Thread: Its about time they took action on the cowboy trucking companies.

Its good they are cracking down on rogues but really I think the speed limiters are a stupid idea, On a freeway a truck hitting you doing 100 or 110 isnt going to make much difference at all.

Yes trucks speed, I drive Coffs to the central coast at least once a month and i sit at about 120 and am regularly passed by trucks especially at night but as long as they are doing it safely it doesnt bother me.

All i worry about is the drugs and lack of sleep, and that is a reflection on the business owners that put people in a position where they feel they have no choice if they want to keep their jobs. A good mate of mine owned a truck stop for a few years and I would regularly go and help him out if people called in sick or he was there alone at night and wanted some company and I did meet some absolutely awesome hard working folk but I also met some people I wouldnt let drive a go kart in the state they were in let alone a heavy vehicle, some were so drug ****ed they could barely put together a coherent sentance.

Crack down on the criminal actions of the Business owners, the drug users to make the roads safer not the fellas doing a few ks over the limit on a nice open road.

The problem is that speed is relatively easy to enforce and a great scapegoat for lazy governments. Remember 'every k over is a killer!' (or is it 'every k over is a dollar'?)

Trying to read all the post be fore I commented, but I'm not getting near the end.
So hear go's.
I drive speed limited B doubles, Our Volvo's may show 101km/h but mostly are only doing 98-99km/h from the GPS. We are also track by GPS, which records our speed, number of times the brakes are used, length of time stopped with motor running and motor off.
I also own a VW polo and its speedo is 5km/h slow.(100km/h is really 95km/h)
Lots of New cars are like this.
Comes school holidays with double demerit points and a lot of drivers will drive at 5km/h under the limit. But I still have the same times to keep.
A few km/h slower behind someone can be very frustrating, you try to pass and they speed up. You pull back in, they slow down.
Sitting on their bumper does get there attention.
Lennards trucks are know to all to be dangerous and most other Tuckie's get out of there way. I sujest you do the same.
My rule for survival is if someone is trying to pass let them and make it easy.

Originally Posted by roverfan

Its good they are cracking down on rogues but ...

...Crack down on the criminal actions of the Business owners, the drug users to make the roads safer not the fellas doing a few ks over the limit on a nice open road.

I would love to agree with you, but the speed freak drivers are frequently the ones doing over the limit and without some system to at least inhibit their actions, like a speed limiter* there is little hope of catching the cowboys and exiting them from the industry.

Re: the car drivers, for a period and occasionally during holidays from hospital work I would drive for the family company, and of course I would always be given the worn out spare truck to do the runs, usually from Nowra to Narooma and back in a day. Almost without fail coming out of Milton heading North I would come up behind a car who would ride the brakes down the hill, then sit at 5 - 10K below the limit and then with the long run up to Yatte Yattah they would put the boot in. Exactly the wrong technique for a truck and I would be two gears lower for the hill. Drivers like this could add half an hour to the return journey. It's a case of if a truck comes up behind you, then its generally going faster than you, let it go and you'll not see it again.

Diana

* Maybe it's a speed limiter to stop the driver taking the drugs thats needed.

Most of the trucks are pretty good and very predictable.

Most truckies show curtesy even when speeding. And yes I know certain trucks to avoid on the same day and times each week.