Scary side of trucking

I would buy the Ram.

 

NTSB: Truck strikecaused I-5 bridge collapse. Federal investigators ruled Tuesday that an oversizetruck caused the collapse of an Interstate 5 bridge in Washington state by striking the overhead support trusses.Jul 15, 2014

USA Today › news › 2014/07/15
NTSB: Truck strike caused I-5 bridge collapse - USATODAY.com

 

a professional driver wouldn't follow GPS on a weak bridge.

 

I can't agree with you on this one. Sure, most of the "old guys" were professional in the way they did their job and conducted themselves out on the road. But there were a few bad apples in that bunch too. The good ones vastly outnumbered the bad ones but the bad ones gave us a good bench mark for appreciating the professionalism of the rest.
I see quite a few young drivers, not only on TTR but out on jobs and in our drop yard. The majority of them actually do pretty well. If they ask a question they listen to the answer and you can watch them apply what they've learned.
We hire quite a few sub-haulers during the busy season and some of them, especially the rock haulers, are on their first job ever. It's encouraging to watch them improve as the year goes by and they get better at what they do.
Do they screw up? Of course they do. New guys screw up and that's gospel. But, if they own what they did wrong, try to find a way to keep from making the same mistake again, and don't go full-on whiny and pouty when they get corrected, they usually make a good hand.
Are there bad apples in the bunch? People that you just can't do anything with? Absolutely. If they try to shift blame or lie about things they're not around here long. Some of them are chronic complainers, misfits at whatever they do. They expect the job foremen to be like their mommy and daddy. When they screw up repeatedly, lie about what happened, and then complain that they're being picked on and the haul is just too hard, they expect special treatment and a pat on the head. They want to be coddled.
But...most of the younger ones I see are doing alright and they deserve their chance. You and I were young and green once. People helped us, not always in a gentle way, but we took the help they gave and were grateful for it.
There were different standards when you and I started out and it wasn't an easy business to break in to. It's sure different now. Most of the OTR idiots I see on the road or in our drop yard...and I see a lot of them... are graduates of CDL mills and employed by companies that don't give them a chance to learn. They're angry and defensive, and overwhelmed by what they have to do. That's a failure looking for places to happen.
I don't have any answers for making things better. I just try to do the best I can with what I have to work with. There really isn't any other choice.

 

Buy one of these and carry it in the truck.
Get one now and learn how to use it.