Am I just SOL

I’m trying to figure out how to say this without being a prick...

You’re not real smart.

It takes two to tango. Hotheaded you and your horn and that idiot in the U-Haul. If you were worried about his gun, why didn’t you call 911? And doing the stupid tag game in the parking lot?

“But Six, he had a 9 on his hip.”

And? The cool head prevails.

And that thing with the mound. I don’t know what to say about that. If you have troubles getting a trailer into a spot, tell their yard dog to get it in for you.

A man makes his own luck. Guess you’re lookin* for @Chinatown

 

Hold it right there.

The moment anyone says they are armed and appears credible with those words about having that 9mm (Or whatever) you freeze in place and call the law. Don't move, don't drive do nothing. Sit there. Work on getting the Law rolling on a man with a gun coming after you. DO not yell back etc. SHUT UP. Get the Law moving.

Now if that was me and I am a licensed carry in my car or whatever and someone came up screaming roadraging that they are armed, That is exactly what I would do too. IF he does draw then we are fixing to find out how this will play out with the phone calling the law and probably hearing the gun fire on the line in addition to rolling video.

The most basic male to male road raging isnt that much different than silver back monkeys thumping chests over a banana. THUMPS YOU ROARS At you. You thump back roars back and then maybe hit. And back and forth and back and forth ad nauseum. Always escalating.

The more someone roars at you, the seriously quieter you need to be. And calling the law if you yourself are not already armed. It may not feel good or strike you right in the grain, but your actions in this developing few moments of potentially your pending death will help nail the bad guy as the aggressor in trial. Most people want out anyway they can. I would take the entire street and turn that big tractor trailer and work on getting out, traffic be ######. (And have....) If they took shots even better. Holes in the rig. (And have...)

You have had several different situations quickly. And it's a train wreck. What you need to do is stay home. Take up painting or something slow. Stay there until you are used to paint drying. Then maybe you are calm and ready to head back out there with a clear head. Follow me?

 

Don't say anything about the gun incident or you won't be hired. Just say you scraped a U-Haul.
Here's some second chance companies. Do the online apps, then follow with a phone call. It's easier to be hired if you already have an application on file when you call and say, "I'm checking on my job application."
TransAm
Carolina Cargo
USA Truck
Carolina Logistics - www.carolinalogistics.net
Flat Creek Transportation in Alabama

 

I'm sure opinions will be split on this comment. However, I have to agree with you, that is the best course of action. Anything else is probably going to make a bad situation worse. Kind of like the old cliche of just throwing fuel on a fire.

 

Highway violence has truckers nervous

Tuesday, July 12, 2016



The rash of random highway shootings lends a darker meaning to phrases like defensive driving and the friendly “travel safe.” Especially for those who spend the most time on the nation’s highways.

Last month, more highway shootings in Phoenix made headlines along with a chilling report of a UPS driver who was randomly shot at in St. Louis while doing his job.

Jon Osburn, OOIDA senior member and pilot of the Association’s tour truck, reports a lot of talk on the road about the violence.

“The talk now is from drivers that are worried about going into potentially dangerous places,” said Osburn. “Seasoned truckers of all types talk to me every day. They don’t want to deliver or pick up in those cities, the places where demonstrators are blocking highway, shooting and throwing things.”

Recently, Land Line polled readers on its website, asking if their truck had ever been shot at or had rocks thrown at it. Of those who responded, 51.72 percent said yes, 31.03 percent said no, and 17.24 percent said they thought so, but weren’t sure.

The rash of random shootings and rock-throwings on our interstates has become a growing concern to truckers, motorists, law enforcement and, well, everyone who spends any amount of time on our nation’s big roads. All drivers – and passengers – are at risk, but when it comes to who spends the most time out there, truckers win hands down.

Sometimes it’s broken glass; sometimes it’s worse. In mid-May, a 68-year-old truck driver was shot in the face while bobtailing on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. According to the police report, someone in a passenger car pulled alongside and opened fire, shattering the driver’s-side window. Chicago’s ABC7 reported he was recovering. At press time, the shooter was still at large.

In the statistics, truckers are not distinguished from motorists, but it was the third expressway shooting in Chicago in a week. News sources reported the police said there had been at least 20 highway shootings in 2016.

This sounds like a number that might lead the national list far and away. But it’s not. A quick Google search tells you that the recent incidents in California’s Bay Area since November have now reached 28, with most on I-80, as well as Highway 4, and some on Highway 101 and Interstates 580 and 880. Area mayors claim to be “under siege.”

In February, drivers on Highway 75 in Tulsa County, Okla., were terrorized for two nights. Nearly a dozen Wal-Mart trucks and two cars were shot at. Police arrested two 14-year-old boys who were out hunting and decided to do some target practice. They said they didn’t mean any harm.

In Florida, four people were injured in one of three pellet-gun shootings in mid-May on I-295 in Jacksonville. As of press time, the assailant is still at large. The week before that, a New Jersey trucker was shot and killed while trucking on eastbound I-10. This one, police say, was thought to be another trucker who pulled up beside him and fired.

Of course, the latest outbreak is a continuation of a history of many, many snipers. The Beltway, or D.C., snipers killed 10 people and injured three back in 2002.

Our Land Line staff clearly recalls how menacing it was when a guy was shooting at motorists here in the Kansas City area about two years ago. Most of us drove through the area (where I-70 becomes I-470) twice a day. The guy was shooting from his own car with a .380 pistol. There were about a dozen shooting incidents, and three people were injured. When they caught him, police said he seemed to have absolutely no motive.

How safe are you inside your truck?
How safe are truck drivers? Are those “heavy-duty” trucks that dwarf four-wheelers any safer than other highway vehicles? We asked Wayne Brown, president of Bodyguard Armoring, Austin, Texas. Brown has more than two decades of experience armoring vehicles and knows how to fend off bullets.

“Truck drivers are no safer than any other driver,” says Brown. “A .22 will go right through a truck door or window.”

Brown has a national reputation for bullet-proofing vehicles for clients. He says the basic handgun armor used consists of 3/8-inch Kevlar composite in the doors and body, and transparent armor that is 3/4-inch thick. It defeats handguns up to .44 Magnum.

To shield you from rifle shots at both metal and glass requires more protection. For truck drivers, both expense and additional weight are a consideration, and there’s plenty of square footage in a sleeper cab truck that can represent a target.

“Handgun protection in the doors, sidewalls, pillars, kick panels, etc. (not counting the roof, floor or transparent armor for windows) would probably add only a couple of hundred pounds,” Brown estimates. “Transparent armor glass in Level IIIA handgun protection is about 10 pounds per square foot.”

Brown says these windows must be custom-formed to fit the truck.

“I have done special request jobs where I have installed special multi-layered flat polycarbonate panels behind the vehicle’s OEM glass,” he says. “This is an effective but less costly method of protecting a vehicle.”

If you’re shot at? What do you do?
OOIDA Director of Safety and Security Operations Doug Morris has been involved with transportation safety and security for more than 33 years. He represents OOIDA as the chairman of the Highway Motor Carrier Sector Coordinating Council of the Department of Homeland Security and as the secretary of the Partnership for Critical Infrastructure Security.

Before joining the staff at OOIDA, Morris was employed as a Maryland State Trooper, retiring in 2009 after 28 years of service. During his tenure with the Maryland State Police, he served as the assistant commander of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division as well as the commander of the Transportation Security Section and Transportation Safety Division.

Morris has more than 500 hours in advanced training in transportation emergency management, disaster assistance and incident command.

We asked him what to do if you are shot at while you are at the wheel. While all situations are different, one rule is always the same. In those few intense moments, you must get as much info as you can.

“If you are getting shot at while driving, continue driving as efficiently and safely as possible. Call 911 with your location and follow the instructions of the police dispatcher,” said Morris. “If you know the shooter’s general location, report that to police as well. When in a safe area you may also want to warn other drivers on the CB if you have one.”

Morris said if you find bullet holes in your truck or trailer, contact police and file a report of where and when it occurred if possible.

Of course, if you are driving and you are hit, or a passenger is hit, pull to a safe area if possible. In the case of the trucker shot recently on the Dan Ryan, it was not feasible for him to drive. Afterward, witnesses say the tractor began veering and then stopped in the center lane. The wounded trucker got out and collapsed. Another motorist stopped and helped give medical assistance until paramedics arrived.

If you have a co-driver or passenger who has been wounded, Morris says to call 911 and while help is on the way, do your best to render aid.

A number of carriers with satellite communications in each truck have a personal danger code on onboard computers. PeopleNet, for example, has one for drivers if they are in personal danger. Qualcomm has a “Macro” number if a driver is hurt or deathly ill and needs immediate help.

Can you call 911 from your cellphone from anywhere? Yes. Unless it’s in a “dead zone” you should get through. The Federal Communications Commission requires that wireless service providers complete the 911 call, whether you subscribe to that provider’s service or not. In any instance, when placing a 911 call from a cellphone, you need to be prepared to give your phone number and specific location. If you cannot talk, emergency responders are faced with the challenge of finding you. The good news is that the FCC does require your wireless service provider to now give the center accurate location info, up to 50 to 300 meters.

Tragic, true
In 1953, a roving shooter gunned down three truckers in separate incidents as they slept while parked in different locations off the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Two of the three truckers died. Whether you are driving or parked sleeping, true stories like this and the tragic reports of many others lend a darker meaning to phrases like defensive driving and the friendly “travel safe.”

The New York Daily News writer Mara Bovsun described the actions of the Pennsylvania Turnpike gunman and wrote in 1955 that it “forever changed the habits of interstate truckers, who learned that being encased in a steel behemoth offers no security against a maniac with a gun.”

 

I have seen many many articles harp on the same tired be safe and evade the shooter versions.

Ive gone past that. I refuse to travel without arms and have IDF training to take on the bad guy. But that's me within my limitations and that of state law. In Arkansas we have Castle Doctrine for both House, curtiledge so on and Vehicle.

To the other poster indicating there are a split in opinions. I agree completely. There are a thousand times thousands of potential outcomes to a situation gone bad. It is unfortunate that many people have not yet been trained enough to where they can refrain from displaying, threats or other indications that they intend possibly to use the weapon as a bad guy against another. It really shows how someone can flip from being a good guy to a bad guy by actions, words etc in a moment.

Long before 9-11 People who carried were few. And there was at that time back then a little bit of a taboo against guns in general even though everyone had access to one that chose to have them. I fired my first rounds when I was yea high. I don't think I hit a darn thing but it is what it is. Without going excessively into the results of a deaf culture that taught non violence in a very structured manner, I have had to do it myself if I wanted to learn, train and understand what to do in life regarding carry. Arkansas is a free state compared to Maryland, and I hope that one day Maryland will yet again reclaim it's heritage and become a free state as well. Because they have bought our freedoms in blood before we were America as did other peoples from Delaware and such places.

The biggest news in trucking goes back into the 80's where a trucker was leading a pack of 4 in convoy and a blue pickup truck pulled up next to it on 695 northbound west side below the I-70 tristack interchange and shot that trucker in the head. The rig went off the road. I think they finally caught the shooter. But I was not that far away that night and the CB radio was really lighting up all of us hunting for that vehicle. I'll have to visit the archives of the Baltmore Sun and see if I can recover that article from that shooting. It was for us I suppose a first for vehicle shooting against truckers.

In the Midwest laser pen pointers became a fad. You could buy one from a bucket in a 7-11 or something for a dollar in those days. Early 90's Something to do with highschool kids pointing cheerleaders at sports games or somethiing back then at night. I had a car pull up next to me at east Indianapolis eastbound on 70 and point a laser dot onto me.

I went ahead and put the 18 wheeler into motion with the specific goal of taking that vehicle out with my drives and it evaded. The laughing I heard turned to terror and begging as these were just kids fooling around. It took me a few lanes and a time to get her settled again shook the freight down in the box but that was the least of my concerns. I almost killed 4 people or worse over a stupid laser pen. It could have easily been a gun laser.

It wont be the last time.

 

Situation 1 - Never let people behind you, or blocking traffic in front of you, to stress you or force a bad decision. And be very careful with the use of horns.

Situation 2 - GOAL. Slow down. Approach the driver next to you.

Situation 3 - Have the yard dog spot it.

A lot of trucking ( the actual driving part), is mental.

Your post is written well enough to explain the circumstances. You’re not an idiot.

People forget real quickly - this is a job that requires 100% attention and correct application of many skills - ON A SECOND BY SECOND BASIS.

Anything less may get you killed.

 

Sorry guys, the first one was totally avoidable. No excuse at all. I would have fired you for that move.

There is no excuse to be impatient, take the hit on the logs or get there a bit faster. Blocking the drive is unavoidable, so too bad for those trying to get out.

 

What do you reckon mate its all there fault right? Time to man up and take responsibility for your actions, while you were perhaps the victim of road rage you choose to take the wrong kind of action instead of calling the police and instead of being the innocent one you end up being the guilty one.

 

holy cow Chinatown, 0ver 30,000 likes, WOW.