I80E between Laramie and Cheyenne

Guess the other poster thinks no one else should have an opinion that varies from their's.

 

Hi, please dont shut this one down as a former driver for both i would like to be iinformed as too what happen and if you shutdown i cant ever found out what happen ,thanks

 

Multiple times daily drivers run up on my tail then wait to the last minute to come around, usually cutting off a car in the left lane. It's an idiotic practice that needs to stop. The FCC driver should have been paying more attention. You have to keep your eyes moving down the road and not get caught in tunnel vision or focus on one point. You need to be looking ahead at LEAST 15 seconds down the road and ALWAYS have a way out. This means constantly scanning your surroundings. Shoulders, passing / multiple lanes, slowing down, ALWAYS have a way out.

 

JBS Carriers does

 

As a recent former CRST driver (THANK GOD I ESCAPED THAT PLACE!) I have to say as much as I hate that company I cant really place any blame on them. After 3 weeks with a trainer one should be able to drive while the trainer sleeps!

One thing that would have probably prevented this tragedy is something my trainer ALWAYS stressed to me. EVERY time he would go into his bunk he would ALWAYS tell me "if you feel like your getting sleepy, or lost, or confused or if you need my help for any reason at all, DON'T HESITATE TO WAKE ME UP!"

I would bet this trainee didn't feel comfortable enough to wake up his trainer when he got into trouble so I would urge all trainers who read this to CONSTANTLY reassure your students that it is OK to wake you up if they need your help!

 

Ok sorry but just getting on here I am slow to getting my .2 in.... First my condolences to the family of the driver that lost his life. I believe that it was all 3 drivers fault here and not just one or the other.

CRST POLICY:
1)For the first 7 days(or until the trainer thinks they are ready) the truck will stay in a bubble. Now I have had students that got the hang of things a lot quicker than others but I have also had them give me loads that were on a strict transit time and they didn't let us stay in the bubble....I sacrificed my sleep to make sure that the student was comfortable and the load still got there on time.Was it the smartest thing? Probably not

2)All student's shall have day and night driving before their training is completed....We as trainers had to make sure that our students could drive in any condition.

3)For the first 7 days a student is not allowed to drive between the hours of 1am and 6am unless the trainer is in the jump seat and awake

When I trained the first 7 days I was in the jump seat when I wasn't driving I slept there that way the student 1) had the comfort of knowing I was right there and 2)I could be an arms length away if anything happened. When my student started nights I went back to the jump seat for the first couple of days for the same reasons.

Now it could be the trainer was not a good trainer or he thought the student was ok to be on his own considering the fact he was almost done with training. It could be the student was actually disoriented and was not thinking clearly enough to pull over, wake the trainer, etc. or it could be the FCC driver was distracted,tired,etc. There are so many different scenerios that each one of us can come up with and think it's right. IMO instead of trying to lay blame, point fingers, or be nasty we need to look at this as a lesson to all drivers new and old. Things can go wrong out here in the blink of an eye. Always keep focused if you lose that focus pull over for a few(no load is worth your life or anothers) And try to remember the brotherhood and bond we once shared out here....we may not always agree with each other but if we don't take it upon ourselves to look out for each other out here on the roads who will????

Just my opinion.....blessings and peace to all

 

My best guess is that the trainee didn't know his truck well enough to know he was up against the governor and that's why his truck wasn't accelerating. So there he was, foot on the floor in second gear thinking "wow this is a pretty steep hill".

It's a horrible tragedy and I hope the family of the deceased can recover from such a terrible loss. As a new driver I'm very conscious of what's happening on the road in front of me and would like to think something like this could never happen to me from either standpoint.

 

The accident occurred eastbound at the 335 Buford exit. It's right there at the exit and you cannot miss the scene. The pavement is scorched black and there is a slight hump from the heat and of course all of the spray paint from the investigation.

The section of highway where this happened is perfectly level and it is for several miles prior.

See for yourself...
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&i...oid=UdLY7XVkpa0Y1omw5GT_LQ&cbp=12,289.72,,0,0

You should see a white van taking the exit. The wreck occurred in the right lane immediately to the left of the van in the exit lane. Perfectly level stretch of road.

 

Ya, if it happened at the Buford exit it's pretty straight stretch of road. There isn't a dip/climb for a few miles more if you are heading East bound. Then the dip/climb is only maybe a mile at the most. Half mile dip, then a half mile climb. And from Buford on, there really are no sharp curves all the way down to Cheyenne.

I head up to the Buford exit a lot because that is where I go target shooting/hiking; a little piece of State Trust land a mile or so in north of the Interstate.

 

April 16 2011





Maybe we should use our C.B.'s a lot more to report Hazards.

The CRST driver possibly just did'nt find a lot of gears for some strange reason.

I remember that You just have to "hold a gear" for a while out there, something like keep it in the Green, and shift when It enters the Yellow but it could have very well been a completely worn out Tractor, but even still, after 3 weeks You would know about how well It could pull.

I drove a worn out Tractor once and You just need to stay with It.

Jake brakes would possibly keep the gears from downshifting quickly, but not totally.

If It were level ground You could probably pick up a lot more speed than just 5 mph in a short distance.

The CRST driver was injured, maybe he had a concussion. If he said 5 MPH maybe he was really trying to say 5-0 MPH. The wind is loud out there in Wyoming.

What a terrible tragedy however, and what a terrible loss of life!