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High on the list of legal horrors is an Arkansas regulation requiring trucks traveling through the state to buy 65 gal. of gas. "You can't realize how ununited the U.S. is unless you drive across it," says Trucker Tom Strampel. The worst regulations, everyone agrees, are those governing the length and weight of tractor trailers. Smack dab in the middle of the U.S. are seven states that allow trucks a gross weight of only 73,280 Ibs. The states on either side permit 80,000 Ibs. Truckers will do anything to avoid the weigh stations ("chicken coops") in those seven states. "You just can't make it from California to the East Coast legal," sighs Jerry Reeve, 37. "The Federal Government and state bureaucrats have made liars and thieves of us all," adds a driver. "Everybody finds ways around the rules." Just to break even, they all feel, they must break the speed limit, drive longer than the regulation ten hours or 450 miles at a stretch, and doctor their logbooks.
From jamming the useful CB circuits with dumb and frivolous chatter to hogging the highways, the four wheels can do no right. "The four wheels are parasites," says one driver. "They use you as bear meat." Growls another: "All year the four wheels plan for a two-week vacation. They throw a big party the night before they leave, jump in the car, the wife has the map in her lap and there are three screaming kids in the back seat. The guy is going 70 m.p.h. and looking backwards." Trucker Phyllis Crush, who drives with her husband Ted, describes a recent run-in. "I was driving in the giddyap lane and some broad stopped dead at 65 m.p.h. She was starting to back up at an exit. I slam on my brakes and my trailer hits the guard rail. But I'd have been responsible if I hit her."
Truckers drive for a living, ply a demanding trade, jockey unwieldy rigs in all weathers. They think of themselves as careful behind the wheel, though National Highway Safety Council statistics show that tractor trailers are involved in more fatal accidents per million vehicle miles than passenger cars (5.9 vs. 3.6 in 1977). Drivers say that more and more truckers smoke pot on the road. Says Allen Carter, "I hear on the radio all the time, 'anybody working high? Anybody got a joint?' " A five-year U.C.L.A. study just completed reports that even a few tokes of marijuana reduce driver reaction time from 10% to 20% and affect peripheral vision as well as the driver's ability to judge distances. Many truckers disdain the weed, claiming it puts them to sleep. Other truckers argue that, as one of them puts it, "It depends on what kind of smoke you got — Colombia Red Bud, Mexican Brown, home grown." They contend that smoking drivers compensate for loss of reaction time by reducing speed. Says one: "You never see a marijuana smoker chasing a guy down the road."
Charlie Stallone, an independent owner-operator from Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (the sign on his T shirt reads SMOKE COLOMBIAN), explains: "Drivers smoke pot to unwind. You've been running ten hours through ice and snow. You're wired. You pull into a stop. They don't sell beer or whisky, so you light up a joint and go to sleep." Those who smoke when driving, adds Stallone, don't do it to get stoned.