Bloody Truckies

The guys are total assholes I don't care what anyone says, The should make it illegal for one semi trailer to overtake another. Last night in absolutely pouring rain six of the bastards blocked me in and I had nowhere to go. Zero visibility, all I could see was dull red spots called tailights. 2 trucks side by side in front, one on my left, and three close behind me blowing their horns. all of us travelling at 120 kph. I ended up thinking I was going to die anyway so I dropped down 2 gears and tore up the middle before peeling left off the freeway.

Some of them do think they are a law unto themselves .

I bet they were having a giggle on the UHF between every second word being a swear word.
Probably trying to make up for their small ...................... load
GTFOOT works for me.

I think its their mission to piss as many people off as possible! Seems to me that if there is any sign of traffic, most of the trucks spread out across all lanes, and sit there. Ever been thru the Tunnels in Melbourne? Try the road works thru the northern ring road!! Most of them enjoy sitting in the right lane until the very last minute - then mount a 3 lane manouvre towards the next exit
Common courtesy and the road rules dont apply to fwitts like that.....like you said Paul, they are a law unto themselves!

Kaupy1962 wrote:so I dropped down 2 gears and tore up the middle before peeling left off the freeway.

And you really needed to actually pass these "idiots" even though you were

1 riding in adverse conditions at 120 km/h
2 were going to exit any way

And you wonder why motorcyclists get a bad rap you may just be as bad as the "idiots" that you describe

Not defending truckies in any way ( even though i do drive a truck and have done for 25 + years) as i also see a large number of truckies acting as the law doesn't apply to them

My truck is speed limited at 100 km/h ( actual 103 on the gps ) and i travel the bruce hi-way from Brisbane to Bundy on a daily basis my boss has gps monitoring gear on board and it is monitored and even I get hassled by other truckies on the 2 way but at the end of the day i have never had an offence notice in all my driving time in the trucks ( 2.75 million km's )

So just be aware that not everybody is in need of being stereotyped into the same class as "idiots"

The problem these days is that a lot of people get there licence through centerlink courses to get them off the welfare and these guys then get on the road and think they are king of the road blah blah blah

BUT they have no patience and a lot of employers pay by the kilometer or trip rates so these bone heads race every where to save maybe 3-5 minutes over their whole trip

Now don't get me started on people who do 75 to 80 in a 100 and then speed up to 110 on the overtaking lanes

But i am glad to see that you took the necessary action to get home all of maybe 30 to 40 seconds earlier and you are still in one piece

Have a good day and remember good thing come to he who waits

PS ........... Everything that you use everyday at some stage travels on a truck some where

I drove heavy vehicles for 20 years and ive towed a caravan for years as well and owned a 4x4 and riden a bike and im not sure who to get angry at anymore!

STI-REX wrote:And you really needed to actually pass these "idiots" even though you were

1 riding in adverse conditions at 120 km/h
2 were going to exit any way

Knowing Kaupy's commute he was boxed in, in the right lane and had to pass to be able to exit. (probably Greta Rd)
By his account the gorillas were enjoying their little game which makes them moronic tossers in anyones book. That cant be defended.
Getting in that situation in the first place in those conditions is questionable, but we have the benefit of hindsight.

Big Al wrote:I drove heavy vehicles for 20 years and ive towed a caravan for years as well and owned a 4x4 and riden a bike and im not sure who to get angry at anymore!

The way I see it there are more than enough retards on the roads nowadays
If you get angry over the way some other ken idiot behaves on the road then there is every chance that you seeing red may make you into one of those same bone heads, at least for a short while.

Take a couple of deep breaths, call him/her a fucktard if you have to and then return your whole focus to what you need to, surviving the journey to see you family one more time

I can sympathize for you,for the last 10yrs I travel from Gladstone to Briz return every 4wks, always travel at night,50/50 drive, ride in all weather conditions. I`ve found 90% trucks are good,BUT..the 10% are *^nts. I had a b-double pass me once doing 150kph..not lying..150, i`ve had one drive straight at me south of Gin Gin,cause he thought I had my high beam on,so I had to emergency brake and go bush,my nerves were shot that night. Anyway, I could go on,but I hear you.

STI-REX wrote:

Kaupy1962 wrote:so I dropped down 2 gears and tore up the middle before peeling left off the freeway.

PS ........... Everything that you use everyday at some stage travels on a truck some where

And if I had it my way a B double would never enter city limits or drive on a highway near the city. The government, if it chose to invest its money well could force all major freight onto rail, at least in places where people live. I understand it has to get from rail depot to somewhere but this could be done a single container at a time, no trailers....

I also think that trucks (heavy vehicles) should never be allowed to leave the left hand lane. FULL STOP, no excuses. ESPECIALLY in urban limits.....

A little patience goes a long way. Keeping heavy vehicles out of urban environments would send the prices of goods and services through the roof. Not all cities have a rail network. People look at a heavy vehicle and automatically assume they'll be unduly delayed. Not always true when you look at total trip times. I see the lane shuffling every day as everyone dives into the right hand lane to avoid being "stuck"behind the dreaded HV. It's often simpler to stay left and then filter in. I do agree tho not much fun being played with in traffic (landcursers and hiluxes tend to do it here also) and sometimes its better to gun it and get the fuck out the way. We have road trains mixing with commuting traffic on a daily basis in Darwin and most learn to live with it. The drivers of majority of RTs here are pretty good. Some are not. A lot of trucks now fit cameras in their cabs as a form of defence to prove that the dickhead in the car did in fact cut in front of them at the last minuite etc. unfortunately the poor old truckie often cops the blame in an accident. Much like a biker ( we're always speeding apparently). I agree with sti-Rex's comments about young truck drivers. We've had two fatalities in the last couple of years involving road trains at an intersection on the Stuart hwy near home. In both cases the young truck drivers ( aged under 25) decided to simply run the red lights (a simple decision to them) and fessed up in court. Both are now in jail. Three separate families (of the deceased) lives are in turmoil. One of the drivers carting cattle was paid on a per trip basis. Plenty of incentive to care less in that kind of pay regime. We all need to use the roads, best to take a deep breath wait for the moment and then be glad of the relative freedom the bike affords. Sorry for the waffle.
I'll get off the soap box now.

You need to be in the situation to know what happened. I ride the bike every day from Wangaratta to Benalla and back to Wangaratta late at night. Every night without fail there are trucks struggling to get up the hill at Glenrowan but still they try to pass each other, blocking both lanes at 80kph until they get onto the hill. It was pouring rain with 2 trucks in front of me in the left lane at 100kph. I put on my right indicator and started to pass. I got level with the trucks tailights and he moved into the right lane. I sat behind him for a short distance and the was about to go back into the left lane when another truck came up beside me and another behind me blowing the horn with two more behind them. How the hell am I supposed to get out of that with Zero visibility. As for passing trucks in the rain, even if you sit 50 metres behind two trucks in heavy rain you can't see shit. Are we just supposed to stop on the side of the road and wait until there are no trucks for the next 40 kilometres? I was being patient I was also expecting to go under a truck at any moment. Not that they would've given a stuff.

Sounds like you have some seriously farked up drivers there. Don't get me wrong. Was not having a go at you and i understand what it feels like to get monstered by larger vehicles. Terrifying. No doubt they were playing games with the benefit of Ch 40 to coordinate between themselves, but maybe pulling up for a short time can increase your life options. I know I've done it when 9 out of the 10 voices in my head suggested it might be time for a breather.

But you're right, wasn't there, and lets face it we have very different traffic density environments in the NT and I don't envy you poor bastards down south, But look on the bright side....AT LEAST YOU HAVE CORNERS!!
Bill.

Arh yes, the glenrowan hill.
My guess is northbound
Been caught a few times in similar situations going both ways but IMO northbound is worse

My sister used to live opposite the Footy ground there and trucks regularly push each other up the hill NASCAR style. That's probably what the horn business was about.
Sister now lives on the other side of the tracks (literally)

NTBill wrote:Keeping heavy vehicles out of urban environments would send the prices of goods and services through the roof. Not all cities have a rail network.

Not true if sufficient investment is made in a rail network, that could also transport large numbers of people at very high speeds..... We just haven't had a government with the balls to make a difficult decision to spend the money

Many countries overseas manage to do it.... I know we are slightly different due to the large distances involved but that infact suggests that rail makes even more sense, not trucks... And when i say trucks, I'm not talking about proper road trains, I mainly referring to the B doubles and similar sized trucks within urban limits....

some trucks have faulty or no diesel fuel caps, every time the go around a bend they spill fuel ... murdering so & so's

chips wrote:

NTBill wrote:Keeping heavy vehicles out of urban environments would send the prices of goods and services through the roof. Not all cities have a rail network.

Not true if sufficient investment is made in a rail network, that could also transport large numbers of people at very high speeds..... We just haven't had a government with the balls to make a difficult decision to spend the money

Many countries overseas manage to do it.... I know we are slightly different due to the large distances involved but that infact suggests that rail makes even more sense, not trucks... And when i say trucks, I'm not talking about proper road trains, I mainly referring to the B doubles and similar sized trucks within urban limits....

How many years ago did the QLD Rail and Govt' start the " Tilt Train " line up to Cairns ? It's still NOT finished ! Townsville to Cairns takes 6 hours. You can do it comfortably in a car in 4 1/2. The rail system is a joke.

Baz wrote:some trucks have faulty or no diesel fuel caps, every time the go around a bend they spill fuel ... murdering so & so's

Never mind that. Did you see all the pretty rainbow puddles on the road on the South Coast?


Funny how your sphincter reacts when you ride across one on a bend.

While all truckies can`t be tarred with the same brush & there are those who are devoted to providing a good service to everyone , there does seem to be an elephant in the room as well .
In the past some long distance drivers have found a friend in " no-doze " to help keep on schedule . Times change & so does the preferred method of keeping awake . Drugs like Ice are very effective, but also have the unwanted effect of causing severe aggro in some people when coming down after long periods of sleeplessness as well as have an immediate effect on the mind. What happened to Kaupy may have only been a bunch of cowboys creating a situation which can only be described as school yard bullying , but we can`t also be certain if the situation wasn`t caused by some perceived act on Kaupys part by some of the other players & if in fact they were in total control of their own actions .I personally wouldn`t want to stick around & find out . Sometimes our trust in other road users & how we presume they will behave can get us into a situation such as this & the only action we can take is to get the f%*k outa there . It`s a pity the name of the trucking companies aren`t fresh in your mind Kaupy to direct your concerns to the appropriate people.

I have to say though I did meet (pass) some good truckies on our recent trip.

Hammy wrote:

chips wrote:

NTBill wrote:Keeping heavy vehicles out of urban environments would send the prices of goods and services through the roof. Not all cities have a rail network.

Not true if sufficient investment is made in a rail network, that could also transport large numbers of people at very high speeds..... We just haven't had a government with the balls to make a difficult decision to spend the money

Many countries overseas manage to do it.... I know we are slightly different due to the large distances involved but that infact suggests that rail makes even more sense, not trucks... And when i say trucks, I'm not talking about proper road trains, I mainly referring to the B doubles and similar sized trucks within urban limits....

How many years ago did the QLD Rail and Govt' start the " Tilt Train " line up to Cairns ? It's still NOT finished ! Townsville to Cairns takes 6 hours. You can do it comfortably in a car in 4 1/2. The rail system is a joke.

You have kinda proved my point, lack of commitment and investment and choosing the wrong technology.

You only have to look at some of the rail systems overseas to see what the future of rail holds for us. And until we have sorted the hydrogen fuel cell out, perfected a commercial way to produce hydrogen and then built a plane using the technology we are going to get to a point (in my lifetime) where air travel with fossil fuel is too expensive.

Electro magnetic rail systems using nuclear power to generate the electricity makes much better sense for our future.

Our problem in Australia is we are scared of nuclear energy (I don't know why) and everytime our government goes to build something big and useful (albeit expensive) we all start to bitch about the cost rather than think about the big picture. The NBN is a great example of this....

I dunno Chips...., whereabouts overseas are you talking? when we were in England, France, Italy and Croatia last year i was amazed at the amount of trucks on the roads there. Single trailer artics everywhere. They have fantastic roads infrastructure with tunnels 10 kms long carving through mountains. Main roads are mostly toll roads but the 6 or 7 Euro they cost pays dividends in time saved. The traffic densities are insane and the rail was comparatively slow apart from the major lines like Eurostar crossing the channel etc (carries the road freight through the tunnel). The plus for riders is that lane splitting and filtering are legal and well tolerated by drivers. There are LOTS of bikes and I saw bugger all road rage. Agree that in theory, rail is a good thing. In practice it's a budget-killer for guvmints to build. The Adelaide to Darwin rail cut our road train traffic by nearly half when it first opened. Then as rail freight prices skyrocketed to recoup the stupidly high build costs, road transport became competitive again and so the numbers of road trains climbed again. Then we have our regular rail bridge washouts each wet season etc etc (I think Howard built us the Heinz variety rail). rail helps, but it's not the silver bullet. trucks are here to stay and like it or not, we need to get used to it.
Bill.

NTBill wrote:I dunno Chips...., whereabouts overseas are you talking? when we were in England, France, Italy and Croatia last year i was amazed at the amount of trucks on the roads there. Single trailer artics everywhere. They have fantastic roads infrastructure with tunnels 10 kms long carving through mountains. Main roads are mostly toll roads but the 6 or 7 Euro they cost pays dividends in time saved. The traffic densities are insane and the rail was comparatively slow apart from the major lines like Eurostar crossing the channel etc (carries the road freight through the tunnel). The plus for riders is that lane splitting and filtering are legal and well tolerated by drivers. There are LOTS of bikes and I saw bugger all road rage. Agree that in theory, rail is a good thing. In practice it's a budget-killer for guvmints to build. The Adelaide to Darwin rail cut our road train traffic by nearly half when it first opened. Then as rail freight prices skyrocketed to recoup the stupidly high build costs, road transport became competitive again and so the numbers of road trains climbed again. Then we have our regular rail bridge washouts each wet season etc etc (I think Howard built us the Heinz variety rail). rail helps, but it's not the silver bullet. trucks are here to stay and like it or not, we need to get used to it.
Bill.

I was thinking more of asia. India comes to mind.... Japan another....

And actually, I don't think trucks are here to stay, totally the opposite actually. We are seeing huge changes in car usage, huge increase in small 2 wheel vehicles (scooters in particular) and I really do think we will start to see trucks reduce in numbers over time....

chips wrote:
I was thinking more of asia. India comes to mind.... Japan another....

And actually, I don't think trucks are here to stay, totally the opposite actually. We are seeing huge changes in car usage, huge increase in small 2 wheel vehicles (scooters in particular) and I really do think we will start to see trucks reduce in numbers over time....

Shit then we'll all have to cary our BBQ's home on the bike......................