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For the last couple of years, I've been driving a large box truck back and forth across the country as part of my duties as an art handler. During this time, I've run through a large spectrum of experiences while driving. For the most part, I've enjoyed my time on the road. The feeling of liberation that comes with open road travel is very real and it is wonderful to experience the US from so many angles.

However, it has come to my attention on many occasions that those who share the road with trucks of my size and larger are oftentimes ignorant of many basic principles concerning truck driving. This article will hopefully illuminate some of the more common misconceptions concerning the relationships of regular sized automobiles and the semi trucks.
In order to understand a truck, it is important to have a good grasp on what the word "inertia" means. Inertia is the property of matter to stay in motion when in motion, and to stay at rest when at rest. It takes energy to both slow a body of matter which is in motion, and energy to force a resting body of matter into motion. Size is a very large factor for inertia. The larger and more massive an object, the more energy is required to both stop and start its cycles motion.
What does that have to do with trucks? you ask. Well, relative to the average car, a truck has a much higher rate of inertia. The truck I drive, for example, weighs in at 13 tons when it's empty (my truck is one of the smallest on the road). The average car on US roads is 2 tons. So, for my truck to either speed up, or slow down, it takes a much larger amount of energy than the average car. This translates into a slower, more gradual change in speed.
Other drivers should be aware that a truck entering a highway on an entrance ramp does not have the luxury of zipping into traffic. We have to lumber into traffic, trying our best to fit into the flow as gracefully as possible with a vehicle at least 6 and half times heavier than most everyone else's. So, give us a break on the exit ramps and please move to the left lane if at all possible. We aren't trying to cut you off, but when we run out of ramp we are often not entirely up to speed.
Because of inertia, trucks also cannot stop on a dime. It is highly inadvisable to pull into a truck's lane unless you have at least 3 or 4 car lengths between the rear of your car and the front a truck. If you stop quickly and the truck behind you is too close, that truck will not be able to halt its forward momentum

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