Driver Etiquette
For some drivers, being alone in a cab can be a much-needed relief from social life. Being alone gives some drivers time to reflect and think that others working 9-5 jobs in cubicles rarely get. But just because drivers are alone in their cabs, this doesn’t mean that they are exempt from extending professional courtesies to their fellow drivers. Like most other jobs, these courtesies are things that can be learned from being on the job. Thankfully, one web site, Newbie Driver , has compassion for the new driver.
According to Newbie Driver, some of these courtesies are slowly dying out, but they are still good ways to show that you are a professional, kind driver. For instance, Newbie Driver states that truckers sometimes wave at each other on two lane roads, reminiscing back to before the CB radio, when truckers would communicate important information.
Many courtesies are designed with safety in mind. For instance, a trucker will flash his or her lights when another truck has passed him or her in order to tell the other trucker that it is OK to re-enter the lane. The passing truck might respond by flashing the taillights or saying “thanks” over the CB radio. Other safety courtesies include using turn signals and four-way flashers to communicate turning, changing lanes, merging, or slow movement.
Other courtesies are intended to relieve frustration and make sure that truckers can get good rest and then get quickly on their ways. These courtesies include keeping headlights off in truck stop parking lots at night, only using the horn in an emergency at a truck stop, and pulling into a parking spot at a truck stop instead of blocking the fuel line.
While many of these things seem like common courtesies, it would be easy for a trucker to break some of these commandments of the road if he or she did not know their importance. Because you probably wouldn’t want a trucker waking you up with a horn or a bright set of lights, it’s good to avoid those kinds of things when encountering other truckers. New truckers can discover more about this topic or unwritten rules of the road at Newbie Driver.
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