John,
Not sure if 2012 is the drop dead date .. some are saying May something this year.. Me. no clue. I am slowly putting things in place to be less dependent upon the moment to moment needs that the whole economy provides. And it paid off last week when we were iced in. We still had power from the grid - but driving out was out of the question so for a few days we lived on stored supplies and most of the heat was provided by wood burning in my fireplace. I do not want to imagine doing it without the grid over any span of time .. where will I get fuel for the chainsaw to cut wood? much less a host of other things.

Tom, Only the Christians and Muslims have a drop dead date, after that the meek shall inherit the earth.
May? Many say the wheels are already in motion, biggest clue bigger and bigger storms cruising across the land.
The problems are accumulative, floods, the economy, the grid, followed by disease and pestilence the real end for most 60 feet of snow, that will take a decade to melt. Stock up on dry goods, water and gasoline, they will be the currencies of the soon to come.
Sharpen the axe, put solar panels on the martin house on top of that big pole.
String up a series of Hamster wheels to power your generator and wait it out.
Good luck

Peace freedom and tolerance
Ron / jon

I happen to drive one of those monsters you talk about. on the entire page you rambled on about things you know very little about there is a federal weight limit of 80,000 pounds, no matter if there is one or two trailers. in the early 70's the feds lifted that restriction for west coast states and allowed them to permit and regulate themselves, the east coast and midwest are still at 80,000 however there is still a federal length limit of 105 feet but you must realize that all states are different on combinations allowed as well as speed limits for trucks.
in Nevada we run 105 feet and gross 129000 lbs. and yes the pup trailer does sway some but never leaves my lane or control, just because you are not used to seeing a set of triples doing 75 mph does not automatically make them dangerous.

Thanks for writing, I like to know, that people are still reading my page, even though I seldom update anymore. (much of what you see was written in 1996-2000).
However, you being a truck driver does nothing to change my point of view.
Anything that weighs 129,000 pounds and is moving 75 mph is dangerous.
My van weighs 6000 pounds and is dangerous at that speed. I recently hit a deer at around sixty mph and frankly didn't harm my van much, but what if that deer was a person?

Your argument is based on the theory that Tractor trailer drivers obey the laws. The other day I was traveling down a section of Highway that was six lanes (3 in each direction) Signs are posted that trucks are not allowed to travel in the left most lane. I was traveling 75 in a 65 mph zone. It was posted Trucks 55 mph... Three tractor trailers (I assume empty) came up from my rear and passed me like I was parked. There is no way these jerks were going less than 90. One passed me on the left (in the no trucks lane) the other two passed on the right. (which is also against the law in Pa.) This was during a rush hour traffic period, these idiots were driving their trucks like sports cars weaving from lane to lane...
But of course that is just three idiots, there can't be more than another 100,000 like that on the highways...

I live on a straight section of two lane, there are five left hand turns in a space of a half mile and a parallel train track to the right. This section of the highway is marked double solid yellow. That means no passing and many many of your fellow truckers should learn that. I have been here a little over five years, there have been no less than fifty truck wrecks in front of my house in that time. Up and down the 15 miles of mostly straight highway, I don't think a week goes by without a truck wreck. In front of my house, the most recent was a gas truck that hit the ditch really hard and spilled part of his load. The most scary was when a tractor trailer rear ended a stopped school bus. Once I watched the truck in front of me pass during a snowstorm over the double solid and wash a small car over in the wake of slush at 50 mph. The sound of screeching tires followed by a large thud is all to familiar.
Now the truckers and the highway department have said for years, that the problem is the road, too narrow, pot holes, no shoulder, too many small towns and speed limits. to this year, they finally repaved the road and widened it. Now the trucks (and other traffic) feel they are safe to travel 90 mph along this stretch. Well, the grannies are still traveling 40 mph and children still live next to the highway and school buses still stop here. Last week the road was closed three times in one week due to truck wrecks.

I also used to run a wholesale warehouse and deal with truckers on a daily basis. I can say that due to conversations with those truckers that probably 50% of the long haulers were pepped up on some kind of drug, and we all know where that leads... As well we all know why many truckers have two logs...

As for the only real disputable fact in my ramblings (that trucks could weigh as much as 200,000 pounds) I read an article in Reader's digest about a truck that was Busted for being 880,000 pounds. Now I know that Reader's digest doesn't always print the facts but, I do believe there is some truth in most of what they write.
As I do know that special permits are issued for some overweight loads.

Now tell me do you really believe that tractor trailers are not dangerous?

And if you do, do you really believe that every trucker is as safe as you claim to be?
I stand by my article and my opinions.

Our Trucker friend has enclosed a photo of his safe truck

How would you like to face this beast in a head on collision?
John Galt jr.

John,
It's not time to rejoice yet. Not even close. We can rejoice when we have driven the DEA into the history books. All this election did was give us a playing field that is a whole lot more level for this window of opportunity. This is the same thing that happened after the MMJ bill passed in 1996. During the lull in the fighting, the Feds mobilized and hit the Cannabis Clubs with overwhelming force. I am saying that NOW is the time to take the initiative and go after the war.
Jay Lindberg

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