(Dump) Driver Charged in Fatal Submerged Car Accident

So I guess since I am OTR but end my trips in Brooklyn, Bronx, Chicago or Miami means I must not be special. You're right about backing since have only backed about a mile down country farm roads since there is no turn around point to deliveries I've made or blind side backing in NYC I have no talent.

Have you actually laid eyes on some of those Jersey Dumps? If not than don't try to make comparisons.

 

Par for the course in my area too.

 

I just get tired of the ignorance spewed from so many around here who just don't have a clue. I love driving end dumps...every day holds the potential for adventure, like when the salesman bids a job for T/T's that should have been run in tandems. Dispatch doesn't know any better, so there you are blind-side backing a 60' combination off of a 13' wide road with ditches into a 25' wide driveway taking care not to run over the guy's mailbox, flower bed, or the telephone pole. Get in there, and then you have to balance your trailer on it's back axle in the guy's lawn to get the 25+ ton load dumped where he wanted it. Then you've got the jobs where you are hauling the material in so that they can harden the site enough for you OTR guys to be able to get in & out with flatbeds hauling in the rest of the materials needed to build whatever is going up.

And yeah, I've done the OTR thing a few times over the years, and it bored the heck out of me. If you've seen 1 mile of interstate, you've seen 'em all.

 

If dump drivers went on strike, parked their trucks and refused to relocate loads of dirt and rubble, rocks and sand, until they received the recognition they deserve, --- how long do y'all think it'd take the general public to notice, -- and how drastic an impact would the absence of dump trucks on the highways have on their daily lives?
Fast forward five days into the dumptrucker's nationwide strike and ask the general public how and/or if the strike has affected their lives, --- positively and/or negatively. I'm thinkin' that the overwhelming majority would answer with positive comments, --- probably pertaining to fewer Big trucks for the general motoring public to have to contend with being in their way during their daily commutes. When all the answers are tabulated to determine percentages of those affected positively compared to those affected negatively, what would y'all imagine those numbers would look like?
Sixty percent positive, forty percent negative?
Eighty percent positive, twenty percent negative?
Ninety-five percent positive, five percent negative?
Boggles the mind. :smt101

Now, let's imagine that the OTR Big truck truck drivers go on a nationwide strike and park their Big trucks until they receive the recognition they deserve.
Fast forward five days into the strike and ask the general public how and/or if the strike has affected their lives, --- positively and/or negatively. Is their any doubt how the overwhelming majority would answer? I'm thinkin' that the only one's answering positively would be the OTR Big truck truck drivers themselves, --- who made sure they were prepared for the event. That'd probably equate to less than one percent positive and the rest negative.

Actually, it's most likely that the general public would be well aware of the negative effect before the fifth day of an OTR Big truck truckers' nationwide strike. They'd be near panic by the end of the second day and making demands by the third day. By the forth day there'd be fightin' in the streets, martial law would be declared. The fifth day would bring riots and wide-spread looting. Gasoline prices would rise to ten times the amount pre-strike. Food prices would go even higher. Pets would disappear, poachers would prosper.
On the sixth day the President would order all OTR Big truck truck drivers to return to work or they'd be fired and replaced with ignorant, illiterate and incompetent replacements. Bein' patriotic, the Sons-0-Chester offer their assistance to rectify the situation, --- for a hefty price, no doubt. Starry-eyed wannaBees would jump at the chance to fulfill a dream. Maybe even a few dumptruckers would recognize an opportunity to makes some "easy" money, and sign on. How long they'd last drivin' OTR is anybody's guess, but about a month away from the comforts of a home with roots and momma screamin' "When are you comin' home?, I NEED you here, honey"!!, is 'bout all it'd take to leave the "easy" money to those who can handle all that goes with Over-the-road Big truck truckin'. The actual driving part is the easy part. It's all the other parts of OTR that are difficult. Drivin' the open highways is when an OTR Big truck truck driver gets to relax.
Dumptruckers get to relax at home with air conditioning and heaters in a bed that remains in the same place without the hassle of finding a place to park their bed 'till morning, hopin' to make it to another Big truck bedroom before they run out of hours tomorrow.

An OTR Big truck truck driver is responsible for the load in their trailer, values of which can easily exceed a million dollars and require special handling and loading procedures. I'll admit I don't know what the goin' rate for dirt is, but I sincerely doubt it comes close to a million bucks a load.
Special handling instructions?
Wear gloves.

I'd like to see what would happen if one dumptrucker with five years experience but no real OTR experience, and an OTR driver with five years experience but no real experience drivin' a dump truck, were instructed to trade positions. No other information or instruction would be provided, just hand 'em the keys and let 'em figure it out as they go.
Which one of the two drivers do y'all reckon would holler "Uncle" first?

If y'all got it
A Big truck brought it.
Includin' dump trucks,
and the fuel they burn.

ALL Big trucks and those who drive 'em provide an important and necessary function. Our way of life depends on the participation of all elements of the Big truck truckin' industry to fulfill their necessary obligations to assure the continuation of our preferred lifestyles, uninterrupted. To eliminate any of the industries segments would be extremely disruptive, counterproductive and damaging. Which of the many segments is easier or harder to contend with depends largely on the individual performing the task.

Before criticizing someone who drives Big trucks
Walk a mile in their drivin' shoes.

:smt112​

 

"Mixed up and confused" are conditions I well understand, Big D,
so I just naturally assumed that it was me, --- again.
But now, thanx to you, I realize it wasn't my mixed-up confusion, --- this time.
That's a pretty good feelin'. :smt045

I can't think of a better excuse for a celebratory fine cigar. :smt033
And I extent to you a standin' invitation to join me, Big D.
You know what they say, ..........
Confusion Loves Company. :smt120
It's twue!
It's twue!

 

Hi AfterSchock, WOW, that was quite a post, you should go into writing. This is drifting a bit, and should not become an "us vs. them" thread. In the winter, dump trucks perform one of the most important functions of all, hauling salt to the various municipalities so that the country can continue it's functions in poor weather, and it pays poorly, considering the service they do for us. And those fancy new road projects, where there are 6 lanes, compared to the previous 2, again, thanks to dump trucks. I can say from experience, driving a dump truck takes an incredible amount of skill, even though, it can be extremely boring at times. (Once, I hauled 27 loads, from 1 side of a gravel pit to the other, that was a long day). To tie in, the driver was distracted for whatever reason, (health maybe?) and it's a shame this had to happen. When sitting at a stop light or backup, I always keep an eye on my mirror, in case someone isn't stopping.

 

I would wonder if there were a medical condition which may have contributed to the speed and erratic driving.

 

Jeff Gordon disease better known as Gordonitis.

Many carry the mentality pushing it to the limit makes them a better driver. That is until something like this happens. Many dump drivers are self taught or locally taught. They haven't gone through the riggermaroo attached with OTR driving. Pretrip and safety is the last thing on their mind.

 

Well, driving with your Head shoved so far up your Rectum definitly constitutes a "Medical Condition"