Ugly truth of trucking

As I type, there is a dispatcher in jail, along with the driver, for "demanding, pushing, threatening and any other adjective that you can think up". This driver and dispatcher are in prison in Virginia for the deaths of several people just north of Richmond, Va. This happened 4 or 5 years ago. This involved a bus company, one of those Chinese, cheap, discount bus company running from North Carolina to NYC. This driver fell asleep and wrecked, killing several people. The state of Va. got a warrant and brought the dispatcher from NC to Va and today he is in prison along with the driver.


Never forget this one fact, when an employee is "on the clock" the employer is responsible for the employee actions!

 

Heres what the cops told Abe when they woke him up that night,kb was worried about your well being,they have been trying to get ahold of you for along time,BULLCRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only thing kb was worried about was that precious load.Then trying to get ahold him for a long time,he was sleeping for what 45 minutes?Considering how many times dispatch calls drivers with every load,they should pay for their phone bills.

 

In the case of this driver.

Let's say he did not make the video, and was driving tired and went through this with the dispatcher and they coerced him into driving while tired. He wrecks and kills someone.

The dispatcher denies talking to the driver.

Now, prove the dispatcher was involved. Driver is hung out to dry.

 

That's good,they should go to jail.I wish it would happen a lot more then it does.

 

What are the consequences for the dispatcher? Does he go to jail for reckless endangerment or second degree manslaughter? Does he at least lose his job, get a lifetime ban from working in the transportation industry? Im sure that at the very least he must get a reduction in pay.....

Nope, none of the above.

 

I dont know all of the back story.. fault what I did gather from the video was that due to load planning abe had a 10 hour, then a very short run and another 10 hours where he was unable to sleep because he wasnt tired...
One thing that is important for drivers to do. Is get themselves to sleep before a run even if they are not tired.. I keep nightquill in my truck and tylonol pm.. they help me get to sleep when I am not tired enough to sleep..

Now, I am n ot justifying what the dispatchers did or how they handled it... but, this is an opportunity for drivers to learn... and do what theh can not to be in this situation... I know when I hauled reefer and meat loads there were days where I would wake up in the morning drive an hour or two and then be on another reset.. that is where I wojld take the night quill and go to my sleeper and do what I could to rest and sleep... that is why I dont have a tv or things in my sleeper that will distract me or keep me from getting rest... boredom helps you fall asleep..

 

He had the load on him all day. He should of GOT SOME SLEEP.

You act like he got the load put on him at the last minute. He knew he was suppose to drive that night. DRIVER FAILURE

Wow KB and every other company wants the freight to move when you have the hours to legally do so. Maybe companies should stop hiring lazy drivers.

Their precious load pay's the bills for the maintenance, truck payment, lights, office staff, fuel, and even the lazy driver who can muster up 3 hours of driving after 20 plus hours in the sleeper.

Yeah go to jail for doing your job. This would of been a different story if he was stuck out of his truck in a shop all day. Or if he would of spent all day moving up every 30 minutes to pick up his load. He dropped a trailer and had 10 plus hours to get prepared for his job. This isn't his first rodeo doing a load like this. OTR companies don't have drivers sitting by the phone waiting for some guy to call in and say I can't get a power nap I need to take another 10 hr break to finish up this last 200 or so miles. Maybe he should go to ltl where they have extra board guys waiting for somebody to call in.

 

The person calling in gives implied consent to being recorded. He is calling a radio show. A DJ calling them has to imform that he is a DJ a the call is being recorded.


The difference between that situation and Abe's situation is radio is a commercial enterprise. Abe's was not. His conversation falls under privacy laws. Those vary state to state.

 

If I take nyquill, there is no way on gods green earth I can drive for 2 days after. It screws with my entire system.

Say no to drugs.

 

How do you know he did not lay down and try to sleep after being in bed for 10 hours in the first place and could not sleep.

Talk about judgmental with no facts.

So, you condone driving while tired just to deliver a load. No wonder people get killed by truck drivers.