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Overload of the Day

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,430
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
Here we have lights that are seriously delayed on Yellow and others that once on yellow go almost immediately Red.
Are days I am running loads thru a larger town with multiple lights, no need to get antsy as to going thru town as generally get caught at every light. Several are quick where have been under thirty feet from one when swapped yellow and could not stop running forty five mph. Blew thru a red with a cop right beside me did same, no cherries, no stop, never made a motion to indicate would and we moved right along.
 

Northern mb

Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2020
Messages
14
Location
Manitoba
As a general rule I think the American road and traffic system is much superior to Canadian or for sure Manitoba. But I ddo really appreciate that at pretty much all major traffic lights in Manitoba there are warning lights a couple hundred yards ahead of the lights that flash if the light will be yellow or red when you get there
 

gwhammy

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2013
Messages
602
Location
missouri
Biggest city I drive loaded in is Columbia Mo. which is small to most people. I never get in a hurry loaded, no use running hard just to have to jam on the brakes. County I live in has no actual stop lights in it just flashing reds at stop signs. I like it that way.
 

ianjoub

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2018
Messages
1,437
Location
Homosassa, FL USA
It seems some lights stay on yellow longer than others. Why don't they set them up to flash yellow like three times while the green is on before changing? Same switching from from yellow to red. I can't imagine living in really hilly country and towing heavy.
The wouldn't be able to write as many tickets if they did that.
 

Spud_Monkey

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2018
Messages
6,437
Location
Your six
Occupation
Decommissioned
Spokane WA has a nasty green to red on W Sharp and N Division intersection. Just picked up current trailer I have now from there and never been through the city, so in middle of trying to get out of town, avoiding jaywalking pedestrians and not familiar with current set up I blew that light, I seen it coming and not a thing I could do except lay on the horn, had there been a spring chicken there I would of cremated them, instead I got lucky and got a local PD sitting at the intersection watching it all.
As expected pulled over and they were dumb founded on what to do since I was on fine line of commercial and private entity, ended up getting DOT and state patrol out there to figure out how to get through the bureaucracy of who's jurisdiction I was in to write the ticket.
 

Old Doug

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
4,484
Location
Mo
It seems some lights stay on yellow longer than others. Why don't they set them up to flash yellow like three times while the green is on before changing? Same switching from from yellow to red. I can't imagine living in really hilly country and towing heavy.
My dad brought some bread trucks i towed 3 of the 4 with my 1969 c10 250 4 speed. We towed them with a chain through a pipe . Not far from the place was a big down hill with a light at the bottom i figured out when i started down hill and the light was just turning red dont try to stop but if it was green slow down until it turned red then buy the time i was at the light it would be green.
 

Keith Merrell

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2020
Messages
237
Location
Cottonwood, AZ
It seems some lights stay on yellow longer than others. Why don't they set them up to flash yellow like three times while the green is on before changing? Same switching from from yellow to red. I can't imagine living in really hilly country and towing heavy.

As soon as I started driving a heavy truck, I realized how crappy the lights were set up. There are parts here in Prescott where you have many many lights in a row on a pretty good downhill stretch, I'll usually back it down because I figure the light will change but everyone behind you hates that, so they pull right in front of you and then the light changes and they jam their brakes because they can stop on a dime in a little car where you'd just roll the yellow etc etc :rolleyes:
 

John C.

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
12,865
Location
Northwest
Occupation
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Was coming through Kent in an empty dump truck in the rain. Saw the light change so was off the throttle and coasting with my foot lightly on the brake. Idiot pulls from the left side of the road, goes through the turn lane into my lane and slams on the brake. I put more foot in the pedal and the truck just slides. Felt like it actually went faster. Anyway it's a sick feeling when the stopped car was a hundred feet away and I knew I need a hundred five feet to get the truck stopped. I sure wished that they had those dash board cameras back then.
 

Old Doug

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
4,484
Location
Mo
Osceola Iowa has several lights it takes a very powerful truck to get through more than one at a time. I was very lucky i didnt get in trouble in Iowa towing stuff back to Missouri. I have a lot better truck now but every one is gone that i towed stuff for .
 

hosspuller

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2014
Messages
1,869
Location
North Carolina
.... I put more foot in the pedal and the truck just slides. Felt like it actually went faster. Anyway it's a sick feeling when the stopped car was a hundred feet away and I knew I need a hundred five feet to get the truck stopped. ...

Your butt accelerometer didn't fail you... Once the tires started to slide, the brakes stopped converting motion into heat. In the days before anti-lock brakes, disk brakes were better because one could modulate them right up to the point of skidding unlike drum brakes that self energized.
 

Truck Shop

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
16,544
Location
WWW.
I drive defensibly all the time, When I'm behind the wheel of a truck even more so.
I don't care if I'm holding up traffic, I can only drive what the traffic situation can or
will allow at that moment. You can't allow someone in a car/cars to cause you to hurry.
The guy who ran the light above has been living in this town his whole life, like 50
years worth, he drives that stretch 3 times a week or more.

Driving? Try crossing a interchange like the L.A. bottleneck from a standing stop on 10
headed north and you have to cross 4 lanes of traffic to make the hammer lane ramp
in a 1/4 mile.
 

Spud_Monkey

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2018
Messages
6,437
Location
Your six
Occupation
Decommissioned
I drive defensibly all the time, When I'm behind the wheel of a truck even more so.
I don't care if I'm holding up traffic, I can only drive what the traffic situation can or
will allow at that moment. You can't allow someone in a car/cars to cause you to hurry.
The guy who ran the light above has been living in this town his whole life, like 50
years worth, he drives that stretch 3 times a week or more.

Driving? Try crossing a interchange like the L.A. bottleneck from a standing stop on 10
headed north and you have to cross 4 lanes of traffic to make the hammer lane ramp
in a 1/4 mile.
Sounds like driving through Seattle, oh good times...
 

suladas

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
1,731
Location
Canada
The time the yellow lasts here depends on the speed limit and if it's a truck route. And pretty much any light at or above 50 mph has the warning lights ahead of time, some even at slower speed. Long as i'm on a truck route it's really hard to get caught at a light even loaded. It's the non truck routes with 35 mph limits where it's more of a concern, if i'm hauling my 210 on these most are narrow too and I will never even go the speed limit. The biggest issue is other drivers like getting cut off at a light.

I found out last fall my trailer brakes are working perfectly though. Few vehicles up someone braked checked someone else, going downhill at 45 mph came to a complete stop. I never knew my truck could stop that fast, dump truck had load of concrete on, empty trailer saved me. Left 2 perfect skid marks for like 150'. They were dahm lucky a end dump wasn't coming down at the same time, a "new Canadian" company was hauling down there and the guys were flying 50 mph easy and I will bet every penny I have none of the trucks are in ideal working condition, there is not a chance in hell one of them would have stopped.
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,274
Location
sw missouri
dump truck had load of concrete on, empty trailer saved me. Left 2 perfect skid marks for like 150'. They were dahm lucky a end dump wasn't coming down at the same time,

You really have no idea how brakes and loaded and empty works do you? Your empty trailer that was locked up- contributed absolutely nothing to braking your loaded truck. It was just along for the ride.
 

suladas

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
1,731
Location
Canada
You really have no idea how brakes and loaded and empty works do you? Your empty trailer that was locked up- contributed absolutely nothing to braking your loaded truck. It was just along for the ride.

Oh I do, and it absolutely did, I would question your knowledge on brakes if you believe it wouldn't. How would the brakes locking up not significantly help stopping distance? The trailer weights nearly 16,000lbs empty and has 12 tires on the ground, it stopped the truck dead.
 

Birken Vogt

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
5,305
Location
Grass Valley, Ca
Trailer with the brakes locked up, the friction surface is now between the tire and the road instead of the shoe and the drum, but energy is still getting dissipated and plenty of it. But cost per foot braked has increased substantially. Also nothing is telling the trailer that it needs to follow the truck any more, it can feel free to slide left or right since the wheels are no longer rollers, they are now sliders with no particular direction that they want to go.
 
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