So, I'm frequently surprised by the aggression of truckers on my daily commute. Part of my evening route is to take I-5 southbound over the Columbia river between WA/OR. It's reverse commute so traffic exists but still flows at 50-70 mph. "

There is something about this stretch of road, at this time of day, that leads to some really questionable driving behavior. There are a couple miles of gentle downhill leading up to the bridge. The speed limit is 60 mph in this stretch. Cars are doing 70 in the left lane, pretty normal. But then here comes a trucker, tailgating the ever loving shit out of somebody in the far left lane. The first few times I figured it was just an oddity. But lately I see this almost every day. (Not all truckers- just an insane minority).

Picture- a line of 50 cars in the left lane, all going 70-75 in a 60, with a trucker at the tail end who is maybe 5 feet off the bumper of the last car. Not even exaggerating- less than 1/2 a car length. I completely fail to understand the logic here. Even if the trucker had a magic button to delete the car blocking him, there are 49 more cars in front who still exist.

It gets even worse as you approach the actual bridge. The speed limit drops to 50 mph over the bridge, because it is ancient and the lane widths are reduced and there are no shoulders. Plus the road kinks to the left just as it joins the bridge (terrible design). Anyways, nobody slows down AT ALL. Now the trucker is doing 75 in a 50, tailgating, and visibly pissed.

It's also interesting that WSP never positions a trooper here. Possibly because of jurisdiction issues the moment that truck enters Oregon? And safety issues from pulling over a vehicle anywhere on the approach which could lead to a traffic backup or even accidents from rubber necking.

Anyhow, in all my years of driving I have never seen more trucker aggression than at this specific location/time. I've watched semis weaving thru traffic that is doing 50 mph (the speed limit) in the middle of the bridge, with black smoke pouring out their stacks. The best theory I have is that they know there is ZERO enforcement, so about 10% of them go Mad Max. Plus the nice easy downhill to gain speed, and a desire to maintain speed on the uphill portion of the bridge. Curious if this is the case or if I'm missing something. I must say, it is wildly dangerous and I am amazed I have not witnessed a fatality. It's not like the surrounding cars are full of excellent drivers as you enter Oregon, just saying.

So, what's the deal here? Is this just a place where truckers are horribly rushed to make a connection at the end of the day? Do none of them have driver monitoring systems? GPS that shows speed vs speed limit? I have a hard time thinking employers would be ok with this type of aggression in a loaded truck. Are they all independent operators?

As an aside- I'm generally not in favor of self driving trucks but I would trade out this handful in a heartbeat. They really aren't doing your profession any favors! And, I'm sure a bunch of replies will accuse me of being a slow, incompetent driver. Not at all- I'm fast, and have an excellent driving record. I spent a decade on sport bikes lane splitting in California. I'm not a wilting flower here.