Note! As of September 2013, the brand-new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is opening. (No more slow and dangerous s-curve.)
Beyond that, experience will indicate how well it works for truckers. The addition of a breakdown margin ought to help, and it also provides a space for the CHP to pull over speeders.
Be sure to check out their time-lapse videos of the awesome 'section replacement' construction project.
One idea is to avoid the Bay Bridge entirely. How?
If you are coming in from eastward on I580, use I680 southbound (perhaps crossing at Mission Blvd South -- not Auto Mall) onto I880, to get into the Fremont-to-San Jose region. For the "East" Oakland-to-Hayward area, take I580 west to I238 north to I880 (north or south).
To get into San Francisco, give yourself extra time. The Bay Bridge is impossible to predict. From the south, you approach from San Jose, or across the Dumbarton or San Mateo (highway 92) bridges. From there, scenic I280 is open to trucks, and is a good (often less crowded) alternative to northbound Highway 101.
From the north, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (the western end of I580) is available. Take the Richmond Parkway to cut over from I80.
Highway 101 backs up for many miles each morning, headed south across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Franscisco.
