ups driver falls asleep and overturns on 95 in delaware

These days taking a stand means you will get replaced by a foreigner.

 

No excuse...all drivers need to take a stand....drivers have the power to ground a company...

 

Yep. Happened to me tonite with jb hunt.

me: can't find the store
dispatch: use your gps
me: peoplenet won't boot up, error msgs. called peoplenet , they said it needs to be replaced, the entire unit.
dispatch: use your direction book.
me: it took me to the old store, there is nothing here at this address. I'm bringing the load back, losing hours and fuel.
dispatch: no you're not. Find the store. if you don't, we will put a service failure on your dac.
me: exhausted all options.
Dispatch: standby to re power.
me: negative, will not have enough hours to get to terminal, and since you guys won't pay for a hotel that's not an option.
Dispatch: no answer.....dispatcher went home.....

and there you have it, if I didn't find this store I would have been stuck in Long Island tonite in my daycab. I was lucky, and there are guys who are NOT. This is why drivers fall asleep when they are pushed to their limits.

 

Smart phone with a good data package?

 

Are the drivers sheep? Or are they doing a job that they can't do in the first place? Questions questions. My 14 hours today consisted of leaving Eau Claire, WI to Eagan, MN where I finished paperwork, fueled and dropped my empty and hooked to my loaded and made my way here to West Unity, OH. About 715 miles for the day. Even with construction along I-90 in Illinois. And it got me to thinking where the problems with HOS really are. And I've come to another one of my extremely well thought out conclusions, ha ha. First off, we are all under the same HOS. ALL OF US. In California. And Ohio. And New York. And Florida. And so on and so forth. We are all under the same HOS. Prime. JB Hunt. Lessors. Crete. Walmart. And so on.

I couldnt imagine doing what I did at my short time at GTI ever again. A slow truck. Under the same HOS that I'm on with a truck that can do the speed limit. A 55-58-60-62 mph truck has to absolutey keep at it to do at least 600 miles per day, where I have leeway. A driver primarily doing Chicagoland or NYC or LA or Dallas, the traffic is something else and they are under the same HOS and have to cover their stops and miles as well.

The culprit IS NOT the HOS. Not even close. The true problem is the way we are paid to do the job-piecework. And many times LOW wages/CPM at that. If they want to really battle fatigue in this industry, how about changing the way we are paid. And also changing the JIT mentality that has taken over trucking the last 20 years. I didn't push myself tonight. I'm as awake as I was when I started my day. As a matter of fact. I could have made Pittsburgh tonight. But not every driver is like me. That's where my problem is. If I can do it, so should everyone else. I tend to forget that, some cannot, because of their truck set up, their body clock, etc. I'm going to agree with a little bit here that some drivers are pushed to the brink. The key is to push back.

 

If your phone doesn't work thats when you do it old school and ASK the locals. When I was 19 I drove a Chevy truck before anyone knew what a GPS was and I used to call and get directions and ask people around the area to find certain places.

 

You've never been to NYC or Long Island have you? Most people don't know anything outside of their neighborhood. Even cops can't tell you if you're in Brooklyn and trying to get to Staten Island. You're only hope is a cabbie who can speak English, and in NYC, that's a rarity.

 

The problem is, too many drivers are affraid to push back. For good reason! ten other warm bodies lined up to take his place.
Sad state. Real sad.

Yeah, we can refuse to move that load- but what good does it do for us? Dispatch gets pissed, the planner wants to write you up, the cosigner gets pissed, your DM is chewing every inch of your ### out and you feel like an idiot.

Had a planner try to force me across Donner 2 years ago, an hour after it had reopened. Under chain restriction. Wasn't goin up that! nu-uh! I knew my limitations, like I do now. I was a 4 week experienced driver. I refused it. Huge mistake. Planner for that area, never gave me another good load, ever again. Then again, he got fired. We didn't. Took a while...though...

 

One finds out how well asking locals for directions works when locals dont know truck routes.. they usually know auto routes.... best try to call your pick up or delivery for dirrections.. if they amswer it works.out.

 

That was smart of you. I push back. Because I can. Any driver worth his salt can push back. They aren't going to fire one of their best drivers. I would have chained up to go up Donner, but then again, I'm a little more experienced than 2 weeks!!! But you did the right thing. You knew you couldn't, so you didn't. And that's what makes you a good driver.