Dispatcher tries to force driver to drive tired. *MUST SEE*

I agree, For reefers n such maybe..but when you hauling OD sun up to sun down...no gettin around that.

 

Ya It might even be illegal since I doubt he ever told his dispatch he was recording them.

 

I bet it seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

They're is one other thing, and I always pond this out. He should of used his sleeper provision to split his ten, witch would allowed him to leave 2 hours earlier. That would of gotten him almost half way there before he even got tired.

 

Does anybody else record there convos with there dispatch?..just wondering if this is normal practice..

 

Obviously, it sounds like you have never worked 24/7 on call in a job like trucking where you are sitting and alone. No coworkers or vigorous activity to keep your heart rate up, breathing rate up, adrenaline up, and blood flowing.

It would not have mattered if the driver had been off duty for 2000 hours. This does not mean he can he flipped on like a light at any moment and be alert enough to drive.

Do some reading on circadian rythym. This is the biological process that explains why the driver could not stay awake, even after ingesting caffeine and walking around for a few minutes(that lasts about 20minutes and it's lights out again).The next best thing, other than 8hours sleep, is doing a 20 minute nap. Any longer than 30-45 minutes that nap becomes deep sleep(he won't remember turning the alarm off in his sleep;won't wake up). That power nap will let him drive another 2 hours, give or take. Then time for another 20 minute nap. In case you've never had to do these, let me tell you, it's torture on your body and mind. Also, what happens if there is no safe place to pull over when you are nodding off again? You are driving while nodding off, praying you can find a place to stop before you crash and die!

Personally, I have the power to pick my loads, and I don't take loads which shift my sleep pattern more than 3 hours per 24 hour span. So, if I went to sleep at 10pm and sleep 8 hours, I plan to be sleeping before 1a.m. the next night; not driving. Same goes for waking up more than 3 hours before the time I awoke last.

It takes 2 to 3 weeks to gradually train my body to change it's circadian rythm by 12 hours. K&B ignorantly expected Abe to adjust within 24 hours. Impossible!

Please try it sometime. Get up in the morning, stay up for 2-3 hours, then try sleeping in your room for 10 hours, then get up and go. Tell me how you feel driving down a dark interstate, alone, between 2am and 7am. That's if you can tell me-- you may be dead!

 

They didn't expect him to change. They just chewed him out so he doesn't make it a habit.

 

*Snipped*

Sadly that seems to be the norm and accepted by most these days.

 

I gave the driver the benefit of the doubt....ahem....as I always do, and I assumed he did what dispatch TOLD him to do i.e. take 10 and maybe the load wasn't ready in time for him to split?

 

Oh please. The drama. I just did it last week. Got into Dundalk at 13:00 an out by 15:00. Back to the TA to do some paperwork and was ready to go but I would have been out of my 14 before I reached my destination so I went into the bunk and left at 01:00. Stopped in Bingo for breakfast and Watertown for a coffee and then on to finish my 470 mile trip......on 5 hrs sleep.

The load before that I was up at 07:00. Started driving at 15:00 IIRC. Arrived at my delivery at 02:00.

I don't care if he didn't sleep a wink during his 2nd 10 off duty. He was still only awake for approx 12 hours when he shut down 162 miles from Oak City or whatever his destination was.

We have all done it. People need to stop making excuses for this guy and see it for what it is. He was ticked off that they laid him over again (probably not the first time) and now he has to drive at night to meet the delivery so he's going to make a global issue out of it and get some internet love from his You Tube followers.

Nobody likes to do it, but like Dinomite said, sometimes it happens and where we get into trouble is when it gets to be too much. This Abe fella probably felt abused and maybe a little sorry for himself this was his way of dealing with it. Wrong way IMO.