A rookie trucker lasted a total of about two months before allegedly causing an accident which resulted in the FMCSA declaring him an imminent hazard to public safety. The accident marked the second time he was arrested for alcohol-related incidents in just four days.
Tennessee-based Eric Ronald Scott received his CDL on October 26th, 2016. Almost exactly two months later, on the morning of December 31st, the Berlin, Vermont Police Department responded to a call in a local hotel parking lot. After Scott failed a breathalyzer test, Scott was arrested for domestic assault.
Scott spent New Year’s Eve in police custody, and was released on January 2nd. The very next day, the local police department responded to a multi-vehicle crash.
When authorities arrived, they found that Scott hadn’t even been able to make it out of their town before he jackknifed his rig, struck a stop sign, and pushed three other vehicles off the road. They conducted another alcohol breath test and subsequently arrested him for driving under the influence of alcohol.
In the out-of-service order, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration stated that if Scott continued driving, it would “substantially increase the likelihood of serious injury or death to you and/or the motoring public.”
Dj says
You wanna call him an idiot, but instead I’ll pray for his deliverance from the alcohol that binds him.
mousekiller says
This article does not state his age. The term rookie makes it sound like a person in his 20’s. Bet he was at least 35 or 40 years old. This is a perfect example of what many call the ” New Breed” of drivers we have coming into the industry today. No personal pride, No work ethic. No common sense.
Robert Heinz says
Haha, that’s a laugh. It’s BECAUSE of the “old breed” that we now have all theses new rules. Your generation gave the industry such a bad name. I remember growing up hearing all the stories of you guys driving days at a time full of meth and cocaine and then killing people in horrific accidents. The public was terrified of 18 wheelers.
Larry D Smith says
Your full of………
In the early days there was respect. This respect was even between truck drivers and passenger cars. Sure, there were a few that crossed the line, but your steriotypeing all into the category of drug abusing drivers.
This “new breed” people talk of are the ones who spend two weeks in a so called “truck driving school” which has only one thing on their agenda, MAKE MONEY. I would bet that 50% or more of these people should not have passed. They can not back up, negotiate a trunk properly, correctly fill out a light book, and the list goes on.
The real reason companies put speed limiter on their trucks is because their employees can not be trusted. The new people get out there and hold their foot to the floor. When they come up on a reduced speed limit, foot to the floor. The companies came up with the electronic log because they are unable to turn in correct log books.
Check out the REAL NUMBERS.
In truck related accidents occurring on the roads, the vast majority of them are trucks which are using electronic logs, and are speed governed trucks.
So, while you are most likely in this “new breed” category, which is why you made this statement to begin with, maybe you shoot look at all the facts first.
This statement written by a veteran driver working in the industry since 1978. No accidents, a perfect driving record. Running legal paper logs.
Larry D Smith says
Auto correct changed the words turn to trunk, log to light, should to shoot. And they call these “smart phones”.
Walter says
All of you talking old breed new breed should just shut-up. Whether you came from the Swift Academy or ATDS we are all drivers. There are good and bad in both the old and new of us. With the new laws everyone just about HAS to go through a school. Yes you can get your license without one, but no one will hire you because of the insurance companies. So dont we have enough problems dealing with lawyers, FMCSA and 4-wheelers without fighting amongst ourselves over whose the better driver!
Stephen West says
Wow…what a total moron!
Troy Van Natta says
Thank you for not starting the article as Professional Driver ….Rookie, dumbshit, probationary, new etc. Professional Driver gets thrown around out there pretty liberally. Just because you get hired to do a job does not make you a Professional.
Russell Ewing says
The biggest problem now a days is they put people behind the wheel of a big truck with no experience at all. Sure they go thru schooling which is a big joke anymore. Schools need to go back to the 18 week corse and make sure these rookies know what they are doing before they pass them. We can thank the government for the change from 18 weeks to just 1 week. What a joke this schooling is! I have been OTR for 43 years over 4 1/2 million miles accident free and I learned to drive from the school of hard knocks. Wake up people !