Not sure what to do... tired/sick told to run anyway

It's ok Ridgeline. I don't get offended easily.

I live by a motto : Water off a duck's back. From any and all encounters I try to take away what I feel is useful and let the other stuff slide off me like water off a duck's back.

You are right. I should have stood up for myself when I got the load and called my dm on the way to the truck stop to sleep. I told him then that I hadn't slept in 36 hours but the way he was talking to me made me feel like I had no choice but to do the load. I've had this problem once before when I think I ate something bad and felt like I was going to throw up. I was very close to my delivery so I made my delivery and called to let my boss's know that I needed a 34 hour reset (to get my hours back too) to give my stomach time to get better. My dm outright refused so STT said to call the operations manager. He was the one who told me that the load didn't pick up until the next afternoon in Burbank and I was in Troutdale. He said they couldn't give me the 34 hr reset due to more loads than drivers but to stop for the night where I was and if I still wasn't feeling better by the next morning to call him and they would see what they could do. The next morning I felt better and went to pick up the load.

With this time I wasn't feeling to bad. A cough and sore throat until there at the end. I really feel that not resting properly was what made it so much worse. My dm insisted I had no choice but to take the 8 hour break, be late to pick up, and run it anyway. After talking to you guys I knew I had no choice but to stop.

I was raised to "suck it up princess" and "get r done". Sick or not things that needed to be done HAD to be done. After my TKR my kids took care of my horses while I healed up but they didn't clean the stall (2 10x12 stalls made into one open to the outside) the entire time so after punishing them I went out 6 week into recovery and spent 6 days cleaning those stalls doing what I could each day. I could have made the kids do it but I needed to know it was done right plus the guilt trip was fun to watch them endure. It's hard to now say I'm sick and take off unless it's truly bad.

I have learned a lesson and will continue to learn as I go. I'm learning the hard way that things are not always as they seem. I always thought that my brother was kidding about dispatchers being crappy but I need to tell him next time I see him how sorry I am for doubting him. They are just as bad if not worse than he said.

I appreciate all the comments. Thank you I suppose it's check out time so time to see if my tuck is done yet. Need to get back "On the road again".

 

Sorry but since you guys told me about all this and how bad things can be I've been passing the info on to my fellow trainees and I want to clarify some info. I want to pass on the correct info.

How far can you push it when sick/tired without getting in trouble? Say you have a minor cold do you have to stop? What if you ...say have something like an ear infection? I understand if you have a nasty cold/flu but I'm not sure how far that I can safely push it. Like when I first knew I was sick I knew I could handle it safely just not later when it was so bad. What about if you aren't able to sleep but a couple of hours (say maybe 4)... you know your tired can you still run the load as far as you can then shut down or just sleep a few more hours until you know you can run a full shift? I know sometimes you just gotta "suck it up" but I just want to know when to without getting in trouble with dot. I don't want to stop to soon nor to late.

What about if you find something minor like a loop of wire from the upper middle light hanging out. Do you have to get that repaired before taking the trailer or just make a note of it on the trailer condition report? Or the axle hub oil down to the add mark? Sorry we were not taught a lot of this stuff.

Thank you again.