comedian Tracy Morgan hurt in bus/truck crash

I haven't read this thread, so if this was brought up prevIously, my apologies. I was watching the news last night and there was a report on this accident. The anchor said the Walmart driver had been awake for 24 hours prior to the accident. Maybe he was, maybe not.

So now we have a high profile crash, and the media going nuts about him being awake for 24 hours. We know Walmart uses elogs so he presumably was not driving for the last 24 hrs straight.

So I ask, how long before FMCSA dictates what we do when off duty, at home? I can foresee someone suggesting a new rule mandating rest periods at home, or some other crazy law.

I dunno of the driver was at home prior to the accident, but let's suppose he was and indeed awake for 24 hours while home, and then jumped on the truck and drove. Crazy?? Probably. Legal under current laws? I would think so.

So are they going to dictate when we should be sleeping at home? How about telling us we can't attend family events 10 hours in advance of reporting for work? A ten hour break after mowing the lawn before hitting the road?

Either way, its quite the tragedy

 

Exactly, so what is the point?

 

They been running that ad promising $76k in driver wages for some time.

 

Very true, nothing more taxing / frustrating than shippers/ receivers blatantly delaying truckers on a daily basis. This causes serious fatigue.

 

Yeah there are so many factors involved in the whole situation. If you get delayed long enough at a shipper/receiver, then you're forced to complete your 10 hr break so you can get the load there on time or to your next pickup. By the time you've finished that break you've been up all day then you have to drive all night to make morning delivery.

There was a video on this site somewhere recently where a driver recorded his dispatchers trying to force him to drive overnight when he had been up all day in a situation like this. I couldn't find it.

 

That was kb transportation that tried to force Abe to drive tired.Some things in this industry will never change.

 

Hundreds of times over the years, after taking time off and expecting to return too duty at a certain hour a phone call delays this return too duty for 10 or 12 hours and the first night back becomes the night from hell. This type of delay causes fatigued driving on tens of thousands of occasions every day. How many times each day does a driver sit in a truck stop waiting for a dispatch for 10-12-14 hours and then it finally comes just as he's given up and ready for bed?

 

Want to bet? 5+ years at the same carrier, impeccable driving records and CSA scores. There are lots of them. The real shortage is of " team players" and yes men willing to join a micro-managed culture.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4065268]I'll probably get all kinds of flak on this, but this IS a blog, right? [/QUOTE]

Nope, this is a "forum". But there is space on the site for individuals to create their own blogs.
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/blog.php?u=141912

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog