No second chances

I am not necessarily saying you are just born that way and there is nothing you can do to change it rather I am saying some people are more accident prone than others most likely due to their behavior, choices, actions, attention behind the wheel, etc.

You can look at two drivers who both have been driving 25 years and Ine of them has had zero accidents and the other five. You can't tell me that is just random luck.

 

Every one of us have had moments of inattention. I have never walked on water and don't think I ever will. Its when those moments of inattention intersect with that situation that comes up that an accident occurs. This is why I never liked to drive when I was physically ill.

 

Yeah it can't just be luck. Maybe it's that we make our own luck. I'll use two of my former drivers as an example.

Driver 1- Had three accidents in a year that led to us asking him to seek emplyment elsewhere.
Wreck 1: Sideswipes a car pulling a frac tank going somewhere out of route for a personal errand. Says the lady on the car should have seen how wide he was swinging and stayed clear. Do most of us think four wheelers should give us more room? Of course. But isn't the driver ultimately responsible for his rig? Absolutely.

Wreck 2: Heading to a jobsite to pick up a trailer and coming off the paved two lane onto dirt road. All freshly rained on. Heavy traffic coming, he sees a gap and hot rods it, fishtails onto dirt road and smacks right into pickup truck fender--and not just any pickup, but a customer's pickup. Gets out and proceeds to cuss out the customer for being in his way.

Wreck 3: Loading at shipper, driver pulling on load binder with chunk of fence pipe. Shipper employee standing nearby gets smacked in the head with said pipe when it flies off. I find out from shipper notifying me that his empoyee is headed ro the ER with a skull fracture. Driver says he was going to call and let us know once he got settled in on the interstate and had a few minutes of driving to collect his thoughts. He also says not his fault becuse the guy should have known the pipe could slip off and should have stood further away.

Driver 2 on the other hand, made a few of his own mistakes, though not as severe, but ALWAYS admitted when he screwed up rather than looking for ways to say it wasn't his fault. Point is I don't get these guys that say "I didn't do anything wrong". Well, maybe it's a bigger picture. I got canned one time for a minor safety rule violation that lots of drivers broke. My mistake was being a dick to the new safety lady and her minions. We all make mistakes. I have been doing this for almost 20 years and I still screw up sometimes. But I beleive that mistakes provide valuabe information, it's what we all choose to do with it that determines our "luck"

 

I run my own truck and one of the first things I did was buy a camera and GPS but they are by no means required. You can get by with free navigation apps on your phone and a good ol trucking atlas. Many of the mega carriers prohibit dash cams. They figure I guess many times accidents may well be their drivers fault and they don't want that video evidence there to be used against them in court. I wouldn't buy either of those items until you are settled into a position and know what your soecific needs are.

 

I don't think so. Most companies seem to let a minor incident or two to slide, giving new drivers the opportunity to show they can, or can't, learn from their mistakes.

 

I have the Garmin Dezl 770LMTHD and it seems to be pretty accurate in this regard but never trust a device 100%.

The Rand McNally units seem pretty popular and get good reviews as well.

My Garmin lets me input my truck width, height, length, and weight and routes accordingly.

I bought mine as a refurbished unit for $275. Couldn't be happier with the unit or the price.
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-770LMT...F8&qid=1451009971&sr=8-2&keywords=garmin+dezl

 

Garmin is hot garbage compared to Rand. I run both. Bought Rand for cash got Garmin free with Pilot points. Worst money I ever spent, Garmin that is.

 

They're pretty accurate, a great tool. They're not perfect though. Roads change, road designations change, the map companies receive incorrect information etc. Many have gotten in trouble blindly following GPS. Read every sign. Read every sign.