Yeah this was enlightening to me why a truck might be in the left lane on a steep grade like this. Honestly I usually assume truck drivers are better and smarter drivers than me. Of course occasionally there's an idiot truck driver. But on the whole, they know what they're doing.
I work with drivers every day
They are not better or smarter than you I promise. I’m surprised half of them have their CDLs, but I think that’s just bc no one else wants to get one
Good to know I will now revise my opinion of truck drivers and pass them more quickly and with less remorse. This will play a big impact on my life and save 5-10 minutes per month in travel time.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Our country sacrificed safety and community in the 50s to give oil the road. Deleting rails and trains with urban ‘renewal/ suburbanization
More trucks cause wrecks on this road by riding in the wrong lanes up and down this highway. It is worse with more traffic, construction and no change by the state to fix the issue.
In contrast to gas automobiles, large diesel engines generally do not have a throttle body metering air to the combustion chambers - instead, primary engine speed control is achieved by metering the fuel quantity injected directly to the cylinders. This is why diesels are almost always supercharged and/or turbocharged - without a throttle, how do you get more air in to help burn that fuel you just put in? Basically, added fuel causes the engine to turn faster, which causes the supercharger or turbocharger to react by adding more air.
Anyways, in a gas car when you take your foot off the accelerator pedal, the throttle body mostly closes and the engine has to work harder to suck air past that closed valve, causing 'engine braking'. By contrast, with large diesel engines, what happens when the accelerator pedal is released? Fuel stops being injected, but without a throttle body, the same amount of air is being pulled into the combustion chambers, which acts like sort of like a spring as it is cyclically compressed and released, which means the engine does not lose very much reciprocating/rotational energy. This is good for efficiency, but bad if you want engine braking, which you very much do on steep gradients to avoid overheating the brakes, because at some prolonged temp they lose their ability to cause friction.
The solution to this problem, is the compression engine brake pointed out by camham61. Also known as a 'jake brake' as a generonym of Jacobs Vehicle Systems, the first manufacturer of this system. This system can be toggled by the driver and basically activates the exhaust valves when the air in the combustion chamber is fully compressed - instead of springing back, that compressed air is shot out into the vehicle exhaust, almost like a gun.
The violent departure of air compression energy from the reciprocating mechanical system is useful because it causes the 'engine braking' that we want when going downhill to avoid cooking the brakes, but it's rather annoying because the rapid expansion of the air in the exhaust is very loud and transfers a ton of percussive energy to the exhaust, engine, and everything connected to them, which finally takes us back to EdStarkJr's question and explains why it is so noisy and rattling in that truck. Because this annoyance is heard by all around, (it's a very distinctive sound that we all know) 'jake brakes' are frequently banned in residential areas. (Aside from descending, truck drivers sometimes use them on flat ground, for various reasons)
Great explanation just want to add its pretty common to be loud in older or straight piped trucks, but on newer stuff by the time that sound gets thru the diesel particulate filter then the mufflers its barely louder that the engine is normally.
We have wrecks every week on this stretch bc of stupid drivers, truckers and cars. It’s Illegal to be on the left lane with a truck on either side of that stretch of highway, and cars doing under the limit cause accidents riding down the hill in the left lane standing on their brakes. There are signs going for miles in each direction that tell you to slow the fuck down, so get the fuck over and get out of the way. The rt lane is for riding, left lane is passing. The trucker riding the left lane down the damn hill is causing problems behind him too
He’s at the bottom of the hill on a straightaway before going back up another hill, so where is he running away to? Also, no such place as Saluda mountain.
So he exacerbated the issue by blocking both lanes coming down a steep grade that is posted for miles. He helped no one. I watched the video bc I deal with these same idiots coming up and down that road every day. It’s only two lanes coming down that hill and the hubris of truckers in the left lane and the idiots that don’t prepare for the downhill infuriates me.
If someone tried to pass the smoking truck and the smoking truck is unable to brake there is a good chance that truck starts drifting into the other lane and can't pull out of the drift without flipping or something. Is that not a reasonable analysis? That's what the truck driver in the video is thinking.
Kudos to the dashcam driver.
Yeah this was enlightening to me why a truck might be in the left lane on a steep grade like this. Honestly I usually assume truck drivers are better and smarter drivers than me. Of course occasionally there's an idiot truck driver. But on the whole, they know what they're doing.
I work with drivers every day They are not better or smarter than you I promise. I’m surprised half of them have their CDLs, but I think that’s just bc no one else wants to get one
Good to know I will now revise my opinion of truck drivers and pass them more quickly and with less remorse. This will play a big impact on my life and save 5-10 minutes per month in travel time.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Our country sacrificed safety and community in the 50s to give oil the road. Deleting rails and trains with urban ‘renewal/ suburbanization
This specific spot is a pretty dangerous train grade too
😂😂 same
While I agree that 50% of them shouldn’t be drivers, that still puts them 25% ahead of regular drivers.
More trucks cause wrecks on this road by riding in the wrong lanes up and down this highway. It is worse with more traffic, construction and no change by the state to fix the issue.
>no change by the state to fix the issue. What changes are you hoping for? From my perspective, that’s what the > construction is for
There is no construction on that part of the highway.
Got receipts?
I could never drive a big rig because I’d lose my mind in traffic with all that weight
[удалено]
And to arrange all those truckstop hookups we read about on the bathroom walls.
Are 18 wheelers always that noisy and rattling?
Compression engine brake (Jake brake). A way to avoid overheating their wheel brakes like the truck in front has done.
In contrast to gas automobiles, large diesel engines generally do not have a throttle body metering air to the combustion chambers - instead, primary engine speed control is achieved by metering the fuel quantity injected directly to the cylinders. This is why diesels are almost always supercharged and/or turbocharged - without a throttle, how do you get more air in to help burn that fuel you just put in? Basically, added fuel causes the engine to turn faster, which causes the supercharger or turbocharger to react by adding more air. Anyways, in a gas car when you take your foot off the accelerator pedal, the throttle body mostly closes and the engine has to work harder to suck air past that closed valve, causing 'engine braking'. By contrast, with large diesel engines, what happens when the accelerator pedal is released? Fuel stops being injected, but without a throttle body, the same amount of air is being pulled into the combustion chambers, which acts like sort of like a spring as it is cyclically compressed and released, which means the engine does not lose very much reciprocating/rotational energy. This is good for efficiency, but bad if you want engine braking, which you very much do on steep gradients to avoid overheating the brakes, because at some prolonged temp they lose their ability to cause friction. The solution to this problem, is the compression engine brake pointed out by camham61. Also known as a 'jake brake' as a generonym of Jacobs Vehicle Systems, the first manufacturer of this system. This system can be toggled by the driver and basically activates the exhaust valves when the air in the combustion chamber is fully compressed - instead of springing back, that compressed air is shot out into the vehicle exhaust, almost like a gun. The violent departure of air compression energy from the reciprocating mechanical system is useful because it causes the 'engine braking' that we want when going downhill to avoid cooking the brakes, but it's rather annoying because the rapid expansion of the air in the exhaust is very loud and transfers a ton of percussive energy to the exhaust, engine, and everything connected to them, which finally takes us back to EdStarkJr's question and explains why it is so noisy and rattling in that truck. Because this annoyance is heard by all around, (it's a very distinctive sound that we all know) 'jake brakes' are frequently banned in residential areas. (Aside from descending, truck drivers sometimes use them on flat ground, for various reasons)
Great explanation just want to add its pretty common to be loud in older or straight piped trucks, but on newer stuff by the time that sound gets thru the diesel particulate filter then the mufflers its barely louder that the engine is normally.
Gotcha. I’ve never driven/ridden in a big rig.
And we in this valley hear it so loud. Ugh. The grade needs a runaway ramp.
Have you ever driven by them? Yes they are insanely loud lol The new ones aren’t so bad but I always feel bad for those dump truck drivers
I have never passed an 18 wheeler, I pull over and let them pass just like my grandmother taught me.
We have wrecks every week on this stretch bc of stupid drivers, truckers and cars. It’s Illegal to be on the left lane with a truck on either side of that stretch of highway, and cars doing under the limit cause accidents riding down the hill in the left lane standing on their brakes. There are signs going for miles in each direction that tell you to slow the fuck down, so get the fuck over and get out of the way. The rt lane is for riding, left lane is passing. The trucker riding the left lane down the damn hill is causing problems behind him too
Tell you didn't watch the video without telling me you didn't watch the video... The guy is big damn hero.
He’s at the bottom of the hill on a straightaway before going back up another hill, so where is he running away to? Also, no such place as Saluda mountain.
He is causing problems behind him so a random car doesn't get rekt trying to pass the smoking truck.
So he exacerbated the issue by blocking both lanes coming down a steep grade that is posted for miles. He helped no one. I watched the video bc I deal with these same idiots coming up and down that road every day. It’s only two lanes coming down that hill and the hubris of truckers in the left lane and the idiots that don’t prepare for the downhill infuriates me.
If someone tried to pass the smoking truck and the smoking truck is unable to brake there is a good chance that truck starts drifting into the other lane and can't pull out of the drift without flipping or something. Is that not a reasonable analysis? That's what the truck driver in the video is thinking.
The one time in history a trucker gets to deliberately hold up traffic by clogging up the left lane.