[sgiitk]

@Mr Bean; this is Mayawati's Ulta Pradesh. On a more serious note at the moment there is a crackdown (at last) on overloading, so it was least a fig leaf. Till recently UP was issuing Gold Passes allowing overloading.

[condor]

In silent appreciation to the highway truck driver, who's truck is his home, and the road his home-town. Taking his time to do up his truck, each as unique as the drivers themselves.



Drive safe, my friend !

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by condor

In silent appreciation to the highway truck driver, who's truck is his home, and the road his home-town.

The following song very movingly conveys this exact sentiment! It's one of my all time favourites. Enjoy!

Raah pe rahte hain-Namkeen - YouTube

Cheers,
Vikram

[vinair]

Most of them are paid for the safe delivery of the consignment and not for the number of trips unlike cabbies or other goods carriers. However, there are some who just let themselves loose the minute they enter city limits!! they start to terrorize petty motorists! otherwise, yes, they are pretty well behaved on the highways!

[sgiitk]

The most dangerous beasts in the UK are the bus drivers - I am big, I am Red and weight nine tons. Want to argue with me!!!

[condor]

On Mysore Road yesterday afternoon. The usual steady driving, in the right lane.



"Maut aur Khudha ko Hamesha Yaad Rakho".

[Judemayne]

I couldn't agree more_truckers are the best behaved on the roads-there the exceptions-I found trucks of both GJ and RJ-excellent in road etiquette's-not so with the TN ones-again would put it at 50% road hogs!Driven in most parts of the Country and found the worst are the Bus guys-they will mow you down. Following closely are private cars and taxis, mini cabs and tractors.

[Night_Hawk]

I fully agree that truckers are the best behaved on the roads ( with few exceptions) I have experienced this on highways in AP, TN, KA, MH & Goa.

Mostly i find that local truckers hauling local goods / construction material and etc are not as well behaved in traffic sense and safety as their long distance counterparts. Could this be due to the frustaration of city / town trafic chaos and jams ??

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
Agreed they dont stick to their lane but do they have a choice?not much?
So as not to lose momentum they have to continue to keep driving because of the state of our highways.
More often than not the left lane is for the traffic coming the wrong way the middle is for the very slow moving and that only leaves the right lane.
Their life is hard and the money they get at the end of the trip is a pittance.Economic Times had an article on the expenses for a truck between Bombay and Delhi. If I remember correctly the driver and cleaner get a total of rs 600 per day.(somebody please correct if this figure is wrong).
Most of the trucks have no power steering/synchromesh gear. Is it any wonder they stick to the right lane?
I saw quite a number of heavily loaded trucks going up the Zojila and after every 2/3 kms they had to stop.The cleaner would run to the rear and keep a large stone.The reason :the engine heated up and needed water.
The heat the dust the engine noise and the diesel fumes add all that.
Yes it does make me mad at times when I am not able to overtake but now have learnt to live with it.
Regards

[antz.bin]

Has anyone here ever experienced MP truckers? They are a disgrace to the entire truck drivers' fraternity in India. A giant step ahead in the game ahead of even the Kerala Bus drivers. In fact when I experienced MP truckers firsthand, I called the Kerala Bus drivers monks in comparison!

Pushing oncoming traffic off the road is the order of the day. I have been through MP on the bike only once, but since I covered it entirely crossing into MP from NH3(Bombay Agra hvy) in MH at 2 AM and finally leaving off Shivpuri-Jhansi road at 7 PM on the same calendar date, I would say that I learnt quite a bit about the MP truckers in those 17 hours on the road.

The fact that I was forced off the road a total of 20 times (yup, I kept count) in a stretch of 400km of 2-lane highways by oncoming trucks did help me form a indelible opinion about MP truckers. This was apart from the fact that the trucker highway signaling code which I have experienced in 9 other states that I have ridden in was totally absent in MP registered trucks. The RJ / UP / MH registered trucks in MP were still very well behaved as usual. But when it comes to MP registered trucks, it still sends a shiver down my spine if I happen to spot one even on MH roads over a year after my aforementioned ride.

[sgiitk]

@antz.bin; If you have seen the truckers on NH2 Delhi-Kanpur then you will have no sympathy for these madmen. @Night_Hawk how do you find whether the chap is local or long distance.

[condor]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

The RJ / UP / MH registered trucks in MP were still very well behaved as usual. But when it comes to MP registered trucks, it still sends a shiver down my spine ...

Home territory factor ? And a familiarity with local roads ?

Apart from the KL busses, the private-bus drivers on NH-17 around Mangalore are supposed to be of similar lot.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@antz.bin; If you have seen the truckers on NH2 Delhi-Kanpur then you will have no sympathy for these madmen. @Night_Hawk how do you find whether the chap is local or long distance.

Actually not Delhi-Kanpur, but I did experience NH25 Jhansi - Orai - Kanpur - Lucknow - Faizabad the very next day (After the MP ride) and everyone was well behaved.

@Condor believe me my friend, those guys driving buses on NH17 all the way till kasargod/Thalassery (thats when I took NH17 exit) and even interior karnataka like Sagara - Chikmaglur - Shimoga, the worst they do is not give way when you want to overtake and corner like motorcycles. Don't tell it to them but these people are total saints in comparison to MP truckies.

You will agree with me all the more when the only way to avoid a 100kmph head-on collision with a truck is to leave the road altogether (which might have boulders kept strategically). It is an entirely different ball game that time, especially if you are still on the road after dark and in the vicinity of Paan Singh Tomar's areas (which is like 3 full districts).

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

...how do you find whether the chap is local or long distance.

Not too difficult. Condition of truck (sweet engine noise and negligible smoke), decorations & stickers, how the goods are loaded and packed, registered in which state, condition of tyres, whether lights work or not (esp. tail-lights), bucket hanging next to diesel tank, good luck charms hanging from ORVMs - these are some of the pointers that I look for (albeit sub-consciously) to identify whether a truck is local or long-distance.

Tried to consciously quantify how I identify trucks on the road, after reading your post! Out on the highway such identification is on auto-pilot!

[.sushilkumar]

A Nice article in economic times on highway trucker , How they have helped in " Punjabi Dhaba;s " across the national highways

Punjabi by choice: How trucks are changing our taste - The Economic Times