Man killed in fiery semi-trailer truck accident on I-80 in Iowa City

Western Express does not usually run a team in flatbed trucks. This was most likely a trainer and trainee.

A problem that may have played out here is that western likes to run these trucks like they are a team truck.

Sounds like the trainee was driving at the time of the incident.

 

One might think, but today? Not necessarily. Many trainERS are no more competent then their trainEES. Sad, but true.

 

My husband saw the flames.....he called me, here at home to tell me about it. Scared the wits out of me.

 

Any trainer that sleeps while a trainee is driving is a complete flipping idiot! I could think of no worse life than subjecting oneself to sleep while a new driver attempts to drive long distances unsupervised. IDIOTS!

 

That's assuming fire has anything to do with the death perhaps hitting a concrete bridge support is the cause and the fire is an after effect but no matter what I suspect that the root cause is this was another team driving situation and the driver fell asleep. Team driving should be illegal.

 

huh??? or are you just being facetious?

 

I agree if they were training then the trainer should have been in the passenger seat while the trainee was driving or both should have been asleep they were team driving which to me is the biggest causes of crashes in this industry.

 

No this is not a joking matter someone died here I believe team driving is unsafe and should not be legal

 

Well, Ok. But do you realize how many fresh food products are shipped on team trucks? Should we just do away with Fed-Ex and UPS overnight service since speedy delivery is not important enough to justify the potential costs?
What does teaming have to do with anything? Driving solo does not make you immune to getting sleepy. While I agree being part of a team effectively doubles your likelihood of being involved in a deadly crash, but the key word is YOUR. In the broader context of trucking, team driving is no more a safety issue then the idea many bad driver are on the road and getting teams done away with is not going to change that.