G/day when I introduced myself I said I had 35 years on the road as a heavy transport operator with most of that time as a road train driver, both doubles triples and quads.
Vic 41 asked if I could put something together that might help ease the myths and in some cases the fear factor involved in being passed by or overtaking a truck or road train.
I do not want to sound like a smart ass or a know it all that I am not This is just my observation after around 10,000,000 ks of driving.(give or take a few meters :D )
I would also add the there are cowboys out there in both trucks and caravans that no matter how nice you are or how you try and help the situation they will give you a hard time I have seen it between trucks. My best advise if you are having trouble with one of these blokes is.
1 if he is behind you and giving you a hard time at the first safe area pull over and let him pass.
2 if you are trying to pass and he is making it hard like running off the hill realy fast or hogging the overtaking lanes just back off and let him go if it is around smoko time find a spot and have a cuppa keep it stress free by the time you have a cuppa and get going again he will be 50 or more ks in front of you. Long story short you will not win with these idiots they are ratbags that dont give a tinkers curse about anyone else on the road.
We will look at this in the different situations that we may come across.
·The truck suddenly appearing in your mirrors out of nowhere
·The holly crap how am I going to pass this bloke
·The Bloody hell a wide load situation
Ok the first situation
Vehicles do not just appear in your mirrors if you are paying attention. You should be checking your mirrors at least three times a minute it is only a quick scan and should be part of you peripheral vision.
Lets say you are plodding along at 85KS on an open road in road train territory. The road train speed for the most part is 90kph most do 100, west of Pt Augusta on the Eyre hiway it is 100 and most of WA is 100.
So if you are an nice open outback road you should have a good rear view.
If you are doing 85ks that is 1416mts a minute the road train coming up behind you at 90kph is covering 1500 mts a minute so he is only 74 mts a minute faster than you. If he is doing 100ks he is covering 1666 meters a minute so his closing rate is a lot quicker
Now you should know he is there somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes before he is ready to pass depending on the terrain and how much rear view you have. So now you have plenty of time to control the situation, let him know that you know he is there. As soon as possible with a radio call [a uhf is a must it makes life so much easier and IMO should be mandatory]
Eg; west bound coming up behind the van I see ya mate and will get you around asap.
This will normally get a good response.
Eg; no worries mate we will sort it out.
Now the bloke doing 90ks will take 4 minutes to make up the last 400mts keep an eye on the oncoming traffic if he is around 200 meters behind you and you have a 1-2klms of clear road in fount call him up and get him around,
Eg;west bound ,mate its all dark up here keep it going and I will back off a bit for ya.(DO NOT SLOW DOWN UNTILL THE TRUCK IS IN THE OTHER LANE) he has you speed sorted out he knows how fast he is closing on you if you slow down before he is in the overtaking lane you could get clipped and that would be ugly.
Once he has stepped out just lift your foot and wash of a few ks you will be surprised how quick he will get around you,when he is safely passed you flash your headlights a couple of times this lets him know that he has passed you and it is safe to return to the left lane, it has been done with no tension, so you may of washed of 10-15 kph so what no big deal reset your cruise control and carry on your merry way. You may have lost 20-30 seconds at the most, but that is better than having a road train up your freckle for ages trying to get around
You may get an answer like shes rite mate ill sit here I am turning off 20 ks up the road.
Or maybe an answer like your rite mate I got it sorted and he will just step out and round you up.
It is all about communication listen to the truckies you will hear them calling each other around.
Foot note there is no need to drop off the side of the road it is wide enough for you both keep your line it is easy, all that happens if you drop of the side is you could lose control. (truckies knick name for caravans is a wobbly) because a lot of them do drop of the side and start to wobble and it can get quite serious very quickly. You pass trucks going the other way without falling off the edge. You very seldom see trucks dropping off the edge.
Second situation Passing
If you are coming up behind a slow truck the same thing applies communication. If he has the company name on the back or the sides and you can indentify him it is better because he knows to whom you are talking. So your call would be along the lines of .
Eg: Copy in the east bound Harris.
The response would be yer mate copy
When he responds let him know you are ready to come around
Eg: Mate, in the van behind you do you want to give me a flash when its clear thanks bloke.
Please remember when you pass keep your speed up give yourself a few hundred yards at least before you back off. Because the truckie will most likely be set on cruise control so he is not backing off, and the last thing he wants is to have the bloke who has just roundered him up to slow down.
Also when you have passed and are back in you lane flick you blinkers from side to side a couple of time this is the sign of thanks mate. Always acknowledge the driver when they help you around.
The other option is if you know you are going to stop in the next hour or so think of this.
If you have been poking along at 100ks and old mate in the tuck is only doing 90 .
OK let say you are going to pull up in an hour how much time will you lose if you just sit back and plod along behind him at 90 ks you will lose about 6 minutes and 40 seconds that is all so if the road is a bit dicey or you are looking into the sun just slot in a few hundred metres behind old mate and take it easy. We are not in a race this is our stress free time dont make more stress than you need to he might call you up and ask if you want to come around. In this situation your answer would be. Eg; No shell be rite mate gunna stop in a while ill just slot in behind you thanks anyway.
So what you have done here is reduced the stress for two drivers the truckies does not have to worry about trying to get a Wobbly around him and you are just sitting back poking along stress free.
[just recently we had a situation where a bloke and his misses were 10ks from a town and tryed to get around us in a very tight situation the upshot was me hard on the brakes and heading bush old mate in the van trying to get back into the left lane the bloke coming the other way hard on the brakes and heading bush as well the van clipped our bull bar and he has gone belly up between the two trucks. They were shaken but only a few scratchers and burses could of been a real mess. The silly part about it is they were stopping at the next town for fuel and a feed, there was no need to try and pass he had taken a long time to come up behind us so I recon he was only 5-7 ks faster than we were so he almost killed himself and his wife to save about 50 seconds. ]
Situation 3
The wide load.
First the wide load coming towards you.
As soon as you see the Pilot vehicle call him your call will go something like this.
Eg; copy in the pilot what have you got mate.
He will give you the width sometime overall width sometimes width at the wheels
If it is only around 3.5 mts he may reply with youll be rite on the fog line mate.if it is a nice wide road
Otherwise slow down quick but steady remember these blokes could be up to 150 tons or more and they dont slow down it is up to you to get off the road.if you are having trouble finding a spot to pull over call the truck asap with something like eg; copy in the wide load mate in a car and caravan come at you having trouble finding a pull off .
this will alert the driver that he may have to back off a bit or even move over a bit if he can.
Coming up behind a slow wide load if you are the first one behind him let him know you are there, they will try and get you around asap,
Your call would be something like this.
Eg; copy in the wide load, mate in a caravan behind you I will just slot in here and wait for your call.
This does two things it lets him know you are there and it also lets him know that you are prepared to wait. Once again no stress on either driver.
The common denominator here is communication a UHF radio is a must
I hope this helps in some way as I said at the start as the start there will always be that one cowboy that makes everybodys life miserable just avoid them were possible.
Cheers
The Hats (Ron)
-- Edited by The Hats on Monday 11th of August 2014 12:55:10 AM
-- Edited by The Hats on Monday 11th of August 2014 12:28:31 PM
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It is better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. :D
I have to agree with all you've said, however I feel that there is another unstated aspect that I feel is also important.
I also have many years as a driver but only under a Heavy Vehicle Licence. Fulltime for the last 5 years as a grey nomad and have only come across one major incident that I can truthfully say was due to absolute (and proven) negligence on the side of the specific driver.
Because I can, I always drive to "conditions" ..
I'm not on a regulated schedule and don't need to be anywhere by a specific time. I'm not "governed" by time ..
My "conditions" can vary greatly when compared to those of a Truckie.
Leaving the UHF on full-time is not my choice .. it can be so intrusive at times, but is easily accessible when I feel it may need to be used. Use of a 2-way is not foreign to me as radio communications is a hobby of mine as a licenced Ham Op ..
When I feel there is a need to overtake a vehicle travelling before me, I am much more comfortable when I can see clear and suitable road ahead to do so, rather than rely upon the the say-so of another and what they plan to do .. not all drivers on the road have the capacity or the experience to interpret the verbal communication as expected.
Yes .. sometimes I do travel at night but only as a necessity .. I quite like it and drive appropriately to the variable conditions .. 'Roos and cattle don't always move fast or in the right direction and one still has to see them clearly, be it through fog, mist or rain .. as well as steering safely on wet or icy surfaces which you can more easily identify in advance if your front and side windows are not fogged up ..
Knowing the condition of your vehicle (and/or your van) and their limits is most important to me, but above all, your own well-being as a driver is essential. I won't drive if I don't feel I should ..
"Common-Sense" plays a large part in driving to "conditions" .. that in itself is a variable that we each see in our own right .. Not all things can be legislated as appropriate !
Hi Ron, as an up and coming newbie to the wide open spaces I found you article full of great tips, I will take your advice on board when I am confronted with these situations as I'm sure I will, Thanks again for a great article.
Cheers
Greg
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Greg & Shas
"Take kindly the council of the years gracefully surrendering the things of your youth"
I hope that this will help a lot of us understand that as you said we are not in a hurry, we're RETIRED.
100% correct Bob, I can waste time most truckie's cannot, what Ron has said is basic knowledge but good to have it spelt out in plain english for newbies, I have never overtaken a road train and never will while towing the van, as Ron says drop back have a cuppa and the road train has gone, then bugga me there is another one so I drop back again, communication is the key, always talk to the guys left them know you are aware they are behind you and help them pass, 9 times out of 10 they know the road much better than you do.
Thought it was a wonderful post Ron. Commonsense to most but to some a new revelation.
Had one of those events happen to me the other day. Driving along and had a truck come up behind me. Very hilly area, and I was going slower because of the scenery, came to overtaking lane, I told the truckie to go around me.
"Nah she is right Miss Daisy, just going to the farm around the corner" So around many corners, (I did pick up my speed from about 70, when I was on my own, to 90, driving to the conditions also), he finally turned off, gave me a call, thanked me and wished me a safe journey and good day. I replied with same.
All a matter of being aware of others around you and good manners.
To quote Ita Buttrose, "Times may be changing but good manners never go out of fashion"
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I am fun and adventure. So much to see, so much to do, so many people to meet. Will see, do, and meet all that I can.
Good Post Ron.
I don't use a UHF and have never had any problems with trucks passing me.
As soon as I see a truck coming up I will get as close as I can to the fog line and maintain speed. I'll frequently look in the side mirror figuring that he will see me there and know that I know he is there and that I am keeping to the left. As soon as he indicates and moves to the overtaking lane, I will disengage cruise just as his bullbar is level with my vehicle. As soon as his back trailer is clear I give a 2 sec flash and he pulls in. Generally he will then flash his lights.
I'll also pull over off the road but never if he is following closely.
Regards
Spot on, Ron. Been towing a wobbly for the past 50000km since I retired & only run into one truckie that thought he was God. Bit of a slanging match after for me to let off steam, the mouth came back "driving one of these is a lot harder than driving a car". Silence once I replied "only had a HC for the last forty years, fool". Like virtually everything in life, sharing the road is all about common sense, compromise & communication.
Darrell
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Love the bush & our native environment. Conservationist, not a bloody Greenie.
Great post, thanks Ron - we must have been talking to some truckies, coz what you said is basically what we do - we are not in a hurry, rarely, if ever, pass anything, much less a truck - unless their speed is extremely slow.
And, as Jonathan said - PLAIN OLD COMMON SENSE should prevail on the road - by ALL drivers!! And courtesy - especially on the UHF.
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
Important as an insight as to what is going through the mind of the truck driver as we approach them, or they approach us from behind....I used to expect to be told to 'get knotted' when I made contact by UHF..I have now found most are really decent and helpful/courteous..only a few still ignore you....many thanks Ron...Hoo Roo
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'Without Going, You Get No Where'.
' Aspire to Inspire before you Expire'
Where Gold be....is where Gold be......old Cornish saying......
The older we get the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.......
Ron you did that as well as any professional writer could have done it. A great contribution mate. My grandson is a roadtrain driver and he has mentioned all of the good and bad bits that you have highlighted but I dont have him with me when i'm out with the van but your article will be printed and in my tug all the time for regular reading. Thanks mate.
A great post Ron, we have just returned from a trip up to Mt Isa and we came across many road trains & did exactly what you suggest. We had no trouble with the road trains & had many thank-you's from the truckies!
One of the things that annoys me on the road driving a Bus and trailer is the many caravan drivers who cut in short after they pass. This I am sure would also happen to the truckies. Cars on their own seem to have the power to pass quickly where many vans can't and/or forget they have less acceleration and maneuverability with the added weight and I think many have no idea of what they are doping as they only tow the van for a week or two a year.
One reason is they did not leave enough room to pass properly and then expect me at 6 tonnes to get off the road to let them in, NOT LIKELY.
They often travel in pairs or groups and if one goes past they all want to go past together. They obviously don't talk to each other as they pass as many times the second or third has had to apply their brakes VERY hard to avoid a crash as there is often a vehicle coming the other way and often it is on a bend going up a hill. Not sure why there is this attraction to pass in these areas as I am usually doing 90+
Another thing that really must annoy truckies as it does me in the Bus is when coming to a stop light etc and you slow down slowly as you need to with extra weight some people insist on jumping into your breaking space and then give you the finger when you just miss them. Have been within inches some times as well as giving them a blast on the horn.
We all have the right to use the road but surely we are all not in a hurry to die or be responsible for killing someone else.
Remember if a truckie kills you HE will be in the firing line even if you were 100% at fault BECAUSE he was driving a truck and it will effect his/her mental state for the rest of his life.
Have been involved with train drivers who have killed people and it never goes away, even after many years.
Just cool when you are driving and arrive at your destination alive and with your rig intact, it will take longer to get to your destination when your rig is in splinters alongside the road or you get a free ride to a hospital for a while or even worse.
Remember you are on holidays or retired and you have time, no deadlines no pressure to preform to hold your job.
Regards
Brian
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11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
another point that really annoys me is when you assist a truckie to over take by slowing down once he is in the right hand lane AND then right behind the truck almost attached to his/her bumper is a stupid car driver trying to get past at the same time as the truck, if the truckie see another car coming towards him he can then pull in quick BUT the car behind the truck is looking at a head on crash and involving you because he is on the outside of you, makes my blood boil.
That was one of the situation I was involved in with three caravans all trying to pass together.
Up a hill on a reverse bend, the first one was OK got past the second one I had to brake fairly hard to let him in and the last one was left outside of me with a car skidding towards him. The fact I had to brake for van 2 meant that the third van had little leeway and was trying to stop along side a dramatically slowing vehicle. I had to let no 2 in and let no3 take his chances as the oncoming car needed as much room as possible to stop and car 3 was further away than car 2. Van 1 could not have seen enough of the road to pass safely on his own.
I had about a six inch drop off the bitumen so I was not going off the road so the two cars were sliding towards each other. I recon both had to stop and change undies afterwards even though I did not see any contact and when the caravan eventually passed there was a fair amount of mouth movement from the passenger and she was definitely not wishing me a good day or a happy travel LOL.
The first van could not see enough road to execute a save pass yet three tried to get pass in the one movement.
When travelling together please leave a good distance between so others can slot in if needed as you have to allow for idiots at all times and if you have a safe distance you all make a separate approach to the overtaking event.
Regards
Brian
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11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
