Scariest situation you have been in?

Actually the food was very good the last time I was there, about three years ago
QUOTE=flyingmusician;3544981]Thats funny. I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually eating in there anytime I've ever stopped there lol[/QUOTE]

 

I've been blown over by one at 65 mph, but being thrown 40 feet sounds worse.

 

Two recent ones:

Coming across a little two-laner in Eastern Nebraska, rolling along at 55mph. Idiot in a charter bus at a crossroads ahead of me started pulling across the highway. Luckily, I was empty, had I been loaded, I probably wouldn't have been able to slow down enough to miss him.

After the fact, however, it wasn't that he had jeopardized my life or his that pissed me off. It was that, and I don't know if there were or not, but, if there had been passengers on that bus, he hadn't just risked our lives, he had risked the lives of 10, 20, or 30 other people. And that's what really irked me.

The other one was out East of Denver. Tornado touched down just a couple miles from where I was. I never finished strapping down a load so fast in my life (yes, I had looked for shelters and low-spots, there was nothing to be had). Strapped here, and hauled ### in the other direction. Tornados can move fast, I didn't want to find out how fast. It wasn't a bad tornado, but, enough it probably could have made for a bad situation. Regardless, I can affirm the natural human reaction to seeing a tornado is NOT to stick around and wait.

 

Hmmmm.

It must have been miracle for a truck to stay on the road while two people are fighting for the driver's seat... maybe.

But I do not believe for a moment that you had the grim reaper in your headlights and you still found time to thump the trainee with the tire checker.

Me thinks a bit of trucker buffet lore has been added to this story.

Mikeeee

 

I haven't personally been in any situation driving a truck that qualifies as having high fear factor... yet.

The scariest situation I've come across personally was sitting at a Howard Johnson's counter with my brother on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, having a cup of coffee in '77. This skinny guy shaking like he was quitting heroin cold turkey sat next to me and starting pounding cup after cup of coffee and eating little white pills like they were candy. He started talking a mile a minute, about how he'd just run a load from Chicago to Washington DC and picked up another load and was headed back to Chicago and he hadn't slept in 3 days.... driving nonstop and only stopping for fuel, coffee, and a piss.

He offered me some of his little white pills. I declined. He left before our breakfast arrived.

Made me nervous to know that somewhere ahead of us was a trucker wired to the max on uppers and caffeine working on no sleep for days. I expected to come across a wreck anytime, but no such.

 

Awww, now you have made me post it again... Heheheheee



Mikeeee

 

I believe after beating the crap out of him and regaining control I would of filed formal charges against him and let him get some jail time.


Here's another big thread on the same thing.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/questions-to-truckers-from-general-public/77073-scariest-moment.html

 

I was bob tailing back to the Pilot off 285 x 54 in Atlanta, you guys know the one. Found me a hole and backed into it, it was about 3 a.m. This Chevy van comes racing over and brakes right in front of my truck and I thought they were going to rob me. I was reaching for my hammer, the first and only time I ever did that. But it turns out it was a pump and his hooker. She just wanted a "date". I politely refused but it did scare me. That's all I can think of.

 

It takes a certain kind of person to train. A lot of patience, and understanding. I trained one student for 3 days, and that was enough to officially end my days as a trainer. He claimed to have gone to school at roadmasters in Florida, but judging from his driving, I seriously doubt it. One of the golden rules of driving is to never let your truck roll backwards on a hill/light or whatever. Well, as soon as he takes the wheel for the first time, he lets the truck roll back about 5 feet before he slammed on the brakes and stalled. Since he was my first student, I wasn't sure if this was normal or maybe nerves. He eventually got the truck moving in the right direction but couldn't get the truck out of second gear. He was clueless of where third gear was. A mile later, he gets to a light where we have to take a left, and it takes him the whole light cycle to get the truck through the light. I knew then that there was no way in hell I was gonna get on the highway with him. We were heavy, and would be doing quit a bit of downshifting which would have been impossible for him. I have him pull over, and switch seats. So he jumps out the driver side, and we switch. As I get in to start going, I go to release the brakes to find he never pulled the brakes. I was livid and knew then his was would be on a bus to the terminal within hours. Luckily we were half on grass and half on road and didn't go rolling back towards the light.

I was lucky that I worked in the grading business before driving a truck, and have a lot of experience with driving dump trucks. I came in knowing how to change gears, and just needed time adjusting to the size and turn radius of the truck. I think it should be expected that a student know the gear pattern and be able to get through them coming out of school. Not downshifting smoothly, obviously. He couldn't even get the truck rolling in the right direction.

Before any of this happened I should have listened to my instincts because the dude just wasn't right. For training, he only brought 2 pairs of shorts and 2 shirts. He chain smoked cigarettes and constantly smelled like rotten pickles. He was over 60, and claimed to have driven in his thirties which I now find to be pretty doubtful. There is no was he went to roadmasters, if he had he'd at least know the gear pattern.

I'm sure most students are better than this, but it's just not worth it. I value my space and free time. I keep my truck clean and orderly, which is tough to maintain when sharing a truck with another dude. Not to mention, sleeping while someone else is driving is near impossible for me.