I just read a news story on my Facebook page that really angered me. I will include the link to that story at the end of my rant for today. We have an epidemic in this industry. It's an epidemic that has just cost an innocent man his life. What is this epidemic you may ask? It's improper/inadequate training. There have been calls for some sort of standardized training requirements for this industry, and yet, these calls seem to be met with more and more resistance each time the subject is addressed.
On Friday, March 26, 2011 A tractor trailer driver was killed in a fiery accident that shut down the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Out of respect, I will not mention the drivers names here in this post. A 48-year-old driver for Fremont Contract Carriers Inc. and his dog were killed in this accident that occurred when an inexperienced CRST driver became disoriented driving in the dark and was rear-ended by the FCC truck. Quoting the news story, "He's a brand new driver; he had only been driving a truck for three weeks...He got disoriented in the dark, going up and down the hills, and his truck was bogging down." According to one of the State Troopers on scene, the CRST driver "thought he was driving up an incline when he wasn't, which is why HE WAS IN SECOND GEAR AND TRAVELING AT 5 MPH IN THE DRIVING LANE even though THE HIGHWAY WAS DRY AND VISIBILITY WAS CLEAR. Now here's what really pisses me off about this whole thing- this NEW DRIVER'S instructor WAS ASLEEP IN THE CAB AT THE TIME OF THE WRECK.
These companies have got to stop running student/trainer trucks like they're teams. A brand new driver that has only been driving for three weeks HAS NO BUSINESS BEHIND THE WHEEL WITHOUT THE TRAINER NEXT TO HIM IN THE JUMP SEAT, especially going up and down hills in the dark.
I want to know what you all think about this. As professional drivers, we need to start holding ourselves to a higher accord. If the industry won't mandate these changes, we need to take the lead and do it ourselves. I know everyone is always up in arms about "big brother" telling us what to do, but there has to be some kind of standard. How many more drivers (and motorists) need to be killed because of senseless horseshit like this before we all wake up and get behind this?
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2011/03/26/news/doc4d8d6b99c4152383781120.txt
On Friday, March 26, 2011 A tractor trailer driver was killed in a fiery accident that shut down the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Out of respect, I will not mention the drivers names here in this post. A 48-year-old driver for Fremont Contract Carriers Inc. and his dog were killed in this accident that occurred when an inexperienced CRST driver became disoriented driving in the dark and was rear-ended by the FCC truck. Quoting the news story, "He's a brand new driver; he had only been driving a truck for three weeks...He got disoriented in the dark, going up and down the hills, and his truck was bogging down." According to one of the State Troopers on scene, the CRST driver "thought he was driving up an incline when he wasn't, which is why HE WAS IN SECOND GEAR AND TRAVELING AT 5 MPH IN THE DRIVING LANE even though THE HIGHWAY WAS DRY AND VISIBILITY WAS CLEAR. Now here's what really pisses me off about this whole thing- this NEW DRIVER'S instructor WAS ASLEEP IN THE CAB AT THE TIME OF THE WRECK.
These companies have got to stop running student/trainer trucks like they're teams. A brand new driver that has only been driving for three weeks HAS NO BUSINESS BEHIND THE WHEEL WITHOUT THE TRAINER NEXT TO HIM IN THE JUMP SEAT, especially going up and down hills in the dark.
I want to know what you all think about this. As professional drivers, we need to start holding ourselves to a higher accord. If the industry won't mandate these changes, we need to take the lead and do it ourselves. I know everyone is always up in arms about "big brother" telling us what to do, but there has to be some kind of standard. How many more drivers (and motorists) need to be killed because of senseless horseshit like this before we all wake up and get behind this?
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2011/03/26/news/doc4d8d6b99c4152383781120.txt
RSS Feed