Frozen trucker case

I haven't read the story or know where its found. But i can see a lot of questions that need answers to the story. But i know there's no way in heck i'm going to be able to sleep in the cold.

 

The snow was so heavy during the winters of 1978/1979 that trucks that pulled over on the side of the road were covered with snow. The air intakes got plugged causing the engines to shut down. Many drivers were found days and weeks later frozen to death in their trucks.

 

I am a former TransAm driver and it is made VERY clear you do NOT unhook and abandon your trailer. You need supervisor approval to do this. The driver seems like a f'up. Running his truck to empty, not knowing how to deal with frozen brake lines (we all should have learned how to deal with this in CDL school), not dealing the an non-working bunk heater. It seems like a series of avoidable mistakes that got him into the problem.

If he was really stuck, felt his life was in danger, he should have left his tractor and trailer together (as we are instructed to do during TA training) and called a Taxi or non-emergency police number to see how he could get a ride to safety.

TransAm sucks in many ways but so to many of the drivers.

 

Trans am pulls reefers?? If I was in such a dire bind I'd be breaking a seal and sit in a toasty warm trailer if I felt my life was in danger and I couldn't get help... if it was simply a matter of low fuel I'd be telling roadside to bring some and idle the sucker till she died .. thankfully I know how to deal with frozen equipment and would've been prepared and had fuel in the tanks as well

 

Sorry patty, this one was on the driver. Now hes crying to get sympathy. If he missed his fuel stop, why not make a. U turn at the next exit and go fuel? Why pull off on the side of the road? And set the trailer brakes in sub zero? And lets take the benefit of the doubt that the poster above did work for trans, he said you leave it hooked, basically trans wants them together. I.e. coupled. I already told you what i would do. If they fired me, i would blast them on the net, and go find a better job, ive got better things to do than look for a payout from a d bag company. But thats me.

 

Your supposed to make better decisions. And when you dont, your not supposed to blame other people. Man up, own your stupidity, move forward. Thats it. Said it already, F trans am, they were despicable. But bad choices by the driver

 

It is common sense to keep plenty of fuel during winter conditions. Put a weather front on. I have used flat cardboard boxes. Setting the trailer brakes---ignorant move. With so many negative actions, it is logical to suspect the driver knew what he was doing was wrong.

 

I did work for TransAm, most of my post count comes from posting in a TranAm thread there where I posted both negative and positives of working for TransAm.

The negatives, as a company driver, they ask you to do a lot of low or unpaid work. Babysitting loads when a lease driver missed an appointment, etc.

The positive, they are very forgiving of rookie mistakes. Miss a fuel stop, there is a pre-made form to request a new one. No questions ask. Your driver manager will give you autho to grab 50 gal anyplace that will accept a fuel card if needed.

They also are very good about paying for hotel rooms during break downs. They suck when it comes to paying break down pay but they Would get you a hotel room if you had no heat in the truck (I have gotten one for that specific reason). Leave the tractor/trailer hooked together and get a room.

They would let a lot slide. I met a driver in the yard who destroyed a trailer by hitting a low bridge. He was getting ready to leave out on his next load. At TransAm you could only get fired for a few thing, leaving a trailer unhooked, unsecured was one of them.

This is all stuff I posted in the TransAm thread before this story became news (I never heard about it until the Judge's confirmation hearing)

 

Ok one of my drivers was reading all of this and he worked the roads in Alaska. He pointed out that if the driver was so cold that he was numb from the waist down, how did he put down the landing gear and unhook the trailer in the first place?

 

Most of you answer because you have the experience. But I'm betting If we were all rookies faced in the same situation. we'd all probably do the same thing. We don't start off as pro's and know all there is to know right off the bat.