HELP - Am I responsible?

That guy sounds scary......glad you got away from him. I hope you have his truck number so you can take the ditch if you see him coming. 3 hours the wrong way?? Come on.

 

Glad everything worked out for you and it is all over and you are back on the road. Sounds like a happy ending for both of you. I think he is lucky to just get probation instead of fired.
Maybe after a big mistake like that he will pay a lot better attention now and be a great driver some day.
He just needed to be pointed in the right direction, ( pun intended ).

 

3 years trucking is still a rookie. Shouldn't really be teaching ( I believe ).

 

I've been saying for along time now, driver trainers should be qualified by someone. Even if it's the company there should be some type of special knowledge and requirements a driver trainer must have. Pay him or her more all the time to be a trainer. Have records kept to show DOT what they have done to endure safety. Even go so far as to require an endorsement and a minimum of at least 5 years experience. I'll bet this drivers company is one of the megacarriers that only care about the load getting to point B. You know the companies, the ones that allow a 6 month driver to train.

 

My first handle in this biz was "Wrong Way". LOL. I'm tooling along southbound on 81 in PA after fueling. Tired, wore out, been dragging snow for three weeks. On my way to the terminal in . . . Oswego, NY. Yup. I said southbound on 81 in PA on my way to upstate NY. LOL. Passed a couple other company trucks south of Harrisburg where I fueled. "Where ya headin' there mean green?" "Up to the terminal to grab an Alcoa load. Gonna have to darned drop and hook (we didn't like that in covered wagons - a lot to swap over)". [Histerics on the CB] "You DO know you're southbound and New York is NORTH [more histerics]." "NO. Darned! Son of a BIT..! I ain't seen an interstate sign since Harrisburg but the mile makers ARE getting smaller. !@@##$$%^^&&**!!!!"

"It's OK Wrong Way. We all tired. Just WE [snicker, snicker] goin' the RIGHT way. [Laughs] C'mon flip and we'll see you at the shop and help ya swap (we used to do that - help each other) [still laughing]." I got there and by that time everyone knew. "Hey! Wrong Way made it!! [applause in the driver's lounge]". "Yeah, yeah. I had the map book upside down. OK? They need to put an UP arrow on each page or something." More laughter. It had been a rough week on all of us. Name stuck for the next 5 years.

Upside? I learned. LOL.

 

Some clown up the line is going to go with whatever senerio of this situation that covers his butt and not necessarily yours. The guy appeared to have it under control and you needed to get some rest for your shift, what else can you do? Stand up and push back if they try to give you grief!

 

As a pilot we have to have an instructor rating before we can train. There are set requirements for that. You also are limited as to what kind of plane you can teach in and the maintenance standards on training aircraft are higher.

Your man panicked. He went into the cover your ### mode that so many folks have. I guarantee he was no ex-military.

I have in my truck, a garmin Dezl 760 LMT. I have a laptop with Co-Pilot 9 software and a USB-GPS. I know every function on them. I also have a map somewhere in the cap. I rarely use the map. I know the limitations of GPS's but I believe there value more then makes up for them. My GPS would be telling me, "RECALCULATING" every time I went passed a turn around point while headed in the wrong direction. I am confused as to why his didn't. It doesn't matter how good your instruments are if you can use them.

Safety is absolutely right. You are not responsible for anything that goes on while you are in the sleep berth. Teaming is difficult. If you don't trust your co driver, every bump he hits is going to make you think you are about to crash.

When I first started out, I didn't know the difference between a truck stop and a regular gas station. I saw the sign Diesel and thought that I could get fuel there. My co driver had to get us out of where I ended up. He did most of the backing also. He stuck with me and before anyone figured out that I had no idea what I was doing, I did.

Your man can't be trusted. Not because of his mistake but because he tried to blame you. Those are the lowest forms of life. They are nice to have to walk in front of you in combat. Someone needs to block the bullets.

 

Oh great, it's one of those team-train companies.