I will say it until either the law changes of the day the breath leaves my body: getting a driver’s license should not be as easy as going to a building, taking an awkward photo, and driving around the block with a surly government worker who will pass you so long as you don’t commit a major felony or start performing rude acts upon yourself during the test. Every day, we all can find an example of a driver who probably should stick with a slow walk up the lane and delivery services for everything else. It’s bad enough in typical road-going cars, trucks and the like. But what about tractor-trailer drivers? Are they exempt?
Hell no they are not. Just the process of getting a CDL takes time, money and effort. Getting certifications takes more time. Getting to the point where you’re ready to be hired on and cut loose in an 18-wheeler requires investment, studying, and practice. Do trucks get into accidents? You’d better believe it. Do truckers get the lion’s share of blame in those accidents? Better believe that, too. Go on YouTube and check out dashcam footage of some of the incidents that truckers get to see, perched up high in their cabs. Now imagine that the first thing that will happen once the police show up to make the report is blame you for either not seeing the tiny little Spark that is now wedged between your duals on the drive axle, or for going so fast that your 80,000 pound rig couldn’t slam to a stop in under 200 feet.
Ah, but enter the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety! They have a plan: Automatic Emergency Braking. This is the driver’s nanny that detects objects in your path, and if you don’t hit the brakes when the system thinks you should, it’ll stop your rig for you. Truckers, I want to hear your opinions on this. I haven’t driven anything bigger than a Class 7 (translating out of military trucks…) and I certainly have never hauled the weight. How would you tolerate a system like this?
Oh, and enjoy the fear piece. It’s the IIHS…couldn’t you have used a real Ford Fiesta to illustrate the dangers?
As a CDL holder who mostly hauls Haz/Mat I would like to see harder tests for car drivers and stricter enforcement of stupidity before accidents on the road. At a 4/way stop yesterday a pick/up blew through in front of me (est. 60mph+), I had a couple pallets of Acetone and some Hydrogen Peroxide in back (would of been bad for the whole neighborhood)
There are some exceptionally sorry CDL drivers out there, and go ahead and call me racist, bigot, or prejudiced, but I see most of it from immigrant drivers. I get it, it’s a relatively easy gig to get, super easy to stow and transport illegal contraban. That said, our driver’s testing needs a complete and total revamp. But that’s not going to happen, and I’m not sure it would help, anyway. All the new technology in cars is really more of a distraction than a help, IMO. Radar distance devices, and the infotainment system on the dash is just too freakin’ much crap! Drive the damned vehicle, drive it properly, and stay focused. Yeah, what a quaint idea…Oh, and I’m a Class A CDL holder as well, with XTMP endorsments.
You sai it better then I Gary
I dont drive a big truck but I drive-alot and I see what goes on out there. A trucker today needs another 2 sets of eyes.
Does their computer know how to stop a single compartment tanker ? Slop takes extra skills .
Looks like those little battery powered compacts are made pretty cheap.