Would seem like a good idea if the national weather service and DOT could force tractor trailers to stay off road.
It’s crazy how fast they drive.
Guessing the companies are almost forcing the drivers to push on.
From what I was told by a friend that drives OTR for a living...anecdotal obviously, but he has bounced around from company to company through the years because of how they treated their drivers (meaning, they either push unmercifully, or throw you out there with broken down tractors/trailers etc).
Many drivers get paid extra depending on how many miles they drive per day. Most are required to drive one amount, but a daily bonus kicks in for the extra. So those wanting that bonus, they push to get the day over with.
This varies company to company obviously, but he told me that in general you "have to keep moving no matter what". Just parking the rig in bad weather when you have a deadline to meet - the roads better be 100% closed to justify that - otherwise, you keep moving "even if conditions dictate you drive VERY slowly".
They know if you're not moving when you should be, and they're going to want to know why. He'd call some of the companies he drove for "white knuckler" companies...meaning, you keep driving no matter what the conditions are.
One thing about speeds...many companies speed restrict their rigs to 65 or 70. Many don't - and he told me if you see a semi going 75-80, look at the company doing it - chances are you'll begin to notice a trend with those companies (they push HARD).
I could never do it for a living. We've got a couple ex-OTR drivers for our school district, and they got out of it because of how the companies treated their drivers. It sounds like a very stressful occupation overall and great companies to drive for a both hard to find and pretty rare.
