[greenhorn]

Amidst all the annoying bikers, cabs, minilorries, and generally unruly bunch of commercial vehicle drivers, Truckers on the highway stand out as an oasis of good behaviour. Yes they sometimes stick to the middle lanes, and tend to be a bit slow, but otherwise their driving is impeccable. I'm curious how this happens , especially given the nature of cabbies, bus drivers and mini lorry drivers

[DrunkenMonk]

Mainly, they are professional drivers. Some may be un-educated and un-sophisticated, but they are on the road most of their lives and they've seen and experienced much.

[rvmohankumar]

My thoughts

* They are not in a hurry
* They are not in a race
* They respect the roads
* They respect their vehicles
* They respect other vehicles
* They value their lifes and others too
* Road is their work are and hence they behave professionally on roads
* They love what they do

[sgiitk]

Let me spoil the party:

They hog the right lane on an express-way, and do not move aside to the left expecting you to overtake from the left (most unsafe, and illegal).

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Let me spoil the party:

They hog the right lane on an express-way, and do not move aside to the left expecting you to overtake from the left (most unsafe, and illegal).

And let me add,icing to the Cake,sir.
Most truckers admit,that they take drugs and all,to help them drive during the night.
See what a truck did to my car
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...e-streets.html

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by DrunkenMonk

Mainly, they are professional drivers. Some may be un-educated and un-sophisticated, but they are on the road most of their lives and they've seen and experienced much.

You said it!! They realize the dangers of messing around on the highway, mainly because of their experience.
Although, there is a very small ratio of trucker idiots who don't care, but the majority of them have good road sense, which even the educated people lack desperately.
Our highways have improved 50 fold since what it was a few years ago, but sadly even the arrogance & ignorance of majority drivers have increased 100 fold in comparison

[condor]

Highway truckers - that's where they live & work. They have seen far more highways than we have, and have settled on such driving practices.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

They hog the right lane on an express-way, and do not move aside to the left expecting you to overtake from the left (most unsafe, and illegal).

They still maintain a steady line & speed. No swerving. And with their loads, it is safe for them and for all others that they drive in a predictable manner, without swerves / turns / change of speeds. And with such steady & predictable driving on their part, it makes overtaking them a rather simple affair. We have much more control over our cars during such manouvers than they doing the same.

Come to think of it- if they had been changing lanes, we car drivers would have been complaining about that like as if all hell broke loose.


OT : we may have to merge this thread to exisiting threads that discuss highway driving.

[Arun1]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Let me spoil the party:

They hog the right lane on an express-way, and do not move aside to the left expecting you to overtake from the left (most unsafe, and illegal).

I found it to be the exact opposite when I drive along Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

[lamborghini]

@Arun1: That is because truckers are not allowed on the right lane on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. However, they do break this rule on the ghats, and it can be a pain with dozens of truckers driving at 20kmph, all over the place!
However, it should be noted that I have faced more of an issue with errant and irresponsible driver's than truckers on the same stretch.

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Amidst all the annoying bikers, cabs, minilorries, and generally unruly bunch of commercial vehicle drivers, Truckers on the highway stand out as an oasis of good behaviour. Yes they sometimes stick to the middle lanes, and tend to be a bit slow, but otherwise their driving is impeccable. I'm curious how this happens , especially given the nature of cabbies, bus drivers and mini lorry drivers

I like truckers, they have long work days in order to get the job done, still they never miss a chance to help each other out whenever it's needed. If they hog rhe right side on a Ghat it's cos they're overtaking a vehicle. You can't expect them to stop or slow down on a slope. They have to keep those big wheels rolling for to start on a slope is a real tough one. You ever notice how they tell you when to overtake and when not to on the curving twisties. Be it the wrong way of signaling with their right turn light or their right hand waving you on to overtake. Truckers are fine drivers and they have big hearts.
10-10 and goodbye

[issigonis]

>>>

I guess lorry drivers on the highways behave better than i. commercial vehicle drivers in the cities and suburbs, ii. taxi drivers, iii. motorcyclists, iv. MPV drivers and v. most of us ( apologies for this), because of their experience of driving on highways good and bad over a lifetime.

I also agree that sgiitk's observations are also true, based on my experience.

In conclusion, I think one feeds into the other and bad driving manners begets a similar response. For instance I have to confess that, in my long distance drives, I start with not overtaking from the left and wait patiently for the slower vehicle ahead of me to give way, all the while watching drivers overtaking casually and merrily from the left. Much later, patience loses out and the only option left is to overtake those lumbering behemoths from the left side. The other problem is, and this happens in our great country, that everyone considers you to be a fool for following the law.

It is wrong, but there it is.

Let me see if I can withstand the temptation of overtaking from the left on my next long distance drive.

Regards, drive safe

[WDM007]

I think the reason for truckers to drive slowly is not the safety of others, but the limitation of their truck, which cannot exceed the speed beyond 50 or 60 !

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by WDM007

I think the reason for truckers to drive slowly is not the safety of others, but the limitation of their truck, which cannot exceed the speed beyond 50 or 60 !

+1. See how they fly when they are unladen.

See them drive at night in convoy and see how helpless cops are if they to wave them down for some green-bucks. (They usually pick a spot which has a speed-breaker and or bad patch of road)

Still stories of lorry driving 'over' a cop isn't unusual.

The long trailer ones are gentle because of the length and weight.

But they are much more mannered compared to any (most) other traffic on road and they usually understand signals and follow them.

[anujmishra]

My points are

1. Most of the trucks are overloaded and there is hardly any acceleration left in engine for driver to try out some maniac driving.
2. They try move slowly under heavy load, if they bump on any pothole and their axle will break.
3. They will not overtake from left as they know if their left wheel came out of road then sure their truck will turn turtle.
4. Most of the highway truck drivers are full time drivers and they know such misadventure in others land will not be good for them and cleaner (Unlike regular bus driver)
5. Last but not least. They can read and understand various signboards written by NHAI "Somebody is waiting for you at home".

[muralisk]

completely agree that, truck drivers on highways are very disciplined (barring few exceptions, and that's true with every profession). i guess driving on highways is their bread and butter and they better take care of their machines and also the goods that they are carrying. we can say that the machine and goods are insured, but one incident, they will be out of work and hence, they are careful and follow a disciplined driving. I will say that they obey all the rules, but by and large, they are more disciplined than private vehicle drivers.