Observations while driving in Toronto & The GTA.

After driving this streets and highways in and around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) which is Niagara, London, Barrie, Kingston region of Southern Ontario I have some news on what I have seen these past ten years.

1. Passing on 400 series of highways is always done on the RIGHT hand lane. The left hand lane is reserved for those who are self described "I am too important to share the road or am too busy to think about how my driving skills are lacking."

2. There is zero difference between a person using a cellphone and a drunk while driving. These drivers don't signal, don't keep their speed or lane, don't see other drivers, and do cause accidents. Using a cell phone even hands free is not safe. Turn the cell off. Also you can't txt while stopped at a red light its still a ticket. The only time you can be texting while in the car is either while parked off the road, or while a passenger.

3.  Drivers enjoy the thrill and challenge of going from the far left lane into the off ramp at the last possible second while causes everybody behind them to slam on the brakes and cause a possible crash.

4. Fender benders block lanes. If you bump into another car then just pull over into the curb lane and then swap insurance etc. Stop blocking the live lane and causing a more dangerous situation. In some states its illegal to block a live lane if the cars involved can be driven off the road.

5. Trucks and other heavy equipment is NOT the cause of how slow the traffic is going. Truckers want to go as fast as possible in a safest possible way. We are professionals and though we all have our bad days, we are out here in traffic more than you are.

6.Speed limiters on Truck only causes more slow moving traffic and blocked lanes. Our provincial governments. Decided to limit trucks to 105kph. None of those politicians were or have ever driven a truck before. The end result is that trucks in an effort to pass other slower moving trucks are blocking our roads and making all traffic move slower. This might be a good result as speed kills.

7. Driver testing: All G class drivers once they have passed their final test are not tested again till they are 80. This needs to change. Did you know that all professional drivers Class A-F are tested every 5 years? These driver need to pass written and practical tests to keep their licence. We should start to pressure the government to force G class drivers to at least take a written test every 5 years. How often have you come to a set of lights and been confused about the signals? Do you really know what that sign means? Do you know how to safely navigate a "round a bout"?

There is so much a driver needs to learn and keep learning about the roads they are driving. Driving is VERY dangerous. Its a contact sport where we try not to hit each other, but when we do we can kill each other.

Driving is not for the faint of heart, the overly cautious or overly confident. Every day I am reminded how dangerous my job is.

I really can't see you!

I guess with the nights becoming longer and there is more darkness in our work days, I have been noticing or rather not seeing people on/in/by the road as I drive around Toronto and Area. People wearing the tradition BLACK clothing walking where cars even with their headlights on can't see you...

Why Oh Why are you hiding and trying to kill yourself?

People don't seem to understand that dressing in BLACK or dark colours makes you very hard to see at night and in the glare of wet roads?

Can you see the bike?
This is the view from my Truck's window. The biker was riding beside me and pulled up to the car in front of me. There is nothing reflective on his bike. I could barely see him.

Cars and trucks have LIGHTS so that they can been seen.... Bikes are required to have the same during night riding... by law he should get a ticket.

The worst is I could have bumped into him and killed him.... I could not see him until it was too late.

The gov.uk.com site had a great idea.... riders must wear reflective clothing while on the road.

People walking should also ALWAYS wear something reflective when outside.... I really do want to see you.

Yet this evening as I was driving around, I saw about 2 people wearing reflective vests.... so there is hope.

Windy enough for ya?

During the end of April 2011. It was just a tad bit windy. So much so that the Burlington Skyway was closed to truck and car traffic during the day. They even closed the US/Canada border at the Peace Bridge to all truck traffic.

So one my fellow truckers were driving up to the closed border to drop a trailer @ our yard and then go back to the customer for another trailer. About 5 min before he got to the yard, a HUGE gust of wind pushed him and his trailer over on their side and they slid into the ditch!

Yes, the driver is OK. But the truck and the trailer are toasted.

Does your insurance cover "Act of God"?

Justice will not be mine?

Biggest pet peeve of most people is those who you think cut you off in traffic. Well it happens way too much to us professional truck drivers out there. The typical driver in a car or small truck don't see what we do, and we don't see what they do. OK. But if you are driving where a truck driver can't see you, then well you are in a blind spot and we couldn't have cut you off if you were driving in that spot.

So leave 3-4 car lengths of space when passing a in front of a truck to ensure that they see you and can have time to react if you need the space. That's the space you need to be safe.

So this week, and wonderful little Infiniti G35 passed be to an on ramp to the 401. He left only inches between himself and the wall to slip in front of me. Well that same driver was pounding the trunk of his car about ten min later when I passed him... He had TWO flat rear tires and was stuck on the shoulder of the 401 WB.

Giving out parking tickets???

So this past week I was getting more and more annoyed with 4-wheelers who parked in and around loading zones which would make it impossible for me to get loaded and unloaded at the shippers .... So I found online a site which you can get funny tickets to use for jokes... The ones I found were very insulting and nasty. I didn't want to be that mean. So I made my own tickets up and had them printed on neon orange paper at the local copy shop.

Friday I used 6 'tickets'. Four at a grocery store downtown Toronto. This store has a very narrow ramp for the trucks to back down to get unloaded. At the street level there is just enough space to back the truck into and open the rear doors before backing down the ramp. The truck and the ramp are very visible to the car passing that area. The problem is that there looks to be enough space for the truck to get out from the vantage place of the 4-wheelers who decide that they can park in the loading zone... marked by paint and sign age on the wall that its a loading zone and they can be ticketed for parking there. Yet people park there. Its not very close to the store entrance.

So of course while I was trying to back off the street and into the Loading Zone. two cars tried to park in the spot where I needed to go. I just pulled the horn and starting to back up. They moved away. once in the dock I walked back up and told two other cars that it was a loading zone and to find parking in back (which is closer to the store than the parking in front) they moved. I had grabbed a bunch of 'tickets' from the truck knowing that I would have to use them when I was trying to leave. After unloaded for all of 10min. I found three new cars parked in the loading zone. I walked up to each and made a show of witting the 'ticket' and then placing it under the wiper. By the third ticket was being issued. A lady with bags of food came running up to me and starting to plead with me about the ticket. She has no clue that its only the city parking authority who can give out tickets. She was freaking about another ticket which she could not afford.

I took pity on her, and told her that it was a joke ticket and that it is how I vent when people block trucks and myself from working.

What a great laugh!