Ten Bad Habits Some Truck Drivers Have: UK Style

Us truckers always like to complain about the four-wheelers, and usually for good reasons. But, did you ever wonder what the four-wheelers think about the trucks? Or, as they say in the UK, the “lorries”?

This article (below) was submitted by a lady from England. I decided to publish it to show the other side of the coin for once. Turnabout is fair-play, right? It just might pay to listen to some of their gripes. Give it a read, you just might learn something. Don’t forget, you can always leave a comment at the end.

10 Bad Habits That Lorry Drivers Have

by Helen Pritchard

While most drivers tend to share the worst driving habits, some of these indiscretions can be unique. A read through some drivers’ experiences on Net Cars will give food for thought and with that in mind, here are some of the worst habits attributed to truck drivers.

1. Bad Overtaking. This is one of the most common complaints for other drivers and it involves truck drivers who don’t use driving lanes on dual or triple carriages effectively. While it is understood that all truck drivers will need to overtake another slow moving vehicle, there is a time and a place to do it and a steep gradient doesn’t offer the perfect overtaking opportunity. The result is a tailback of impatient car drivers.

2. Poor Lane Discipline. This is similar to the habit of poor overtaking but it involves the occupation of the middle lane on a highway no matter what. It’s probably fair to say that the vast majority of truck drivers adhere to this rule but often, when you’re driving in a foreign country, this bad habit is more in evidence.

3. Use of Cell Phones. With the use of hands free and blue tooth not quite so prevalent in trucks, the practice of driving while using a cell phone seems to be more common in truck drivers across the world.

4. Eating and Drinking. In the same way that the use of a phone can be distracting, eating and drinking at the wheel can make you lose concentration very quickly. Maybe it’s a truck driver’s lifestyle that encourages it, but either way, they do seem to be amongst the worst culprits.

5. Tailgating. This is a contentious issue for truck drivers who insist that speed inhibitors on their vehicles make it difficult for them when they are faced with a very slow moving car up ahead. However, car drivers will counter that tailgating is a major issue with some truck drivers.

6. Careless Parking. By the very nature of their business, truck drivers have to unload their vehicles, often in the most awkward of places. However, for some, that fact seems to give them license just to abandon their truck, anywhere they like.

7. Insecure Loads. Loading a truck is the first and the most important part of a journey and care should be taken to ensure all loads are completely secure. Sadly, this isn’t always the case and some drivers are happy to proceed with an insecure vehicle, particularly if they are behind schedule on their journey.

8. Child Safety. As we’ve seen with cell phones, it’s easier to put some safety devices in cars than it is in trucks and child seats are another example. This difficulty, however, doesn’t make it acceptable for drivers to disregard their use when it comes to young children.

9. Undertaking. These days, our highways are ridden with road works and the reduced speed limits that accompany them. One of the biggest moans for car drivers is being undertaken at 40mph by a truck that is disobeying the speed limit in these lanes.

10. General Arrogance. As if to say “my vehicle is bigger than yours”, some truck drivers will disregard basic road safety measures such as not giving way on roundabouts. Faced with the alternative of crashing into a much bigger vehicle, the car driver is forced to defer.

Footnote by Ken Skaggs: I saw a bumper sticker on a truck once that read; I pay $5000+ a year in taxes- as a matter of fact, I do own the road.