Comments By Wayne F.

I need some suggestions from folks who have been here.

I worked for JB Hunt for 19 years. In 2018, I cashed in my retirement to open up my own business. Two years later, the covid shutdowns did me in, so, I went back to work for a small, family owned trucking company. In all my years in the business, working for these folks was like a dream come true. Absolutely loved working there.

I got hired in December of 2021, and in October, the accident happened. I was on I20 on a hazy foggy morning getting ready to cross the bridge over the big river into Vicksburg, when my peoplenet beeped at me. I looked down at it. Just for a couple of seconds. Those two or three seconds looked like they have ended my career. When I looked up, there it was. A parked gray 1995 era Ford Taurus, just sitting there, blocking the right hand lane, no four ways on, no nothing. The color of the thing blended perfectly with the gray asphalt and the foggy air. By the time I saw it, there was not much I could do to avoid it. There was a local cop right behind me when it happened. He was on his way to the car, because he had just been dispatched to it, someone had called it in. The lady had ran out of gas, and just left it there. No four ways on. She didn't call 911. She was cited for impeding traffic and driving without insurance. I was not cited. I asked the cop if I would be receiving a citation, and he replied "for what? You didn't do anything wrong." I have a copy of the police report. Indeed, the officer wrote it up so it was very favorable to me and hostile to the lady who left her car in middle of the road on the Mississippi River bridge.

That said, I have no excuse for not avoiding it. My attention was not 100% focused. I know that. I screwed up. Most of us have looked down at that thing for a second or two, and nothing happened. I'm telling you, when you been driving as many years as I have, eventually the law of averages is going to catch up with you, and you're going find yourself in trouble. I'm thankful she wasn't sitting in that car. I don't think I could live with myself had I taken a life that day.

The company fired me. Their reason they gave me was because I had only been there ten months. I think it was because they only have a couple dozen trucks, and I tore the hell out of that one that day.

That was in October. It's now February. I have not been able to find a job to save my life. I'm wor minimum wage jobs here in Florida. My savings has nearly dried up, and my credit cards are all maxed out. I get nothing but doors slammed in my face. I'm 59 years old, and it seems like my career is over. I've applied at dozens of companies. I've ridden the bus to orientation in various companies twice now and then sent home over this after being told it wouldn't be an issue. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm at the end of my rope. I'm too old to find work stocking shelves in an Amazon warehouse.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to any advice you can give.

But more importantly, don't let what happened to me happen to you. There's no message from your fleet manager that's more important than what is in the road ahead of you. It can wait. It doesn't matter how long you have been out here. I've got a wall filled with safety awards that I received from JB Hunt, dating all the way back to 2001. Those three seconds destroyed EVERYTHING.