Don't push too hard... heres why

Oh yea! I saw a guy in a truck stop once that was asking me for directions...(in Illinois for a certain town)...I said there is no road like that...are you not sure its in Ohio? He said, omG, yes, boy was he mad...I can't remember the name of the town now, but sure enough he went 500 something miles out of way. You could tell he was EXTREMELY tired and he said he had to deliver in the morning...I told him get some sleep and just have your dispatcher reset appointment and admit to what you did, better than dying trying to make it now...never know what he did though.

What used to make me madder than hell was in the middle of the night in BFE trying to find places and go PAST the drive...nowhere to turn around (of course). I remember having to drive FOURTY miles before finding a place to turn around on some little bitty road, I was steaming the whole way...

 

Scary Scary.....And yeah that could have been a disaster...

But YOU have leaned from it and shared your GOOD point why NOT to push it and I have to grant you that... Point well SPOKEN!

I say KUDO's to yah bro.... And we all know $#^% can happen in the blink of an eye when we are Tired to that point of no return.

It's a DRUNKEN tired.... And we are all glad to see you post your experience.....

All the best,
Matthew

Oh and ( DONT ) do it again Diesel Dummy!!!!!!!

 

I think I have crossed Rhode Island and Connecticut a few times like this.

 

We are all glad that everything turned out OK! The reality is that we ALL have stories like that, well maybe except for the supertruckers who never (admit to) make(making) a mistake. I learned the hard way myself that you cant drive till you are exhausted. I learned the VALUE of proper trip planning after coming incredibly close to rolling the truck looking for a safe haven to get some sleep.

I pulled off the highway to use what appeared to be a gravel lot. What I thought was gravel from the distance of the highway and my exhaustion, was the white tops of grasses. So I needed to turn around and get further down the road to find another place. No problem the gas station/fastfood joint across the street has a big enough spot for me to turn around in, right. Wrong, well sort of. Turns out there is a deep ditch on either side of the driveway which isnt really wide enough to accomodate the offtracking of a big truck and trailer. Due to the darkness and again, my exhaustion, I didnt see the ditch. Well I almost made it in when I felt something funny. I decided to stop and check, had no clue what the problem might be. Opened up the truck door to step out and my truck tandems are about foot or more off the ground. The opposite trailer tandems had partially dropped off the side of the driveway and were resting on the brake chambers.

Called into the company's road service number, and tried to tell them that I was in trouble and needed help quickly. I told them that I was in danger of rolling over, and was told that, "If the truck hadnt already rolled it wasnt likely to."

This is also where I learned that the clocks in Texas run slower than in the rest of the nation. Road Service says help will be there within 45 mins. 2 hours later a mid-size wrecker shows up and says "Oh s..t! We need Big Bubba! But not to worry, we can get him here in 10 mins." 40 mins later Big Bubba shows up, and another 30 mins for the two wrecker drivers to figure out how to get me hoisted up, cause the truck was ready to roll at any second and they didnt want to be in the way or pulled over with it if it did roll.

I still have respect for wrecker drivers who can get us out of the messes that we can put ourselves into.

So, from then on and every day since, I knew where and (about) when I was going to end my day, including a plan B and C. I have the guidebook, The Next Exit, which lists every exit from the interstate and what services are near to it. It also lists rest areas and wiegh stations. I have almost worn it out and time to buy a new one.

I have always said, "Just because you can run legal, does not mean that you can run TIRED!" Get off the road before you have to unload the trailer in the middle of it!

 

I will tell this in hopes of someone learning from it.

I went to work for an LTL company pulling doubles at night. I was what we called a shuttle driver, meaning I went from terminal to terminal, never knowing where to, or how many different terminals each night. I sometimes only had one long run and back, other times I might hit 5 terminals in one night.

I was always home every day, but the hours were ridiculious. I had to call in at eight o'clock each night, to be usually told to come in between 10:30 and midnight.

I would get home anywhere from 6:00 am and 2:00 pm. This really messed up my sleep pattern, as I never knew when I would get to bed.

I ended up to where I could only sleep 3 hours a day, even if I stayed in the bed for 8 hours. I felt horrible. I would have to pull over between dispatches and catch 10 or 15 minutes in the floorboard (day cab with only a drivers seat, and no A/C or P/S, the good old days).

One night I was on a long load that went to Knoxville, break apart the trailers, put another set together, and come home to NC.

I topped Black Mountain on I-40, and as I went by exit 64 where a McDonalds is, I was thinking how I wished it was open so I could get a cold drink and a burger.

I don't remember anything else until bright lights brought me around. It was the lights reflecting off of the lighted overhead sign that pointed out the I-26 south exit, which is exit #46.

How I got there, what I did, or who I may have ran over, I had no clue, but I had just driven 18 miles with no memory of it. I don't even remember being tired or sleepy. I just went to sleep that quick.

I was scared enough that I had no trouble staying awake to Knoxville and partway back. I pulled over beside the road and slept 2 hours on the way back.

I quit that weekend. I took a daytime local job working more hours for less money, money that I dearly needed at that time.

I quickly decided that my life, and the lives of others, were not worth any amount of money.

This was 18 years ago. I have driven sleepy since, but when I get to a certain point, the truck stops, freight or no freight.