“We usually stop somewhere in Arizona and wait until it’s time to go.” Landis and his wife Toni go to California every week hauling produce, poultry and dry goods.
#Long bumpy road full#
“Rest areas in California are full by 3 or 4 p.m., and rest areas are few and far between,” says Landis. The state also made it onto the top five for Worst Roads, Least Available Overnight Parking and Worst Truck Stops. “In California, the inspections are just plain ridiculous,” Connot says. Other respondents agree about the enforcement California again topped the list of states with the toughest inspections and law enforcement. We realize there are a lot of cars, but the enforcement should lay off the trucks trucks are usually going within 5 mph of the speed limit, but cars are guaranteed to be doing 10 or 20 mph above.”
#Long bumpy road drivers#
“California car drivers don’t like big trucks,” say the Dancys, who are leased to Jim Palmer Trucking.
“People are in too big of a hurry.”Īnd where is the highest concentration of bad four-wheelers? Readers say California – though a smaller percentage also rank the state as fourth for the best four-wheelers. Road rage is a daily occurrence, says Randy Estes of Beattyville, Ky., a steel hauler who has been driving for about 16 years. “If you leave enough following space, someone just has to squeeze in there. You don’t have to do anything to earn it,” he says. “You make someone mad just by changing lanes. There’s no courtesy left out there anymore.”Ĭonnot is one of those who’s convinced the problem has worsened. “I’ve seen cars fight for the same piece of highway. People flip me off because I’m in their way,” Landis says. “I’ve seen so many wrecks and people cutting each other off. And another 27 percent of truckers last year said they believe it’s as bad as it was in 2002. Almost 60 percent of respondents think road rage has increased in the past year. One highway hazard that is not getting better is road rage.
#Long bumpy road driver#
“Louisiana is getting better, but even in the hammer lane, you’ll get bumped out of the bed while the driver hangs on to the steering wheel,” say Pam and Cliff Dancy of Deer Lodge, Mont., who haul reefer loads across 48 states. People want added capacity and better roads, but they don’t want the inconvenience.” All that money has paid off a little: I-10 through Louisiana was voted fifth Most Improved. “We’re always doing construction along the main roads. “There is a tremendous amount of truck traffic through the state, so when you have that kind of traffic, it does tremendous damage,” she says. Louisiana spends roughly $250 million preserving its roads and about $125 million on adding lanes and new bridges, says Tracy Horne, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development public information officer. “But they build wonderful bridges in Louisiana. “Louisiana roads are just rough,” says Dean Connot of Blossom, Texas, who has been driving for 10 years. “And if everything wasn’t locked down, then it ended up on the floor.”Īnother state frequently near the top of the Worst Roads category of the Highway Report Card is Louisiana, so it’s not surprising that the state ranked second this year. “We used to not get any sleep going through there, the way the roads were messed up,” he says. “I used to say that the worst roads were in Arkansas, but they have done a wonderful job on I-40.”Īrchie Landis of Hartford, Ala., an independent owner-operator who has been driving for 26 years, voted for I-40 through Arkansas as being the most improved road. “My wife and I run team across 48 states and Canada,” he says. We had about 356 miles to repair, and we spent about $970 million over about 50 projects.”īill Taylor of Meriden, Conn., who is leased to Logistics Express out of Orange, Calif., is among those who appreciate Arkansas’ progress. “We have probably done 15 or 20 years’ worth of work in five years. “This is the fourth year of our ambitious program, and everything is on schedule, and we are happy with the results and that it’s coming to an end,” says Glenn Bolick, public information officer for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Overdrive readers chose the state as having the nation’s worst roads. Unfortunately, Arkansas, which has been among the top five of the Worst Roads list for about a decade, still isn’t out of the woods. Two of the main stretches across Arkansas, I-40 and I-30, topped this year’s Most Improved list in Overdrive’s Highway Report Card. But four years into its five-year road reconstruction program, Arkansas is making progress that truckers are noticing. The road to success has been long and rough for Arkansas. WEAKEST ON TRUCK INSPECTIONS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT TOUGHEST ON TRUCK INSPECTIONS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
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