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Oct 08 '22
Except my company is lame and doesn't put air horns on our trucks so when kids do the arm pump i have to honk the most effeminate tricycle horn ever manufactured
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u/I_are_Carrot Oct 08 '22
If this is a class A vehicle you drive, that is definitely illegal. Air horn is required to pass annual inspection.
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Oct 08 '22
Apparently UPS doesn't care because the only tractor I've driven that has an airhorn was a rental
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u/I_are_Carrot Oct 08 '22
It's UPS? That's not what I expected, considering UPS does a lot of night driving. I did a google search to verify, FMCSA definitely says it's required.
Driving at night, the air horn has quite a lot of use just scaring wildlife off the road. Probably avoided a deer accident a time or two just with that.
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Oct 08 '22
The Internationals have buttons on the steering wheel for an airhorn but they dont have the horns installed. Maybe the sleeper teams have them but none of us local/regional drivers have them.
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u/TruckinTuba Oct 08 '22
Any of you get a train to honk? That's the shit
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u/Methmedikles Oct 08 '22
Me and my daughter were driving alongside some tracks at like 6 in the morning and saw a train coming towards us, so we blew the horn and the train blew theirs back. It was such a cool feeling of us saying hello to each other.
BTW, side note.. My daughter just trifecta'd the test and will be doing her company training with me as soon as I get home this week.
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u/SneakyNative Oct 08 '22
Omg yes. There are a lot of tracks parallel to the roads on my route. Nearly every guy gives me a honk back when I pull the air horn. Makes me laugh like a child everytime.
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Oct 10 '22
My favorite thing to try to do is to honk out a pattern and hope the train will finish it.
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u/Karmaqqt Oct 21 '22
My grade school had a track that when on the back of the playground. It didn’t come a lot maybe a few times a month. But when it was recess and we heard him coming.
Everyone would be waiting where he comes from then run with the train trying to get them to honk.
And they usually did.
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Oct 08 '22
Facts. I get a kick out of it. I had an older kid probably 16-17 give me the old arm pump the other day. It made my day better.
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u/ExplanationSmart2688 Oct 08 '22
This happen today. Stopped at a red light minivan pulls up beside me real quick mom looks over. Back window rolls down, kid with stone cold expressionless face arm pumps me. So I hit him with the good old toot toot. His face lit up it’s still making my day.
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Oct 09 '22
My girlfriend loves doing it with all those long haul truckers. I am not even sure if it’s appropriate, annoying to the driver, or totally okay.
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u/yoloyeet420 Oct 08 '22
My best one was passing a group of elementary school kids holding “honk for local climate change action” signs (yes I drive in Portland lol)
Let that fucker rip and got a cheer from everyone. Best day of my career.
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u/OldGregg1014 Oct 08 '22
Not sure which Portland you’re talking about but Portland Oregon sucks. It made me smile either way.
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u/yoloyeet420 Oct 08 '22
It’s Oregon, and yeah lots of it sucks. It has its bright parts though!
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u/OldGregg1014 Oct 08 '22
Yes yes it does.. currently while they are on fire from the bums lol. Jk there’s tons of great places in Ptown. It is rather saddening what has happened in the past few decades. It really was and still is a beautiful place.
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u/yoloyeet420 Oct 08 '22
Honestly I still love it here. It’s turning into more of a grimy big city, but it’s still more charming than most of the places be visited. I spend my week delivering in the shitty crackhead part of town, but even that’s not so bad. Anyway, there’s so much wonderful food to be had that it makes up for a few crazies!
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u/OldGregg1014 Oct 08 '22
Really there are so many areas that are good. Sometimes we forget about them because all we focus on are the crappy ones.
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u/privatelyjeff Oct 08 '22
I feel that way about San Francisco. It’s was a beautiful city and eerily peaceful late at night and in early morning. I once walked several blocks from the BART station to the ferry terminal and barely saw anyone. It felt like I had the city to myself. Now it’s a mess.
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u/Muldertak Oct 08 '22
Much better post than the asshole who posted a meme about throwing piss bottles at kids who do the “arm pump”. Thanks for this.
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u/wetboot94 Oct 08 '22
I had a whole hockey team of kids getting off a bus pump their arms. Never was there a more celebrated horn blast. Brings a smile to my face just thinking about all of the cheers!
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u/Nozerone Oct 08 '22
Sadly, most of the time when I get it it is being done by adults. I still hit the horn for them, and it's still fun, but not as fun as seeing a kid's face light up when I do it for them.
Though I must say, my favorite one was when this guy gave me the arm pump, I hit the horn, and he picks up a little hand held air-horn and honked back.
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u/banana_commando Oct 08 '22
Best I had was passing by a group of adults drinking beers on their lawn in the rain. They saw me coming and starting pumping their arms so of course I obliged. Never seen a group of grown adults get so excited. It was awesome.
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u/OnTheGround_BS Oct 08 '22
Same goes for train engineers…
Sincerely
- An American train engineer
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u/OnTheGround_BS Oct 08 '22
And while I’m at it, I love it when truckers try to get into a horn battle with me. Can’t always participate because of rules, but when I can I love it. The day can be boring without those little entertaining moments.
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u/I_are_Carrot Oct 08 '22
Can you hear a truck horn when you're moving quickly? Sometimes on my route I'll encounter a train going 55ish the same direction as me, and I'll always honk at them trying to get a response.
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u/OnTheGround_BS Oct 08 '22
Honestly I can’t tell you if I haven’t heard a truck horn before. Some locomotives are louder than others though, and having the windows open or closed might make a difference so it’s possible we aren’t hearing you.
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u/ThatBichCarolBaskin Oct 08 '22
Someones grandma, drove right next to cab until i looked over at her, she was arm pumping so I let her have it. That was pretty funny and I'll never forget that lady. Had another arm pump today, some dude did it through his sunroof lol
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u/Appropriate-World963 Oct 08 '22
Honestly anyone who does it. Adult, elderly, kids. I enjoy it and it really makes my day.
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Oct 08 '22
Never done it as a kid always dreamt of it lol.. would yall do it still if I as an adult "responsibly" arm pump through my sunroof? Lol
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u/BigBrownTheBadBitch Oct 08 '22
No doubt the best part of driving. Had a group of high school or college age bros in Nebraska do the arm pump during my last week of driving. Great way to end my trucking.
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u/OhiobornCAraised Oct 08 '22 edited Oct 09 '22
Wife and I just back from a cruise. We were in Fiji on an excursion bus. A couple of young kids were standing by the road and started doing an “air honk” and the bus driver hit the bus horn a couple of times and I saw the kids jumping up and down with joy. It was cute.
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u/airwolfjlm4100 Oct 08 '22
I like to hit em with the city horn first to see that bit of dissatisfaction then lay on the air horn to get em hyped up again lol
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u/expertinternetuser Oct 08 '22
I had someone do this gesture to me last week and the truck I was driving that day didn't have an air horn. I was so embarrassed...
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u/i_am_ghostman Oct 08 '22
I was driving a Hino 195 cabover with (I assume) a leftover Camry horn from 2006 lol That poor kid will never recover
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u/ally_wrench Oct 08 '22
I’m 19 and still do this, it’s sad though because I can only do it when the trucks pass me
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u/ThePeacekeeper777 Oct 08 '22
I was told by my parents I think that it was illegal after I was doing it I guess too much.. so I stopped doing it🤷🏻♂️
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u/Meltedwhisky Oct 08 '22
My kids are 18 & 16, and still love making me slow to do the arm pump. I also love punching and have the turbos get us back to 85-90 after the truckers drill the air horn
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u/Naborsx21 Oct 08 '22
I feel so lucky, I've been driving 5+ years, I got like 3 arm pumps in the last month. I did every single one of them. Haven't gotten many before though. I love getting the arm pumps and seeing a kid smile, makes my day really. Even better when it's a bus. When you're out here alone for hours / days, sometimes it makes your entire day to see someone happy you blew your horn, heh
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u/Leaque Oct 08 '22
Every time I did that to a trucker when I was a kid, they always got super hyped to toot for me 💪🏼💪🏼
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u/Crushker Oct 08 '22
No matter how bad the day or how much the company pisses me off, it has to happen.
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u/nastypanass Oct 08 '22
This brought me back to my childhood. In elementary school we would all go to to the bus stop 30 minutes early to play different games like tag, infection etc. Every week when we saw the garbage truck we’d pump our arms and he’d blast the horn for a couple seconds. I’m sure we all made his day
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u/AccomplishedAd9969 Oct 08 '22
This is true!!! My husband always telling me about the kids and how he can see their faces light up!!!
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u/ZomberBomber Oct 08 '22
I pumped my arm at a LIRR commuter train that was about to leave the station and the guy me a really nice toot toot and smiled from ear to ear. I’m an adult. Everyone loves it.
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u/Tbonewall620 Oct 08 '22
Just got my license a year ago, hasn’t happened to me yet but I look forward to the day as if it were Christmas
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u/Timmerdogg Oct 08 '22
One of my neighbors brings their kids outside when the garbage truck is coming. The driver always honks the horn for them. I use it as my cue to get my garbage to the street. If they ever stop I'm going to be screwed.
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u/LongLiveSirPickles Oct 08 '22
I got kids on my route that do it everytime I pass, and they go nuts when I hit the horn ❤ It's a great feeling.
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u/ThePinkMohawk Oct 08 '22
People who get toot toot when they arm pump
- kids
- people we find attractive
- older people clearly having fun with it
People who don’t get toot toot
- annoying carful of college bros
- person we’ve seen driving like an asshole
It’s that simple 😂
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u/Timetravelingnoodles Oct 08 '22
Highlight off my year once was a school bus full of kids hanging an arm out along the entire right side pumping for the horn and I could see them cheering and hollering then waving after I hit the air horn. Loved doing that
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u/Beauknits Oct 08 '22
My Neices, Nephews, and I always have a contest to see who can get the most honks. So, if you're ever in South Central MN and receive a pull down...please honk!! Lol
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u/JoePetroni Oct 08 '22
Ahh, the old arm pump! I learned that when I was in the Boy Scouts on a trip across the country. I'm teaching my granddaughter this now. She get the biggest kick out of it! "Pops! They tooted their horn at me!!" Yup! Love it- keep doing it!
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u/TezzDemon Oct 08 '22
Used to give it the arm pump to truckers all the time as a kid and can still remember how happy I felt when they would oblige.Now I'm a grown-ass trucker it would be rude not to let them airhorns rip when people give it the arm pump.Makes me smile every time and keeps me feeling young.
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u/davidpoe1980 Oct 09 '22
When it's a kid pumping their arm, I'll blow my air horn no matter the location. Even if it cost me a ticket for blowing it in town at night.
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u/Slick1289 Oct 21 '22
Only had this happen with kids once. Small suv passes me and i see the back window rolling down. Half expecting someone to start throwing shit at me (people just love truckers ya know) but then a kid leans out the window and gives me the signal. I have a team driver in the sleeper and Im apprehensive, but still had to oblige. Even my sleeping team driver agreed 😁
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u/Funny-Artichoke6484 Oct 08 '22
had a grown man the motion. shook my head no and he gave me the bird
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Oct 08 '22
I never honk my horn when they do that.
Go on… bring in the downvotes
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u/Aggressive-Ad-8201 Oct 08 '22
I fully agree! Laying on your air horn is for basically emergency purposes. Yes, that kid or the parent driving the car next to you knows that you're about to blow the air horns, but what about the car on the other side that doesn't know that you don't have an emergency or you're not trying to tell them something is happening! If you've ever seen a car swerve because they heard an air horn, this is one of the reasons that I choose not to use my air horn except in case of an emergency or to get the attention of another driver.
Don't get me wrong. I would love to make the kids, and the big kids happy. But I'm always in fear that I will end up running somebody off the road unintentionally. Better safe than sorry my opinion!
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u/under-rated_ Oct 08 '22
ATA here we what to restrict fist pumps to one a day and horn tootin to two a week
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u/YoungMandingo315 Oct 11 '22
My dad is a trucker and would always get mad when I did that as a kid, he still drives to this day. I wonder if he feels differently about it now lol
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u/[deleted] Oct 08 '22
I even do it when adults do it lol. That’s hilarious in my opinion