Pet Peeves Thread

Give yourself a few uppercuts cuttlefish

Where do i condone tailgating & intimidation???? attitude to imply??

Mate i am a professional b/double driver,never had an accident,always kept it shiny side up,your implication is way off,your not even close.if you go back & read all my posts carefully you will see ive admitted there are a few numnut truck drivers,but what im trying to say here is to set the car drivers right by giving them some good info/tips,see what i say on speeding/speed limiters.

See julia wanted to know why if we are limited to 100kmh why some do 105kmh...explained,on the flat a speed limited truck cannot do much more than 100,but a double will do around 105kmh as the extra 20t just keeps pushing you along...

Dont forget this stat:80% of accidents involving a truck & car is the cars fault,i am a profesional driver,i do it for a living,from sydney to brisbane & melbourne & way out to dubbo,i know the speed limit,type of road conditions,red light cameras,speed cameras,all the speed limits from brisbane to adelaide,do you know what type of driving skill is required to drive a 62.5t monster from sydney-brisbane,you cant be just a driver.

CF you would be blown away by some of the things car drivers do,fair dinkum you have to see it to believe it...absolute suicide actions..tb

tigerboi said:

All heavy vehicles are fitted with speed limiters at 100kmh,once the vehicle hits 100kmh,you can pump the accelerator a 100 times & you wont get any power,when it drops back to 100(most cut at 100-105kmh)so say it cuts in at 102mh you then coast until it gets back to 100kmh then you got gas again,by having it set a little over 100kmh it lets you sit on 100kmh without the limiter cutting in,its better on fuel consumption.

We have 23 safety cam sites which photograph our faces & number plates,S.A. also has cameras but not VIC.we have to know the 100's of combinations between those sites,on the rta website at travel time information it has the times between each camera,if we go through the camera too quick,which means you were speeding,the rta sends your boss a letter asking him for the copy of your log book page,which you hand in each week,if your logbook times dont match the camera times you get fines up to $2800 & 1 mark on your licence,3 marks & you lose your licence for 3 months...

Here is the rta camera times,which gives you an idea of the rules we have to follow..

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=safetcamcalc.form

http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/freight/safetcam/calculator.asp

http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/freight/safetcam/safetcam_sites_02.asp

Despite what you might think there is not alot we get away with,but listen to the meedja & we are all on drugs looking to kill car drivers.

Since the 2 big accidents up north in '89 the road authorities have had a microscope all over us.....tb

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tigerboi said:

See the above post re the speed limiters,you will find on the straight part of the road single trailers are right on 100-101 kms,but with a b/double even on a straight stretch the extra 20 tonne pushes you up to 105kmh,thats why a double(62.5t) is quicker than a single(42.5t)

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Bill M said:

A week ago I drove back from Queensland to Sydney on the Pacific Highway. I was doing 110 KPH in the few areas that we were permitted too. On at least 3 occasions I had to pull off the right lane whilst I was overtaking because a semi was tailgating me. They wouldn't have been more than 2 metres off my rear end. They passed me doing at least 112 to 115 KPH. They were pretty much on flat roads. They can have as many cameras as they like but the truckies all know where they are so there is no need for them to adhere to speed limits where there aren't any. As far as I am concerned it is really dangerous driving so much so that I had to break the 110 KPH speed limit just so I could get out of their way. Why the tailgating, it's just so bloody dangerous.

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Tell me where you can do 110kmh on the pacific???

Birdster said:

Okay... another PP about truck drivers (sorry TB).

Exhaust brakes in my residential area, where up the road at the top of the slight incline, a sign asks to "please" limit exhaust braking.

I have to believe that at least one of these things happen here;

1. The driver likes the sound of his/her exhaust brakes.

2. The driver has no regards for road signs with the word "please".

3. There is a club of P platers constantly doing a loop of my hood causing truck drivers to use their exhaust brakes to the extreme limit that you would think the truck is going to stall!

Having said that, I used to drive a 12T metro and would get upset that drivers (in cars) would assume that the space I was leaving in front of my cab to the next car was for them, when in fact it was my safty zone/ speed up area as not to hold up the other drivers behind me.

I think you, TB, can identify with both there.

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Do you live in a city?is the street level or does it run down a hill?is it a single lane road or dual?mate i hear ya,i live 100m from a main road & it comes to a set of lights but the boys still leave the jake brakes on hey i cop it too...

What us interstaters do is turn them off at night but you see some trucks it is hard to find the switch at night,so what i do with the kenworth conventionals(truck with a nose) because all those type of instruments are overhead,i get a pen,take out the guts & stick it over the toggle switch so all i gotta do is just put my hand in that direction & it flicks it on!!

Matey if you live at the bottom of a hill it just cant be helped,ive tried it with out the jakes & in a double its too dangerous to turn them off,take fredlington(fredo) for example,2 kms north of kempsey on the pacific,you got heaps of houses each side & it runs real steep into a tight hair pin & us b/doubles have gotta use all the road to get around,i feel sorry for the residents,but i tried it without the jakebrake & it is too dangerous,but as for the knuckleheads on metro at night,just dumbos.

Yep us overnighters turn them off going through towns if its flat like going through say nambucca heads macksville & all the others like broadwater ballina through the main drag near the motels but once out you put it back on ...yep i hear ya mate i cop it too...tb

tigerboi said:

Tell me where you can do 110kmh on the pacific???

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From the area south of Tweed Heads bypassing Murwillumbah, new section.

Small section between Grafton and Woolgoolga.

The new bypass near Taree, Coopernook area.

From Newcastle to Sydney metro.

There is a couple of other newer sections where it's allowed. I don't know the other exact locations as there are no towns about. Maybe I should have said National Highway 1 instead of Pacific Highway.

Bill M said:

From the area south of Tweed Heads bypassing Murwillumbah, new section.

Small section between Grafton and Woolgoolga.

The new bypass near Taree, Coopernook area.

From Newcastle to Sydney metro.

There is a couple of other newer sections where it's allowed. I don't know the other exact locations as there are no towns about. Maybe I should have said National Highway 1 instead of Pacific Highway.

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newcastle to sydney is the f3 not the pacific, tweed heads murwillumbah?you mean chinderah? any 110kmh for cars is dual carriage so trucks are still 100kmh it would have been a single trailer...was he on your hammer waiting for the 3 laner?,see car drivers get spooked but you gotta be sitting right on their tail if you wanna get passed,then you will have one behind you as well saying hook in so i can get around as well,otherwise you get held up for too long,dont forget the 3 laners are not that long...

Mate if you get a numbskull being an **** all you gotta do is get the company name off the curtain ring the no or ring 12455 get the no.ring it & ask for the linehaul manager just tell listen tell your driver to pull his head in,thats all you do if it happens again...tb

tigerboi said:

Mate if you get a numbskull being an **** all you gotta do is get the company name off the curtain ring the no or ring 12455 get the no.ring it & ask for the linehaul manager just tell listen tell your driver to pull his head in,thats all you do if it happens again...tb

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Thanks, I will do that, take care out there.

Bill M said:

Thanks, I will do that, take care out there.

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mate if you must come down at night,if you can do it on a saturday night or better still run down the new england if you got the time...

With the 3 laners you either gotta hook in like we do or let the boys around...yep we get close but if you wanna get around then when the lane starts you gotta be going hard,see i know tailgating in that instance is a bit hairy,but people forget we sit up higher so what might seem very close is not as close..

Get yourself a portable cb or put one in your car,channel 29 on the pacific,40 on the hume & call up a few of the drivers if you are unsure about what to do,& the guys will say yep your right& you will find out were the blueys are waiting..tb

doctorj said:

I've always thought of this as European queing - it's not your position in the line that matters but your proximity to the front. The Italians have it down to a fine art. A queue is somehow a semi-circle centered around whatever the objective is with people jumping in even the smallest gap to get a few inches closer. Patience and personal space are just foreign concepts.

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Thats exactly what it is DoctorJ. It pays to remind yourself when in Sweden that inspite of all the preconceived notions you have about the Swedes that it is indeed Europe and they are Europeans. It's an elbows society. Indecision is quickly detected and those that know what they want will sieze their moment just like that.

This whole impatients thing manifests in the funniest ways too. Like on the motorway the other week a copper decided to adhere to the speed limit (must have been driving under instruction cos that like NEVER happens). 20-something Swedes and Germans and Danes were banked up behind said copper, each leaving about 5 cms between them and the vehicle in front. I'm in hysterics at the idea that they were safe from being done for speeding but by law they were way too close to the car in front, and if the copper decided to brake suddenly we'd have had one of those massive autobahn-esque pileups that only the Europeans can seem to manage.

Still, the number of times the coppers have passed me while I was doing $1.30-something and they're doing $1.60-plus makes me happy that unlike their Victorian police equivalents they appear to actually have something more important to do.

Have I mentioned how much I HATE speed cameras?

Here in QLD we keep hearing that trucks are speed limited to 100 km. But on the 15 minute drive to town, on the Warrego Highway, on flat ground and with my cruise control set exactly on 100, I frequently have trucks going past me at least 10 km above my speed. I actually sped up to clock one truck that passed me.....he was doing 115 on level ground.
Believe it or don't believe it, but that's what happens.

tigerboi said:

Do you drive your car in or back it in?as a truck driver i always back it in anywhere i go,if you can...best coming out frontways,get into the habit & you will find you are a better driver for it...tb

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No, we have and in and out semi circle, only option. Even my neighbour uses our driveway because it is the quickest way off the road.

tigerboi said:

Mate you dont know what you are talking about


tell me where you see trucks doing 120kmh consistently???you wont see it on the flat,off hills maybe.

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I do not want to have pissing contest with professional truck driver, but don't want to be accused of lying without little protest.

I get always overtaken by almost all trucks and cars, only because I decided to drive touch uner speed limit.

As you and I know that truck does not have to be doing 120 consistently to
get up to 130 or 140
Smart cookies like you, know that if you have a 20 min leak instead of 15 you have 5 minutes spare between the flags, make it 40 min and you can step up bit more.

tigerboi said:

all trucks are speed limited & cannot do 120kmh on the flat anywhere,any truck caught 3 times at the 115kmh suss speed is deregistered...

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Yea right, all trucks are speed limited and I am the only person who imagined seeing truck doing 130 or more

tigerboi said:

Take it from a professional heavy vehicle driver,you are talking out of your ring hole...tb

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I do not spend 24/7 in my - ring hole- whatever it means, but if you know better, I'll leave it at that.

I admire truck drivers, to be able to drive around for 20 or 40 years or even more and be able to put up with all the b..s that regulators, employers, customers not to mention majority of little road user idiots give them.

And as far as I am concerned, they shoud have better deal, but all I can do, is do my little bit of courtesy whenever I can.

Hope I did not upset you too much.

tigerboi said:

Night time on the highway is what i run,overnight express.to all capitals on the eastern seaboard & adelaide,see 1 thing car drivers rarely know is we cant sit behind a car who wants to do 80 in a 100 for 50 kms,most drivers have got 12 hours(i got 14) to get to say brisbane you gotta do 100 when possible & yes if you got a p plater on 90 kms on the 2 lane highways the drivers will give him a hard time to get out of the way,

If he looks behind him he will have 30 trucks climbing over the backs of each other,then what happens at the 3 laner,numbskull will speed up,seen it 100s of times.

So because of numnuts wanting to be smart when the drivers get to the gold coast highway,they have got no driving hours left..

imagine if all the drivers just parked their trucks as is instead of driving into brisbane the last hour illegal?

Thats why you see trucks in a hurry,we carry time sensitive freight(not my words)so that you the shopper gets his milk,papers,lampshade from ikea,take a look around your house & ask yourself,what item has not at some stage been on a truck?

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Tigerboi - the above post is what prompted my previous posts about seeming to justify intimidating driving practises due to the cargo/timeframes. To me it gives the impression you encourage intimidating the P-plater (see italicised/bolded section).

I'm going to observe the speed liimited trucks more - I drove for 6 hours yesterday but not on a truck route. I did sit behind a truck for a while that appeared to be tailgating/speeding but they were doing exactly 100. However they were sitting right on the tail of the car in front through varying terrain, and the car driver clearly didn't feel comfortable doing 100km continously through that terrain. When the car would slow to 90/95 for a bend etc. - often a bend signposted with the obligatory yellow 85km/h sign - the truck would end up right on its tail so the car was probably approaching the bends at speeds that they weren't comfortable with due to the intimidating driving by the truck.

Now I know that a professional driver is aware of the roads and knows what speeds they can safely drive through the areas in differing conditions etc. but the fact is that roads are also there for all users, and recreational drivers do need to use roads to get where they want to go, but do not have a need or obligation to get from A to B in the fastest possible timeframe and are perfectly entitled to drive (within reason) at speeds they are comfortable with. This would include slowing down to speeds a little closer to guidance speeds for curves shown on the yellow signs.

Its a difficult situation the sharing of the two on the same roads. The real issue imo is the fact that there is so much timeframe pressure in the trucking industry but I can't see any way to eliminate it. I'm sure the speed limiting and log books have helped a lot. I remember back in the day (probably over 15 years ago) seeing quite a few trucks doing 140km/h on overnight drives.

Is anyone else becoming increasingly irritated by the constant reference by all members of the Rudd government to "Australian Working Families"?

Whether talking about interest rates, tax or anything else, there is never any reference to single people, retirees, or couples without children.

I'm wondering if they are no longer even hearing themselves properly, so ingrained has become this mantra. I've sent them an email making this point but won't be holding my breath for any change.

It's a Labor thing.

We get "Hard working British families" from Crash Gordon at least twice a day. It drives everyone nuts.

Don't kid yourself, the Libs were using something similar prior to the election, and have been using it since.

PP: People who take generalised criticism personally

Julia said:

Is anyone else becoming increasingly irritated by the constant reference by all members of the Rudd government to "Australian Working Families"?

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Yes Yes Yes! It has always been an issue for me and Labor Party/Governments because they believe the only people on this planet are those involved in manual work, because they sure don't think that white collar people do! And now, instead of 'workers' we now have 'families'. The new catch cry!

Good to see also we have moved off truckies! Getting a bit sick of that peeve, so thanks Julia!

Sprinter79 said:

Don't kid yourself, the Libs were using something similar prior to the election, and have been using it since.

PP: People who take generalised criticism personally

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I don't recall the Libs using any similar catchphrase. Perhaps you can remind us of what it was that they used to the same endless extent?

cuttlefish said:

Tigerboi - the above post is what prompted my previous posts about seeming to justify intimidating driving practises due to the cargo/timeframes. To me it gives the impression you encourage intimidating the P-plater (see italicised/bolded section).

I'm going to observe the speed liimited trucks more - I drove for 6 hours yesterday but not on a truck route. I did sit behind a truck for a while that appeared to be tailgating/speeding but they were doing exactly 100. However they were sitting right on the tail of the car in front through varying terrain, and the car driver clearly didn't feel comfortable doing 100km continously through that terrain. When the car would slow to 90/95 for a bend etc. - often a bend signposted with the obligatory yellow 85km/h sign - the truck would end up right on its tail so the car was probably approaching the bends at speeds that they weren't comfortable with due to the intimidating driving by the truck.

Now I know that a professional driver is aware of the roads and knows what speeds they can safely drive through the areas in differing conditions etc. but the fact is that roads are also there for all users, and recreational drivers do need to use roads to get where they want to go, but do not have a need or obligation to get from A to B in the fastest possible timeframe and are perfectly entitled to drive (within reason) at speeds they are comfortable with. This would include slowing down to speeds a little closer to guidance speeds for curves shown on the yellow signs.

Its a difficult situation the sharing of the two on the same roads. The real issue imo is the fact that there is so much timeframe pressure in the trucking industry but I can't see any way to eliminate it. I'm sure the speed limiting and log books have helped a lot. I remember back in the day (probably over 15 years ago) seeing quite a few trucks doing 140km/h on overnight drives.

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Hi mate you are right about the 140kmh days,it did happen & after the grafton & kemsey bus smashes(only i involved a truck)the industry was forced to change those practices,as a direct result of those accidents we had speed limiters introduced & the 23 safety cam sites(dont let anyone tell you they can get around them,some drivers turn their lights off thinking the camera wont go off!wrong firstly the highway is scanned for a vehicle larger than a utility,when it has a large vehicle sighted,then the now digital camera snaps your no.plate)

This year coming in september we have the introduction of a new logbook/work diary where we are required to record speedo readings(more paperwork)at the same time new work hours of only 12 will come in.

Current work hours under standard driving hours are 12 hours driving plus 2 hours working.
With TFMS(transitional fatigue management scheme) i can drive for 14 hours,then i have 9 hours rest as i have already had 1 hours rest,2 x 30 minutes in the 2 blocks of 5 hours ive driven.

I maintain my 14 hours in a new system called BFM..basic fatigue management,but the guys on the standard 12 hours driving as of september can only work or drive for 12 hours,no more so that is looking to eliminate the guys who have driven all night & because of the work they do(wooloies & coles were found to be the biggest culprits)they will unload say at penrith go to botany then load for back to melbourne(no sleep)most fatigue related are outbound not inbound as most would think.

These new hours will force woolies & coles to have separate areas for guys that have whats called an interstate timeslot,if you run say sydney to melbourne woolies & are late by even 30 mins they will make you wait up to another 24 hours to get unloaded..true,if you get unloaded in a DC distribution centre within 6 hours wow you must be the bosses mate..
the inefficiencies are enormous...

I am a TFMS driver or we just say 14 hour book,i wont do DC as they muck you around too much especially the interstate guys,the inquiry into the driving hours that brought about these changes recommended DC'S provide separate sleeping areas for those guys(dont have)so they can come in drop their trailers(if they are getting a load out of there back) go to bed come back 6-8 hours later ready to go..

Seen a very stupid thing done by a cement truck today,he went up the inside of a semi that had legally taken the 2 lanes to turn left into a highway that only had the 1 lane to swing the prime mover into,very dangerous thing,when i got home i rang his boss & gave him up,i see that from car drivers all the time but dont expect it from trucks...

by the way i didnt italicise those letters...

I just taught my 17 year old daughter to drive,she is on her p's...tb

Julia said:

I don't recall the Libs using any similar catchphrase. Perhaps you can remind us of what it was that they used to the same endless extent?

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We only remember what we choose to remember

Working families is a bit old hat,during the campaign yep big worries for all,now ho hum...what about some words like closure,showcase,upskill,fully sick,any of them give you the worries??tb