I guess I am missing something here. Steering wheel holders?

Daytime - I give 'em a flash or two

Night - lights on/off. Impolite to use high beams.

If they flash me to let me in, I give the 4 way flashers a quick hit to say thanks.

Steve

 

This whole thing started when 2 rigs were passing one another on 2 lane highways and it took lots of time to pass. The truck being passed would flash it's lights to let the passing driver know the trailer had cleared his rig and there was room to come back over. The flashing of the high beams started when the european style signal light lever became available on the North American cars which is not what is was meant for but to tell the driver ahead you are in the passing lane please move over. Day or night the high beam thing can be irritating as the truck mirrors are aimed directly in the drivers face and at night is dangerous due to the temporary blindness it causes. 2-3 flash of the taillights is just fancier and more creative than dipping the running/tailights to say thankyou. On 4 lane roadways I myself prefer any body passing to please leave more room before pulling in as space should not be a problem and it is easier on the paint, windshields and lights. It would appear truckers are signalling RV'ers when to "come in" as most have limited experience in distance judgement and there have been several incidents of collision due to lack of space when coming back over. "Steering wheel holders" vs a true proffesional driver- ie: one that cares about others and drives accordingly. PK

 

Very good explination

 

Ah, hah. Thanks.

I guess I count myself as a pro then. The way I figure, anything I can do to assist a big rig on the road makes it safer for me, him and everyone around us.
Thanks for the definition.

Steve

 

I used to pull triples, a van and a pup, and 2 vans up and down the Kansas turnpike. We are allowed 120,000 lbs and 199' long.

 

You're doing it right.

A steering wheel holder is just that, someone who just holds the steering wheel. There's a lot more to driving a truck. It's a common expression we have for the rookies who think they know all there is to know about trucking.

 

You gotta be an old geezer, before cb and before high powered trucks. Going down the highway in the fifties, one blink of the headlights would bring a double blink from the opposing truck if there was a cop and a single blink meant get it on. In the day time there were finger signals to roll it if no cops.

Passing another truck on a hill was a long a drawn out process, holding up traffic or being in the wrong lane of a two lane. When clear the passed truck would blink his headlights to signal the passing truck to come back in. He would thank him by a couple of blinks of the marker lights, generally a short and a long.

Then in about 1970 DOT started to bring safety to trucking (???) They passed a law that all the lights had to come on with the headlights. At first there was only a jumper to remove to split the switches for one each, for head and marker lights. Later it became complicated. Companies added the marker blink switch to alleviate this but the headlights were a pain, to blink them everything went out, so blinking the high beams became the vogue. Actually the blink of the high beam is more noticable, especially with tow mirrors on a Dodge, it is hard to see the blink on them.

Die hards like me, rewire the switches for seperate controll as in the old days and use 50 amp long toggle switches. Like Kennedy said, soon came the European high beam switch on the column, made it easier to just blink the high beams. Then use a couple of blinks of the emergency flashers for the marker blink.

Crowded freeways now have sort of eliminated most truckers from using the light signals. If you are running 67 and trucks are constantly passing, it just gets rediculous but many like me do it out of habit anyway. Want to identify a steering wheel holder that does not have the experience, he is the one that blinks the headlights two or three times.

These new trucks are a pain to rewire. It took most of a day to take the dash apart, trace what wires on the harness did what, mount the switches, and not cut the harness. Never did the Dodge, it is even worse but could be done, a couple of relays, a new little panel where the headlight switch is and two toggles. But on the Dodge the interior lights are part of it, the high and low of the computer lighting is part of it, the brightness of the dash lights are part of it. A genuine pain. On my Freightliner it has two toggles and a brake kill switch on the same panel and all the original holes filled with oem switches. Works great.

Going down the highway now, only one out of three or four trucks will even blink the thankyou. Many do know the double headlight blink to warn of a cop or accident. Many lives are saved by this simple signal. Going down the highway and an oncoming car or truck gives you two blinks of the headlights, get in the defence mode, something is up ahead, still works.

Also as DOT progresses, making trucks safer, many have taillights on with the headlights, seperate from the markers, complicated pigtails, the trailers may or may not be wired to what the tractor is. Sometimes a truck will blink the markers and you will see only the top markers blink, but no rear lights. Progress.... such a great thing.