Watkins shepard

Znine · Feb 7, 2010

Sorry about your luck so far SBD. You did every thing right and when I am coming up to stopped traffic ahead I always pump the brakes a few times to activate the brake lights to flash them as well. About all you can do. Hope the whiplash is healed. Probably the couple was fighting which you will see a lot of. Good luck!

soon2betrucking · Feb 7, 2010

sorry sbd, sorry to hear that, thats a rough week man.... oddly enough if you go back a few pages, youll read about my year 2009 at watkins, youll read where i talked about our boys down their in sfs.... lucky for you... its a shame it happend... at least you have hone through your first DOT inspection to a further degree then most of us ( i would hope ) will ever have to go through....
keep your head up....
sbd i just left dalton on friday at 4, we just missed eachother... im picking up to head out of VA now and work on my way up to NJ,
sbd, you have my cell.... give me a call if you want... ill be up till late 2nite..,.
and hey... enjoy the spacious hotel room

snakeskin · Feb 7, 2010

southbaydad said: ↑

WHAT AN INDUCTION INTO THE WORLD OF TRUCKING:::::::hey all my w/s connections SOOOOOOO heres a brief recap of my first week and a half out of the 10 day orientation at Missoula, So I got to my truck in Sante Fe Springs and had to wait for 4 days for it at the shop--- it needed to have some things done to it to make it safe to drive and not get redflagged---which I might add they fixed or changed everything on my long list---- BiG Kudos to Ramone at the SFS shop.
Soooo my first load I went from Sante Fe Bprings,CA to Birmingham, AL then unloaded then I was on my way to Dalton,GA to drop and hook a trailer to Richmond ,KY,.. all sounds good so far right ??/!! wrong ------ on the north I59 in Georgia I was sitting in stopped traffic due to a fatality ahead of me about 500 yards and a couple rearended my truck at 70mph !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in their minivan, ......it took emergency crews over 2 hours to get the guy out of the car, (his wife was extracated fairly quickly and transported via ambulance- I later found out she was going to be OK) as of then the husband was still alive but in bad shape, steering wheel and dash were in his stomach and lap ,,they had to shut down both sides of the 59 and land a life flite helicopter on the interstate, they had to jack up my trailer to get it off the front of the car so they could pull his vehicle out form underneath the trailer (when he hit the trailer it lifted the whole back of the trailer up and it came back down on the top of the car) , then they had to cut apart the minivan and roof to extracate him, the impact was so severe that it bent my seat back , slammed the back of my head against the cabinet, knocked everything in the truck around , all the stuff on the dash got thrown off and whiplashed my back..
I had turned on my flashers about a 1/4 mile back (so no one would rear end me) but unfortunatley it didnt work. A truck driver came around the front of me and stopped to give assistance, he said the brake lights never came on in the car that hit me , and the speed limit there is 70 mph ...... that was the longest 53 feet I have ever had to walk --- when I stepped out onto my step and looked back and saw that debris field and crumpled car under the trailer I thought for sure I was going to walk back and see dead, smashed bodies --- I almost didnt want to go back there , but I did and both were alive but BADLY injured. After nearly 4 hours of being out there on the interstate (which was shut down in both directions for nearly 4 hours) ----then the state troopers had to tow my rig and trailer to an impound yard in Chattanooga,TN because even though it wasnt my fault ---but, because it was a semi it had to go through a DOT inspection and review in morning... so then I had to stay at a hotel in Chattanooga,TN until the next day, and meet with insurance person, terminal manager, state trooper etc.. THANKFULLY I had all the problems to my truck fixed IN Sante Fe Springs and my truck PASSED the DOT inspection,,,,,whew ..I can only imagine what would have been the outcome if they found issues with my trcuk,,, so anyway my check engine light had came on in AR, and the shop told me to keep driving until I got to the next repair shop then the Dalton shop had to have me drive it to truck repair shop in Dalton ,( the problem was that one of the fuel injectors was bad and others were acting up ...so now I sit here in another hotel in Dalton until at least Monday.... ( 3hotyels coming back from 10 day, hotel in Chattanooga, and now hotel for days in Dalton) ---- I must add that W/S has been there every step of the way at all times when needed,, that was a great comfort knowing that I want just a driver #- another reason I chose W/S - their reputation of being and treating drivers fairly and kowing who they are.
IN retrospect I am glad the minivan hit me... BECAUSE if they hadnt of hit me , they would have rearended the stopped car in front of me at full speed AND that would have no doubt burst one, two or three cars into flames ( a car traveling at 70 mph and hitting a stopped car is quite an impact) and surely people would have perished ,,, and possibly me because the impact would have been right next to me and its hard saying if the collision would have drove them into my left fuel tank and possibly blow me up or catch me on fire also????!!!!!
So I want to think that by getting rearended----lives of others were spared.. quite the sombering induction into the world of trucking, they say every trucker at one point in his life will undergo some kind of horrific accident in one way or another -----------mine all just happened in my first trip..

and BTW the crash I was stopped for was from another trucker that got rearended 500 yards ahead of me.......unfortunaltely the driver of that car was killed,,, and the trucker left the scene so now they are looking for him as a hit and run,,,,

AND always check your truck for safety issues before you leave because you NEVER know what is gonna happen!!!
Click to expand...

Glad your safe SBD, I will call ya Monday nite and see how your doin, Great attitude I might add. I can tell you know where your blessings come from!

snakeskin · Feb 7, 2010

soon2betrucking said: ↑

sorry sbd, sorry to hear that, thats a rough week man.... oddly enough if you go back a few pages, youll read about my year 2009 at watkins, youll read where i talked about our boys down their in sfs.... lucky for you... its a shame it happend... at least you have hone through your first DOT inspection to a further degree then most of us ( i would hope ) will ever have to go through....
keep your head up....
sbd i just left dalton on friday at 4, we just missed eachother... im picking up to head out of VA now and work on my way up to NJ,
sbd, you have my cell.... give me a call if you want... ill be up till late 2nite..,.
and hey... enjoy the spacious hotel room
Click to expand...

Drive safe S2B, I hope you meet up with SBD, I leave for Oregon and May Trucking today at 11am. I will still be following you WS drivers here, Thanks for all your great posts and info!
Snakeskin

Naw'lins Born · Feb 7, 2010

Crazy situation right, Hey happy new years; wing ding, million man, and last but not least s2b.

soon2betrucking · Feb 7, 2010

Naw'lins Born said: ↑

Crazy situation right, Hey happy new years; wing ding, million man, and last but not least s2b.
Click to expand...

where the hell ya been... iv missed you...

Henley · Feb 8, 2010

Wow, SBD, you got initiated quick! Sorry to hear about it all.

I spent my first night in Dalton in a motel, too. Don't remember what was wrong with the truck but it took a couple of days. Of course if it had been fixed in Sayreville where it sat for a week or two...

Have you checked your permit book real closely? I've had two trucks here so far and both needed all kinds of permits--the second didn't have any registration, not even an expired one.

Lynchmob · Feb 8, 2010

Wow. Wow. What an eye opener. I'm oddly curious as to what happened with the couple when they didn't even attempt to brake. I'm actually surprised it rocked YOU so hard too. What were you hauling? Just insane SBD. Glad you're ok and the family sounds like they'll live.

Certainly not a great way to start your career. I don't see how you gained anything from this. You had the foresight to make sure you were in compliance, and did everything I would have done. Just a shame you had to experience that. But at least you've got a great attitude about it and kudos to you for sticking with W/S and trucking!

God Bless

Clay13 · Feb 8, 2010

Wow, that really sucks man. Hope you get well soon.

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/causes-988480-crash-one.html

rednek · Feb 11, 2010

Hey s2b u wish ur truck was white huh baby boy lmao

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