Comments on: surviving I-81

By: Ed Walton

Ed Walton — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:15:52 +0000

The real problem is that trucks don’t pay their full cost of being on our public highways. We are afraid of them but we don’t charge them for the full use of the road. Trucks pay 18 cents per gallon for federal tax on fuel. At 6 mpg, that means they pay 3 cents per mile. How can an 80,000 pound truck pay its way at 3 cents per mile? It can’t – that is why the highway trust fun is broke, so what do we do? We take the extra money needed out of the general fund. We pay with deficit spending for the trucks to be on the highway!!

If we simply charged them what they cost for cost of the road, and the wear and tear, it would cost about 50 cents per mile. And – the long-distance freight will go by rail. For one-fourth the fuel, one fourth the pollution – and no accidents and deaths on the interstate. We will still have to subsidize them a short distance from the rail yard to the customer. But the majority of the route will be off the public highway, which will not require repaving. Why not just charge them what it costs? Why subsidize these killing machines?

By: Brandon

Brandon — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:50:55 +0000

i travel from berkeley springs WVA to winchester where i hit 81 S all the way down to knoxville….it truely is one of the best drives i have ever experienced but i will agree with anyone who drives this road when they say that Semi’s own and most of the drivers like to stay in the passing lane right beside a Semi at a steady speed and not passing. i unfortunetly am one of those guys that when you get the chance to pass no matter what lane it is, i take it, i kno its dangerous but when it comes down to driving around crazy drivers you have to be just as crazy. and once i get in the open around Blacksburg,i set the cruise at 74 and set back and enjoy and try not to hit the breaks as much as the others. i stop twice once for gas and once for food i make to knoxville which is around 500 miles for me in about 6.5 hrs good time when driving like i do. BUT do NOT worry i am a good driver and i wont wreck you….BUT there was an issue friday where i went to go around a Semi and he decided to come over in the passing lane with no signal and ran me off the road into the median going 75 MPH in a 2001 Ford escape. come to find out the cops stopped him right before the VA state line and the guy was seriously drunk….so if you see a 2001 Ford Escape dark green with WVA tags and a confederate flag in the back window blow the horn and ill wave…..IF YOU CAN CATCH ME lol

By: Nate Cummings

Nate Cummings — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:03:39 +0000

I have driven from Radford, VA to Columbia, PA about 100 times since August, 2007. Your synopsis is right on the mark, if not a little understated!

By: Ron Dees

Ron Dees — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 08:49:53 +0000

I-95 would be my choice. Make sure you stop at Ralph’s Barbecue in Weldon. They serve one of the best country buffets in the state.

By: dave lasky

dave lasky — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:55:01 +0000

WOW! I WAS RESEARCHING THE ROADS OUT OF CHARLOTTE NC TO HEAD HOME IN JUNE 2010 WITH A MOTORCYCLE I WILL BE RIDING HOME TO NEW JERSEY. I WAS TRYING TO DECIDE TAKING 81 UP TO PENNSYLVANIA AND ACROSS IN TO NEW JERSEY OR I-95 VIA RALEIGH. YOU HAVE DECIDED FOR ME BECAUSE OF THIS POST. I WILL BE TAKING LESSER OF THE TWO EVILS AND TAKE I-95. AT LEAST I KNOW WHERE THE HOSPITALS ARE ALONG THAT WAY!! (AND MORE LANES)

By: Jim Brown

Jim Brown — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:00:30 +0000

Have traveled I-81 too many times to count, going from NoVA to Tennessee, and the post mirrors my experiences almost exactly!

The scariest stretch for me is always between Lexington and Roanoke. I try to plan my trips so as to be on that segment early on Sunday mornings, when a disproportionate number of truckers must be sleeping late!

But such felicitous timing isn’t always possible. So sometimes I add an extra 45 minutes to my journey by taking US 29 down to Lynchburg, then turn right over to Roanoke via Bedford.

On a recent journey, however, when time didn’t permit the above detour, I had the good fortune to wedge my vehicle in between two halves of a double-wide. The associated fleet of little escort pickups kept the 18-wheel monsters at bay, and navigation over the “hump” between the Shenandoah and Roanoke Valleys was like a pleasant breeze!