Comments By Vicki M.

My first incident of road rage as a truck driver. I was headed north on I5. Some highway was merging from the right and I had 2 small cars on my left. A trucker was trying to merge, not slowing down. I could not get over and to give the dirtbag a little credit he couldn’t see the cars on my other side. If I held my lane, we would have collided. He started pushing me over and I creeped over until the 2 stupid 4 wheelers got out of the way…with my blinker on the whole time, mind you. They either didn’t see it or didn’t care. I passed the guy in the truck and he gave me the one finger salute. Ok. No problem dude.

So once I get back in the right lane, he blows by me on the left, the whole time blowing his air horn and flipping me off. Then he pulls in front of me and brake checks me. Really dude, aren’t you over it yet!?!? Nope. He gets back in the left lane, slows way down and gets behind me. I just keep driving. Until, of course, my mean attack dog has to go to the bathroom. I pull into a rest area and he follows me. Parks about 3 spaces away and sits there glaring at me. I grab my attack dog and my stun gun just in case…it is daytime and there’s lots of people everywhere so I’m not worried. I figure I’ll just wait him out. I have 5 days to make a 2 day drive. I also used my phone and blatantly took photos of his truck, him, license plates etc.

Went back to my truck and made lunch. Caught up on Facebook. Read my local news. Pulled my curtains. He finally left after about an hour. Never did confront me. Never said a word. I’d like to think my dog scared him away lol

I spent 33 years in the casino industry as a dealer and then a pit boss. Loved my job the first few years and then became disenchanted. But the money was good, the work was easy so I stayed even with the weird hours and missing holidays etc. In that 33 years many things changed. Even though it was (and still can be) a very fun and lucrative job, I’d still tell people to avoid it. (It’s not as fun anymore, the hours suck, things have changed etc. the whining and *****ing still continues even though I am out lol)

When an old trucker tells me to get out, avoid it, and so on, I consider it like my gaming career. The things that changed made me unhappy, but the money was still there, and I was good at my job. I also realize that the things the experienced folks are missing is something I’ll never know. So therefore I don’t miss it.

Merry Christmas everyone. I’m about 2 hours from my best friends house where I’ll be spending 3 days. Actually 5 because they got me here 2 days early. I didn’t even ask. My FM texted and asked me if I wanted Christmas off lol

Some of the things I see being hauled around on trucks fascinates me

A key to using the Auto Sox is that the pavement needs to be completely snow covered. If any mix of dry pavement asphalt or ice, it will rub a hole in the fabric-like material. On pure snow, the grip level is unsurpassed.

When I purchased mine a few years ago from the Iowa 80 truck stop, these were $235.99 per bag (2 tires), so not exactly "disposable income".

They are about the same price now. I had told my husband that I was going to start buying them a set every payday until I had 3 sets for super singles and one set for dual tires (my tractor has super singles and our trailers vary). He got a very nice unexpected Christmas bonus and called me and told me to buy them. I haven't yet...because I am in SoCal and none of the truck stops have them lol) I may just order them online and have them shipped home. I can grab them when I go home in January. We have them for our 4runner, so I am familiar with using them the once or twice a year we take the dogs up to play in the snow.

Sounds like it's working well for you! I was in the Missoula yard a few days ago (shut down due to weather). My heart went out to the kids that were training out there in the snow and ice. Much respect to them! I hope your trainer is awesome, you'll learn so much from them. Even my first two "bad" trainers taught me some things, but a good trainer (like my last one) is a priceless commodity. We still speak several times a week and he's always there for my freak outs and issues :D Keep us posted!

I'm from the desert. I've chained a tire maybe 3 times in my life. One of them was during training lol A week or two ago, I was headed up Snoqualmie when they put the chain laws up. I parked. I pouted. I waited. It took me probably 30 mins to gird my loins enough to even attempt chaining. I got all bundled up, got out there, got one chain off the rack (I have cables too, but have never used them and have NO idea about how to install them...I assume they are like chains, but I digress), laid it out, got it all straight, put it on the tire and straightened it out. The driver from the truck in front of me came back and I thought "What a nice guy, he's going to help!" Nope. He told me they lifted the chain law. I do not know how long it takes me to chain, but I do know I can unchain in seconds :D

I drove over the mountain and parked for a break....called my husband. To make a long story short, I am getting Autosox for Christmas :D

So many thoughts on this one. First off, when my mom taught me to drive on logging roads at 9 years old (she was tired of getting out to open cattle gates lol), she told me that if you ever lose your brakes to drive into the ditch or the mountain side. It'll stop you. It may kill you, but you won't take out anyone else, and you stand a better chance of surviving than if you drive off the mountain (logging roads, remember). I'd still take the mountain or the runaway truck ramp. I am assuming that he thought he could get it under control. That was his judgement error. Given the choice of hitting a parked truck or careening into a 4-wheeler traffic jam, I'd hit the truck. Lives might still have been lost, but a lesser chance and a less destruction, hopefully. Honestly, I don't believe that his lack of English skills had anything to do with it. I drive in Mexico all the time and my Spanish is lacking when you get away from simple greetings, food, alcohol, bathrooms, etc. I'd still know that if I lost my brakes to hit the mountain. Most likely he was scared of wrecking the truck and losing his job, or being that he is young, of dying. Death is less of a deterrent the older you get.

My main issue with the whole thing is the lack of fairness in sentencing times. There are many people who have killed/injured more people who were sentenced to less time. One crazy case in Vegas comes to mind. A 20-year-old dancer (exotic, aka stripper for the uninformed lol) took ecstasy and smoked pot a couple hours prior to driving. She fell asleep at the wheel and killed 6 teenagers cleaning trash in the median (they were a work program from our youth authority). She could have been sentenced to `120 years but got something like 48. A few years ago, she pled guilty to lesser charges and got out after 18 years. I think 110 is too long for this guy. But that's just my opinion. I felt in the Jessica Williams case (the one I mentioned above) and in this case that ruining yet another life (the drivers in both cases) and spending taxpayer dollars to keep them in prison for life is not the best move. IMHO, let them do a lot of time so the loved ones of the deceased get their pound of flesh and in this guy's case, deport him.

Definitely following!

On a side note, I googled "safe wind speeds for semis" today, and the very first hit on google was G-Town's post of this chart he made a while back. I chose 30 to 40 mph wind rather than mountain passes and chaining today :D