Am I a total tool bag?

I would have shown the guy how to throw chains in the parking lot, _if_, _a big if_, I could afford the time. Tag a longs suck.

I wouldn't worry about the Flatbed. At least they had enough sense to turn the tractor a bit and keep the driver side mirror in a bit more, if not folding it in. They can figure out the rest.

 

I bet your dispather likes the HOS because without them you would always be stopped helping people out

 

I voted before reading, too.
Said no.
If you have to ask, you're not.

Those that are have been told so.

 

I was beginning to think you were my old buddy Lowboy Larry.
He could tell a hell of a story too.
But he knew how to spell fourth.

 

From day one in trucking, my answer to "Wanna run together/wanna follow me/can I follow you?" is NO. I run my run my way. I don't want to keep stopping at all your favorite pie stops, I don't want the added stress of "keeping up" with you, I don't want you lagging and slowing me down, and I CERTAINLY don't want to talk on the CB all night to "help you stay awake".

Always NO. TS or company terminal, friend or foe. I never asked to follow anyone, either.

First thing that kid needs to learn is grow a set. Tell dispatch it's too dangerous to drive, followed by a call to safety department if his DM gives him any flack; or gather as much intel as possible on conditions, call the old guy at your terminal who gave ya his number to call "if you get in a pickle", then chain up your tires and chain up your nuts and GO GIT IT!

 

Letting people follow you is like petting a stray dog...pretty soon you can't get away from them.
If you had to chain up and he never had you would have wound up chaining his truck too. If you had the time that's fine but what would you do if he threw a chain, got it caught around his axle, came to a grinding stop in the middle of the road, and still expected you...his trusty and loyal babysitter...to stop and get him going again.
I'm not saying don't help people. I think we owe our fellow drivers every assistance we can give...as long as it doesn't put us in danger, make us late with the load, or entail any kind of legal responsibility.

 

Otter, I would have done the same thing, but I would not have felt like a dick about it.

First the kid needs to learn, if he doesn't think he can make it through something that isn't that bad (You and I both know there are worst places to drive), then I would have suggest finding some other means of making money. BUT follow me, hell no. Keep away from my truck, I am not babysitting anyone.

Second the FB driver breaking down and causing all kinds of BS, I feel for him, I had a driver face that in PA but those lanes were so narrow, the two company had to back up a mile to get him moved with five or six miles of a back up. It wasn't his fault as it wasn't this guys fault - dealer didn't tighten something up on the fuel system so it sucked air. BUT you have to get going, HOS sucks, no latitude at all, I would have been pissed sitting there, if the guy isn't hurt, he has means to communicate and get help, I would get the hell out of dodge.

 

I would have driven his truck over Vail and got an Uber to take me back. That’s because I am from Mississippi, the Hospitality State.