problem is it costs more money, more costly to fix these trucks. And you can have diesel in the tank but you can't drive if you forgot your DIESEL EXHAUST FLUID. Well-meaning but not practical idea that doesnt work in the real world is my point.

No one is paying 600 dollars for recaps. New Michelins are under 600. Recaps are 125-200. I deal with them every day. You can buy offshore aolis tires for 200 new that are just as bad as bad Recaps. It's all on what you want to spend.