Psychotic salt truck

It took me 2.5 HOURS to get to work today. It was a mess. We had a unexpected snowstorm (this is NJ an inch of accumulated snow counts as a storm). As I left my apartment I saw the tiniest of flakes and figured the ride would be mostly fine. I should have known better.

I was not 10 miles into the drive when the snow started to accumulate. Not long after that it started to get slippery (I wish I had taken the hint and turned around). I got to 287 only a little later then normal. It was slow from the beginning but a few miles in I see a salt truck using the U turn. I was happy they were going to do something about the melting refreezing roads. Oh how wrong I was.

He slowly made his way into the middle lane (blowing the salt to the left). He swerved over slightly as if he were going to get over into the right lane. I hoped both myself and the guy in front of me could pass him (the salt was going mostly left and behind him, not helping me at all). Every time the guy in front of me got a little close to him he swerved over a little. I thought maybe he was trying to get into the right lane but was afraid to hit the guy in front of me. Eventually the guy in front of me managed to pass the salt truck.

As I drove to the right of the salt truck he swerved 1/2 in my lane 1/2 in the middle. I backed off to let him in front of me. He moved back into the middle lane. Then I drove over to the shoulder now worried about driving near a salt truck in inclement weather driven by a maniac. He drove all the way into the lane that I abandoned. Worried about driving on an icy shoulder and being smashed by the salt truck I relented hoping in the 2 miles or so that I had left he would not take the exit that I will, or that I could pass to the left as he seemed to let the people to the left by.

He does take my exit which is essentially a long ramp that splits at the end. It is 3 lanes wide. This time he is not satisfied with tying up the right 2 lanes, he wants all 3. I figured this out when I went to pass to the left. He responded by hanging half out of his salt truck waving his fist and pointing me back in my place. He swerved at will between the 3 lanes until it went down to 2 lanes which confined him a little. The kicker is that he stayed left which sprayed much of the salt onto the SHOULDER. I was so glad to be rid of him when he did not get onto 78 in front of me.