Dear Driver...

To the driver of the gray pickup who passed me today and felt like a one-fingered wave was appropriate...

1. Everything you eat, drink, wear, drive, write on, or use in any way, including the phone in your hand and the pickup truck you are driving, was on a semi at some point before coming into your possession. If we stopped rolling down the road, your world would come to a stop.

2. I know you were annoyed because I was driving 65mph in a 75mph speed limit zone. What you might not know is that my truck is governed at 65mph. That means it won't accelerate any faster. In fact, most semis are governed between 59 and 65. Trust me, we are not driving slower than you would like just to annoy you.

Rearview rainbow 

3. There are many reasons semis might drive slower than they are capable of going. For instance, in the past 24 hours, my husband and I drove through areas under high wind advisories, flash flood warnings, severe thunderstorms, dust storms, and tornado warnings...and that was just today. Keep in mind, I am 73 feet long and 13 feet 6 inches high. If there is high wind, rain, standing water, low visibility, curves in the road, mountains, or any other situations that pose a hazard, please believe that I will drive at a speed that I feel is appropriate to the current conditions. This is for my safety as well as yours. You want to go home to your family tonight, right? If I lose control and cause an accident due to reckless driving, you will wish that I had been more careful.

Next time you pass a trucker, feel free to smile and wave. Or don't, that's your call. But please don't get mad at us for doing our job to the best of our ability.

Be safe out there, folks.