When travelling along the motorway I notice that on some occasions a lorry will indicate to pass another lorry in front. It then takes then about 3 miles to complete the manoeuvre, all they succeeded in doing was hold up 2 lanes of traffic and gain one place but not being able to put any distance between them and the lorry they over took....which will probably indicate to overtake a couple of miles down the road
Any ideas why they insist on caring out this pointless action.....
Ps this is not a rant/compliant as it usually doesn't affect me....it just intrigues me
They may have "gained one place", but spread that over a 250 mile journey and a lorry driver can gain a good number of miles over what they would achieve if they were to remain behind a slightly slower lorry.
Now, consider this. In any 24 hour period a lorry driver, by law, can only drive for an accumulative period of 4 1/2 hours before requiring a 45 minute break, and then have another 4 1/2 hours driving. A digital recording is made on an inserted tachograph card which contains the driver's personal details - this is downloaded usually weekly. A lot of drivers are maxed out in terms of these legal hours. So in relation to this 'maxed out' tendency, consider the following scenario.
A driver goes from one place to another, and this journey is recorded at 4 hours 29 minutes (this does happen). He has his mandatory 45 minute break. He has a fresh 4 1/2 hours to make his return journey, knowing it'll take 4 hours 29. There is a tiny margin to account for hold-ups. He cannot afford to go any slower than the 56 mph his vehicle is limited to. What other option has he got than to max out his speed on the return journey?
This is one reason why lorry driver spend 3 miles overtaking. His journey is not just that 3 miles - it may be an additional 247 miles. If he traveled at 55 mph instead of the 56 that his vehicle is limited to, he would not touch base within the legal 4 1/2 hours. All tachograph records are analysed, and the courts are particularly harsh for infringements.
Add to this the natural human tendency to acquire as many resources for as little work as possible, and psychologically, driving a lorry at a slower pace than it can actually go translates as "unproductive" and "un-progessive", regardless of how irrational that sounds. Whoever said humans are always rational? It could be asked "what do motorists gain by tailgating?", "why do motorists jump red lights?" and "why do motorists speed?" - the answer: because people are operating from a place from which they like to 'progress', no matter how small a gain they make - lorry drivers included. Not to mention the power of the capitalist paradigm in which we all live whereby workers are valued by how fast they go, and how much they produce, as opposed to the quality of their work.
Against an evolutionary principle of 'the early bird always catches the worm', and the capitalist backdrop which privileges winners, is it any wonder the psychological state of most lorry drivers is one which creates dissonance at not reaching their absolute maximum potential? - like any driver of any vehicle? No person is an island, and no person is divorced from the cultural context they inhabit.
The next time you are driving and a situation arises in which you have to consciously repress your maximum potential for a prolonged period of time, and also your desires to 'get ahead', think about how psychologically difficult it is to actually do so, and you may then become enlightened in relation to your own question.
