Heading down the highway the other day and saw a classic example of good road manners, I  was following a van and he flashed his right indicator for me to overtake , as soon as I pulled out he lifted his foot, (you could see his speed reduction) and then saw his h/lights flash in the offside mirror for me to pull in again, I off course thanked him by flashing ,left ,right, left and we continued on our way,
Why dont one of you truckers write this down and all the other ways we can be courtous on the road for all the newbies who come out of the city and dont know these unwritten laws of the long highways
It took me a long time  to learn em all (since the 60s) might be a good idea,
What do you think??
on another track, has the law changed as to how many trailers on a train,-----
used to see up to 5 on the mine shifts, but on the last trip to the "Alice"saw only 3 being pulled
is a special licence or a cost, required for more than 3, ???

We always used to do the same until we had a truckie tell us not to alter our speed as he would be prepared to overtake at the speed we were doing and to deccelerate could cause problems.

mike and Judy wrote:

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Heading down the highway the other day and saw a classic example of good road manners, I  was following a van and he flashed his right indicator for me to overtake , as soon as I pulled out he lifted his foot, (you could see his speed reduction) and then saw his h/lights flash in the offside mirror for me to pull in again, I off course thanked him by flashing ,left ,right, left and we continued on our way,

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Mike and Judy,   This has been the "road manners" for all truckies, as far as I am aware anyway, for the last 36 years that I have been driving semis.  Now that I am a GN I still continue to observe these indications.  Of course there is always the exception to the rule both with truckies and vannies or just those driving their cars.
I always appreciated the vannies decreasing their speed as I overtook in the truck, makes things a whole lot easier and what most non-truckies seem to forget is that it takes a truck 5 times longer than a car to come to a stop and 3 times as long as a car to overtake and come back on course.
Ma

 

yep I agree it's a good thing and i do it all the time so as to allow motorists of a higher speed to have their accident away from me, if I cant let them go safely I will pull off and let them through, and yes I will decrease my speed if a road warrior comes barreling along and must get past at that particular spot, but this could cause dangerous confusion if he sees something that you cant and he decelerates to try to get back in, probably better to hold your current speed and course, but as with all driving it is a second by second rethink and adjustment however please be aware also that there is a game a foot with some interstate tarmac jockeys of the single trailer brigade that will signal you out into oncoming traffic, some think it is a hell of a joke, but like mum used to say "keep it up and it will end in tears" we struck this mainly down the southeast of vic and south australia, use all the normal senses as well as the common one when signalled by another driver that "all is well" it may not be

dave06 wrote:

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however please be aware also that there is a game a foot with some interstate tarmac jockeys of the single trailer brigade that will signal you out into oncoming traffic, some think it is a hell of a joke, but like mum used to say "keep it up and it will end in tears"

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The blokes that do this are just "Cowboys" and give the decent truckies a bad name. Like you say Dave, an ounce of common sense goes a long way

 

Fortunately it has been my experience these cowboys are a "dying" breed, literally. I think they are bringing themselves unstuck. I just hope it's not at the expense of other motorists. The good manners you have mentioned have also been my motoring practice since my dad taught me to drive way back in the mid 60's. He was a truck driver carting bulk cement all over SA and interstate from the Angaston cement works. Road train drivers are rated I believe and are licensed to operate a specific number of trailers. The trailers are registered individually, and of course, if they're owner/drivers, keeping those wheels turning must be an overwhelming expense these days. Each state has its own laws about road trains, and where they can go. B Doubles can go closer to towns and cities, but duels and triples etc have limits to where they can go. I believe they get licensed to an overall length, and if they carry 5 trailers in that overall length, they are ok. It will depend on what they are carting. Some mines use smaller side tippers but the size of the trailer is determined by its weight. It's all a bit tricky, and for we lay travellers we just have to keep on our toes, give them as much respect as we can, and make allowances for their stopping and winding out time. Then all we have to do is hope they don't have an open stubbie between their legs as they operate the laden machine around the traffic. It's all a bit tricky. Cheers Chris

yes we too use the same tactics on the road if a truck is coming up in the distance and we have a chance to pull over without any danger we always allow them to pass as after all we are on holiday they are working still. By the same token we did this for one truckie in W.A. and for our consideration we got a couple of empty bottles thrown at us, so there are still some cowboys out there. Helena.

He'd probably drunk the contents first, while he was driving, which probably influenced his behaviour and reaction to your good road manners. Those cowboys should never be allowed to drive anything bigger and more powerfull than a 1.6litre buzz box. They're too irresponsible to drive anything bigger. On second thought, they should never operate anything more than a gopher, and be breathalised every time they leave home. Bastards!

As you know Dave I am an old man who has been confused over my right and my left for years, but thank you all the same , hope the trip is a beauty, , are you staying for the wildflowers, ??just SW of you there is a hell of a lot, ,When you see the little red spots on the side of the road, ,pull well over to the LEFT and check out the Sturt desert pea,

the only message from the vehicle in front is the "common knowledge" two flashes on the right blinker to pass, a quick check to see all is clear and I'm gone, but on my way back from echuca the little tricksters were pulling pranks on unca Dave they would signal me out when there was a clear and obvious danger ahead, a quick check showed oncoming vehicular transport of varying shapes and sizes, the little devils were up to mischief apparently a common occurance in the south east particularly amongst the stock transport but one to watch out for we are surrounded by wildflowers here Mike, we are at the foot of the mighty flinders ranges, 100k up the highway and we are in never never land, sturts desert pea, paper daisys and a hell of a lot that I cant remember (I'm botanically challenged) as for not knowing our right from our left, I used to remember it as "I write with my right" until I met a man who wrote with his left now I'm really confused

I once met someone who was ambidexterous. Now that should keep you thinking for a while. Cheers Chris

 You're memory is fine Mike, and when I reach your age, I would love to be able to swing, like you do, two 20 Ltr cans full of sand as if they were filled with bran too.
 
At the mo' we are camped up at Roebourne, 40 k's North of Karatha waiting for the season to change and also do a little roof painting.  We've got this 'Thermo-Shield' stuff that supposed to keep the heat and cold off the roof, it needs to be done in a dry breezy ambience, which is what this old famous little place is providing at the moment.

From the folk we have spoken to, that have come up here from Perth in the past week, it seems that the best time to head South of that city is September. Apparently that's when all the wonderful floral magic comes to life. We are very much looking forward to it.

Will keep a good look out for those little tricksters that Dave06 six mentioned too.

I know what that means Chris, My mum told me that at the age of about 9 i think can type with two index fingers as well

Oh, Palebushman you've caused my memories to come flooding back to Aug '07. I parked at Roebourne for a week and just had to go to Point Samson to check out the fish and chips at Moby Dicks, and I wasn't disappointed. It's a nice piece of the Pilbara with a heap of history. There are 2 van parks there now. The original park on the foreshore next to that fish and chip shop, and the new one up on the high side of township. It wasn't quite complete in 07 but they were very busy with the season's rush. As I headed south I followed the wildflower carpet from Onslow. Everywhere I went all the way down to the south coast had a flush of colour from the pink and yellow ground covering plants to the grevilleas, bottle brushes or callistemons, Sturt desert pea and a wide range of plants in between, of a huge range of colours. Oh so beautiful! The 2 blinks to the right to overtake is the accepted signal. Blinking to the left means you're pulling over. Flash right and left means "thank you". But don't forget to lift the finger off the steering wheel to greet oncoming traffic. Some call it the SA "west coast wave", but it's also prevalent in WA. No matter where you're from, keep up THE wave - and smile. Cheers Chris

yep, I use the "hunt and peck" method as well Mike