What is an average rate of work injuries for drivers?

I fell of a trailer at my companies yard in Laredo TX. Dislocated my elbow and broke my ulna.

The load I was securing was going into Canada and it was the best paying load I had pulled all year.

After they were done casting my arm I took some extra strength non prescription pain killer and drove that load to Canada.

Injuries happen often in open deck world. We just dont bother telling anyone.

 

First off. There is no Machoism here. I wont have it.

Second off many places have roof harnesses to keep you alive if you slip and fall off there. I remember one in particular, east of Camp Hill PA Ajax Roofing, a DM Bowman Shipper foam sheets that go on top of Federal Buildings, School Houses and a number of high dollar mid rises in Richmond and other places with Crane support. That was where the man I was talking about not long ago when he declined to use it and hit head first in janurary of 1994 I think it was. I will have to go back revisiting the records. Anyhow. When I learned about it while loading there, he was in a vegative state with the family at war with each other over his estate.

Ive been saved by harnesses before. Don't worry about that. Ive actually been trained on high wire at one time as a teen and do well with that helping others deal with that in a program designed to break cowardice off Teens in school in the woods of Northern Virginian in a day camp there.

Remember I don't put something on here without backing it with facts or preparing to help you understand why I sometimes say or teach things I do....

 

I was working on a pipe about 5 foot long and several inches thick, a 300 pound test pipe that was made of lead. Off a old steam engine somewhere but very good for binding coils or whatever.

Here I am being rained and thundered on in Illinois one fine day and what a day that was. Beautiful load of billet aluminum. Had a chain try to run and get away, grabbed it, fooled with the rubber backing for it got it settled, slipped the pipe over the binder and hauled. CREAK!!! just a little bit more... Now Im hauling on the thing where Im throwing my weight pulling down to the deck... so like a dumbkoft, I change position and start standing on the thing forcing that creak to talk CLANK!

Next thing i know I have this incredible hit in my ribs and sternum with my world a bright light found myself on my butt some distance from the rig with the pipe going whop whop whop towards another driver. I screamed FORE but because of the hit I took the sound i was making instead was a strangle and a freaking squeal.

There I was mr Pain on the parade deck next to my wheels hugging it like a wife to make pain go away. I hear the pipe go clang on the ground and not a melon crush sound of hitting flesh.

A few bad words came out of that driver then he sees me piled up by the wheels Im not sure how the remainder of the afternoon went but they took care of me well enough. Bundled in to the sleeper, tapped qualcomm messages to my dispatch, left a MR driver note on the wheel and locked everything up ready to go.

That does not mean I spend the next 3 weeks mean and onery from the pain. Nothing broken. But it would have been far better to go home than to treat some of the poor things out there when they squeak out a good morning and I snarl or growl at them. They say whoa.. what is your problem. Lift shirt and see the perfect pipe image on my shirt black and blue... WHOOA....

They think that I was so light weight the pipe just threw me off rather than break ribs or something.

 

After stepping into a tarp covered hole on an uneven lumber load (leaving a shin bump I have to this day) I honed my technique....I literally crawled across tarped loads of that nature, not giving a flying #### what anyone thought.

 

Not a bad idea. It safer to use at least 3 points of contact anyway. 4 is even better. As I get older, I get a lot more careful than I used to be. Have crawled on more than a few screwy loads.

 

Three limbs for the truck and one for your own ###. That's always smart.

Climbing on loads is routine. Sometimes with certain loads that can be made comfortable I would lie down take a nap. A tarp just so upside down makes a nice hammock and Boss never looks up that high anyhow.

 

I was just quoting what you said in the original post.

And has been posted on here already many places don't have harnesses...