Proper Highway Positioning

So we've done our pre-trip checklist. We've checked the tires. Did our walk-around. Important thing on the outside is also, make sure that the electrical cord is unplugged, put away, that the TV antenna is down, that we have the steps in. Then we're gonna put our seatbelt on.

We've already adjusted our mirrors, and we know where everything's running here. Hands at a nine and three, as we go down the road. So let's go out on the highway. We're gonna go out in the interstate, and we're gonna talk about positioning, out as you're driving down the road. Kind of the first step, but a lotta new owners have a tendency to go a little bit to the right-hand side, and I'll show you why.

Wait for start. All right, our air is up. Air brakes are off. In drive. Here we go.

One of the things I always tell the first timers, new owners, is to get out and practice in places that you're not in congestion. Don't put yourself into tight areas, tight turns and so forth. We're gonna have a tight turn coming out of this parking lot here. We've got a mailbox right in the way. We've got a two-lane highway, lots of traffic.

So I'm gonna make a pretty wide swing when I come outta here. I suggest people go into a large parking lot, like a church during the weekdays, or junior college on the weekends. And we've got an opportunity now. And just get out in the wide open space when you're trying to practice, so you've got a lot of room. And so with that, we're gonna go out to the interstate.

And this is a pretty low-traveled interstate. It's nice and wide. Interstate lanes are gonna be 14 feet wide, so I have some good room to position and to maneuver. So our first point of positioning is right here, starting on the on-ramp. The thing that I have to realize, I know my abilities.

I know how fast I can go, how much acceleration I can get into. Merging into this is an important part of driving and positioning. I wanna make sure I look, I'm using my mirrors. I've looked very well through here. Do I need to slow down or speed up with oncoming traffic?

A lot of times they'll get over for me, but if they don't, I need to make sure I'm yielding on this area here. So with this one, I do see the car on the other side did get out on the other lane, but he's quite a ways back. And so I just ease into traffic. If I would've had somebody there, I woulda slowed down and come in. So I kinda know my positioning, and what I can get into.

Now the thing that a lot of new time, or first time, drivers will do, is they have a tendency to be a little bit too much to the right-hand side of the lane. And the reason is, and that's whether your truck and trailer, or fifth wheel, or motorized, is you're used to driving a six foot wide car. And that car you position yourself on the highway, and even though I have 14 feet here, I position myself kind of in the middle. Well, now I'm driving an 8 1/2 foot wide motorhome, and if I put myself in the same driver's position I do in my car, I'm about two feet over onto the shoulder. So I need to adjust as I go down the road.

And the way you do this, you use the mirrors. I've got on the right-hand side of every highway is a white lane, and that is painted in there so that you have something to stare at if there's fog, or if there's bright lights coming at you, but it's a real good friend for RV drivers to help position. So I'll have the left-hand side is my white lines, or white dashes, and the right-hand side is a white lane. I use my left and right, and I know where I have to position myself as I'm going down the road. And this is something you're just gonna start to realize, even with truck and trailer.

You're driving a truck that you used to, but you're pulling a trailer that's gonna stick out about two feet wider than what your truck is. So a lot of people like to drive with their rearview mirror, or excuse me, rearview camera on this one here. This will also kinda help tell me, positioning wise, where I'm at. So another part of positioning when we're out in the highway, is positioning according to other traffic. How far away, how close do you want to be?

And you know, when we first started driving, the following distance was to be one car length for every 10 miles an hour, and they've changed that now to just a straight, flat-out, two seconds for the average car. So let's say we're going down the road here, and I want to know I have a two second following distance. I'm gonna use this white truck that just pulled in. This sign right here, thousand one, thousand two. And I actually have a larger following distance, but he shot in, in front of me.

So I'm just doing a nice 60 miles an hour right now. I probably wold go up a little higher in a typical interstate to about 65 is kind of my comfort range. Because I know it's 65 miles an hour, I can speed up a little more, I'm not at full throttle, I can decrease a little bit. And so here's what I do. I got that truck ahead of me, mile marker, thousand one, thousand two.

Okay, I'm gonna slow down just a little bit, because the two second following distance is for a normal car traveling at 60 miles an hour on the interstate. Your breaking distance on an RV is gonna be almost twice that of a car, because of the weight that you have, the momentum that you have. So in my opinion, it's a good idea to give you about three second following distance. So we watch this truck up in the front here, and we see there he gets past the mile mark, thousand one, thousand two, thousand three. I like this following distance.

And what happens, like we saw just earlier, we get the little cars, if I'm going 65 miles an hour, and I give myself a three second following distance, one of these cars is gonna shoot in and get jump in right behind me, and then I don't have that following distance anymore. If they slow down, all I have to do is drop two miles an hour like this, and in about 15 seconds, they're out of my comfort zone. And that's one of the things I like to do when I'm driving an RV. I get on the interstate like this, I kinda look for that pocket. That's what you're gonna find.

When you're driving down the road, you've got all these people. This trucks coming up the hill up here, he's gonna start to slow down, you get somebody that tries to pass, or two cars, or two semis, one trying to pass the other one. You just get this congestion that's up in the hill. Stay away from that. Just back off two miles an hour.

Get this nice pocket like I have right here. Now I'm back up to 65 miles an hour now, and I still have a good following distance. I have good cushion. I don't have to worry about anybody around me. I am gonna get passed, but you know what I'm recreating, so I really don't have to go 70 miles an hour, and get up into that rut.

So again, watch your position on the highway, use your mirrors, see where you're at. You know, you can see a lot of semis that go back and forth. And that's another thing that positioning wise, be aware of areas that you're going to catch wind. Now right now I'm in the wide open, I got a little bit of a side wind coming, so I'm adjusting to that, because I'm driving a billboard down the road. But once I get to this overpass that's coming up here, I know that that wind is gonna quit.

So I need to be ready. I need to understand that that may have a tendency to pull me a little bit to the right. And then once I come out of that overpass, or a grove of trees, or a building, anything that's gonna block that wind from coming, that I'm gonna need to make sure that I am prepared for that, I understand it, I'm not gonna overcompensate for it, I'm just gonna be aware so that I'm not startled. So let's see what happens when we come into this. We've got a good side wind coming from the left here.

When I hit this overpass, we got pushed a little bit. And the wind's not too bad today. And this unit's a little different, because this is a very heavy unit. It's got eight airbags in it with larger tires, the more girth. It's not quite as affected by the wind, like a lot of your smaller little units will be.

So again, just practice, nice leisurely drive, find your pocket, center yourself in the middle, and you'll have a very relaxing drive.