Truckers Gone Wild

A few months ago, it happened. I was caught on tape.. Video Tape.

Driving my Big Rig.

My Boss calls to tell me that he has received a video of me driving down Mont Eagle at excessive speeds in an offensive manner.

What me???? Are you sure? Actually, when he told me about this, I knew exactly what incident he was referring too!. I remembered it with crystal clear perception, or so I thought.

He told me I was filmed at a rate of 70+ mph .... That is LUDICROUS....

Anyone who knows this area will tell you that if you flew down this mountain, you would most assuredly lose your driving privileges and be placed underneath the jail. It just isn't done. Law enforcement pays particularly close attention to this stretch of interstate with its lower speed limits, and high volume of accidents. It is a 6% descent. not bad. It is a 55 mph zone for autos, and a 45, 35, 25 mph zone for Trucks depending on the weight of the load. It has, I believe, 3 runaway truck ramps.

But before I get ahead of my self...here is my recollection of the event.

I was pulling an empty trailer across Mont Eagle. There was a loaded flat bedder following me. As we approached the descent, there were slower moving vehicles I was trying to get around because the lanes are restricted on the downhill swing. I was speeding..I will admit that! I was trying to adhere to the 55 speed limit, because I was empty. And YES, the posted speed limit for Trucks is 45mph.... There was a SUV that kept hovering near my trailer. He was in the way, almost the whole way down the hill.

The Boss told me I WAS CAUGHT ON TAPE IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH.

I defend my innocence.. I believe he had his speedometer re calibrated to show an increase in speed. The Boss said I was wrong, it was on tape and he invited me to view it.

So, that it was I did today.

What I saw is as follows...

At the beginning of the video, the guy shows his speedometer near 75 mph on top of the mountain... He is a quarter mile behind me, racing to catch up.... My speed was not 75......I was not racing to catch anyone.....So, it was not I who was speeding in a 55 zone.

Next we see me in the left lane, passing slower heavier trucks before the descent. He shows me to be doing about 60....I will agree with that. I was trying to get ahead of the slower vehicles because the lane restriction was looming just ahead, and I was required to be in one of the two right lanes....Yes, I was speeding, but not 75 mph......My truck is governed at 68 and could not do 75 on flat land...

We start down the hill, and you can very clearly see other Big Trucks pulling away from me...If I was doing 75, then those other Trucks were in excess of 80..... WRONG....He finally shows me running at about 57-60 mph...I will agree to that.

He also comments on how I had to slow down for the Police Officers, because I knew I was speeding.. I was actually not concerned about the Police Officers pulling me over. Because I am a shameless Daredevil, hell bent on reeking havoc on the roadways in an excessively fast and destructive manner... NO, I was not concerned about them because I was not doing 75 like some people seem to think. I was concerned about the SUV who was hovering at my trailer and constantly in the way. So, I did accelerate and brake in several attempts to get away from him.

All the while, other vehicles are continuing to descend the mountain at a quicker speed than myself.....

Finally, we reach the bottom of the decline, and as a general rule.....When you see the elevated speed limit sign, you "let it roll" Most Truckers would agree. No need to hold it back any longer, the speed limit is about to increase. The newly increased speed limit is 70............

So, he films me making the final descent and this time he does record me doing in excess of 70.....(about 73).In plain view of the increased speed limit sign, but he makes a snarky comment about how the limit has not increased just yet, and I am clearly out of my mind....Okay, I ad libbed that part, but he does point out the sign.....What he doesn't show you is the broken down big truck on the shoulder of the road, or my desire to get into the left lane to give this disabled vehicle plenty of room for safety's sake. BUT... there is an SUV hovering at my trailer who will not get out of the way to let me over...Plus there is another Big Rig behind me who is loaded and the last thing I want to do is make him slow down after heating up his brakes for the past 7 miles...Wrong time to be brake-checking a Big Truck. SO, YES..... I let it roll......in an attempt to get around the SUV, to clear up room for the disabled vehicle.....at the bottom of the Mont..

But I am wrong....on so many levels....I am wrong....

I will defend my innocence until the grave....I was not flying down the mountain....It is clear in my mind, and ON VIDEO.....

It just infuriates me..........The asshole filming me was putting traffic at a higher elevated risk of danger by blocking the flow of traffic and hovering beside me. I was targeted and it clearly shows me that you can be incriminated for just about anything, as long as you present it in a certain way....

So forget all the obvious signs that this was overly exaggerated to show my reckless behavior....yeah, those other vehicles driving off ahead and leaving me in the dust were just a figment of my imagination, even though they were on film....And forget about me trying to give a disabled vehicle a little extra room, but could not because some guy in an SUV had to hover in order to get good video footage of me.....

In fact, the only thing you need to remember is that I am one crazy lunatic truck driver with a reckless streak a mile wide and I will run you over for the sheer entertainment value of it.

Bite Me JackAss.......