It was a dangerous night on the road

[Droopy]

I went up to Toledo, Ohio tonight for my trucking gig. On the way up it wasn't bad, but on the way back I saw four accidents in the 160 mile stretch on I-75 between Toledo and Dayton. Two of them were just people running off the road. They didn't look too serious, they just needed a tow truck to pull them out. The other two were serious.

As I was rolling down the road leaving Toledo and pick-up truck that was behind me got out in the center lane to pass me. They were going about 65-70 mph I'd say. Then for no reason that I can discern the driver lost control, got sideways in the middle of the road and crashed head on into a retaining wall. Those types of accidents are very dangerous because of the sudden stop at a high speed. That's how Dale Earnhardt was killed. Usually I would stop and see if I could help, but there was a lot of traffic and it would have been unsafe to stop suddenly. I spent the rest of the trip wondering what the hell happened and hoping that everyone in that truck was ok.

The next serious one occurred as I was nearing Dayton. An eighteen wheeler on the northbound side flipped over on it's side across the entire roadway. It was a straight flat stretch of road, but somehow the driver lost control and laid it over. There is nothing more scary to me than seeing that kind of accident and it's very eerie to roll up on a scene like that especially in the middle of the night. If a driver has an accident like that and survives it still more than likely means the end of his/her trucking career. That would be the end of a way of life for me.

Well be safe, y'all, when you're out on the roads. I hate to see accidents and I've seen plenty of them in my time on the road. You'd think that it wouldn't bother me so much by now, but it does.

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Full moon craziness!

Stay safe, Droopy O8)

[TrogL]

2. Must be a day for wierd accidents

I saw one on my way to work. A small car had rammed the back of a van and scooped up the van so it was sitting completely on top of the car up in the air. The cops were standing there scratching their heads.

[iconoclastic cat]

3. People need to learn how to drive around trucks!

I see the stupidest driving on the expressways, but the way some drivers are careless around big rigs just makes me crazy. Sheesh.

[Droopy]

6. 10-4 on that

A lot of people don't realize that it's much more difficult to maneuver and stop a big rig. I think there should be a section in driver's education classes about big trucks.

[iconoclastic cat]

7. Actually, we had a video simulation at my high school,

but nothing on the actual driver's exam. I could've been drunk and tripping and the slackass guy from the DMV wouldn't have noticed. But then again, I live in Illinois, and our DMV's were a huge mess until Gov. Ryan left (I'm still very conflicted about him).

[madrchsod]

4. my dad was a dispatcher

for several trucking companies here in northern illinois from the mid forties till 1966..i`m going to dig up some of old tele-types he saved..pretty interesting ,you might get a kick out of reading some of them... ya got my respect for the job you do..stay safe out there...

[Droopy]

5. Thank you, rchsod

That's all truckers want from people: just a little respect. We get shit on in so many situations it ain't funny.

[iconoclastic cat]

8. Who doesn't like truckers?

That's just insane to me.

[Droopy]

11. A few different areas

When I first broke into the biz I worked for a guy who owned 4 trucks and he would run me to death. He kept me out on the road for two months. He lied to me about my pay, also. I wised up after about 4 months of working for him.

Then I've experienced problems with shippers and receivers. Now I've got to say the majority of them are alright, but I've been seriously screwed over by some of them. Mainly with making me wait to get unloaded (I've waited 8 hours past my appointment time before), but also just being downright rude. I've been cussed out before for no other reason than I was a trucker bringing in a load and the asshole didn't want to work. And I had to stand there and take that without saying a cross word to the guy. What made that worse is that the company he worked for was a regular customer.

Another area is the motoring public. I think some people just like to fuck with truckers. I've got countless stories from the road about people doing shitty things. Cutting me off, obscene gestures, throwing stuff at my truck.

Let me say that most people I run across are cool. But there are some who just suck.

[iconoclastic cat]

12. Believe me, the people who do the cutting off/gestures don't

limit themselves to truckers. They are equal opportunity offenders.

[Fovea]

9. I ride my bicycle in an industrial zone

and I have no complaints about American truck drivers. Some of the Nafta rigs do worry me, however. But the drivers I see regularly down there are safe, courteous, and competent-- everything some of the non professionals are not.

[iconoclastic cat]

10. Are the NAFTA drivers union?

If not, that's part of the problem.

[Fovea]

15. Do the unions organize truckers

south of the border?
I mean, are there union teamsters in Mexico?

[ChoralScholar]

13. When I was on the road

there were days you'd see something awful like a wreck, and think, "Man if I ever get this thing back to the house, I'm never going ANYWHERE again."

I feel for you.

[Droopy]

14. That's sort of the way I was feeling

I was just happy to get home in one piece tonight. I even took extra care in my 4-wheeler getting home.