Stories from the Road: It can happen to anyone.

[Tobin S.]

No matter the skill and experience level; no matter the quality of the equipment; no matter the road conditions; no matter the terrain, it can happen to anyone. You can get into an accident, and it can be your fault. This is true of any driver out on the roads, but it's something that truckers should take even more seriously given the greater potential for an accident to be lethal due to the size and weight of their vehicles.

I'm generally proud of what I do for a living. But when this time of year comes around I find myself thinking that I'd rather not be driving for a living. I've flirted with disaster one time in my career and was lucky that I was not injured and that I did not harm anyone else. That was in January of 1999, the day after a blizzard. It's something that I'll always remember even though it kind of hurts. And something happened today that I hope I'll always remember as well.

One of my co-workers was driving a semi loaded down with scrap metal today. He was loaded to the legal limit hauling a dump trailer and going to a steel mill that had bought the scrap. He was on a narrow two lane country road. Apparently, he got distracted somehow and let the truck get away from him a little. It's been raining here the past couple of days and the ground is pretty soft. A heavily loaded truck will sink down in that far enough that if you get one side of it off the shoulder of the road and down in the grass that it will just suck the entire vehicle right off the road. If you happen to be on a curve or if there is a ditch off the side of the road it can turn you right over. And that's what happened to my co-worker. He laid that rig right over on it's side.

Fortunately, he was not injured. But from what I hear he really tore up that truck. The tractor may be totaled. And that load of scrap steel ended up tossed across a corn field. It's going to be a very costly accident. It will also affect my employer's safety rating with the Department of Transportation. The government also rates drivers now days and that can affect a driver's chances of getting a job. But I've been told that this particular driver's job will probably be secure. He'll get a little time off and then be back at work. I find that to be hard to believe at the moment, but I guess drivers there have been in worse accidents and kept their jobs. Many trucking companies wouldn't hesitate to give a driver who had an accident like that the boot.

The driver in question is probably the oldest and most experienced driver they have there and from what I can gather had a safe history with the company. The quality of the equipment was good. The roads were wet, but not in particularly bad shape. The terrain was flat. Yep, it can happen to anyone, and I'm going to try to keep that in mind.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Tobin!

OUCH.

I'm so very glad that this didn't happen to you...

I feel bad for the other guy, though.

I'm sure that it's very difficult to keep your wits about you all. the. time.

Good luck to you always!

And I do think that since you've written this story down, you will remember it...

:hi:

[Tikki]

2. So sorry your friend had this accident....

Super glad he was not injured.




Tikki

[liberaltrucker]

3. That's why I hung up my keys

After almost 25 years, the stress became too much.

I seldom drive a 4 wheeler these days.

Be careful out there!

:hi:

[Tobin S.]

4. If you don't mind me asking...

What kind of employment were you able to find outside of trucking? I'm not asking where you work, just a general type of job. I find myself wanting to do something else sometimes, but I can't find anything that would pay me the income level that I've become accustomed to.

[liberaltrucker]

5. Retail

I work in security for a local store.
Detecting lot lizards is pretty good
training for detecting thieves.

:)