Question:
You hear a lot about “road rage”. It’s when you channel your anger into irrational action behind the wheel, like honking your horn or cutting someone off or giving the finger…or otherwise deviating from safe, courteous operation by letting your emotions get the best of you.
Everyone understands, in principle, that this is a bad thing and potentially dangerous. Of course – we’re emotional beings and it’s perfectly normal to get angry from time to time. Controlling this anger is the difference between safe, defensive and courteous operation, and what’s commonly called “road rage”. You sit there and may say to yourself, “I’d like to yank that jerk out of his car and beat him to an inch of his life”, but you back off and let them in. You control your anger and try to react logically, instead of emotionally.
Well guess what? Road rage is just one of the “rages” you’ll have to deal with. There’s also:
Dispatch rage.
Fuel island rage.
Receiver rage.
Enforcement rage.
Mechanic rage.
Bathroom rage. (does anyone replace the toilet paper and hand soap anymore?)
Rage -- the inability to control your emotions and react logically -- is universal, wheather behind the wheel, or talking to dispatch, a customer or a vendor.
It's all the same thing. It's "rage".
Therefore:
Look at yourself and your personality. Do you scream at your wife and kids? Do you put your fist through the wall on occasion? You tell-off store clerks when they’re not serving your to your expectations? Do you frequently get angry and then have to go back and apologize later for what you said or did? Do you have trouble controlling your EMOTIONS?
If so, think twice about becoming a professional driver – a job that’s one potentially frustrating situation after another. You have to stay focused and control your behavior – not just behind the wheel, but with many other similarly frustrating situations you run into every single day. Be honest with yourself. If you can’t control your anger now, you’re not going to change overnight – you’re going to be miserable and perhaps dangerous to yourself and others out here. And it goes without saying, losing your temper with your boss or customers don’t accomplish much either.
The best decisions are made when you're calm and logical.
Our worst decisions are based on our "feelings" at the moment.
There are drivers who think this is a bunch of psycho-babble bunk (watch the responses from some on this thread) and that one is less of a “man” or “woman” by not expressing their anger when they’ve been wronged. Some justify their behavior with, such and such "made me so angry I couldn’t help myself…” – as if that’s an acceptable excuse, or that acting on ones' "feelings" trumps logic. We learn these attitudes from our parents, mentors and role-models. The immediate satisfaction is a suductive addiction, and if you were raised to believe that your "feelings" are more important than logic.....you're going to have a tough time as a professional driver.
This job takes infinite patience with the sheer stupidity, dysfunction and outright ill-will you have to deal with on a daily basis. You have to stay focused and logical as you encounter these difficulties.
None of us are perfect in this regard. We're mere humans - emotional beings - and we've all lost our temper. We can't be Star-Trek's Dr. Spock all the time.
But the better you’re able to fight these urges, control your anger (your emotions) and stay logical, the better you’ll do this job and maintain your sanity. In fact, I believe the safest, most professional and probably most "successful" drivers out here (not to mention the happiest) are those who have some insight into their emotional content, and know how to handle themself when they drift out of control.


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I had my left front steer tire blow out yesterday at 74 miles an hour. Called the boss and he said he knew I had a bad one. I then experienced rage. Do you think I should quit driving now.

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Not until you park the truck on the boss's personal vehicle.

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I've always been a #@@^%%&&*&%$ calm person, you got that you %%$$#@!^&&^%...er

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I am a grouchy old man to begin with, becoming filled with "rage" doesnt take much.

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The jerry springer mentaility is spreading

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Hey stuffs, the same thing happened to me this fri. near Lafayette,in. It wouldnt
have been so bad if it was just the blown steer tire, but when it blew at around 75mph it also blew half my hood and fender off and twisted the front bumper.YIKES! Did the same thing happen to your truck? I had it towed to the chevrolet dealer in LAfayette, for they were the only one in town that do body work on big trucks. Fortunately its covered by my insurance and the dealer was nice enough to lend me a loaner car to go back home until
the truck is up and running. This was the first time I EVER blew a steer tire and the tire wasnt even 6 months old . Didn't know one blown steer tire could cause that much damage!Whew!Disclaimer:Pick too ugly to post at this time,LOL.

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I would of done that if it was closer to me.
Nope, didn't loose and body parts. Just a big hole in the side wall and alot of chewed up rubber but it stayed on. Got lucky I guess.

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If it blew the sidewall, there was probabluy a slight "bump" there before it blew -- that might be what your boss was referring to Stuffs when he indicated he suspected you might have a problem. Hitting a curb or otherwise stressing the sidewall can create damage that may turn into a bump or "pimple" as it gets worse over time, and may eventually fail and blow.
This kind of pre-trip detail usually isn't covered in truck schol or safety meetings, but it's probably a good idea to examine both the outside and inside steer sidewals from time to time. If you find even a slight bump, it means the sidewall is losing it's integrity. Hardly anyone checks for this, including me most of the time, but your mention reminded me I probably should.....
Assuming this is what your boss observed, Stuffs, I'm amazed he didn't bring it to your attention. (rage) But then again....it would have meant spending a few hundred bucks on new twin steer tires.... He was probably crossing his fingers a hoping it didn't kill you before the tread wore down. Hey -- at least he checks things like that. We have to do it ourselves and have to beg for new tires if they've still got legal tread.....

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Hey Shuffler, no bump or pimples present. They guy hit a speed bump to hard though and said it might have caused the damage. Probably seperated the steel belt under the rubber, not visible on this one.
All I know is after 4k miles or so it blew.
Also take note. If your post is at the bottom of the page or on the next page the interest has died. Or there wasn't much to begin with.

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Ok

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what about 'Loading Dock Rage' ?
Like where someone WATCHES you back up to the dock and parks there harley in front of the dock your backing up to, so you kindly ask them to move because your obviously going to back up there and they tell you to F off, so you back up over there bike. Not that that has ever happened before

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I think backing over the harley, would put you into the Loading Dock Rage (THERAPY) category...wouldn't it? I know it would do wonders for my loading dock rage

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Hmmm... might not've been so serious had you been driving the speed limit of 60 mph... ya think? (or 65 if the signs were changed)
MrClark; back after a hiatus and just HAD to comment on this one —Groucho Marx 1890-1977

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About time Mr.C.
I have hung up the keys since you last posted.
Big