re: 18 wheeler plows over guy on motorcycle in Slidell

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Darth - it wasn't that long ago (10 to 15 years) when I considered truckers the cream of the driving crop - sharing the road with them on many long drives gave me confidence - they were generally courteous, professional, etc. Lately, I suspect about 1/3 of them (or more) are impaired/distracted - either driving with too little sleep, using phone/tablet or watching movies, "crashing" (pardon the pun) from energy drink/caffeine overuse, or otherwise impaired with drugs and alcohol - I mean, driving is a serious enough business in a sedan - the level of difficulty is way higher in a loaded 18-wheeler. The margin of error is smaller and the consequences can be catastrophic - a large truck can take out several other vehicles quite easily.

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In the past decade or so there's been a flood of new drivers hit the road. Basically they go to a two or three week school to learn to drive an 18 wheeler and then they hit the road. A lot of these guys leave these schools several thousands of dollars in debt (these schools are rather expensive) and in order to repay their debt, these new drivers bend the rules and drive far longer than they are allowed by law (the old two sets of books trick). And many of these guys do things like meth, speed, or just a whole bunch of 5 Hour Energy drinks to keep going. So what you've got is an inexperienced driver who's high and exhausted all at the same time. It's scary to think about.