[sajjt]

Are you guys giving a clean chit to these truckies? If then how many of these gentlemen will dip their headlights on seeing a vehicle from opposite side? Mostly are armed with 4X100/130W and all are on high beam Is this not to be counted on good driving habits?

Once we did a casual survey on this for an hour and out of 26 trucks 19 were on high beam, among them 18 were with 4 headlights on

The interesting part was even the cars were no exception in this. We got 48 cars out of 66 were on high beam and mostly are self driven cars!

I've many instances on highways where one truck is trying to overtake another one and because of the load they are struggling and making the other vehicles to follow them until they some how manage while the others will start the chorus of horns.

[BulZire]

From my highway experience i observed that the truckers from north especially Chandigarh, Haryana and Delhi strictly follow road rules and their way of driving also doesn't disturb any other on the road. But the south Indian truckers create menace on highway and threaten others by their unbelievable stunts on their 6 and 10 wheels.
I had a discussion with one of my friend who owns few trucks, he clearly told that the truckers in south India are never taught about road rules or discipline on the highway. But the truckers from north are taught about the necessary road ethics without fail before they sit on wheel for a trip.

[ghodlur]

Maybe they are too sozzled to know at what speed and which direction are they going.

I have seen the highway trucker are fairly good drivers but arrogant. They will stick to their lane at snails speed but it is these city truck drivers who are a big menace. They think they are schumacer's relatives. I generally Keep a huge distance from these guys.

[indian21r]

They give you way if they are in the wrong lane. But the same is not the case with Buses, Cars and others. Even if they drive fast they do not cut the lanes.

[Spitfire]

People who have spend considerable hours on our highways will vouch for the OPs views.

I had my Bullet loaded and driven down from Manipal to Panaji for free at 0200 hours by a trucker. For FREE!!!

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

...I generally Keep a huge distance from these guys...

You can keep huge distance with those guys (City Truck Drivers) but they will not. They will try to squeeze you through for overtaking and yes they do not bother, if in due course scrap your car sideways.

[condor]

Originally Posted by sajjt

.. how many .. will dip their headlights on seeing a vehicle from opposite side? Mostly are armed with 4X100/130W and all are on high beam

out of 26 trucks 19 were on high beam,
48 cars out of 66 were on high beam

So, as per your own figures, the ratio is same for both car drivers & truckers. In the city, how many bikers & Tata Ace drivers use the low beam ? The problem you have mentioned is an universal one, and not restricted to truckers.

City buses are running on 4x lights. Even Volvo's - which already have good headlights.

And if I were to drive regularly on highways at night, the first mod I would do is get myself a pair of goood aux lights. Which will be far more effective than the high-power ones you have mentioned about.

About the overtaking problem, even busses do it. So again, it is not restricted to truckers.

Let's appreciate them where it is due. No one is perfect. Even we do some brash driving now & then.

[ajman28]

I am seriously falling in love with TBHP forums! Crazy thoughts come into my mind and when I look around, I find that I am not all alone with similar ideas

The situation of the highway truckers too have crossed my mind each time I am on the highway. The truckers on the highway are very gentle when compared to their peers. My thoughts on this would be:

1. They are very experienced
2. They know exactly how difficult their life would be if an axle is broken, topple because of adverse manoeuvre etc
3. They know very well whose side will be taken by the public/police when they are involved in an accident with a smaller vehicle
4. They have many miles to drive and rash driving wears one out very quickly
5. They realise the loads they carry could be very valuable and the legal issues incase of an accident is quite complicated

As for the issue raised by many regarding the truckers sticking to the right lane at a slow speed, I have a different thought on this.

1. The left lane is the one with maximum small vehicle acitivity such as two wheelers and rickshaws. These vehicles usually just barge in from a side road onto the highway. The truckers cannot stop their vehicle very quickly. They need more reaction time because of the load. So when they stick to the right, they can avoid these small vehicles better.

2. Very often you find buses stopping on the left lane (even if the bus stop is an additional 10 feet away). This happens quite frequently in the south. So again by sticking to the right, the truckers avoid these unnecessary stoppage.

Now, assume truckers are sticking to the left lane and each time 1 or 2 happens, they will jump to the right lane (and may do it quite rapidly depending on the situation). Wont that be a greater problem for other drivers? I feel it is better they stick to one lane (even though it is against the rule/logic) than jumping around the lanes like cars and other quicker vehicles.

I agree that not all the truckers are "gentlemanly" on the highway, but then neither are we. So let us give the "trucking gentlemen" the due credit which they deserve.

[bhp_maniac]

I agree with the fact that normally all those North Indian drivers are humbler on highways and they follow rules normally. Coming down to south, the story is different. If unladen, they will be flying around like some beaten beast. Regarding them not dipping their headlights, I've an incident to tell you. One weekend me and some friends were on a trip with a friend of mine. He was driving his scorpio and his brother who was sitting in the co-driver seat was equipped with a "Britelite". Whenever a truck guy comes with high beam, his brother will lit the britelite right into the driver's eyes Within no time, they dip their lights. It was funny for me initially but was happy that it worked all the time we were on the highway.

[Cesc]

Gentleman truckers are pretty rare. Most of the truckers out there are far from gentlemanly. Sometimes they hog all lanes of a highway (when an overloaded truck driving at 42 kmph tries to overtake one driving at 40 kmph) and won't give way no matter how much you honk or blink your lights.

About unladen trucks the less said the better. Those guys drive as if they suddenly have a bike under them and not a truck. Try venturing out on the Delhi Jaipur highway at night to see all that in action. They drive equally horrible on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. And from my driving experience in and around Bangalore I would say that truckers all around India are the same.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by bhp_maniac

I Whenever a truck guy comes with high beam, his brother will lit the britelite right into the driver's eyes Within no time, they dip their lights. It was funny for me initially but was happy that it worked all the time we were on the highway.

Was this on a highway with dividers? This could have been dangerous (to him, to you and most importantly other drivers) if the driver is blinded and comes over to your side. Even if there are dividers it is dangerous and not a good practice to follow.

[prince_pervez]

From what I have seen on NH4 truckers jam the fast lanes and act rash, but, but, in the nights, they behave as perfect gentlemen on the highways. Giving way, responding to dippers, waiting for their turn to overtake. I guess they are stress free in the night or something like that.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Cesc

Gentleman truckers are pretty rare. Most of the truckers out there are far from gentlemanly. Sometimes they hog all lanes of a highway (when an overloaded truck driving at 42 kmph tries to overtake one driving at 40 kmph) and won't give way no matter how much you honk or blink your lights.

They can't do much anyways at that point of time. Nor can they slow down (as the whole process planning will go haywire) and nor can they accelerate like Cars (or even B7R's)

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Was this on a highway with dividers? This could have been dangerous (to him, to you and most importantly other drivers) if the driver is blinded and comes over to your side. Even if there are dividers it is dangerous and not a good practice to follow.

Remember Sahib Singh Verma's death? (the BJP leader from Delhi).
The Truck cut across the divider and hit his Safari.

Originally Posted by ajman28

1. The left lane is the one with maximum small vehicle acitivity such as two wheelers and rickshaws. These vehicles usually just barge in from a side road onto the highway. The truckers cannot stop their vehicle very quickly. They need more reaction time because of the load. So when they stick to the right, they can avoid these small vehicles better.

I had a very scary experience on the East-West corridor. While doing good speeds a Tata Magic cropped from nowhere from the median at my face. Somehow swerved and survived. Would have killed him had I caught him.

Swear from that day, I take the middle line (don't drive over them, but keep margin at both ends) and watch my mirrors.

[aargee]

Adding my 2 cents...

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Truckers on the highway stand out as an oasis of good behaviour.

Yes, I strongly agree to it

Originally Posted by sgiitk

They hog the right lane on an express-way

Yes they do it on most other highways too; but they don't dance, don't wobble here & there, atleast their movements are predictable.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

See what a truck did to my car

Yes, Akshay, but wasn't that within the city & when there're no load?

IMO, the truckers stand out because...
- They've a huge load on the back due to which they cannot exceed 40-50 Kmph
- Since they're doing their job, one of their job is also to reach the good safely to their destination, otherwise - no salary . Same with cabbies, but the point is that cabbies have deadlines in hours, while truckers in days.

[libranof1987]

I agree that most truck drivers are quite civilized and responsible on the highway.

As mentioned by some, this could be because -

1) the highways are where they spend a majority of their lives
2) limitations of their truck (length, weight and engine capacity)
3) accountability : I think this is one important factor. These drivers all drive trucks belonging to someone and they don't come as cheap as cabs. They are accountable for the truck as well as the goods they are transporting.
4) experience : "been there, done that" when you have been on the road for long and seen gruesome accidents, you tend to try going by the rule book.
5) luckily for me, whenever there is an oncoming truck on high beam, if I flash him, most trucks have ultimately shifted to low beam (unlike other vehicles)

However, there are bound to be black sheep. When empty, they are no better and race around; they don't stick to lane driving etc.

Before we start listing how bad they are; here's a couple of things :

1) (this is something a truck driver once told me) He said most Indian highways (2 lane ones esp) are sloping at either ends. Due to this, truck drivers don't get complete control during steering and also due to the amount of weight they transport, it causes uneven wear and tear of tyres.

2) about Mumbai-Pune Expressway : I have travelled on this highway n no. of times and at night it is annoying how all truck drivers gang up and occupy almost all the lanes. But, I have observed they do so mostly at the steep inclines during climbing. Given the engines trucks have, they need more room to negotiate the turn and hence end up occupying the entire highway.

Everyone has their own negative points but I feel among commercial drivers, truck drivers are one of the better breed.