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About Me
I'm the Pickups host here at Edmunds CarSpace.com - be sure to check out the Pickups forums if you have or are interested in one!
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The Big Rigs
We're gonna talk about the big ones... trucks and buses that require those 3 marker lights front and rear. Everything from dual rear wheel pickups to class 8 trucks to the bus that takes you to work.
 At my exit on I-80, there is only one gas/diesel station. It's listed on the highway "Services at This Exit" sign with the extra notation of having diesel fuel. The station has been closed for about a month, undergoing storage tank removal and replacement. Obviously, we locals are aware of this and go elsewhere for fuel.
As I exited from I-80 west last night, a tractor trailer that appeared to have come from the eastbound exit ramp approached the completely darkened and barricaded station, slowed to a crawl and hit the hazard lights. I really hoped he wasn't too low on #2... and he basically only had 2 opportunities to "turn this rig around" and either get back on I-80 or head the other way and get to US 46 a few miles the other direction where there are several stations available.
I'm considering asking the DOT if they would consider temporarily covering those "Services" logos of any business that is closed for such a long-term project. You really feel bad seeing someone in such a predicament, especially a trucker who likely is well out of his familiar territory.
 In the online Overdrive magazine, there was a great article about the issues faced by truckers on large hills. While the article first appeared nearly three years ago, it still holds up well today.
My home is at 1000 feet elevation. A mile later when I get on I-80, it has dropped to 770 feet... my office is around sea level. So I know about inclines - downhill to work (boy, that's a lousy coincidence) and uphill home. For that 200 foot drop in the morning, I keep my Dodge Ram 3500 in the 2 position on the trans shifter - on the way home, I hit the Tow/Haul button to keep the trans from upshifting and lugging the engine. On that morning trip, the transmission combined with the low-revving Cummins diesel keep me below 35 mph the whole way down without braking... and most days there is always somebody right up my tailgate. There are a couple of blind driveways and curves on this stretch of road, and flying down it is not a great idea... especially if it's anything besides sunny and dry.
Just past westbound I-80 exit 42 here in NJ is an unmarked grade, although an extra right lane is provided for heavier vehicles. In total, there are 5 lanes up this hill. Because there is no notice of the grade, tractor-trailers regularly find themselves in the left-center and center lanes struggling just to get to 50 mph - speed limit at this spot is 65. And rather than give them the opportunity to move to the right and downshift, most cars just go around on the right, leaving the big rig in no-man's-land until the highway levels back out and they can pick up speed again.
One of the points I made in my CarSpace guide about sharing the road with The Big Rigs was how to handle highway hills and what lane to be in. This is something that is never covered in driver's manuals, license tests, or even some driving schools. Hills and mountain passes pose serious issues for all vehicles, but the larger and heavier the truck/bus, the more attentive the drivers around that vehicle need to be.
I haven't been on a plane in 29 years... August 1978 to be exact. And with all the added steps/issues/hassles/(insert your choice of descriptor) involved these days, who knows when I'll bother to enter a pressurized metal tube to go hurtling through the atmosphere.
I'm definitely a road trip guy.
From my home, by the time I get to the nearest airport (Newark International), go through check-in and security, wait, board, wait some more, and finally back away from the gate, I can easily be 200 miles down an interstate.
My last long road trip was October 1999, when my trusty 1996 Dodge Ram 3500 dually and I drove from north NJ to Dallas and back, a total of 3100 miles. And thanks to the Cummins diesel under the hood, I averaged almost 20 mpg the whole trip. Not bad for a truck weighing in around 7000 pounds.
And look at all the benefits of a quality road trip:
- you can hit the road any time of day or night and avoid rush hours
- you can stop anywhere from a sandwich shop to a 4-star restaurant to eat... no little bags of peanuts for $5
- you can see things besides clouds
- you're in control of the "on-board entertainment"
- when you're tired, you can pull over for a nap or find a cheap motel
- you know exactly where your luggage is
- you never have to worry about a driver taking you "the long way" at your destination
 There's a great book that helps with planning a great road trip: The Next Exit: USA Interstate Highway Directory by Mark Watson. It describes what destinations, features, and services are available at interstate highway exits, so that you can plan things like food/fuel stops, travel breaks, side trips/attractions, or a place to grab some zzz's. Also a great resource for truckers and long-distance motorcoach drivers who spend far more of their lives on the highway than their home street.
 Merge.
The act of vacating a lane that will end and joining traffic in the remaining lanes.
It's a simple concept, and one that should never cause problems on commuter highways during rush hour, because after all, these people drive this road every day. They KNOW the lane will end... don't they?
The people who absolutely baffle me beyond civil expression:
1 - The driver who enters a highway and stays in the acceleration lane doing 40 mph until the lane physically forces him into traffic... usually at the expense of the brake pads of the vehicle he just moved in front of. These people are accidents waiting to happen. If you see these people enter the highway, not match traffic speed, and their turn signal doesn't immediately activate signaling they are going to merge, get away from them as quickly as possible.
2 - Those who see the sign to the right and actually get in the right lane in an attempt to gain a car or two in traffic. I actually had a guy pull this using an acceleration ramp to try to get around me on I-80 here in NJ. That bridge abutment at the end of the accel ramp caused some rapid brake activation on his part.
3 - The portable orange diamond signs warn a lane is closing... they've been posted for a good quarter-mile. It's dark, traffic isn't terrible, and anyone with reasonable vision can actually see the large LED flashing arrow ahead. And you watch some doofus drive along the lane about to disappear, at or near the speed limit, and damn near run into the reflective orange/white striped barricades and drums before he tries to join the rest of us. I haven't witnessed anyone nailing a barricade, but it's just a matter of time.
Do these people understand the dynamics of merging? And in the case of #2 and 3, do these drivers really think they're going to get to their destination THAT much faster?
And these are likely the same drivers who bolt out into an intersection making their right-turn-on-red as if the people on the cross street have to yield even though they have a green light....
Is there really an excuse to miss an exit? 
I understand that people get lost or travel to unfamiliar areas. My first trip to Dallas, I passed the exit I needed... twice. Any time you see out of state license plates, a chartered motorcoach from some other area of the country, or a tractor-trailer with a flatbed full of stuff you know isn't made anywhere near where you are, there's a chance that the driver is marking new territory. Even then, these drivers should be more concerned with staying in the right lane and watching signs.
No... this is directed at people who screw up on their commute, the drive they make every day.
These are usually the people so intent on doing something besides driving that they realize at the last second that they are upon their exit and two or three lanes away. Scary to see what some of these people will try. Best I've witnessed so far: car in the left of 4 lanes damn near made a full right turn and made the right-hand exit with inches to spare before the ramp had physically separated from the highway. The funniest had to be the guy who approached the GW Bridge on the upper level lanes, decided that was too much traffic, and BACKED UP to the split for the lower level. A NJ state trooper who saw this actually got on his external PA speaker and yelled "HEY!!!!" The trooper then sped forward down the shoulder to where he knew was a driveway/crossover ("for official use only") and waited for the idiot. I was heard to laugh as I saw the offending vehicle pulled into the crossover and that trooper was yelling.
This could easily become a cell-phone rant, but it's not. It's called planning your trip. When I drive to work, I know what exits I need and what lane to be in before I leave home. On my way home, I'm generally in the proper lane 15 miles before my exit (unless I really need to pass someone or there's construction that closes lanes). It's a matter of paying attention, knowing where you are, and keeping the distractions to the absolute minimum.
So if you miss your exit... please... just go to the next one and turn around!
Statewide campaign called "Obey the Signs or Pay the Fines" has been rather effective in some locales. Here are the results in one town near me... Netcong nabs 98
 Failure to obey this sign is probably the most maddening to truckers everywhere. people in cars who enter ahighway, head for the center or left lane as if by some governmental decree, then have the nerve to get upset when the tractor trailer behind them seems to be asking them "do you mind? I'd like to pass!"
If people understood that the right lane is generally the "through" lane and that all lanes to the left are for passing, traffic would flow more safely. It amazes me, especially at night, when I see someone cruising in the left lane of a three-lane interstate... when there is almost no one else on the road - as if that's THEIR lane and damned be anyone who dares request they move to the right.
And it's worse in the center lane when there are three, as in most situations, trucks are banned from the left lane. that means the center lane is the trucks' passing lane, but Charlie Oblivious is meandering down the center lane well below the speed limit, and doesn't seem to care that vehicles of all shapes and sizes are blowing by him on both sides.
Regardless of how fast you're going... if someone passes you on the right, MOVE OVER.
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