My last trip started in Loredo, TX and we were told to head to a town just south of Pittsburgh, PA. The trip started off with no problems. I drove through some very heavy traffic in Texas, but it was very good experience for me. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a pain to be in stop and go traffic for over 200 miles, but the weather for the most part was real good and it was an enjoyable drive once I got through the traffic.
The trip didn’t get bad until I got to Virginia. It was dark out and there was some patchy fog and patchy rain, but nothing real dangerous. I was just cruising along listening to some tunes as my trainer slept, working my way up and down the hills. A car passed me on the left but it was very routine. However, as the car began passing the truck in front of me (about 200 yards in front), the car started to shimmy for no apparent reason. I cut off the cruise and got on the brakes early, expecting the worst. He ended up losing control, struck the rear tandems (trailer wheels) of the truck in front of me, then slammed into the guardrail on the left side. I was keeping enough distance to where I didn’t need to brake real hard. The truck in front of me pulled over, and I pulled in front of him on the shoulder. Once it appeared everyone was ok, I continued on. We were in a big hurry to deliver our load, nobody was hurt, and there were other witnesses on scene. No need for us to stick around. I still have no idea why that car lost control. Very odd.
A couple hours later, I decided I needed to stop and use the restroom. I pulled into a busy rest stop where there was very limited parking. I figured I’d have to just stop on the shoulder of the on ramp and do my business at the side of the truck. However, I saw an open spot! Perfect! I got as far to the right as I could (parking spot was on my left), then began turning into the spot. I got the cab into the spot before I realized I wasn’t going to make the turn and get the trailer in. I was going to hit the truck on my left if I kept moving forward. To make matters worse, I had about 3 trucks behind me, hollering on the CB, putting the pressure on. I didn’t want to back up because I didn’t know who was behind me and how close they were. Crap (I didn’t really say crap)!!! I was stuck and blocking all the traffic behind me! My trainer sensed something was wrong and came up to the front. We switched seats real quick and he was able to work us out of the spot, then park in a new location. He wasn’t mad at all. I apologized and he just said “that’s what I’m here for!” But it really made me upset that I let that happen. I should know better by now. In the end, I guess it was a minor mistake as nothing got damaged except my ego. But I’m still not real happy about it.
After that incident, for some reason, I couldn’t shift. I kept missing gears, forgetting which gear I was in, going to the wrong gear, etc. Just getting out of the rest stop was a chore. But we did make it onto the open road. Shortly after we got onto the road, I saw a firetruck merging onto the expressway behind me. The fog was getting thicker, but it was still patchy and didn’t seem real dangerous. I let the fire truck pass me and kept my distance as I was sure something was going on up ahead. Boy was I right. I saw the fire truck slowing down in the left lane, and some big trucks in front of me turned their hazard signals on and were pulling onto the right shoulder. There was some pretty heavy fog at this point, so it was hard to see exactly what was going on. But I turned on my hazard signals and slowly moved over onto the right shoulder. Then I saw what the fuss was all about. In the opposite lanes, I saw 3 trucks tangled up, and one of them was on fire. All of the southbound lanes were closed (we were going north) and there were emergency vehicles struggling to make it to the crash. In the end, 3 people died in this crash. I didn’t realize it when we passed, but a car was smashed in the middle of all those trucks. Two people in the car died and the driver of the truck that was on fire died. You can read about it here.
This was my first experience with a major accident on the road. It makes it a whole lot harder seeing these trucks involved. After all, I’m out here driving one, just trying to make a living, same as the driver who died. In just one instant, his life was over, and the lives of the other drivers were drastically changed. Not to mention the poor 4-wheeler that got caught in the middle of that mess. Seeing that truck on fire will probably stick with me for a while. The strange thing is, I’m not really worried for myself. I worry more for my friends and family. I worry about what they’d have to go through if something ever happened to me. I honestly don’t even like to think about it. But on the same token, people do things every single day that can potentially get them hurt or killed, usually without even realizing it. Crossing the street, driving to work and back, being outside during a thunderstorm, playing sports, boating, hiking, etc. We can’t live our lives in fear. Bottom line is I really enjoy what I’m doing. All I can do is manage that fear and use it to my advantage. I don’t know the full details of the accident, and some accidents are simply unavoidable, but I’m thinking speed and following distance probably played a big roll in this crash. The fog wasn’t that bad. I’ll probably never know for sure what exactly caused that crash. But regardless of who was at fault, it was very tragic. I know this is only the first of many bad accidents I’ll see out here. I just hope I’m never involved in one like that.
After driving for about 10 hours, I finally made it to the receiver. Since this place had overnight parking, we were going to park there and deliver the next morning. It was a huge pain in the butt to get to. Very small, narrow streets with a ton of red lights. Luckily, since it was late at night, there was very little traffic. But getting there was a huge chore for me. I just wasn’t on my game that day. My shifting was horrible. I was forgetting to select between low gear and high gear on the shifter, wasn’t using the correct shift pattern, couldn’t downshift, couldn’t get into the gears right, and just overall my shifting flat out sucked. We finally made it, found ourselves a parking spot, and I backed it into a spot beautifully. At least I finished on a good note.
As I began filling out my logbook, I started cussing at myself for the incident that happened at the rest area and also my shifting. My trainer was quick to calm me down. I know these days are going to happen, but it’s still a little frustrating for me. Since that day, I’ve had no problems, so it was just an off day for me.
This trip really wasn’t that bad. It was just the combination of dealing with heavy traffic, dealing with two accidents, my poor parking experience, and my horrible shifting. I felt like I took a couple steps back. But since that trip, we came all the way from PA to CA. The entire trip out to CA was problem free. I’m back to my old self and the drive was beautiful. Just keep on truckin’, as they say.
Until next time, drive safely!
TruckerMike
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Yes a good day/trip can throw you off when you mis-judge getting into the parking slot at the rest stop. It did not help with the other trucks behind you being rude and not giving you room to backup. So now you know to leave other trucks room when they are trying to get into a slot just in case they mis-judged like you did.
Those things do cause you to suddenly forget how to shift and anything we have to do behind that wheel seems so hard to to and now its become a trip of HELL for you. But we just keep on rolling knowing we will soon be back to normal in our driving. And it will happen again. And you will be mad at yourself all day for letting it happen again.
Yes you knew something was happening when the fire truck entered the Interstate. Most don’t think that. You do not see fire trucks out joy riding on the interstate! There is a reason they are there. As for that terrible accident, speed sounds like a factor. So many will not slow down in fog and when it really is thick no one should be out there. No load is worth the accident. That is just another delay that we don’t want.
I had just delivered some junk mail to a post office and it was getting really bad with fog. I should have stayed at the post office to wait it out, but I did make it safely to the truck stop in town. I did have a time I was to be at the Des Moines Iowa post office with the rest of the load and I informed all that it was going to be late. By now the fog was so thick that I could only see about 15 feet ahead of me. I refused to move that truck till I could see. Whose fault is it going to be if you get in a wreck??? It will be yours because the number 1 reason is you made the choice to continue.
Now I’m not saying you did wrong as you already said it wasn’t that bad. You can do 50 instead of the 65mph. Nothing wrong with that at all. Not any different in driving in heavy rain. Even then you have to watch out for the idiots who don’t care and drive without lights. That is my worst fear in fog/rain or night driving in town or the highways and I have had a few close calls because of that.
I am telling you what I have done and no one fired me, wrote me up and etc… I refuse to move the truck if I can’t see,drive on ice and etc… There does come a point that you have to get off the road.
Accidents are a part of this job and I cringe everytime a 4-wheeler trys to pass me as some are so close to that center line and you don’t know if you are next. You are doing a terrific job as a newer driver. Keep it up.
TruckerMike –
What a sad story! While these experiences are never the ones to go through a second time, they do offer lifesaver learning opportunities. In your writing, I detect that they teach you the limitations of your equipment and yourself…, what your personal safe minimums and maximums are for speed and weather conditions…, how much interval is needed between vehicles…, when to be extra alert with eyes on the road and cruse turned off…, how to recognize the dangers of “getthereitis”…, and when to just pull-off the road and wait out conditions. Also, it sounds like there’s importance for a trucker to shrug off an instance of performance that doesn’t meet his standards. Mulling it over only takes attention off of the work at hand.
Yep, you’re right! Your friends and family would not deal well with any harm that might occur to you… so, drive safe for us!
Keep On Learnin’
–TruckerMikeDad—
Yeah Dude, as far as rest areas go, also be aware of older areas that aren’t set up for 53′ trailers. You may get into the spot, but you will play holy hell trying to get out. If you’re not familiar with the area, you are better off parking on the shoulder if it’s just a quick bladder drain. You always want to be able to get OUT of your spot when you’re ready to roll. This applies to truck stops as well. Seen too many drivers unable to get going in the morning because they didn’t think ahead. FFfF
its your instuctor,its good to keep up with you on this blog