Winds topple tractor-trailer

Oh god what a nightmare. I feel deep sympathy for the pick up driver's family and also for the semi driver. That has always been a concern of mine when being "forced" dispatched out in bad weather.
What a nightmare....

 

"Forced Dispatch" or not, YOU are the Captain of Your Ship. Letting your dispatcher tell you to run in bad weather that you know is not safe, that's a Nightmare.

 

I agree entirely

 

The reason I have not worked for 2 weeks. I chose to leave the company rather than deal with the forced dispatch running on unsafe roads.

 

Forced dispatch means; you are required to haul the load assigned to you.

Forced dispatch does not by any stretch mean that you are "forced" to operate in unsafe or in overly hazardous conditions.

 

Nice theory. There are some companies that keep calling or qualcomming.

I was in a blizzard in Wisconsin sitting near the payphone. I heard many of the conversations with the various dispatchers demanding the load be moved on a road that was closed.

This type of company is why I am not working. I refused to run the way they wanted and demanded.

 

Maybe we should look at what the police said. "A sudden gust...act of God...nothing driver could do..". Yeah, you are responsible for safe operation of your truck. But weather can change in an instant. Sorry, but hours of freezing rain or snow, its easy to make the decision to pull it over. Wind gusts are instantaneous. Just a point.

BTW, I happen to have met Jeremy, the driver by chance through a mutual acquaintance. Been driving a couple of years with no blemishes. Nice kid. My heart goes out to all involved.

 

Don't have a Qualcomm but back in the days of just the two-way radios we used a well known device......

"Uh,.....di--ch....uh you are br---ng up there.......I'll ge---back to y------"

add the "fake" static for effect.

 

I don't have a QC either and sometimes I just hang up my phone ... "I don't know what happened, guess I must have lost the signal."