I sometimes wish I drove the biggest monster truck in the world just so I could bully all of the other drivers on the road.

Instead, I drive a small compact car that bears the brunt from drivers of intimidating, huge trucks that feel the size of their vehicle entitles them to ignoring normal traffic rules.

Mostly I am just referring to 18-wheelers and their drivers. I hate them. I feel bad for stereotyping them and grouping them all together, but as a whole, I hate 18-wheelers.

Since the nearest big cities, with malls and more restaurants, are accessible by interstate, I spend many days a week traveling to and from these cities. However, I am usually a textbook case of high blood pressure when I arrive at my destination.

Not because of the long drive. Not because of the high speeds. Not because of the traffic. Not even because of the lung-burning smells that accompany the city of Monroe.

I attribute my shallow breathing and rapid heart beats to the 18-wheelers that drive alongside of me on the interstate.

I can't tell you how many times an 18-wheeler has cut in front of me. When they pull these kinds of stunts, they not only endanger my life, but also the lives of all the other drivers on the road.

When did these drivers become so cutthroat?

Why is it that only the cautious drivers have the 1-800 number to call and report erratic driving? The maniac operators are always conveniently missing this number, or the numbers are blacked out.

I remember the days when there were two posted speed limits, one for regular car drivers and one for big-rig drivers. I also remember when truck drivers could be counted on to be safe and courteous to other drivers.

Now they are the driving force between interstate pile-ups and accidents. These accidents are probably not always the faults of the truck drivers, but surely the sheer size of these trucks helps contribute to the accidents.

It also seems as if these trucks are the main reason for driver irritation. I sometimes wonder if two truck drivers are conspiring to anger all of the other drivers in a one-mile radius.

I can just see two trucks following each other and talking back and forth on their CB radio saying, "I see a little car coming up on the left of me.

"She looks like she is in a hurry, so why don't you get in the other lane, slow down and we'll ride side by side just to piss her off."

This happens so much that I am beginning to think this is a real conspiracy among these drivers.

When it's raining, I feel this conspiracy plan goes into overdrive. Nothing is worse than driving behind two 18-wheelers in the rain (or snow like the case was this weekend) and having all of the road water get splashed onto my windshield.

It is hard enough to drive in the rain on the interstate and even harder driving behind a big truck.

The real kicker is when I finally do get around the big rig, I find out it's not really raining anymore. All the water that was hitting my windshield was just coming from the tires of the truck in front of me.

I think all of this justifies my hatred for big-rig drivers and reemphasizes the fact that size does matter, only in this case bigger is not better.

Jennifer Watson is a senior journalism and history double major from Shreveport and serves as managing editor for The Tech Talk.