I would like to take the time to say thank you to the understanding, polite truck drivers out there.

As someone who commutes 200km a day to and from work, and along winding roads where opportunities to safely overtake are few and far between, I get stuck behind a lot of trucks.

This week, I had a lovely truckie not only pull into the shoulder for me to pass, he also sensed my hesitation and indicated that it was safe for me to go.

There is nothing more frustrating that being stuck behind a truck driving along at 60km on a 100km stretch of road and hoping that the truck pulls over to let the tail of cars overtake him. I understand that trucks have places to go too, but it's this roading politeness that makes all the difference.

So thank you to the truckies that are courteous to us car driving plebs, your consideration makes a world of difference – especially when you
commute so far!

And a special shoutout to truckies in general – thanks for doing the hours and the distances you do to get everybody's stuff where it needs to go. I can imagine it's a fairly thankless job.

F McGrath, Whakatane