WARNING SIGN, TIGHT PLACES

One of the most difficult things new drivers need to remember is the length of their vehicle, which is about 3 times longer, at 65 to 72 feet, than their personal car. And, neither truck nor trailer is made of rubber, so it doesn’t bend. It does take a lot of room to negotiate a turn safely. The average driver doesn’t realize that when a truck is making a right turn, the wheels that must be close to the corner aren’t those at the rear of the truck, but the trailer wheels. Both the picture to the left and the one below shows why a car should NOT attempt to pass on the right. An 18-wheeler has a minimum of three signal lights on each side of the vehicle. The one in the middle of the trailer sits at nearly eye level with many cars. Please don’t ignore it if it’s flashing.

Trying to save a few minutes, as they try to squeeze by on the right can get a four-wheeler in serious, if not fatal trouble. It’s simply a bad choice, for the clear-cut fact that this is a blind spot, and the trucker cannot see your vehicle, even if you’ were driving a vehicle as large as a Hummer. A lot of trailers have this sign on the rear, in some form. Showing the result of what happens to foolish drivers who ignore the sign.

Here’s a couple of pictures of some extremely difficult places I’ve been in my travels. They sort of pop up when you least expect it. And rarely are you given the option to go around or chose another route. Sometimes, heck most time of the time it was because I wasn’t familiar with the area. Or someone from the office staff assured me that none of their deliveries had any problem with backing in, yeah right—famous last words. Of course, none of these people could drive your truck, but. . . .oh well. I surely breathed a sigh of relief, when I pulled out of here without any damage to the trailer.

And in the situation below, I did not pay attention (my bad) when I was going the other way. I must have thought the crew would be done later in the day, duh, it took them months to finish this job. There probably was a full foot clearance between my truck and the cement “K” rails on each side, maybe even eighteen inches, but sure didn’t look like it from the driver’s seat. What helped me in these situations, was to not concentrate on either side but ahead at an endpoint. Elsewise I found myself drifting into a “K” rail which wouldn’t be good. Ah, the life of a trucker.