KEN'S KORNER - DECEMBER 2007

PLAYING LEAPFROG
BY AUTHOR, EDUCATOR & DRIVER KEN SKAGGS

Running up and down the highway all day sometimes turns into an amusing game of leapfrog. The truck with a lighter load passes on the uphill, and then the rig with the heavier load comes back around on the way down. Back and forth, again and again, drivers continue to pass each other until they finally have a winner, or one exits, or they become friends, or enemies. Of course, this is a normal and expected activity for drivers, so, we may as well have some fun with it and call it what it is - a friendly (hopefully) game of leapfrog.

The players (drivers) that I don’t agree with in this little game of leapfrog are the ones that play too slowly. You know who I’m talking about - the one that passes you going a half-mile an hour faster than you. Toss in a few inclines and declines and he takes fifteen minutes to finally get past you. I hate that!

There is only one thing worse than a slow passer - the one who allows him to pass so slowly. I know most drivers, myself included, do the math. I sit there and watch the slow approach, do a quick calculation, and figure it out that if this trucker keeps up at this pace, he will be a good hundred feet ahead of me in about an hour, then he’ll probably stop for coffee, putting forth all that effort for nothing. My point is, just because it doesn’t add up mathematically for someone to pass someone else, only to gain a half-mile in an hour, it also stands to reason the one being passed won’t lose any real measure of time by simply slowing down a notch or two to allow the pass.

I experienced the funniest one just the other day. It was a driver pulling double forty-eight footers. My truck was maxed out at 67 mph when I noticed him tailgating me. I thought he was awfully close for a long time, then he finally emerged in the left lane. A few minutes went by and he just stayed there, in the left lane, at my rear bumper. The right lane was a little bumpy, so my first thought was that he was riding the left lane to avoid the bumps. After a few mile-markers, I realized that he was indeed gaining on me because I noticed his front bumper had made it up to my rear trailer axle. When I noticed that he was pulling doubles, I had to laugh out loud. This would be a new world record for me. I have seen truck drivers who were willing to spend a mile or two to get past someone, but this guy would spend an eternity for the slight gain.

Normally, I’ll just slow down and compensate for the other drivers lack of patience (or math skills), but this one was too funny, so I held my speed and started keeping track of the mile markers. There was no traffic behind, so I played along. After the tenth mile, he was almost up to my window, where I could get a look at what no common sense looks like, but I resisted. I tried to talk to him on the CB, but nobody was home. I just wanted to let him know, in a friendly way, that I thought this pass would be a new record. So, I tapped the cruise control down a bit and let him get by me. I let him get a few hundred feet ahead of me, then I bumped my speed back up. Well, after a half an hour or so, he was still in sight when a good sized hill allowed me to pass him and get a good mile or so ahead of him, never to see him again.

This entertaining incident reminded me of the dangers for drivers who pull doubles and triples, and the other vehicles they encounter. Just as a truck takes longer to stop than a car, a truck pulling doubles, or especially triples, would certainly take longer to stop than a regular truck with one trailer. But there he was, tailgating me for a long time, putting his life in my hands. Then, after passing me, he certainly would have put me in a position to be tailgating him, had I not been slowing down. I always slow down a bit whenever I get passed by someone who cuts right in front of me after the pass. Unlike him, I won’t put my life in anyone else’s hands, if I can help it.

Sometimes, playing leapfrog is fun, though. Occasionally, it can even get you into a conversation with a fellow driver who you will likely be seeing more of if you are going in the same direction for a while and the road is a bit of a roller-coaster ride. But any time you pass or get passed by someone else, there is a little risk involved. That’s why I always recommend not passing if you are not certain you can do it quickly and that you won’t just get in front of someone and slow them down. Quite often, when I am pulling a reasonably heavy load, I will just relax and stay well behind a slower truck while going uphill. Not only is this safer (and you really don’t lose more than a few seconds of time), but you save precious diesel fuel as well.

I know a lot of drivers feel this way, but I still have to say it: if only everyone drove like I do, what a wonderful world this would be. I think there is a song in that line but I’ll leave that to someone else to figure out. Please be careful out there. Give a little extra room for doubles and triples. And, when you pass someone, pull ahead a good fifty feet or more before you cut in front of them. We are coming into the slippery time of year now, and I would hate to find you in a ditch, so please, pass with care. And if you are pulling doubles, or triples, that goes double, or triple, for you.

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