Yes, I do appear to be hostile; This is my rant! Yes, it is a common practice(maybe even 50/50). I don't want to impede another trucker, but I am going to maintain my lane position that I believe is safe.

I do believe it will be expensive to build much needed truck climbing lanes in this area of the Interstate, but billions is an exaggeration. The money could have come from the failed study to replace the Interstate Bridge(s) over the Columbia River or the wasted highway dollars supporting TriMet/MAX in the Portland Area.

It may not have been a dangerous practice to use the shoulders many years ago when Oregon(and California) wasn't so populated. The truck and car traffic has greatly increased over the years(I have been running this road for 20+) as this is a major transportation corridor between all the cities on the West Coast from Los Angeles to British Columbia. As noted in web document above from ODOT, the emergency breakdown lane was not designed as travel lane for heavy trucks. The shoulder's pavement and base thickness is less than the travel lanes which requires additional maintenance(from the heavy trucks).

Okay. I am half and half on this issue. I have had trucks in front of me who were dangerously slow (right between the 6th and 7th gears at 28mph so I had some difficulty holding position climbing the grade) whom I had to pass on the left but blocked traffic for so long that I was flipped off by a BMW driver that was obviously late to see his mistress. I was extremely upset that they weren't using the shoulder.

On the other hand, I can understand the confusion. There aren't signs flat out saying that using the shoulder as a crawl lane uphill is prohibited but I have seen the broken down vehicles that would cause a collision. We need to be looking far enough ahead to maneuver around any object safely no matter which lane that vehicle is in. I'll run the shoulder if I am running slowly enough but only when I feel that my own safety isn't compromised.